Here at Timeless Muscle Magazine, we tend to think of the Golden Age of Musclecars as the 1962-1972 era. There are a few exceptions that came before and after that period, but by far and away, 1970 is certainly the overall high-point of the era. Chief among them was the Dodge Charger R/T. Nineteen-seventy was also the last year for the highly-coveted second-generation car, as it would later live on in pulp culture history (Dukes of Hazzard, Bullitt, Fast and Furious, etc.).
In fact, buy the time the mid-eighties rolled around, Universal Studios were having a tough time finding ’68-70 Charger to use for General Lee stunt cars — they’ve become somewhat difficult to find. Throw in the fact that they weren’t entirely rustproof when they left the factory, and you would find that many the cars that resided in the Rust Belt did exactly that — rust!
However, apparently one example made it through unscathed, even totally original from its factory form, and it’s available on eBay as we type this! Packing a 440 powerplant under the hood, this ’70 Charger R/T is still racking its original B5 Blue paint color (possibly repainted), body panels and white vinyl interior and matching top.
It’s fully documented, complete with build sheets, and has matching numbers throughout. We ran across out on everyone’s favorite auction site earlier today, and literally pinched ourselves, did multiple takes and reread the ad multiple times to make sure we weren’t hallucinating. We weren’t. There were several cues that set the ’70 Charger out from its ’68-69 predecessors, including the door-mounted vented, wrap around front grille, a longer hood (borrowed from the ’69 Superbird) and stretched fenders, among other tidbits we’re probably forgetting.
With the current bid just over $65,000, we can’t swing it, but we think the final bidder will be a happy camper if everything is as legitimate as it seems to be.
Rick Seitz is the owner and founder of AutoCentric Media, the parent company to Timeless Muscle Magazine, and has a true love and passion for all vehicles. When he isn’t tuning, testing, or competing with the magazine’s current crop of project vehicles, he’s busy tinkering and planning the next round modifications for his own cars.
