Durban - In 1970, the Challenger was Dodge’s answer to the Mustang and Camaro. It was meant to be a ‘pony’ car but was huge, looking more like a muscle-car.
With a low total production, as well as low survivability over the years, any Challenger is worth a substantial amount of money
Herein lies the true value of this car. So few Challengers still exist, that they can be worth an absolute fortune. Recently, a well-preserved Dodge Challenger was auctioned for $350 000 (R4.7-million).
Durban based company, Amcar Imports, recently took delivery of a recreated Dodge Challenger body, the first ever replica of the 1970 Dodge Challenger made by American restoration specialists Dynacorn. Dynacorn is officially licensed to the world’s biggest muscle car manufacturer, adding an authentic and exclusive stamp to Amcar’s new Challenger project.
Now, for the exciting bits:
Amcar has taken a leaf out of the book of well-known ‘restomod’ creator, Chip Foose. The concept of ‘restomod’ is to restore and modify older vehicles so that they are crammed with the technology of today while retaining their ‘old-school’ classic looks.
Amcar CEO Craig Buck says the beauty of this project is that the buyer will receive an exact replica of the 1970 Dodge Challenger with the car technology of today.
“What this means is that we will sell the car with the old-school look, original components but with modern, state of the art specifications. The thinking behind this is that we want to give our customers the best of both worlds,” Buck explained.
This is not only the first Dyancorn Challenger body in South Africa, it's the first one ever made.
This means that the Amcar 1970 Dodge Challenger will boast a custom leather interior with beautiful custom gauges and trim, coupled with creature comforts such as air conditioning and power steering.
The suspension will be a dual-link coil suspension, ditching the ancient leaf spring suspension that was standard on the old muscle-cars. To enable to car to stop, custom four-way disc brakes will be fitted to the vehicle as well as huge 20 inch rims mated to fat tyres to maintain traction.
Amcar Challenger will get a 522kW Hellcat Hemi V8.
Transmissions will be offered in manual or automatic, depending on the choice of the buyer.
Engine wise, Amcar has ditched the ancient Hemi engine of the 1970 Dodge Challenger in favour of a 2016/2017 Dodge Hellcat Hemi V8 engine, with more than 520kW on tap.
Dual-link coils will replace the primitive leaf-spring suspension of the original muscle-cars.
“We mix old and new technology for performance and reliability," added Buck. "This car will be fitted with a modern steering system, the latest in braking technology, upgraded suspensions and bigger tyres. The brand new engine is run by an engine control unit, something we are accustomed to in 2017.”
The Amcar 1970 Dodge Challenger will sell for around R2 million and customers will be offered an assortment of funky colours to choose from. Each car will be completely unique and will be tailored to suit the customer’s desires.
After looking through the Amcar workshop where multiple classic Ford Mustangs reside, along with a fully restored Chevrolet Chevelle and a version of the iconic ‘Gone in 60 Seconds’ Shelby Mustang, Eleanor, the Amcar 1970 Dodge Challenger looks destined to be a masterpiece.
As the project is not yet complete, performance statistics are currently unavailable.