Remember the 1969 Dodge Charger R/T I showed you about a week ago? It had emerged from a garage after nearly two decades. Well, the Mopar just got a much-deserved cleaning, the first since it was parked.
Documented by YouTube's "Auto Archaeology," this 1969 Charger was unearthed in order to go to a new home. It emerged with a thick layer of dust covering its Medium Green Poly body, but the cleaning reveals the rig is actually in pretty good shape. Aside from the rust spots around the wheel arches and rocker panels, of course.
But more importantly, seeing a 1969 Charger come back to life after so many years is immensely satisfying. Sure, this muscle car is not yet road-worthy, but a clean car is a great place to start, regardless of whether we're talking about a revival or a restoration. And besides, this is not your average 1969 Dodge Charger.
Although it's been repainted once, the Mopars rocks a factory-correct Medium Green Poly finish. The body is paired with a white top, which makes for a cool combo, but this Charger left the factory with a vinyl roof. And the big news is that it was ordered with a green one, a relatively rare option compared to the more common black top.
The original vinyl roof was removed for unknown reasons (perhaps the top had rusted underneath?) at some point, and the owner did some filling and painted the sheet metal white. Why is it a big deal that the top was originally green? Well, the car's interior is also green, so we're looking at a triple-green Charger. That's a combo you don't see every day.
The second option worth mentioning is the stripe delete. Yup, the rear stripe isn't missing because of the repaint; this Mopar was specified without one. And as was the case in 1969, it got big "R/T" badges, a one-year feature, on the rear fenders. The stripe delete is considered a rare option on 1969 Chargers, although there's no specific on how many cars got it.
Looks aside, this Charger doesn't run as of this writing. It's not a numbers-matching classic, either. The long hood hides a 440-cubic-inch (7.2-liter) big-block V8 date-coded 1971. But even though it's not the factory mill, it's correct for the 1969 Charger R/T, which got the 440 V8 as a standard unit.
1969 was the second model year for the second-generation Charger. The muscle car had been redesigned in 1968 when it gained a sportier exterior. The R/T bundle was also introduced in 1968. For 1969, Dodge introduced a new grille with a center divider, new taillights, and the Special Edition (SE) trim. Dodge sold 85,000 Chargers that year.
But that's enough history for today. Now hit the play button below to see this Mopar get its first wash in nearly two decades.
Ask Ciprian about cars and he'll reveal an obsession with classics and an annoyance with modern design cues. Read his articles and you'll understand why his ideal SUV is the 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer. Full profile
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