Rustbucket 1969 Dodge Charger 318 Gets a Second Chance, Hopes To Return as a Muscle Car

Dodge wasn’t particularly entitled to pat itself on the back at the end of 1967 after the fastback Charger of the first generation failed to break the bank. However, the Chrysler division gave it another shot – and hit the bullseye dead-center. The new car could convince the seraphs to gorge themselves into damnation with the forbidden fruits of burnouts, endless high-speed car chases, and spectacularly long jumps.

The Dukes of Hazzard played the lead role in establishing the nameplate as the emblematic hero of its era. The Malaise mishaps and the ‘sedanization’ of the Charger in the modern age didn’t take away the original aura; quite the contrary – if anything, the post-1974 evolution of the Mopar only poured highly flammable enthusiasm on the fire of Dodge fever addiction.

Sadly, back in the seventies and eighties, an old Charger was just that – an old car with an insatiable appetite for gasoline and dated features and options. Consequently, many were left to bake, rust, freeze, or all of them combined. That’s not something to deter die-hard fans from rescuing them at any cost (I don’t need to twist the knife in the wound, but a ‘68-‘70 Charger makes any gearhead think twice about that kids’ college fund).

But the Mopar fanatics have their own rules to abide by. We can only accept this as a fact of life: you can’t stop the sun from rising any more than you can prevent a car nut from buying a project car. The fact that said car will sometimes morph into a never-ending project is another matter. Still, people sometimes get through with what they plan on doing.

What would be the chances of this crusty 1969 Charger starring in the video below to make it back on the road as a built racer? The beater Dodge was born with a 318 and an automatic – fate of both unknown at the time of the recording – the car is plagued with the habitual Pacific region side effects.

The general plan is to throw a 440 in it for hard driving on the strip. Jamie Attwood, the host of the Dead Dodge Garage YouTube channel, just so happens to have one 7.2-liter lying around in wait (and several accompanying goodies).

That’s a lot of engine to stuff in a car that’s basically a roof, a title, a name emblem, and a legend, but we’ll wait. The Charger will come back to life, one way or another, and I assume there’s not one single objection to this honorable intention. After all, the slapper bars didn’t get there by accident, and something tells me this car has gone through more than one V8 - probably for quarter-mile intents and purposes.

Not to be the suspicious one here, but the three coats of paint (ironically, white, red, and blue, in that order, from visible to original) would indicate at least just as many owners. Not that it would matter much for its future: 440 V8 with 452 heads, a Mopar Performance camshaft with .528 intake rockers, and enough duration to make oil companies great again.

It will go well together with the tic-toc-tach frozen in time in the middle of the dashboard. Jamie doesn't reveal what he paid for the crispy, naturally-lightweighted Charger, and it’s none of our business to make assumptions. But what would you do with it – bring it back on the road or save it for the track?