BIG, BRIGHT, FAST, and LOUD, describes our Classic for this Month, a very special American muscle car, the 1970 Dodge Challenger RT 440 SixPack that is owned by PCVC member Ian Barber.
Ian fell in love with muscle cars back in 1971 when as a teenager he first visited the Santa Pod Raceway and saw these large engined American cars blowing away the opposition with sub 5.5 second 0-60 times. The cars which most impressed him were a Ford Mustang Mach 1 and a Dodge Challenger 440 SixPack. Over the next 50 years he pursued his love of “American Muscle Cars” and was lucky enough to own two Mustang Mach 1s, a Pontiac Trans-am, LTD Convertible, and a Shelby GT500, but never forgot that Challenger which he saw when he was 18 years old at Santa Pod.
Imagine Ian`s surprise when, on his retirement to Cyprus in 2015 he found a Dodge Challenger for sale on Bazaraki and located in Nicosia. Despite the car being in need of much mechanical work the body was in pretty good condition and a deal was quickly struck. The car originally had a 318cu inch engine but it arrived in Cyprus with a worn out 440, so Ian had a new 440 V8 built by Carolina Machine Engines in the USA. He had the chassis strengthened with 4 torque boxes and the Torqueflite 727 transmission overhauled and improved with 3.52:1 gearing and Suregrip limited slip differential. A full rewire and all luxurious new interior refit followed on from a complete bare metal respray. No expense has been spared in the 6 year restoration/rebuild of this tribute to the Dodge Challenger 440 SixPack.
The 440 of the cars designation relates to the capacity of the engine in cubic inches which equates to a colossal 7.2 litres! The “SixPack” relates to the 3×2 Barrell carburettors which are necessary to provide a massive 1,350 cfm of air to allow an engine of this size to breathe and produce its full power of 425 hp. Only 2045 of these cars were produced back in 1969/70, therefore original, matching number, cars are extremely rare and much sort after. Ian says that one day he may think about selling but for now he is enjoying the buzz of driving his beautiful Dodge.
If you have an interest in American muscle cars or other Classic Vehicles visit any PCVC events. Full details of these can be found on our Facebook page, or, on our webpage (www.paphosclassicvehicleclub.com), or, telephone, 97760997.
