Unrestored, all-original classic cars that still look like new aren’t very common, but you’ll see plenty of them at car shows and in private collections. But some of these gems were hidden for decades and did not come out of storage until their owners passed away. This 1970 Dodge Challenger is one of those cars.
Dodge sold almost 77,000 Challengers in 1970, so this muscle car is far from scarce. However, if we break that numbers down to engine and gearbox combinations, we get a few rare versions. As is the case with most golden-era Mopars, the HEMI cars are the rarest.
The convertible is the one that most of us will never see in the metal because Dodge sold only nine of them in 1970. The HEMI-powered R/T SE is also a hard-to-find gem with only 59 units delivered. Then we have the HEMI hardtop, which left the assembly line in only 287 examples.
This HEMI R/T is even rarer than that because it’s finished in Plum Crazy purple. There’s no specific info as to how many were made, but given that Dodge offered no fewer than 30 different hues in 1970, it must be one of only a handful made.
That makes it pretty special, as does the fact that it appears to be in pristine, as-new condition. But the fact that it was kept away from the public eye since 1972 is also mind-blowing. This muscle car was babied for a whopping 50 years until it was acquired by the Wellborn Musem in Alexander City, Alabama.
And it’s the perfect place for such an incredible piece of Mopar history. The Wellborn Museum is the place to go if you’re into Dodges and Plymouths from the golden era because this is where you’ll see the coolest and rarest Mopars ever made.
The full list of cars to drool over here is simply too long to mention, but this place is home to a massive collection of Dodge Chargers, Challengers, and Plymouth Barracudas. And most of them are far from mundane.
For instance, it includes the only 1971 HEMI Cuda finished in red and with white billboard decals. This car is valued at more than $1 million, almost as much as the extremely rare HEMI convertibles.
The museum is also home to the white Dodge Challenger used in the “Vanishing Point” film, as well as a handful of Dodge Charger Daytonas, including the car that hit more than 200 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats with Bobby Isaac behind the wheel. If you’re a fan of Panther Pink, you’ll also see a very rare Dodge Charger finish in this hue.
It’s also the only place where you’ll see the famous Paint Chip ‘Cuda, finished in 25 colorful stripes that were available from the factory in 1970. You can see all of the above in the lengthy video below, so hit play and enjoy.