Re: 1970 Hemi Challenger Convertible
 

-----Desmond,,,I saw the car in question in 1970 not 1979. 1970 is a long way from 1979 but no harm no foul! As you can imagine I remember the red interior vividly as you just didnt see a car like that every day. The thing was striking, but the kid couldnt drive it. A lot of kids back in the late 60s/early 70s from the Palm Beach area got cars that were over their heads operationally. Id bet he either hurt the car early on or got a bunch of tikets and probably got rid of it .....Bill S

Re: 1970 Hemi Challenger Convertible
 

Your post says Feb. 1979 redalert.

By "new" 1970 LT1 Vette I just figured 'new to you' as your car would have been 9 years old by then.

If it was in fact 1970 then you definitely saw this car. Nothing is known of it before '76 so you probably saw it in the hands of its first new owner after it was released from the press pool.

Re: 1970 Hemi Challenger Convertible
 

------So it does! I just now spotted the typo in my post. I apologize. It was 1970 and I had my LT1 for about a month. It was the first one in Ft.Lauderdale........Bill S

Re: 1970 Hemi Challenger Convertible
 

Fat fingers Bill! The "9" and the "0" are right next to each other! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/smile.gif

Re: 1970 Hemi Challenger Convertible
 

-----Fat fingers, fat head, or something like that.......Bill S

Re: 1970 Hemi Challenger Convertible
 

[ QUOTE ]
Now we have really hi-jacked the thread. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/blush.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

No problem, I got an answer on my question, the rest is a bonus and very interesting.

Jan

Re: 1970 Hemi Challenger Convertible
 

The Mecum car didn't sell at the auction.Does anyone know when and who bought the car.

Re: 1970 Hemi Challenger Convertible
 

There was one from Sweden a friend looked into back in the day.Car was either blue or purple .But the pictures he showed me the car was real but had a added on 70 RR beep beep horn.I believe it also had stereo speakers cut into the rear plastic interior panels.This guy has alot or rare cars maybe owns that ragtop
http://corvettes-musclecars.com/gallery2/main.php

Re: 1970 Hemi Challenger Convertible
 

That guy has one other even rarer car that were in Sweden, a 71 GTO Judge 'vert 455 HO 4-speed, one of three made. I am at the moment researching its history in Sweden. It came over in 1974 and became a daily driver, it got a trailerhitch and had to work as a trailerhauler for the owners dragracecar. He ran the Judge on the strip too and managed a best of 12.8 on the quartermile with a factorystock engine, that was with a TH400, they changed the M22 for an automatic.

Jan

Re: 1970 Hemi Challenger Convertible
 

I have pictures of your car taken in the mid 1980's

I may have more info.

email me

[email protected]

Re: 1970 Hemi Challenger Convertible
 

One of the FJ5 cars is at the Ellingson Car Museum in Rogers, MN.

Re: 1970 Hemi Challenger Convertible
 

Jan,

If you're still looking for the Challenger Hemicab, a gal in south Florida now owns it. Her collection is online. www.stylesgarage.com will take you to it.

I've been trying to research more of this hemicab's Swedish history for her. According to Peter Jordan, the bloke that imported the car to the UK from Sweden, it was deemed a "pizza racer" while in Sweden (i.e. a car raced by a pizza delivery shop owner).

Perhaps we can do a knowledge transfer. PM me if you get this.

-Brian

Re: 1970 Hemi Challenger Convertible
 

And if you would like to see this car up close and personal, and meet the owner, please consider joining us the the upcoming Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals show November 17-18. www.mcacn.com

In addition to this remarkable Hemi Challenger R/T convertible, Samantha will also be showing her red RA IV '70 GTO Judge conv, a '69 428 CJ Cougar conv and yet another RA IV GTO Judge conv. that has beeen stored away for decades that will be shown as found, unrestored and "barn fresh"

Bashton
MCACN Managing Member

Re: 1970 Hemi Challenger Convertible
 

Hi Brian,

I hope you got my mail I sent you yesterday.

The story about "Pizza Racer" is not true. The term "Pizza Racer" was founded for 2nd gen Trans AM's. In the mid 70's every Pizza restaurant owner in Stockholm had a 2nd gen Trans AM, it was their way of showing off. That resulted in that nobody else wanted a Trans AM for not to be associated with "greasy" Italians.

The Challenger Hemi Cab was called something else. There is no equivalent English word so I try to explain the category it was called to belong to.

We have had a car culture over here since the early 50's that is more or less people driving around in American cars on Friday and Saturday nights. You jam in as many people as you can in the car, preferably girls, everybody is drunk (except the driver), screaming, throwing beer cans and misbehave in general. Loud rock'n'roll music too.

I guess you can call it "Heavy Cruising", it isn't so much showing your car and race at the stop light. It is more street party.

But at the same time in Stockholm the guys with the Musclecars were cruising along with the drunk pack, eventually they came up next to another Muscle car and then they raced at the redlights. Since that Challenger were often driving on the cruising streets it got classified as one of the Party Cars and that is a reputation that still lives here in Sweden.

We have had other examples that had fallen in to that Category, COPO_Anders' Camaro was an even more case of a "Heavy Cruising" car.

Enclosed is a picture of the Challenger as it looked when it came to Sweden, it doesn't look anything like it now. Here it is Black with white top, not the wheels, the AO5 - Protection group option, if you look close it also had the fender mounted turn signal indicators. Original engine was changed and where it is now nobody knows.

I had a piece written on it in my book.


Jan

Re: 1970 Hemi Challenger Convertible
 

Simply stunning!!! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/headbang.gif[/img]