Dave Walden has accomplished the impossible with his 1970 Challenger R/T. I have been excited about seeing this car for months and my expectations were surpassed with the incredible restoration of this car. If you didn’t get to experience seeing this Challenger in person imagine this:

It is 1970 and about 8 weeks after sitting down with your favorite Dodge salesman you get the much anticipated call that your new car is on the truck just minutes away from pulling into the dealership. You jump into your Plymouth and rush down to see the car before they unload it from the transporter, you watch as the car is unloaded and idled into the dealer prep area. Upon arrival in the prep area you ask the technician not to touch the car, you want to keep it as delivered and start studying and documenting every minute detail, you stand there for hours admiring the car. You look in the interior and it is full of instruction sheets explaining the function of the seat, seat belts, you notice little bags still wrapped around the seat belts, the interior has a certain feel that only a new Dodge can have, then you notice a tag with the number 3 circled in the “A” column hanging off the key ring, you ask the tech what does that mean and he simply says “It’s the spot the car was placed on the transporter”. After leaving the interior area it is time to open the trunk and you see a bag of valve stems and the license plate retainers waiting for the prep guy to install. Now for the heart of the Dodge, the hood opens to reveal the 440 that you checked off on the order form along with the air conditioning unit, the new engine looks beautiful, not perfectly glossy from the factory but beautiful none the less. The prep technician starts pointing out a few features, while looking at your new prize you note several inspection marks, thin places in the paint, a little factory overspray etc.

Now, imagine as you are standing there Samantha twitches her nose and pops you and the white Challenger R/T into a tent filled with judges on a beautiful day at the Mopar Nationals in the year 2008. This Challenger, exactly as delivered off the transporter is sitting in a roped off area for all to see Exactly what it was like to take delivery of a new 1970 Challenger R/T. For those of us not lucky enough to buy a new Mopar off the lot got to experience the feel and look of what would have been sitting in your favorite dealer’s showroom in 1970.

First I want to thank Dave Walden for inviting me to see the car close up during the judging, it was a pleasure to meet Dave and the others responsible for building a new 1970 Challenger. Dave, it was wonderful to meet you; the car, you and your team are a true asset to the Mopar Hobby that we all love, thanks for taking the time and dedication to perfectly restore the car to as Delivered condition.

I own and have owned several survivor Mopars as well as restored cars and have been associated with several high end restorations over the years and have attended every Mopar Nationals since 1984. I routinely document every original and correct car that I come across and I can honestly say I have never seen a more correct car that has the ability to make it feel like you have been transported back to the pinnacle of the Muscle Car wars of the 1960’s and early 1970’s. The attention to detail is phenomenal from the exact drips on the torsion bars and floor pans, to the Assembly (lunch box) parts like the wheel weights, clamps, clips, tires, turn signal assemblies etc etc etc (the list could go on forever). The paint quality and finish exactly duplicates the original finish in every respect. Comparing the paint finish to my friends 8k original mile survivor that has been in a climate controlled garage since new; this incredible team of artist perfected every detail, from the correct amount of shine/hue, overspray, missed or dusted areas such as the package tray area in the trunk and the underside of the lip on the deck lid, along with perfect detail under the hood and floor pans. The inspection marks and paint splotches exactly duplicate the marks from the factory, instead of taking the time to make a perfect mark (which would never happen on the line) the inspection points were marked in the same manner and method that would have been used by a line worker, not the method typically used in a perfect scenario such as a restoration shop. The front suspension, with its bare metal perfectly detailed parts, correct pins and hardware is exactly what a new 1970 Challenger would have looked liked while waiting for the prep guy to get started. Also of note, the air conditioning system on this car was perfect in every respect and may have been the most incredible part of the Challenger; it was great to hear the judge declare begrudgingly that it is the only air conditioning system to ever achieve a perfect score, as hard as he tried he said that he could not find a single flaw.

I could go on, but this post is getting long and I don’t want to bore anyone with too many details, the only way to appreciate the quality of this build is to see it in person and I truly appreciate the opportunity to study this car. One more feature I have to add, the feel of the NOS seat material is dead on original, a restored interior using modern materials will never have that feel. The front seats feel exactly like the material used on my Plymouth that is 100% original, it feels like a new Dodge interior should feel.

I filled a 1GB card with 8 Megapixel pictures on this car alone and spent an ample amount of time around the car on Saturday, it was very gracious of Dave to allow me to view the car up close and personal like that, thanks again; I really enjoyed talking to you about the car. I can honestly say that this Challenger has set the standard that all future restorations will be compared to; if Pebble Beach accepted Muscle Cars it would contend with the legendary restorations and machines that attend that event. It would be nearly impossible to surpass the final product presented by this Challenger and I doubt it could even be equaled.

Once again, Congratulations to Dave and his team for an incredible job of research, parts chasing and producing a car that equals the quality of a car rolling into Dealer Prep for the first time in 1970. I always wondered what it would have been like to stand in a dealership when one of my cars was brand new, now I understand.

Shannon.