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1970 Dodge Challenger R/T Barn Find

Challenger RT in the Barn

Of the Mopar family, the Challenger R/T is one of the more sought after models. While the Hemi equipped cars are the most desirable, the 440 V8 models are still in high demand. This 1970 Challenger R/T is a nicely equipped car, with the big 440, but that isn’t what makes it interesting. After sitting in the original owner’s barn for the past 25 years it is nearly ready for the road. The seller has already gone through the fuel system, suspension, and brakes. All that’s left to do is to mount new tires and enjoy it. Take a look at it here on eBay or view it in person in Warrensburg, Missouri.

1970 Dodge Challenger RT

In the world of muscle cars, options are everything and this car was ordered with a rather interesting mixture of them. It has the 440 V8, but not the 6 barrel carburetor. It is the 375 horsepower 4 barrel configuration. All that horsepower is sent through an A727 automatic transmission and then to the ground via a 3:23 rear end. To get that rear end ratio, this car was optioned with the A35 Heavy Duty Suspension and Trailer Tow Package. I’m not sure how many people actually towed anything behind their Challenger, but the upgraded suspension and cooling system are great additions to have.

Challenger RT interior

The inside is standard R/T with the Rallye dash cluster and vinyl bucket seats. It was however optioned with the center console and Deluxe Wood Grain interior trim package. The inside is in need of a good cleaning and the front seats could benefit from new covers. It looks to be complete and solid enough that you could probably get by just cleaning it and throwing a blanket or cheap seat covers over the driver’s seat to enjoy it right away.

Dodge 440 4bbl V8

As I stated earlier, this Mopar has the big 440 with the 4 barrel carburetor. Like the interior, the engine bay could use a good cleaning. I also see a few oil leaks that could use some attention. Hopefully the engine is still in good mechanical condition and just needs some seals replaced. While this engine doesn’t have all the grunt of the Hemi, I can’t imagine needing more power than what this engine can produce.

Dodge Challenger RT

Of all the Mopars, the E-body Challenger is my personal favorite. It is bulky and masculine, yet it still looks sporty. You know looking at it that it was built for one thing, straight line acceleration. Everything about it screams dragster. Sure who wouldn’t love to find a Hemi powered Mopar in a barn, but in all honesty, I would be more than excited to find a Challenger like this one. If you have been on the lookout for a Challenger that you can enjoy without feeling guilty about driving hard, this one might be the car for you! So would you be alright with the 440 4bbl or would you hold out for a 440 with the Six Pack?

Comments

  1. Avatar Jim

    Super Cool Find !!!! ….. I just can’t stand green and it’s everywhere on this car. Also, an automatic muscle car is not a whole lot of fun unless you’re just into cruising.

    Like 0
  2. Avatar Will

    I can’t believe this is right down the road. It is actually close enough to go check out. And six days left on the auction with bidding ay 15,900. I might go see this one in person.

    Like 0
  3. Avatar Graham Line

    Always liked the 340s, myself. How can people do good work on a car that filthy, especially if it’s their own?

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  4. Avatar stanleystalvey

    Now we’re talking.! There were those back in the day who preferred the 440 over the Hemi because of the additional cubic inches. The cylinder heads of the Hemi alone added massive weight to the front end of the car and reduced handling. The 440 is called an “over-square” bore and stroke configuration. This usually means that the bore is greater than the stroke which creates a high rpm engine. This engine will rev to the moon. It has no top end. It will continue to increase in rpm until the engine blows up. A rev limiter might be an added safety measure. I had friends in the 70’s who made monthly payments on their 440ci engine assemblies because they loved the extreme rpm so much they blew engines frequently. If it was me, I’d be wanting the 440ci engine. I love the sound of that engine screaming bloody murder at high rpm. The Hemi was viewed as a truck engine to some with its beefy bottom end. They didn’t blow up as often as the 440’s. For some strange reason I always like the green cars with the green interiors. In the 60’s they said that green cars were bad luck. The color blends in with the highway too much because of trees and shrubs being green like camouflage so people could not see the car coming at a glance, especially at high speeds. Wrecks were more common with green and grey cars that blend in with surroundings, I presume. Fewer cars were offered in green most likely. This might be a rare color for these reasons. These are things one learned just being there in those days and hearing what the people say. It was quite common back then to buy one of these cars for $500 or so.. In 1973, when I was 15, a guy offered me a green 69 GTX 440 in near mint condition for $600. My mom was afraid I would get killed in it. Air shocks jacked up all the way, shackles and wide tires were the trick back then. It sure looked cool..

    Like 0
    • Avatar ConservativesDefeated

      @stanleystalvey:

      We’re about the same age……..the crumpled SCHLITZ cans on the front floor says it all about ANY Challenger of the time.and their drivers

      Like 0
  5. Avatar cory

    Never liked them. I was thrilled to unload a freshly painted blue one with a new white interior and a fresh 340 for $2500 in 1994. I got it on a trade deal. Hated it. Guess I should have waited a few years

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  6. Avatar jim s

    the reserve is not met at $16200 and still has 6 days to go. this is going to be very interesting to watch. great find

    Like 0
  7. Avatar Dolphin Member

    Another great find, just when some of us might have thought that all the ’70 Mopars with big engines have already been found, restored, and sold by Barrett-Jackson.

    The sales tactic here is unusual, though. All the photos show the car dirty and in BF condition, I guess since that’s still the flavor of the decade. The hard sell isn’t what’s unusual. What I can’t understand is what the condition of this car is now. The seller says the important safety systems have been gone through. He also says “the car is now housed in a climate controlled garage, it has been entered in numerous local car shows and has won awards each time.”

    Maybe they were BF / originality awards, but it would be good to see the car as it sits today because that’s what bidders are bidding on. Maybe if the car has been cleaned up the photos would be able to show whether there is any rust around the edges—an important thing since that wood garage doesn’t look too dry. And so would some underside photos, which shouldn’t be hard to get since the car runs and drives. Maybe that climate controlled garage even has a lift.

    The car is already bid to $16K in less than a day and will likely sell for big money. This is one car I wouldn’t bid on without looking it over—and under—very carefully.

    Like 0
  8. Avatar Jim Stewart

    $24,900 now and reserve still not met… I agree with Dolphin, why would you bid like this on a car without pictures, presumably, of how it really looks RIGHT NOW?

    Like 0
  9. Avatar Don Andreina

    Great find. I love this body.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Andrew Minney

      Never forgetting that the Challenger grew out from a Chrysler Corp turbine car
      Andrew

      Like 0
  10. Avatar Denny Alldredge

    As an young man I worked as an ASE certified mechanic in a Mopar dealership back from 1975 through December of 1978. I worked on my fair share of these Mopars of every stripe. They had great drive trains, but I’ll tell you the bodies were awful. To thin and light weight in all the wrong places. I see cars like this and I recall what incredible rattle traps they were. Toward the end of my time as a Mopar mechanic the company was very much upside down and turning out the worst cars ever. Some of these cars would not even start up to drive them off of the car transports. We literally had to push them off and into the shop to do over what the factory had done wrong and many times intentionally. Then thankfully a man named Lee Iacocca took over and put pride and leadership back into a failing company and got it turned around. I love the drive trains and admire the body design, but that’s were it ends for me.

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  11. Avatar erikj

    boy that brings back memories. In 1984 I read a add in the morning paper: 70′ cuda/440 $1000. I called and it was very close and had to talk the guy into waiting for me. I get there and we walk around to the back to a old falling down garage,kind of like the one this challenger came out of. we pulled the doors open and there was the front end of a silver 70′ cuda. loaded : fog lamps,shark gill rocker molding,power bulge hood,440 commando ,auto/buckets and console and rallydash. Got it for $800 and he said to come back the next day and hey\ would have it running. I could hardly wait. next day he calls and says his wife works close by my house so I ment her at her work for a ride to get the cuda. That ride was memorable since we rode in a amc pacer. Of all cars that was the ugliest thing on earth and riding in it was weird. we get to the house ,the cuda is running and payed them and had the most aswam drive home. Story with the car is it was parked when they bought the pacer for better gas mileage. another thing was it was repainted in the late 70,s Its orig. color was fc7 purple. they changed it to silver be cause everyone always wanted to race or buy it because of the color!! I forgot one more thing,it only had 57k . I put it back to purple fixed a few things and vowed never to sell it. Well 6 months later I had $ 4000 INTO IT AND A GUY OFFERED ME $8000. I sold it to buy yet a nother of the hundreds of cars I had a
    t different times but that r/t sure remindes me of my old cuda.

    Like 0
  12. Avatar PRA4SNW

    I guess the original owner never got around to “fixing it up someday” and gave it over to a flipper.
    Thankfully he let the dream go before this thing was too far gone.
    Don’t be surprised what this car will sell for. I’ve been wanting to get back into a some Mopar muscle, but not at today’s prices.

    Like 0
  13. Avatar geomechs Member

    Actually, my preference is a 383 Magnum. Not a real powerhouse but you could do a lot of cruising with a 383. A ’70 or ’71 RT with a 383/auto, it would make me very happy.

    Like 0
  14. Avatar Erin Hennon

    these barn finds are great, just keep them coming.

    Like 0
  15. Avatar RogueInLA

    A Challenger story to share;

    Back in (I believe) 1978 my younger brother was operating his tow truck in Chicago, when a passerby approached him about getting an old car out of his garage. Seems he’d rented the garage out in the early 70s to some people who put a car in there and left it. My brother, figuring if nothing else it would be a few bucks in scrap, agreed, and drove to the man’s house. He had to use the tow truck to pull the garage door open. Inside was a 1970 or 1971 Challenger R/T Mr. Norm’s Grand Spaulding Dodge 440 6PAK car. Missing engine and trans, but otherwise complete, with the original Shaker hood, scoop and air cleaner lying next to it. My brother had to get wheels and tires to put on it to tow it out. He stopped on the way home to offer it for sale to some friends who were buidling Mopar drag cars, and they said it was too nice to chop up. Then they noticed the odometer, 1,278 Miles. The original part # tape was still on the exhaust pipes. The interrior was immaculate, as was the entire body. My brother sold the car to a guy in Minnesota who was going to put a 6 in it and let his daughter drive it as her college car. It was a white car with (if I remember correctly) a black vinyl roof, black interior, Mr Norm decals. We found a parking ticket in the car from 1971. No idea what the story behind it winding up in that garage was about. My brother got, I think around $1200 for the body in 1978, and we thought it was a MAJOR score. I often wonder what that body would be worth it if were found, in the same condition, today. Even more, I wonder what ever happened to it, I can’t imagine Minnesota winters were very kind to it.

    Like 0
  16. Avatar Jesse Staff

    Bidding ended at $30,057!

    Like 0
  17. Avatar Tanner Lamb

    Here is a Pic of this car now. Almost finished with complete nut and bolt restoration back to original at Lamb Fab in Gilbert Arizona. All original parts were re used, car was taken down 100% and brought back. We are restoring the original wheels for the car and will keep them with it.

    Like 2
    • Avatar Mountainwoodie

      Absolutely stunning!

      Like 1

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