1974 Challenger
Welcome Back!
We like to keep in touch with the shops who supply interesting projects for our Under Construction section. In the November 2008 issue of PHR, we featured this very same 1974 Challenger at about its halfway point. At that time it wore only primer, and didn't have the guts to spin its wheels.
The car came in to be built up as a drag car, but changed paths partway through the build. Some parts remained on the car, put there with the drag race theme in mind. One of the parts that stayed was the relatively small front brakes. We just might have made a comment to Brent, the builder, that the brakes seemed small for a road course car. David, the owner, got wind of this and asked Brent to change the brakes right away. Now it wears 13-inch rotors and six-piston calipers from Wilwood. Aside from that, Performance Restorations got the car finished on schedule.
The theme of the car was the Hemi that never was. When it came time to choose a paint scheme, the design was not limited to what was done at the factory, since there never was a 1974 Hemi Challenger. They decided on a stripe that went along the body line with the caption "605" Hemi on the tail. The 605 is mistaken for the horsepower rating most of the time, but we know better.
This 869hp Hemi would need skilled hands and feet to maneuver gracefully. Brent and David admitted they didn't have them. The car was nearly out of control right out of the box, but with a little corner weighting and suspension tuning, they gave it another shot. With kid gloves, David could drive it daintily if he wanted, or smoke the tires at any speed. More testing and tuning is still ahead; getting a car and a driver to handle this amount of power requires some work. We're currently working on a feature on this amazing Mopar.
Mothers Picture Perfect Award
This is the place to show off your pride and joy to the rest of mankind, so we figure those readers who took the time to capture a really cool shot of their hot rod should get a little bonus. Mothers agreed, and decided to come to the party with some freebies for the best picture submitted to PHR.
Each month, the editors at PHR will sift through the images and pick the one with the best composition, lighting, and overall quality. The winner will get a cool assortment of Mothers products to keep his or her ride looking nice and shiny. Mail us a photograph or, if you're a modern guy, e-mail us a digital image. Remember that digital images need to be 300 dpi, and the bigger the image, the larger it can run. Also, be sure to include info on the car, along with your name and address. Good luck!