AUTOMOBILE: (N) A mechanical extension of one's own ego.

Here it is. A dream eight years in the making. I have wanted a cool old mopar, namely a Challenger or a '57/'58 Coronet since I was 12, being captivated by the style, power and panache those cars carried. The challenger, because my dad had one, and the '58, with its Virgil Exner styling.

I achieved that dream in 2001, shortly after moving to sunny So-Cal. This car became my personal mode of transportation (other than the bmw streetcarver)and shortly after purchasing it, adding personal touches that made it uniquely mine.
This car's story starts in January, 1958. One Irene Barber purchases this car from Tom Rhody Dodge in Gardena.
She drives it for thirty-odd years, and then her daughter-in-law inherits it.

She drives it, occasionally.

Fast forward to 1999. A Stephen Ziegler purchases the car, and pampers it in between flights to bali and fiji (for his day job of surf mag shooting). Two years later, its mine!

I have done a few things that are not stock.

White taillights (red l.e.d. bulbs)

Front disc brakes

...And the way cool center exhaust

Here are more pix. Enjoy!




The only engine shot...325 cubic inches of Detroit iron!!