I dont think a stock hemi challenger owned by a cop was much of a street race threat during that era in the motor city, but whatever. Not surprised its for sale after all the phony hype

Correct....BUT, best to strike while all of the hype still exists and they can make as much as possible.

The hype is ridiculous! That car was a high 13 second piece on a good day.

The whole story and all involved was the right story at the right time for some involved.

The car is great with a great history but to me its sad to see family sell off family but we see all too often the "I will never sell" turn into "SOLD".

Show me da money!

Agree - the Challenger in Detroit I remember was the red one that was actually fast. Can't recall the guy's name, but the car was about half-Pro-Stock...
This car I think was more about the story, never heard of it until the PR barrage started a while back.
The sentiment is more about the value than the history, I suppose, but it does make sense to "strike while the iron's hot".
One might wonder if the hype wasn't started by Someone in Dodge's PR department...

I'd give my left and right nuts for that. But I bet it goes for more. I don't care about the story. I just love a 70 Challenger, Hemi 4 speed, gator top in black. Yes Please!!!

Steve Lisk...I think

What a shame it is to hear about this. I wonder why he is selling, maybe financial issues? maybe he did what he wanted and got it recognized and had his fun with it and it's time to move on?? It's really sad for me to see though, I love this car. I bet y'all his father is NOT happy looking down at him right now. I'm actually really anxious to see what it sells for as I saw a 1970 HEMI Cuda sell for $250,000 recently at Mecum, but this car is totally different with it's history and significance so I say more. I'm gonna throw my hat in the ring and say $375,000. I hope someone here posts what it sells for......


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bPaEFVtjNk


https://www.hagerty.com/media/news/...allenger-up-for-sale-by-original-family/

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/auction-black-ghost-dodge-challenger/

Why not? You can't Eat It, can't Wear It, nor even have the family Live-In-It.
Depending on circumstances, the most likely tangible asset you can Live Without.

I wasn't alive in the 70s but I'd imagine that would be considered plenty fast for that era street car, no,?

I would guess the son wasn't a die-hard hobbyist and the novelty wore off quickly. These cars don't exactly meet modern day driving expectations.

Worst part was having to listen to Chris Jacobs talk about it

If there is any truth to how much he won with this car, I've always wondered how much it had to do with the owner being a cop? How many guys didn't want to get a bunch of crap from him when he was ON duty the next day?

No disrespect intended, just something I wondered about.

You know nothing about him, his father, or his situation, but speculate away to fit whatever narrative makes you feel better.

Steve Lisk

^^^ Yup, that's it.

I have always loved this car. This very car and the 70's Pro Stock era is the inspiration for my build with a more modern twist.

A mid-high 12's car could clean up back then. In the early mid 80's it took a legit 10, low 11's second car to do really well.,

Yeah a pretty stock well tuned hemi challenger back then, on a good day, with great hook is going to be a low 13's car.

I have heard of a decent numbers of street racers around here, like the Silver Bullet, Lisk's Challenger, Mike Moran's Pinto Wagon, etc... but have never heard of the Black Ghost Challenger until recently. It's a cool car though! No info really popped up until some articles in 2020.

Yeah, thinking back, I did pretty well in my youth with an upper-12s SB '57 Chevy around '70-'72.
Had no bottom-end torque & 4.88s, so it would leave on the other guy - and if he buzzed his tires he was immediate toast.
In a few years, the cars got a lot quicker; by about '80, allegedly & sometimes credibly capable of 10s; by then I'd quit that stuff before something bad happened.

This was a early mid 80's car. Ran low 10's with a SB in it. Hook in a sandbox.

I have no doubt the “Legend” of the Black Shadow is exaggerated from bits and pieces of reality, but so what? The movie Bullitt was pure fiction and the low po 390 Mustang sold for 3.4 million. I’m guessing the Black shadow nets $300k, maybe a bit more. Which is certainly more than it’s worth without its provenance.

I think I'd have to have a PDR guy pop some of the dings out of the side of it. It's black and those stand out too much for me to live with.

I agree, and the problem is that if you do a repaint, you are probably decreasing the value. Takes a certain person to pony up for this one.

I don't think it needs a full restoration, but it appears it could benefit from some deep cleaning/detail work. I know survivor guys like vintage dirt and cobwebs so I'm sure touching it at all would make them cringe.

The benefit of not restoring it is it remains a car you can drive. If you pick up a stone chip or two in this one it doesn't matter as I'm sure it has plenty already. People tend to go off the deep end with restoring these rare cars, and then they never get driven other than in and out of the car hauler.

There is no provenance to this car besides it’s a one family owned hemi car. The well put together video a few years ago of friends & family doesn’t make it an actual legend. Chris Jacobs was hilarious on the auction opening promo Friday stating the black ghost is the most important Mopar car in history.

If you’re right, it will sell for about $150k. While I wouldn’t pay a premium for this car, others will, let’s see.

I'm thinking as high 1/2M. Triple black, one owner, HEMI 4spd 70 Challenger, unmolested, Original driveline, with all the doc's paperwork alone is an impossible find. throw in the provenance, be it true or not and it = 🤑
I'd buy it right now at 150. Will be interesting to see what it hammers for

I'm hoping that it gets bought by an overseas buyer so we don't have to hear about this car ever again...

E body envy!

If I were looking to buy it, the fluff would add nothing to the value. We all have stories of street racing back in the day, but that didn't make our cars worth more. It is a super cool car, one family owned, original and all the documentation. I wish them well with the sale.

Glad to see others questioning this cars "legendary" status. I have a hard time believing a relatively stock hemi challenger was such a "legend" street racing around Detroit back then.

The story reads well, but definitely fiction.

Seeds of truth, with embellishments.

It seemdd to me that when the story came out a while back that all he ever did was stoplight race.

Yeah, but the rich guy that buys it will have a cool story to tell his rich buddies at the country club. It'll probably be so fast he'll be afraid to drive it.

In all seriousness I hope it goes to a car guy.

The car would be a low 13 second car not a high 13 second car, that said, the potential buyers are eating up the story like candy and there is already chatter about it bringing seven figures. Folklore isn't cheap these days!

That would be a case of bidders reaching deep into their pockets in order to own something nobody else has….those guys are out there!

i always wondered about alcohol, pretty women, and "auction fever"...............

[quote=Pacnorthcuda]That would be a case of bidders reaching deep into their pockets in order to own something nobody else has….those guys are out there! [/quote





They are buying the story as much ormore than the car! I don't doubt the he took the car out from time to time and beat up on some lesser muscle cars,but you don't have to be a brain surgeon to figure out the the heavy hitters on the street racing scene were running low tens some even high nines,and this car had nothing for them.

crackedback nice 62 chevyII.

I noticed several years ago watching BJ a lot of the bidders on $$$$ cars had a drink in their hand and that happy grin on their face. I've always wondered how much sober regret there was later.

Had a lightweight '67 Dart with a hot 340 that would smoke stock hemi Challenger without breaking a sweat.

Aluminum flywheel, 4:10's out back and it was wind up and go! By time the other guy hooked up I was already up and gone and that 340 was singling it's song.

The Detroit cars had a considerable hard core reputation, if this car was near stock it was a poser.

Don't think that will happen, a real "car guy" will stop at the price where the embellishment starts. Someone that wants to be a "car guy" that isn't, will reach deeper in the pocket and it will be flipped and flipped and flipped for decades to come. Come on now we've all seen this movie before and know the sad ending.

I could give you the number of a guy that got stung 6 x on his first BJ experience and 2x on the 2nd while he was re-selling 4 of the 🐷 's he bought the 1st time. tese were 100K + cars
When his wife found out how many $$ he was spending the
his 400K garage is now empty

I've also had a few phone calls from hung over buyers inquiring about the keys in their rooms with my key fob on the ring

And A Fool And His Money Are Soon Parted!
If cars sell Under/Near market value then Cheer.
If they sell Over market value then Laugh.
That Simple.

Thank you.

Lots of nosy people on the Internet.

did it sell?

No. It doesn't go across the block until May I think. More time for hype.

Had a lightweight '67 Dart with a hot 340 that would smoke stock hemi Challenger without breaking a sweat.

Aluminum flywheel, 4:10's out back and it was wind up and go! By time the other guy hooked up I was already up and gone and that 340 was singling it's song.

The Detroit cars had a considerable hard core reputation, if this car was near stock it was a poser. [/quote

In the seventies, my town and another town in KY had legendary 340 GTS’s . No doubt many others did too.

Stop light to stop light, or the run to 3rd gear racing is all about getting the car to move. When you know how the car your butt is sitting in works, it doesn't have to be a 10 second car to beat a 10 second car, it just has to be a car you can get moving better then the other guy, and not screw up its progress for a very short time frame. Kick azz up to 50 mph, then your done. Short shift, keep the motor in the low end of the power band, don't spin the tires too much. It really doesn't matter how strong a car can finish in a quarter mile if the finish line is a lot closer to the start line, what matters is how fast it starts. Most street races were way shorter then 1/8th mile runs, maybe 100 to 300 feet, and that may even include shutdown space.

An early production Hemi Challenger on slicks with a driver that knew how to get it off the line, would have been a potent combo through the early years of the 1970s. The story said he quit racing when things got to dangerous, it didn't take many years into the 70s before the races got longer and the speeds got faster.

It even worked pretty well into the mid 80s, and a guy didn't need a Hemi. In stop light to stop light street racing, I kicked a lot of drag racers butts, they couldn't comprehend the short race process. Most cried about wanting to run a "real" race, I always told them they came on my turf to pick a fight and they lost, now go home. I knew better then to run them at a drag strip, that was a much different environment for a much different car then I had.

In the early 70's my brother and a bunch of his buddies were involved in street racing. In the summer of 71 one of the local guys had a cousin from Chicago come to visit. He drove in a 71 340 four speed Demon from Mr Norms, on the first night of racing he cleaned all the local hitters clocks, I grew up and still live in a rural area and know of a bunch of roads in the surrounding area that had 1/4 mile stretches marked off. There is only a caution light in my closest town so no stop light racing. LOL

Has any self proclaimed street racer ever lost?

growing up on staten island (nycity) 1968-1970 , we would go down to south ave, or arden ave n watch racing all nite long... it was a wonderful time to be young.. but sorry my recall is that mopar's were 'duds'.... never saw one ...on the street, during that time... that could run...

I lost, no big deal.

Don't know anyone that never lost. Unless they were a 1 and done type. Stoplight stuff isn't the measure. The fly-by, "I beat you" was always funny.

Hard running mopars on the streets in the 80's were hard to find in most places. Same as always, way more expensive to get good starting point parts. I could build a stout 468-500" BB Chevy for about the same cost as a core 426 hemi. Go to a swap and there were rect port alum BB chevy heads all over the place, CHEAP. Years go buy, same situation.

I have, it goes along with winning.

https://youtu.be/ByQrnaAjQcU Explanation from the horse’s mouth. Also info about the availability of the new Black Ghost model

UPDATE! Just sold…$975,000! A lot more than I thought! Reserve was $950,000. Seems pretty damn fishy.

Good for the family.

I agree. I don't understand the hype associated with the car or the owners.

The auction service gets more money in the end on the sale because of the higher sale price because they pimped a storyline that no one can prove.

Car was a fairy tale. Nobody was scared of a stock challenger in Detroit back then, especially one driven by a cop. "But they made a special edition" Gator grain roof sticker and pep boys dodge emblem on the hood does not make a special edition

Nailed it right there... Make a history that no one can prove or disprove. Happens way too much. I know one collectable mopar that has its history and now that the long time owner is dead the car that would stand on its own merits now has a fabricated history but some fail to realize long time owners have friends and family still alive.

In this cars case its been hyped like few have and if one takes a step back an looks at the big picture and the world we live in today I can see some fool and there money parting ways. Many have profited well over the past few years hyping this car.

It will be interesting to see where it went and who the buyer was.

The story worked though. I thought it brought a good bit more than a rough around the edges survivor would. In one of the videos a few years ago the hemi was smoking while the kid drove it around.

That car exceeded estimated by $800k, which is unheard of. Not sure what is up, buy some scooby-soo detective work is gonna happen on this car before the ink dries on the check.

If that severely beat car legitimately hit that number, then I know of a few choices survivors that are looking platinum pieces right now.

I agree. They were selling the sizzle more than the steak.

It just didn't sound right to me that a stock Hemi Challenger was that competitive on Woodward Ave in that time frame with all the modded stuff running around. And was it campaigned with street tires?

Sounds to me like the old adage; The older I get, the better I was.

I had always wondered what the 'badges' were below the R/T emblems on the fenders. There were good clear shots of them during the auction.

I believe they say Africa with the African flag shield.Now if we had money and could get it we'd go after the Siver Buliit Gtx!

Dodges version of the WOKE AGENDA . No way that car could have competed with the street cars of the time . Is a high 13 second car at best. Sorry not a racist just a realist.

I didn't know much about this car until recently,really because of Mecum.ive been apart and in the hobby for years.im glad the family got money for themselves and it's cool the father was a vet as I m myself,and put in his service as a police officer.But I've never met anyone anywhere that ever mentioned this hemi challenger,street racing drag racing,car shows etc..I've always hear bout Jimmy Addisons Silver Bullitt Gtx,Mr.Norm mopars,Pontiac blackbird,etccc but never this challenger.

This is what gets me? Why would you put one on a car that was supposed to have only been used to terrorize Woodward. To me it's like putting a roof top bicycle rack on a Hellcat, sure it's okay, but......

What's the story on the trailer hitch?

Hey looking at that Challenger's tail stripe, bet it would look pretty cool in chrome, like a big wraparound bumper Sorry OT carry on

People that saw the car said it was a beater and though it shows 45K miles was likely 145K miles. Clearly it was primarily used as a daily driver for a couple decades

Uncle Tony's story on this car exposes the scam.

You should like this, he towed his motorcycle trailer with it...

Over the years ie seen alot of muscle cars that had to to all kinds of things lots times the muscle car was also the family car.

This Bee belonged to a still close friend that worked for (John) Penton of (pre-KTM) Penton Motorcycles and hauled many a Husky and Penton to the races back in the day. I did it a few times with my '69 Road Runner back in the day as I started racing in '70 a year after I bought it new but what a PIA. The trailer hitch ball and tongue of the trailer got in the way of the gas filler/license plate anytime I had to fill it with Sunoco 260. Then if the race was muddy it was a pain to get changed out of the riding gear and then have to shove it all into a garbage bag so as not to mess up the trunk. Bought a used two year old van as soon as I could afford it and kept the Road Runner for ten years as a daily go to work driver.....................until the gas crunch hit a couple of times through the '70's. Yep not that uncommon to have a trailer hitch on a daily driver muscle car back in the day.

Mike

had that exact trailer hitch on my Challenger when I bought it at 15.

Maybe he was going to do Drag Week.

Wow. The story by Tony is very interesting. Especially the part about the mission statement of the company of the son that sold the car. His company specializes in telling story with an emotion twist to promote things. I think he did a good job.

I called it. Uncle Tony did Scooby-Doo the info on the black ghost sham.

Another interesting trailer hitch story;

Just a few minutes from my home here in southern Illinois is a purple '71 4 speed Hemi Road Runner. With a trailer hitch. In the early 70s, a student transferred to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale from the north west. He used the RR to pull his U-Haul to the university. He sold it to a local cop as soon as he got here because it nearly broke him in oil and gas. It had 4.10 gears. The cop sold the car long ago. But I got the chance to talk to him at length 20 some years ago and he actually had a scrap book with pictures of the car along with the build sheet.

Last I knew, the car, sans it's drive train is now rotting down in a field because the current owner won't sell. I tried for years to get him to sell it and have turned several people on to it who also tried but failed to save the car. I don't know it's status today. I haven't seen the car or talked to the guy the last few years. Sad story to be sure.

But how interesting it is to think about a Hemi RR with 4.10 gears pulling a U-Haul across the country.

I only heard of the black ghost a couple years ago and I think there was something in Hagerty magazine about it.
My first thought was who cares!! It was claimed to be a local legend but really who cares!! It makes an interesting story but it's not like it's some unique show car, a rare factory test car or some car that was well known back in the day that suddenly re immerged. It's just an otherwise somewhat interestingly optioned car with a story stuck to it.

And this seems to be happening more and more where some car shows up people go out of their way to build up all sorts of hype about it and then it gets put up for auction. Good for the person who's reaping all the money out of it I guess

So I have to ask.. when will the barrelcuda show up

I've lived in the Detroit area all my life and I never heard of the car until I read about it in a Hagerty newsletter article that they emailed to me not too long ago.

The owner rode trail bikes so it was used for hauling those.

Seems strange that the whole story only surfaced a few years back. Hell, like Tony says, there were LEGENDS on Woodward yet no prior mention of this one !!

Speaking of actual legends, in my area there was a mini tubbed but otherwise stock appearing laguna S3 with a 468 on a 300 shot, jaz buckets. White/beige, front runners were narrowed stock rims, car ran 10's. Johnny Laguna, would love to know what happened to that car. Middle 90's

It might help if we knew where "in my area" is.

I pulled a pair of three wheelers a bunch of miles with a 71 RR.

Where did Lisk's Challenger wind up?

Good question.

Back when these cars were just cars I routinely towed my dirt bikes to the motor sports park here with my 69 Superbee. It had the A35 HD trailer tow package and was rated to tow up to 4,000 lbs. and did so quite well.

My dad towed a big Layton travel trailer with a '67 Chrysler back in the '70's.

Back in the '90's MCG ran a story on a guy who owned a Daytona and used it to occasionally tow a trailer for his construction business.

What's the bigger scam?

The story of the black ghost or DrunkleTony telling everyone Bottle Rocket will get into the 10's?

With a million dollars difference at stake,the black ghost fairy tale gets the win on that one! There was a video of the kid driving the Challenger around and it was smoking li,e a downtown Detroit bus from 1970.

Every car of any significance is now going to be accompanied by a BS hype story to maximize their value on the block! I already started my BS story for my 70 V code Charger R/T so I can cash in big on my cars fictional history! My 70 Sixpack Charger R/T was once owned by Frank Sinatra and he raced it on the Vegas strip every Saturday night! He shut down Mean Dean Martin in his Shelby 500 KR,and gear slamming Sammy Davis Jr,in his COPO Camaro! Frank wanted to change the words to his song to I beat your ass my way after beating everyone on the strip! Anyone who talked about these street racing celebrities went swimming with the fishes with a 440 engine block chained around their necks,so that is why this story is not very well known! Whose next! Lol

A34 super track pack car.



I can see a 4.10 gear'd Hemi Challenger doing OK if it had cheater slicks on it.

Then there is Sean Machado...I gave up trying to change the extension, tried everything I know so I will just ad a link...

https://www.thedrive.com/news/28811...a-towing-another-charger-daytona-is-real

I think this was a bigger scam:

https://www.reuters.com/legal/litig...er-alleged-fake-1958-porsche-2022-06-02/

The best 1/4 mile time I saw from a 70 Hemi Cuda was 13.1 with Ronnie Sox driving it. Slicks might net mid to high 12s. Not a slouch by any means, but Addison was running 10.13 at aa test and tune session back then in the Silver Bullet. Not in the same league!

Awwww......The pic won't upload.

And Vic Edelbrock's Six Pack Bee pulling this A-body

Try renaming it to .jpg. That stupid jpeg baloney causes many problems

Watching Mecum’s stories about cars their selling is comical. Seen a few of my old cars go through their auctions after I had sold them and it had friends and I just shaking are heads with the misinformation they were saying on history of vehicles. But since I see this post is now talking about trailer hitches…… here is picture of my old 67 hemi r/t 4spd car with hitch showing loud and proud, was my summer daily driver in the 90’s. When I bought the r/t the rear tires on it looked like they came off a truck, and yes they were mounted on the original rims….Car had zero rust and original paint. Seeing VE super bee towing, thought I would show a more recent picture of it also.

As a couple other Detroit area members have posted here, I grew up in the Detroit area. I lived there for the first 22 years of my life. I grew up knowing about Lisk's Hemi '71 Challenger street driven (with a Lenco transmission), the Silver Bullet GTX, Orlo's '64 black Sport Fury "Rat Patrol" ...with a wicked 426 Max Wedge (now Hemi power) McSwains '68 Hemi Road Runner "Rat Poison"... Tim's '72 Top Banana 440 c.i. tubbed out Demon...these cars were the Mopar's that ruled streets like Gratiot Ave, Telegraph, Woodward..I-696... certain I-94 on ramps ...etc. But I don't recall hearing about the Black Ghost growing up though. I was a little kid when Godfrey Qualls, a decorated Vietnam vet, and Detroit Police officer, bought the car.. and supposedly street raced it. So obviously I never saw it, or heard about it, so I can't say he did or didn't, in the end, it doesn't matter to me. If his son wants to sell the car, it's his right to. Seems to me all the hype has come from Mecum, and Dodge... not the Qualls family. I have just heard personal stories about him and his dad ,related to the Challenger. So I hope they put the money from the auction,to good use in their future going forward.

Does anyone know who actually bought the car????

You took the words right out of my mouth, i have been in Detroit all my life also. Us Detroit guys know better that were part of that time. The Black Ghost story is just that,,,, a story.........

True...it might be just a story about the street racing part of it... though I did hear that Godfrey had slicks on the car, and no exhaust from the H pipe back.... when he would take it out "late night" ....is it true? Like I said doesn't matter to me. What does matter, is the fact that it is a significant time capsule... unrestored and mostly original. Sure it's got scars and scratches, to me that shows the history of this car. It lived likely in a one car garage in Detroit.... just like the garage my parents had where we lived, in Warren, bordering Detroit. It was a family car apparently, with the trailer hitch and all. Alot of cars like this were, back then. Someone posted the original window sticker for this Challenger... it's interesting, that it's the very same dealership that sold my dad's station wagon.

So somebody paid about an $800,000 premium for a story and now owns a car that can’t be restored (if the owner wanted to) without significant loss of value. IF the value of the story holds up over time.

Sorry, but would buy a nice hemi E body for $200k that needs some work and be happy. Just like Jay Leno who stays away from celebrity cars for a reason.

The recipe for building or making a legend. Where are or is anyone that has just one fact that any of this with the car ever happened back in the day???? Did I miss that? Apologies if I did. And how do you get an illegal street racer car into the national registry. Is the Silver Bullet in the national registry??