Dodge Charger - truth is often stranger than fiction...
Sarahs'1969 and 1968 , Seans' 1968, Martins'1968
1969 Dodge Charger
A recent import to the country, this time from Louisiana where it was previously owned by a New Orleans Police Officer - we kid you not. Like all the preceding cars this again started life with the humble but more than adequate 318 engine, however when it came time to change it the owner decided not to do it by halves. A donor car was sourced and luckily for us it was a 440 R/T. Out with the 318 and in with the 440 block (a massive 7.2). Like most American cars of this era straight line performance is phenomenal it's the steering and braking that lets them down over here, they are just not built for our poor quality windy roads. Fortunately for us the previous owner was a man of vision and replaced all the front end linkage with poly parts, the steering was sorted! Braking whilst passable using all round drums was not the best and so discs from a 'Cuda were fitted instantly improving the stopping distance. It seemed a shame to have a car that could now stop and steer with a stock engine so the cam was hauled out and replaced, along with the rear end. Replaced with a 284/484 cam (no idea what that means!), Holley double pumper fitted ( now replaced with a Holley750 and Edelbrock Performer Intake Manifold) and 2" exhaust from the donor R/T, rear end is fitted with Dana 60 with 354 gearing.
To finish the picture the car also has the grill and badges from the R/T. This car truly is an awesome vision in black.
A Gothic Nightmare on steroids! For an idea of the owner of this check out the vanity plate, read and learn!
1968 Dodge Charger.
We purchased this car over the Internet (yes, must be mad). This was the result of seeing an advert for the car, numerous phone calls to the states and a lot of soul searching. Could we afford it, should we buy a sight unseen car – could we trust the seller? Using the Internet I was actually able to confirm the sellers name and address and also his work! It is scary just what you can get by searching.
Any of you that know Sarah know of her love for Dodge Chargers, many a Sunday lunch she has raced off in the passenger seat of a Charger. We discussed the pro’s and con’s, it was the wrong colour and had a vinyl roof, had a 400 engine not a hemi (OK that was my wish!). Done deal the car was ours, simple matter of traipsing to the bank to arrange a money transfer. I also contacted the bank for a reference on the seller.
Then we had to find an importer. The prices quoted varied enormously and so did the service we received. We eventually settled on AbleCargo.com as they offered us the best price including picking the car up from the middle of nowhere and shipping it here insured. From the time the car arrived at the Port Of Los Angeles to the time it arrived here was a little over 4 weeks. The car was unloaded by Kingstown shipping who also paid Customs duties for us, nicely handled guys.
We collected the car and drove it
home, how scary is that – no Tax, No Mot, no UK registration plates! Once here
we booked it in at our local MOT station and then could apply for a UK number
and tax exemption. I was actually surprised at how well the car drove.
I am used to the notoriously vague handling of American cars and this one is
surprisingly tight with excellent brakes - no ABS so you have to brake gently!
The chairs are fantastically over stuffed and you could drive for many miles
in total comfort, like sitting in your favourite arm chair. Thinking about it,
it is more comfortable than my settee - wonder how easy they are to remove?
Points to consider – how much will the car cost in sterling (check the exchange rate), how much will it cost to get it to the port, how much will it cost to ship over the pond. Once here in the UK there are extra fee’s to unload at the port – are these included in the shipping quote? Have you got insurance? Are you in a breakdown service that can handle US cars?
Would I do it again, perhaps, was it worth it definitely. Well you be the judge of that – this is what we bought:-
This car was exactly as described, the paint is fantastic, the interior is stunning white vinyl. The only bad things on the car - if you could call them that is the heater had been disconnected - not much call for that in Idaho and the radio, which I think is original doesn't work. This could be something as silly as a blown fuse, I just haven't had the time to investigate it yet.
Just recently had to have the gearbox rebuilt on this car as the reverse powerband blew. This happened on the Friday before the bank holiday where a prospective buyer was coming down to see the car. Major disaster? Not at all quick phone call to Duncan 'Cannonball' Watts and crisis averted, car was delivered Friday evening, gearbox removed Saturday, rebuilt and back in car by Sunday dinner! How about that for service, he also set the kickdown linkage for a smoother gear change. Excellent job and highly recommended.
Words of wisdom. Make sure you know your seller. The Internet has sites that allow reverse look up of phone numbers. Find out who they work for and check it there is a website that mentions them. If you can get the car checked over. We had the seller send us pictures of the car from all angles and also I rang the garage that the car had recently been sold by for a condition report. Use a reputable shipping company, ring them, and ask questions – it is up to them to convince you to use them.
Sean's 1968 Charger
As told by the owner Sean.
I
bought the Charger at the tail end of '98. At the time I was living and working
in Paris and had made contact with a guy from Sheffield selling a '67 Monaco.
I told him it wasn't really what I was looking for 'cos I'd always been dreaming
of owning a Charger.
"How much do you want to spend?" he asked.
"Three
grand max!" I replied, thinking he'd hang up immediately!
"Shouldn't
be a problem"
Turns out that this guy had a good contact in San Mateo, CA who was constantly filling containers full of classics to ship back to the UK where he could sell on. He assured me he could find a running, solid but restorable car for the money. The 3K would also have to stretch to paying for the shipping from San Francisco to Hull.
The
wheels were set in motion and within two weeks a car had been found. XFY 364
was a black plate, one owner 68 Charger and was located half a block from the
dealership it was sold from new back on the 30th June 1968. The car had a tired
original 318, but a lot of nice features. The colour sold it to me straight
away. Who could resist a Turbine Bronze Metallic body with a Pearl White interior
and vinyl roof! It had AC, green tinted glass, factory bucket seats/centre consol
option and a woodgrain premium steering wheel. There was a small incident before
the car left the US, as the car was being trailered; the wind pressure blew
out the rear window glass on the freeway. Replacing it proved to be more of
a challenge than finding the car!
The car arrived at the docks just before Christmas '98 but the shipping company had lost the keys. New barrels were installed a the car was MOT'd and registered ready for me to collect it. Apparently the car hadn't been run properly for nine years, so I took quite a gamble driving from Sheffield to Paris in one go!! A friend of mine came over from France in a Citroen to follow me back in case of any breakdowns. The Citroen broke down 3 times!!!
The strip down started in April '99. After all the body was de-trimmed the paint was taken back to the bare metal. There were 152 dents over the surface of the car, ranging from trolley dents on the side crease to the huge impact on the leading edge of the passenger wing. The latter was corrected by bolting a chain from the impact zone to the tow eye of a Ford Focus, and pulling!. It worked, but not before ripping the bolts through the wing and ricocheting against the rear screen of the Focus. Yes...it did smash it! The month of August was spent stripping and surfacing just the underside of the hood (very laborious!) The only welding required was on the door slam area of the rear wing where it seems it had a stress fracture. Once all the panel work was completed, etch primer was applied, along with several coats of high build primer. Then started the long arduous job of flatting down.
I
had hoped that at this point I would be on the home stretch, but as anyone who
has delved into the world of skinned knuckles, black fingernails and copious
amounts of paint fume inhalation knows, this is only the beginning! The car
was finally prepped for topcoat, a colour I had matched to the original Turbine
Bronze MM1. Luckily the garage space I had rented was owned by the proprietor
of a body shop located on the opposite side of the street. I drove the car into
his paint booth only to discover it was too long! The only solution was to paint
the front and rear with the paint booth doors open and close them up to finish
the rest.
It
was at this point I had a job offer back in the UK. The company paid for my
relocation which included "garage contents". Lucky for me I had a
unroadworthy, unfinished project in the garage! The car arrived back in the
UK in March 2000, via a specialist who fitted a new vinyl roof in the original
pearl white with boar grain. Back at my house now in Rugby, and it was time
to fit a new interior which included seats, carpet, and headliner. The door
panels cleaned up nicely as did the dash and centre consol. However the door
armrests needed repairing, and so were sent to a guy called Simon who then disappeared
from the face of the planet! Cheers Simon! You B*****d!
Work started in earnest on the engine bay in the Spring of 2001 as I had proposed to my girlfriend, and also proposed that the Charger was the wedding car! She was keen to accept the ring but reluctant to leave the church in a cloud of rubber shredding tyre smoke! (can't understand why not). Anyway the clock was ticking, and the Charger had to be 100% by mid August. One engine rebuild later, I could now see the light at the end of that tunnel. I'm the first to admit that I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to anything more than changing the oil, but I knew a man who was! I can only mention some of the things Tom Newman did to the motor, which include a re-bore, 4bbl Holley carb and Edelbrock performance pack. It was also converted to unleaded which proves cheaper and hassle free, although I still get a warm welcome when pulling up to a filling station as they seem to have an inbred sense of the size of your gas tank!!
Two
weeks before the wedding the Charger finally hit the road. I took it to the
Mopar Nats at Santa Pod for it's first outing and came away with a trophy -
that moment was definitely worth all the effort, as was pulling away from the
church a week later. My wife still criticises my grubby knuckles and nails in
the wedding photos!
Next up we have Martins recent purchase this very tasty 68 Charger he says :
I find the Charger great as long as I keep things in perspective. For example it has non-powered drums all round, so the stopping power is not too good. I will upgrade to discs when funds permit. It's just too big to throw around so I tend to plod/cruise leisurely. It does get a lot of looks. I have some American Racing Vector wheels to put on (General Lee wheels), so I think it look nicer with them on. It's a 318 (5.2) auto, twin custom exhausts. Sounds great!
I have owned the car for a month now, it is my first American car. I get about 20mpg which is pretty good, and of course it is tax exempt! The previous owner did most of the work on it, but there is plenty more to do, disc conversion, a few bits of trim, a couple of electrical things to do etc. Just little things really.
A very nice looking car and one we hope to see at some of our meets soon.