Plum Crazy 1970 Dodge Challenger Is an R/T Trickster, Not Born This Way

By the looks of it though, we’ll have plenty of reasons to talk about ICE-powered muscle cars, as the used, custom, and collector car markets are already flooded with incredible examples from past years - so the absence of new ones should not affect the truly passionate.

A great example of that is the 1970 Dodge Challenger now sitting before our eyes. It’s an example from the very first year of the breed born to take on the stars of the day, the Ford Mercury Cougar and Pontiac Firebird, and to a lesser extent the Mustang and Camaro.

This car was born back then as a regular convertible with not that many bells and whistles, but now, more than half a century later, it presents itself as an R/T replica with all the proper visuals and gear.

We’re not told what engine the car had under the hood back when it was first made (choices were quite extensive even from the first generation) but now, the shaker hood, with its hold-down pins, can barely contain the 426 HEMI V8 fitted in there.

The engine is tied to a 4-speed manual transmission and breathes through a Flowmaster dual exhaust with cross pipe R/T tips. We are not being given any info on how much power the engine develops in this configuration.

Modifications made to the Challenger are not limited to the fitting of the massive engine and the various R/T callouts present on the build. Its underpinnings have changed as well, and the car now offers a heavy duty front sway bar, Rallye wheels shod in Goodyear Polyglas tires, and revised brakes behind that.

The Plum Crazy exterior, offset by black stripes and power-operated top, hides a black interior equipped with leather seats and a center console, factory clock and AM/FM radio.

We’re not told anything about the mileage of the car, but we are informed it was once voted a West Coast Mopars best of show and was even featured in a calendar back in 2015.

You can now find the 1970 Dodge Challenger, complete with the R/T modifications, on the list of cars scheduled to go under the hammer in Chicago, Illinois, in mid-October. Auction house Mecum is the one tasked with selling it, and it appears to plan to do with an undisclosed reserve.

Generally, high-profile Challengers do make a splash at such events, so we might just come back on the story if it’s a big enough splash to be worth a mention.