even though this happened a while back i was just thinking about my dads challenger...
when i was in 4th grade my parents moved from suburban maryland to a little town called spring grove, pa. when we moved up here they bought a little farm with tons of land and plenty of quiet. dad soon realized that he was gonna need a bigger mower than the one he used to mow the half acre they had in maryland. so, despite the tears of him and me, he sold his beloved 70 challenger to buy a bigger mower. he ended up selling the car for 7000 bucks!
a little info on the challenger: 70 challenger 440/4 speed car with dana super track pack option. b5 blue, white stripe, black interior, 4 barrel magnum engine and a 4:10 rear. the car freakin scooted! although someone in this cars lifetime painted it gold. otherwise it was totally original.
so anyways dad sold it to a young man of 18 years old who inherited a lot of money from his mothers death for $7,000. the car was pristine! 2 weeks later the kid that bought it, whom lived right up the road from us, was out cruisin with his sister and the car got away from him and he wrapped it around a telephone pole. he hit so hard the motor mounts broke, the passenger seat was in the drivers side, and the car was basically an complete u-shape. luckilly he survived along with his sister. so he put the car in his fathers garage and let it sit. my dad could've died when he saw it, filled with sadness of what happend to his old baby. for years my dad tried to buy it back and the boys father and the boy kept saying no, they were going to put the motor from the challenger in hteir roadrunner.
about ten years rolled by and dad forgot about his challenger and picked up a really nice 69 roadrunner 440-6 pack car with the black lift off hood and steel wheels. that was his new love. but in the summer of '06 he noticed the challenger was gone from our neighbors garage. my dad asked the boys father what happend to it and he said he sold it to a guy in nearby york, pa. dad was a little upset but he figured oh well, he had his runner to work on!
so on fathers day me and dad and my brothers went down to budds creek mx park to watch the pro motocross national like we do every year since i was a little tike. mx is prioity in my family! we get home and mom got dad a little something and instead of wrapping it she just layed a blanket over it. she sat dad down and had him close his eyes. each of us 4 boys grabbed a corner of the blanket not knowing what she got him and we lifted it off the table. there sat a center console for a 4 speed e-body. we were all confused and told mom this wouldnt work in a 69 road runner. her exact words were " its not for your road runner". dad was a little dumbfounded and said "huh?". mom smiled at him and started to cry, she said " your challengers coming home tomorrow". me and my 3 brothers about sh## a brick, and dad couldnt help but shed a tear in joy. mom covertly planned this whole thing out and tracked down the guy that bought it. he had the original body all pulled back and restored. it was repainted in its original b5 blue, the original motor was rebuilt to stock specs and put back with the 4 speed. the car was totally restored and restored right!!!
the next day the car showed up on a flat bed and was as beautiful as it could be!! dad vows never to let this car get away again! funny how you never know what you had till it was gone and how important it is to have an understanding wife in this hobby! my mom is the coolest.
im not sure why i was thinking about this, but just thought you guys and gals would like to here this story. it still gives me chills thinking about how mom was so happy to do this for my old man.
