After a looong wait there is finally light at the end of the tunnel. I have had my car since October 1984. Since this is one of those long term deals I will start this with a history of the car in this post.
A cousin (Terry) first bought this car in summer of 1973 with various whiskey dents in it and a tired engine. He and my older brother (Steve) did a quick rebuild on the engine in our garage with my fathers help. Terry had the minor body damage repaired and it was shot in grey primer. He also put on a set of Crager SS wheels and “Speed World Racing Profile" (I think I remember that correctly) tires.
Shortly after, in September the family loaded up and moved the two (Terry & Steve) to Phoenix, Az. where they were to attended Arizona Automotive Institute. My parents and other bother in our 1970 New Yorker, Steve in his 1970 300, 2 door with a 440 under the hood and automatic on the floor, and me along with Terry in the Charger leading the caravan. It was an 850 mile trip from eastern New Mexico, and since I had just turned 13, one I will never forget. The highlights of the trip were flying through some curves in Salt River canyon and a race with a ranchero shortly after hitting Phoenix. The Charger won of course.
Near the end of the year long school Terry sold the car to a neighbor (Doug, my name also) two miles down the road from us in New Mexico. While still attending the school Terry and Steve used it for a school project and made some modifications. Terry, Steve, and Doug are all the same age and Doug went to Phoenix while the work was being done to now his Charger. They found a Max Wedge intake and installed it on the engine along with replacing the cam to a Max Wedge grind, added headers, and an electronic ignition replacing the old points distributor. The auto trans was removed, dismantled, and cleaned before being placed on the bench of the transmission instructor for the school who also built drag race transmissions on the side. Too my best recollection, the cost was what seemed astronomical for 1974 at $300+ just for new parts and assembly. But it was stated that the build was guaranteed to make 100 runs in a 1000 hp, 3500 lb car with 14 inch slicks.
After driving the car back home Doug took it to a shop in Friona, Tx. to have a custom lacquer paint job applied. See the attached picture taken right after it was picked up from the paint shop at Steve’s station in Bovina. The picture is crap, but it is they only one I have of the car from that time period. It was a Polaroid taken by my brother that I acquired in 1984 after buying the car and scanned the late 90’s.
Doug only drove the car a few times and it spent most of its time in his parent’s garage for the first six months. Then Doug’s mom said it had to leave the garage so it was parked outside. This is where it stayed for the next year with only being driven on a few occasions. The unwaxed lacquer paint faded considerably during this year. Finally in early 1976 it was put in the barn and a tarp pulled over it. This is where it stayed until late 1982. A friend of Doug’s was a car salesman in Muleshoe, Tx., and the car was taken to the dealer where he worked. It was sold to a young man named Ty who had it until putting it up for sale in October of 1984 at which time I bought it. I had thought many times about buying it while it was setting in the barn since I was and still am close to that family but thought I had put it off too long when I heard that Doug had taken it and sold it through his friend. I thought it likely I would never see it again. When I saw it sitting in front of a salvage yard that day in September 1984 with a for sale sign on it, I took it for a long test drive and just had to have it.. The asking price was $2,600 and all I could muster was $2,400 after putting everything I had of any value as collateral. The seller would not back off on the price a dime so I made the deal to pay the $2,400, leave the car and come back in one month with the remaining $200 and close the deal.
I suspect all readers realize after my lengthy introduction that I have a very special fondness of this car. I drove and thoroughly enjoyed it until late 1988 when I parked it in a garage because the front end was worn out along with the brakes. I did not have the money to do any repairs and was afraid that I couldn’t perform proper idiot driver avoidance with the front end and the brakes the way they were. I was not willing to lose it in a crash given that scenario.
My next post will have more pictures of the years that I drove it and then I will start with pictures of the work that I started in 1991 and what has happened since then.
Thanks to anyone who made it this far in the post and to Tom for providing a place to do this.
