Before you watch this video, before you read any more words, go back and look up the first part of this video series, either here or on YouTube. Mid-2019, Dylan McCool dragged home a 1973 Dodge Challenger that had been sitting since about 1983 in the woods somewhere between near the Deep South. Nothing special, a 318 car with a three-speed manual transmission, a car that decades ago would’ve been thrown away or scrapped to salvage some Hemi car that was so far beyond gone it wasn’t even funny anymore. A car that was parked, it seems, mainly because somebody drilled it in the driver’s side door. Go look at that moss and mold-covered creation that gets dragged against it’s will onto a trailer. Then come back to this post, and click play on the video below. That’s a year and a half of work, skill, and money that have gone into cleaning up this Dodge back into something not only respectable, but righteous. That’s the patience of a saint, the skill of an old craftsman, and the fortitude to see something through to the end.
The build is almost over for this Challenger…at least, the major portion that will be on YouTube. The 5.7L swapped car rips. The interior is restored. The exterior wears the age beautifully. Forget brand loyalties…the classic E-body lines that captivate gearheads, a modern powertrain that has bottom end grunt that will bury you into the bucket with the tenacity that even the hottest 1973 Dodge couldn’t begin to equal and the approach that it isn’t meant to be a “investment vehicle”, that it isn’t destined for an auction. There’s a lot of respect to be found there.
EVERY car guy knows this feeling (at 24:30).
What makes this so sweet is that the owner is a truly nice guy. SWEET!