Abandoned in 2003, 1969 Charger Wants To Be General Lee; One-Barrel V8 Disagrees

1969 is the year Dodge sliced the grille of the Charger smack-down in the middle, giving it an unmistakable mean grin that has stuck in the hearts of its loyalists like a scarlet letter. Sometimes, perhaps, it took too big of a toll – as one owner of an original example would testify.

Randy Miller is the man, and thirty years ago, he bought a base 1969 Dodge Charger with the noble intention of building himself a nice General Lee tribute. As in many other stories, he didn’t find that perfect sweet spot where time, resources, and energy collide into one lucky circumstance. So, the Charger project was put on hold in a field on the man’s property.

Earlier in 2023, Mr. Miller’s heart gave him a warning, and the verdict wasn’t the kind of news one can take easily. The Charger had to go, and the Confederate Battle Flag would not wave on its roof with Randy’s signature on it. Despite the car's condition, he put it up for sale for $20,000 – quite the deal. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder – and in the depths of his pockets, as far as piston love-affairs are concerned.

Randy Miller sums it up perfectly: ‘I just put it on just to see if there’d be any big interest, and holy… my phone’s been blowin’ up; it’s amazin’!’ (Anyone with a slight knowledge of the internet will immediately agree that a two-grand ’69 Charger with four wheels, an engine, a tranny, a rear, and an entire body and glass is worth way over that).

To quote a massively popular YouTube – Westen Champlin, the one who bought the car – that has an incurable addiction to second-gen Chargers (‘68s and ‘69s, to be accurate): ‘It’s about $15k cheaper!’ that might be right – I know some people with call this a steal – but wait to see the rest of it. As with any old car purchase, there’s bound to be hidden money pits; better yet, make those visible money pits.

Look at this crippled veteran of the South, sinking into the ground like an iron-clad battleship from the blockade days of 1861. According to its new owner, the bad part is that the right side suspension (front and rear) is hanging by a thread; that’s how bad the corrosion is. But we’ve seen far worse examples of crusher candidates being summoned back to life, so it’s not unrealistic to expect the same here.

Now, one dilemma surrounds this Charger: the seller described it as a base model. However, upon a close inspection of the business end, Westen reveals a single-barrel carburetor under the factory air cleaner. But the video also shows a V8 –a head-scratching conundrum.

In 1969, Dodge offered a one-barrel, but it was on its famous Slant-Six 225-cubic-inch motor (the 3.7-liter one-tire fire six-cylinder plant factory-installed in only 462 Chargers). The vlogger doesn’t say what engine is in there, but it’s definitely not a 426 HEMI or a 440 Magnum (those came only on the R/T models, and this isn’t one).

The other eight-cylinder options for 1969 Chargers were the 318 V8 (a two-barrel 5.2-liter) and the ominous 383 (6.3-liter) with two- or four-throat carbs. This is a curiosity tied in chains to the engine mounts (literally - the V8 rocks so hard, it makes the YouTubers question the makeshift engineering). However, the motor runs - after some serious convincing - and the old Charger gets off the trailer on its own power, despite its slipping tranny.