At the behest of a CC member, I went and looked at the '71 Hemi Challenger "clone". John, the owner, has a large shop with a lift so I got to inspect the car from bumper to bumper, inside and out, and underneath. When I was done inspecting the car we took it out for a test drive of about 5-6 miles or so. The car was originally a non-descript 318 auto car. Here's my impressions of the car:
Body: driver's floor, trunk pan, trunk extensions, one front fender, trunklid and both rear quarter panels were replaced. The body is super-straight with all the body lines and panel gaps aligned properly. Given the extent of the metal work done on this car it turned out exceptionally nice. If John didn't tell you what was replaced you would be hard pressed to figure it out on your own. Whoever did the body work did a super nice job. About the only issue with the body is with the doors. Both the left and right doors line up properly when closed but "droop" slightly when opened (relatively common issue). When closing you can hear the jamb striker rubbing on the top edge of the door latch which causes them to require a little "effort" to close them.
Paint: The car was painted in FE5 Rallye Red using a modern catalyzed base-coat clear-coat paint. The paint is very nice over the entire surface of the car. It is not a super-shiney high gloss "show" finish like you might find with many coats of hand-rubbed laquer. Instead, it has a nice shiney lusterous gloss to it as I imagine they had new from the factory. There are not any runs, drips, sags, ripples or "orange peel" anywhere on the car. The car was rotisseried and the underside of the car is fully painted and looks very nice too. Whoever body and paint person was, he was very good.
Exterior Trim: Bumpers are straight and the chrome looks good. Grille and lower valance look good. Wheel lip, drip rail, hood edge and trunk lid edge stainless mouldings look new. The right side drip rail moulding front edge (where it goes into the door jamb opening and ends just above the upper door hinge) didn't appear to be installed correctly. The moulding end tab is sticking up when it should be "tucked" underneath the windshield moulding. The "Challenger" script on the tail panel between the tail lights is old. The tail lights are new but reflectors that are part of the tail panel and overlay the tail lights are old and show some minor cracking. Exhaust tips look okay but had a bit of corrosion on the side where they attach to the pipes.
Engine/Trans/Axle: 426 CID 465 HP Mopar Performance crate motor. John claims that he installed it right out of the crate with out any modifications. Engine is mounted to a stock small-block K-member using Schumacher motor mounts. Stock cast-iron exhaust manifolds are installed for the exhaust. Ignition is a Mopar Performance electronic ignition system. Engine is topped with a single 750CFM Holley vacuum secondary carb with electric choke. On the cooling system I noticed that there is no fan shroud installed when there probably should be one. The trans is a 727 Torqueflite rebuilt by a local performance shop. John says the transmission was rebuild using high performance "red bands" (not sure what they are) and a "stock" torque converter. The rear axle is an 8.75" unit. Center case is a "489" Sure Grip housing with 3:23 gears.
Interior: The interior is a standard black vinyl bucket seat interior with standard gauges, a center console and a Slap-Stick shifter. The seat covers, carpet, door sill covers, headliner and door panels are all new and look nice. The dash is an AC dash with the AC vent openings and has no cracks. The steering column looks old and has some scratches. The center console looks old, has some scratches and the storage compartment door hinge is messed up preventing the door from closing correctly (those things have always been a problem). The woodgrained inserts that go in the door panels (above the arm rests) look old as do the door release handles and window crank handles.
Test drive: The engine fired right up even though it was only about 42 F. The exhaust is relatively loud and "rumblely," On the drive the car was "tight" with no excessive squeaks or rattles. The only noise other than that of the Hemi came from the speedometer. The speedometer needle fluctuated and I suspect the speedometer cable needs to be replaced. The Hemi ran perfectly without a stumble or stutter and the transmission shifted firmly. John didn't press the car and took it easy - I think the fastest we went was about 45 mph (he cringed every time he hears a tiny piece of road debris hitting his paint job!). At one point I asked him to kick the transmission down into 2nd gear. He did so but only briefly and the acceleration was somewhat underwhelming for a 465HP Hemi. However, I believe it was because there are 3:23 gears out back and he didn't keep his foot in it long to allow the RPMs to build up enough for the Hemi to reach it's stride.
John's Challenger is a relatively nice Hemi "clone". The basic car is good and the body and paint (the hard time and cash consuming stuff) are really nice given the extent of the work done. The engine is solid and the transmission appears to be also. The interior is a not as sharp as the outside - the big stuff is good (seats, carpet, headliner, etc) but it needs some attention to the lesser things (steering column, center console, door panel inserts, etc) to make the car really nice. I see Hemi E-body "clones" going for a more money than John is asking. Maybe those cars are exceptional and need nothing, I don't know. John's car is all there, it just needs some detail parts, finishing and "polishing" to make it really nice. He's asking $57,900.
Topic: A couple of Challengers in the St Louis area: a 440-6 and a Hemi (clone) (Read 3524 times)
