Once an incredible project car, this Challenger sat for years before finding a home with its current owner of ten years.
When it comes to car enthusiasts, we all abide by a few unspoken rules to keep our passion alive and sustainable. Some of these include: driving your car how it was meant to operate but not abusing it, budgeting for parts and planning out the build, and finally, you should never put a lien on your car. Often, these types of loans end with the borrower not paying off their debts, resulting in the loss of what is likely their most valuable asset. This can be devastating for car enthusiasts like us, but there is a brighter side to these poorly thought-out financial pitfalls. When a car is repoed or taken by a lender due to unfulfilled payments, they usually sell it a short while later. That's exactly how one man ended up obtaining what would later become the pride and joy of his automotive adventure.
This 1970 Dodge Challenger was initially painted in Mango Orange but was later coated in a thick layer of black. However, don't let the exterior quality, which has been covered in dust and rust from decades of sitting, fool you because the car now sports a massively famous powertrain. The car came from the factory equipped with a 383 ci V8 engine which was certainly no slouch with 335 horsepower. However, nowadays, the car boasts the ever-iconic 426 ci Hemi V8 engine, which produces an incredible 426 horsepower or more. This efficient V8 power plant was regarded as one of the first engines ever to put out one horsepower per cubic inch of displacement and is now Dodge's most sought-after V8. So how did it end up under the hood of this abandoned Challenger?
The story goes that the original owner was all about performance which is exactly why he bought a new 426 ci Hemi V8 out of a '69 Daytona. The guy was trying to buy the car but was told that only the engine was for sale. After taking out a very poorly thought-out title loan on the vehicle, the vehicle was seized by the pawnshop, who later sold the Hemi-powered beast for just $30,000 to the current owner, who has had the car for about ten years now. The car is now in pretty rough shape, with tons of debris covering the body and interior, but it's cool to see a genuinely dedicated build like this one surviving for over 52 years.
