Do you have what it takes to restore a vintage Mopar? It’s no easy task, but the guys at Blue Devil Rods and Customs down in Lakeland, Florida think they’re up to it. Unfortunately, they have a long road ahead of them as the classic car in question is a seriously mistreated Challenger in need of a total rebuild.
When the Blue Devil crew first acquired the down-and-out Dodge about a year ago, the 340 Rallye racer bore little resemblance to the dark gold metallic muscle car it began life as. Aside from the rust and significant cosmetic damage, the interior had been modified for off-roading and outfitted with a truck-spec light bar doing double time as a roll cage. To begin the arduous task of restoring the Challenger to its former glory, Blue Devil began with a total tear-down, kicking off what the crew expects will be a 12-month-long makeover.
To read the whole story and check out the carnage, visit Mopar Muscle Magazine, and then share your resto stories with us!
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Wow, that poor thing is in rough shape. I hope the frame rails are good. I got lucky with my car, all the main floor pans and the frame rails were good, but the trunk floor was shot.
That’s the bad thing about restoring a car these days, if you can’t do your own body work and you don’t have alot of money, your pretty much done. Good bodywork is spendy. My bodywork and paint came to $24,000.00. (yes, I’m still on oxygen from hearing that total!!!!)
I bet that car will look sweet when they’re done.
February 3, 2010 @ 3:13 pm
You are correct moparman, unless that was the last HEMI Challenger convertible built, then I wouldn’t put all that money into it. This car needs to be recycled (melted) into a new 2010 sublime R/T or T/A Challenger. Make what we want and we don’t have to recycle the old mopars. Listen to your customers and you would be a whole lot richer. We have told you what we want, but you continue to snub us. Very bad for business and that is why you keep losing market share to the other American, Japanese and now Korean car companies. We love mopars so revive Dodge and make some cars we can be proud of. By the way, advertise the Challenger and the Viper so people will know that Dodge still makes exciting cars.
February 3, 2010 @ 5:32 pm
Sublime, any old Mopar is worth saving..Not to be melted down !!!.I saved my 73 Challenger from a rusted pile,was real bad ! No motor ,no trans, no interior,dents,rust ect..Now a mint 1970 R/T look a like with a mild factory stock built (only mopar purple cam) 1970 440 that runs low 12’s with 3.23 gears and wide tires !!! In the 90’s when a teenager I saved a 1970 Polara 2 door 440 car (blew away every 5.0 Mustang and Vette) very rare 440 car from a junkyard and later a 66,68,69 Chrysler 300 all 2 doors.,and still have a old 300 and the Challenger !!
With the new car regulations they cant make what Mopar guys want eg: a exact copy of a 1969 Charger with a 440 or 426 Hemi ,exact copy 1970 Cuda … But the new Challenger/Charger/300 and Ram with the Hemi and a few years back V-10 SRT RAM keeps many Mopar people happy,for our daily driver needs.I agree Dodge needs to advertise their cars better,actually advertise them.
February 4, 2010 @ 1:56 pm
440, I think you are right. The old cars had some shape, touches of chrome and didn’t look big with flat sides. The old mopars definitely looked better and you can play with the motors without having to worry about emissions, etc. Since they will never make the cars we want, we need to give up on Dodge and just restore the old ones. The new leadership and marketing team are clueless and that is why their sales continue to dip when everyone else gains market share. I guess I will just have to buy a vintage mopar and restore it. Maybe I will put a new drive train in it to make it more dependable. It just sickens me how they just refuse to make the cars we want. How hard is it to paint a car sublime and slap some stickers on it. The mustard (detonator) yellow just doesn’t cut it. A bright lemon twist yellow would have looked much better, although the Challenger looks good in any color, except for Titanium.
February 4, 2010 @ 4:07 pm
Hello All!!!
I cannot believe that someone would take a beautiful car like a Challenger and make it a off road buggy???????
RLD please keep us updated on this car… I would love to see it when they are done with it!!!
Tazallen
February 6, 2010 @ 11:19 am
Tazallen: We will certainly keep everyone updated on the progress of this extensive restoration!
February 6, 2010 @ 11:36 am
Hey Taz, when I was a teenager (mid ’80s) I saw a ‘69 charger on a 4×4 truck frame. Since then, I have seen 3 or 4 of them. Some people just have to be different I guess.
I’ve also seen a ‘68 charger racing in the sportsman class of the local 1/4 mile dirt track races. He lost it in turn 4 and got t-boned right in front of us. Made me cringe! Poor car.
February 6, 2010 @ 12:03 pm