What we see here in this hide-a-way tent is something that roamed the countryside many years ago. It spread fear among weaker cars, made men beat there chest following some loud ape-like calls, and left women wanting a cigarette upon exiting the vehicle. It was the rare Moparsaurus!!! A sexy car, a sexy year, and nothing politcally correct about it. Cars were just different animals back then. Belching, snarling, octane drinking beasts that made an impact wherever they went. Much like the boobs back then too. Soft, jiggly, and not subject to bursting should they get squeezed too hard. And..oh, wait, where was I? Oh yeah, the car....
The story of the car is a good one. The guy's father that I bought it from was sponsored by Pontiac in the 60's and raced a factory light weight Judge for many years against Ronnie Sox, Butch Leal, Gas Rhonda, and many other famous juggernauts from the 60's drag era. The car is a 1969 Dodge Charger RT/SE. Rusted? Yup. Dented up? Yup. Needs restoration? Tell me something I don't know! But what we have here is a numbers matching, well optioned, original RT/SE Charger. Not a bad find on one of the most sought after muscle cars out there. I called him about :10 minutes of the ad posting on Craigslist and he already had about five calls on it. I wasted no time and was at his house in :35 minutes. I nabbed it befoe anyone else got there. I dropped the deposit off the next day and he said he had about 15 guys lined up after me to get it. Finally, I'm the guy that got the deal before the rest! OK, more on the car..
Original HP 440 with the VIN stamped on it as well as the transmission. Rebuilt with about 5000 miles on it, but it's been sitting for about 15 years and run about once a month to keep things moving inside. 2 cranks and she fired up. Block stamp on the pad is E440 (1969 440), 12 9 (December 9th, 1969 build date) HP (High Performance) and this along with the VIN stamp on the oil pan rail, match the December 12th build date of the car. Large font 054 Radiator, 2806070 Fan clutch, Power Steering cooler for the A36 High Performance axle package are still there. Although headers and an aftermarket carb are on there, the stock HP manifolds and Carter carburetor come with the car. I even have a correct distributor for the car, so all the missing engine parts are accounted for.
The fender tag is there, and I'll dig around for the build sheet. And see those chrome buttons on the driver's door? Power windows. Pretty friggin' sweet!!!! The car's options as per the fender tag and what I see on the car are as follows: SE Package, Light Package, 3.55 Sure Grip Axle (Performace Axle Package), Console, AM/FM radio, Single Rear Speaker, Rear Defroster, Power Windows, 6 Way Manual Adjusted Driver's Seat, Dual Head Restraints, Tic-Toc-Tach, Wood Wheel, Pedal Dress up, and wheel lip moldings. It was built on December 12th, 1969 at the Dodge Hamtramck plant. B5 Blue, white top/stripe and a blue interior.
Not the typical "Charger" script you usually see. Replaced by a "SE -Special Edition" badge. The SE package gives you a wood trimmed dash, woodwheel, pedal dress up, light package, deep dish wheel covers, hood mounted turn signals, and leather/vinyl trimmed front seats. The light package gives you several courtesy lights in the ashtray, trunk, glovebox, dash (map light), ignition w/delay, and a headlight warning buzzer. So what's on tap for this buggy? A factory restoration like I did on my coworker's 68 Charger R/T as seen below.
It'll go under the knife after I'm done with my Nomad, but for now, I'll just get it road worthy and have some fun with it. Enjoy the pages, and keep checking back for updates.
