Street Muscle Magazine Years 1966-1971 Charger Article

[Finface]

I don't wish I was older very often, but if five years older, and after saving every penny I might have earned...

https://www.streetmusclemag.com/features/history/rare-rides-the-1971-dodge-charger-r-t-426-hemi/

 

[DavidKFla]

440 car for the street. those hemi cars weren't as fast and quite finicky.

 

[covidcommander]

440 car for the street. those hemi cars weren't as fast and quite finicky.

Yeah, but its got a real hemi

 

[DavidKFla]

Yeah, but its got a real hemi

if you only want a show piece, it's fine. Not a good driver at all.

 

[rookerrobert]

440 car for the street. those hemi cars weren't as fast and quite finicky.

I'm glad I'm not the only that know that I had a 70 challenger with 440/6 auto,68 440 r/t auto,69 se.And with the 70 and the 68 I ran against 3 separate 426 and took all 3 but if it had been a hafl mile I might not had.I sure miss the 70's !!!! The cars we have now would have taken the 440/6 and the r/t 440 but back in there day they were hard to beat.

 

[SilverBillet]

It’s like any muscle car back in the day, you just had to have the right combination. A Hemi with the super track pack (4.10 rear, PDB and 4 speed was a beast)! I was second owner of a 100% original 69 Bee with the STP that I just bought to flip but the few times I took it out for a road test, I honestly thought it was very noticeably more powerful low end and top end than any of my A12 RoadRunners when they were unmodified. The main problem was traction. I beat a couple of Hemi’s back in the day with my 383 but just ran them 1/8th mile. A lot of Hemi’s just had the 3.23’s and auto trans. They were disappointing. I really believe most guys with Hemi’s never took them out. I rarely saw one on the street. The Hemi was still intimidating to most and remains an icon to this day.

 

[rookerrobert]

The hemi I ran most against was a good friend of mine.His dad bought the car it was a 69 r/r auto if he could got traction we would had some good runs but his dad wouldn't let him put enough tire for that.It didnt have a radio no power steering no heater and aluminum fender's. His dad passed on in 72 and then Terry my friend name finally was able to do what he wanted.And when we got thru it outran my charger r/t 440 but we were almost neck and neck against my challenger it was the best of day's.Back in those days you didnt have to have insurance if you didnt want it you had to have Ga. state inspection sticker but heck you could go to a shop that you knew and just buy one and put it on whatever you wanted.....lol

 

[bennydodge]

All my uncles were Iowa farm boys and had no love for Chrysler(mostly GM guys), but all of them stated that based on personal experience nothing would beat a properly running Hemi. Me personally, I would take a Hemi 4 speed E-body w/ 4.10 gears over anything back then. Good article by the way

 

[DavidKFla]

All my uncles were Iowa farm boys and had no love for Chrysler(mostly GM guys), but all of them stated that based on personal experience nothing would beat a properly running Hemi. Me personally, I would take a Hemi 4 speed E-body w/ 4.10 gears over anything back then. Good article by the way

Out on the street I have to admit that the Yenko Camaro was probably the baddest car. I would never line up against 1 with my 340. But I would against a hemi car.

 

[bennydodge]

Yenko Camaro wasn't a stock car. If a 340 six pack can beat a 426 street Hemi then it's not stock or the Hemi is running really bad. People seem to forget that the 426 Hemi was a detuned race motor. Even detuned it was pretty bad ass

 

[1971demon]

All my uncles were Iowa farm boys and had no love for Chrysler(mostly GM guys), but all of them stated that based on personal experience nothing would beat a properly running Hemi. Me personally, I would take a Hemi 4 speed E-body w/ 4.10 gears over anything back then. Good article by the way

Iowa farm boys with a dislike for Mopars....what was it like growjng up with such a dysfunctional extended family

 

[SilverBillet]

The hemi I ran most against was a good friend of mine.His dad bought the car it was a 69 r/r auto if he could got traction we would had some good runs but his dad wouldn't let him put enough tire for that.It didnt have a radio no power steering no heater and aluminum fender's. His dad passed on in 72 and then Terry my friend name finally was able to do what he wanted.And when we got thru it outran my charger r/t 440 but we were almost neck and neck against my challenger it was the best of day's.Back in those days you didnt have to have insurance if you didnt want it you had to have Ga. state inspection sticker but heck you could go to a shop that you knew and just buy one and put it on whatever you wanted.....lol

Aluminum fenders on a RoadRunner??

 

[1971demon]

Aluminum fenders on a RoadRunner??

never knew anybody made those

 

[SilverBillet]

never knew anybody made those

Has to be mistaken. You might have been able to get fiberglass fenders back then but never ever heard of aluminum except on factory superstock Hemi cars.

 

[rookerrobert]

Aluminum fenders on a RoadRunner??

yes sir they did. To save weight, a large part of the front-end sheetmetal was replaced with much lighter aluminum counterparts (including the addition of a functional hood scoop) Terry'sr/ wasnt a standard r/r it was was production race car. Like now with some of our cars his also didnt have back seat. they made aluminum fender and bumper in 65. Dodge Dart and Plymouth Fury later in 1965 included the Dodge Coronet and included aluminum fenders and bumpers and for drag racing.And I know this will cause you to think but our cars aren't true Hemi's you can thank EPA and fuel consumption for that!!