To understand why I’m slobbering all over my keyboard for this 1971 Dodge Charger only takes your eyes. Look over the perfect Super Stock setup from 1971…a factory car with a tweak here, a tweak there. It’s a race machine, have zero doubt, but you could park this next to any 1971 Dodge Charger and instead of seeing how an aerodynamically-restyled body was massaged to kind of look like what you drove into the event with, you’d just see how a fat set of Cragar S/S wheels would look like out back. Underhood was the Hemi in all of it’s glory, but that intake is not stock by any stretch of the imagination…that’s an Edelbrock “Rat Roaster” setup with the top plate that puts the two four-barrels in-line, and that’s before you notice the headers or the ignition or other items that are decidedly non-standard. Care to guess what kind of power is thumping under the stock Ramcharger hood scoop? Outside of a couple of extra gauges for the driver to monitor, the interior is restoration-level beautiful with Chrysler’s brilliant blue standing out against the black carpeting…and yes, that is a four-speed car. A Hemi, four-speed 1971 Charger. Pinch me.
But obviously, this is more than just a Hemi Charger. This is Bill McGraw’s Super Stock/E Hemi Charger that he ran as part of the Rod Shop racing team. A collection of racers that included Tommy Ivo and Larry Morgan in their ranks and was ran by Gil Kirk, the Rod Shop team had a full lineup of machines for nearly every class going in the 1970s. Their Hemi-powered Colt was absolutely infamous in the mid-1970s (as was any Hemi Colt, really), but before weight breaks became a thing, it was all about the Hemi. Nobody really had an answer for the engine…not Grumpy Jenkins, not Gapp and Roush, nobody. Cars like Dick Landy’s Challenger and the Sox and Martin ‘Cudas get the glory, but this Charger looks like it’s a set of mufflers away from making a drive to another track and laying waste to a field of Mustangs, Camaros and AMXs.
The 1971-74 Dodge Charger isn’t as loved as the 1968-70, but make one look like this car and watch the fans walk towards it like zombies. Make it run like this car, and you’ll be set.
What kills me is a car like this with a damn bolt on battery cable end–a sure way to miss a round call or have trouble–owner too cheap to buy a new battery cable
yet they want a fortune for the unit–ahhh….the classic car game
Cool car from great era but the money game surrounding cars these days is
just silly–Like the tulip bulb balloon–
david kluttz – I agree with that , Growing up in Toronto very close to the Lake we discovered Marine Grade terminals . a great option is High end car audio terminals pricey but well worth it – Military Grade terminals are Super nice too .
I remember Dave Boertman’s Rod Shop cars back in the 70’s. Hemi 4 speed Charger, what’s not to love with that set up!
Georgeous ! . My favorite Petty cars were these yrs , He said they were the best balanced cars overall .
Damn it .. . ‘Gorgeous’
One of the ugliest body cars ever looks like a rubber door stop
Two words…. Drag Week
Dave Boertman’s 71 Challenger was a very trick piece. It’s lighter, with cage, than any 383 Challenger ever dreamed of being, for example. It apparently has Ma Mopar’s fingerprints all over it. I’d venture a guess that this car is also very subtly trick. It was probably on the razor edge of legality back in 71-72.