How cool is this? This 1971 Dodge Challenger is an old-school pro stock car that has apparently been sitting for years based on the one photo of it locked in what looks like a livestock shelter. While few details are provided, the best part about old drag racers are the clues provided their faded livery and decals, and this Challenger is like a rolling museum of pro stock history given how much of the original paint job and graphics scheme has survived. It’s also said to have a Hemi (big surprise) which I’m sure has been worked over a fair amount. Find it here on Facebook Marketplace with an asking price of $50,000 and located in Blue Springs, Missouri.
If you Google “Wes Jerde,” the name does come up on at least a few links of drag racer names. The one clear photo I could find shows the names “Jerde & Temposky” on the rear quarter panel, which I would assume to mean that Jerde later split with Temposky and drove the car solo. Sadly, when you search a little bit further, you’ll learn that Wesley Jerde passed away in December of this year, which likely made the car’ future uncertain with its longtime captain no longer at the wheel. Mr. Jerde lived in Grandview, MO, so there’s a good chance that our Missouri readers may have seen this Challenger at the strip in its heyday.
The interior is all race car, with the requisite roll cage, racing bucket, and gigantic tachometer. The Challenger is spartan inside, but that’s the point of a drag car. It’s equipped with a four-speed manual, and given the impressive hood scoop, I have to believe the vague reference in the listing to a Hemi engine is an extremely abbreviated description of what is likely a built motor. Of course, the engine in place could simply be a street-friendly mill if the valuable competition-grade engine was yanked and sold off when the owner retired. There’s no way to know without calling and/or the seller including a picture of what is under the hood.
Here’s a shot of the Challenger the seller included as evidence of its past racing history. You’ll see different driver names on the door, which may indicate the Challenger has been a long-time staple of the drag strip under different drivers. It would seem likely that there’s a fair amount of history behind a former drag car like this, and unpacking that lineage is half the fun. Of course, you’ll need some real money in your pocket to take it home, but at least it appears the Challenger has survived in largely sound condition with no obvious indicators of rust or accident damage. Do you remember this Challenger drag car?
Somebody responded to the ad and said he remembers it having a 440 six pack- seller says it has a hemi. No eng pics, yahoo. pic from underside shows a tube frame and aluminum floors etc. You would need to look at it . One pic of the mill would tell you if its a hemi, but noooooooo pic. 50 large might be a stretch. Good luck and stay safe.
Cheers
GPC
Pro Stock would have run a Hemi.
It looks like it came straight off the track and into storage. The wheels and minimal changes to the paint would suggest that would have happened in the 70’s. Pro Stock cars had a limited shelf life, this cars competitive life in that class would have only lasted a handful of years.
If someone tried to drive this on the street it would have been a ticket magnet due to the lettering and slicks. It’s more than likely it never saw any street use.
Steve R
I knew Wes for many years and he was not nationally known but very well known in the KC and surrounding area as a builder, machinist and racer dating back to before funny cars were funny! One of his first was the Nova Too Late which you can find on Google images. He was also working with Al Vanderwoude better known as the Flying Dutchman. He took over the Dickie Harrell shop after his passing in a funny car accident. Wes was an awesome engine builder and the Challenger as well as it’s predecessor Demon were absolutely Hemi powered and may have been twin plug versions. The Challenger ran high 9’s to low 10’s depending on the track with Wes banging gears the old school way – no electronics! Bottom line, if I was able that car would be mine today!!! But at 70 years old I could not treat it the way it deserves to be treated – nostalgia Pro Stock
Pop the hood on that beast!!!!!!
Put a Hellcat crate motor in it and make it run the fastest 1/4 mile time of its career!
Yeah, right.
Steve R
Eeeew god, no! Leave it just exactly like it is. Fix the brakes and such… make it shiny and safe again and enjoy that rare window to one of the best parts of our past.
This car used to run low 7’s through the 1/4 mile.
Sorry, I may have read wrong , it was the funny car he was also driving in that era that was in the 7s.
Things have definitely changed, in the early-70’s Pro Stock cars were running 9.30’s-9.40’s.
Steve R
Wow. Link? Dyno Don Nicholson was running low 9s during this time in Super Stock.
Oh I see you are referring to a funny car time. Sorry. The most competitive of these were in the low/mid 9s during the ’70s.
I hope whoever buys the car can preserve it. Vintage pro stocks are the bomb! A hemi/4 spd car to boot!
Very cool find indeed. I imagine it’ll show up at Carlisle this year, provided the event isn’t cancelled.
Now, let’s wait and see if Cool Joe Machado decides to remind us of how awesome he is because he owned 2 Hemi Challengers, one of course being the factory prototype. Lol
Lets see the Vin fender tag. Cool find for sure, but was it a body in white, which I doubt with the interior door covers. Lets see how it started it’s factory life.
I watched Wes Jerde drive that car in the early 70’s. It had a Hemi
at the time and ran low ten second ET’s. Wes had a shop where
Dick Harrell had previously raced from, in south Kansas City.
At some point in the early seventies the NHRA allowed alternative odd ball engine-body combos to compete in the newish Pro Stock class, like Vegas, Pintos, Mavericks, and of course Hemi powered Dusters. That’s when I believe the et’s started to drop even lower.
50 large for an old pro stock hemi powered Challenger seems a bit much, unless it was raced by a very well known driver like Dick Landy or a part of the Sox/Martin stable. Something like that. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an absolutely cool old racer that has stayed period correct before the phrase existed, but it is and always will be a purpose built quarter miler.
Evil Woman, that’s too cool.
I don’t care what engine it has or ends up with, I just hope that whoever gets it has the money to save, or re-create that 70s paint job! The wild graphics on these cars are a lost art today!
Car was originally out of Washington, Indiana. Ran the usual tunnel rammed Hemi