Taking into account that some one should find the lightest carcass one can find to start a featherweight project, I presume that one of these babies is the ticket right off the bat and at least 50-80 Lbs lighter than a fastback fish. I could be wrong, but the slippery fastback rear window with all the metal quarter and roof surrounding it compared to this Notchback's lean rear probably amounts for a few porky pounds.
THIS... is the true key to weight reduction and a light race car... START WITH THE RIGHT CAR. I see a LOT ov guys spending a lot ov time lightening naturally heavy cars. The above is a good car to start with, but get the 67. Its lighter than a 69. Even if you want a 69... make a 67 into a 69. Might only save 20lbs overall... but you guys are fretting over plastic headlights here. Better yet, get a 67 Valiant 100. If you're going smallblock, and you can handle the ugly, then go earlier... mid-60's... early 60's.
I just broke my own cardinal rule by selling a NO-option 70 6cyl Challenger. It scaled at a legit 3000lbs. I just bought a 74... that should scale around 3550lbs (though its a factory HP rallye car, 360/4-speed, all the fun stuff, etc.). By my math... if i were to take this sucker all the way down to its birthday suit, it'd still be around 50lbs more than the 70... so there is 50lbs i'm not getting back. However... the money i saved by selling the nicer 70 car is going to get me a FG hood and fenders, lightweight wheels, lightweight flywheel, and i've already bought some lightweight engine parts and an aluminum rad. I could afford none ov that when i had my 70... so the net will be a lighter 74 for me. But still... the perfectionist in me will always know about that 50lb chassis difference...
It'll still be a 3000lb HP Challenger though... maybe less. I haven't done the total math yet. Not bad for a 400+HP 4-speed road car... to start...
