A Challengers story

[LetsFNgo]

Hello everyone
So I have a couple of threads in the AMC area about my cars, but never started a thread on my 1970 Challenger. I think the time to tell its story has finally come and I hope everyone who reads it gets to enjoy it a little.

The story begins in October/November of 1969, a 20 year old named David Kartman returned from Vietnam after leaving at 18. He walked into his local Dodge Dealer in Somerville NJ, named Somerville Dodge, and placed an order for a new Challenger. Going through the option list he kept it quite simple. A66 340 performance package, 4 speed, 3.23 sure grip rear because he knew that would change, and an AM radio. Standard black interior and the outside of the car in B7 blue, no vinyl top or other trim was ordered.

The car was built January 21st of 1970 according to the broadcast sheet, and soon delivered to Somerville where David picked up his new car, brought it home, and promptly installed 4.88’s in the rear pumpkin and disconnected the speedometer.

Leaving for military stuff the following weekend his brother Tommy took the car to Pittsburg(approx 6-8 hours before interstates) and back without David realizing it.

Upon his return the car was used for both everyday driving and late night shenanigan's for the next 4-5 years. Sitting at multiple points due to blown up 340’s, the numbers matching block died a hero’s death during a 7k rpm power shift with a rod blowing out the side of it around 1971-72. A service replacement met the same fate a few years later.

Around 1975, with the car beginning to show its age, David decided he wanted something faster. Making a call to a local speed shop he purchased a used 440 6 barrel short block, a set of heads, and then spent time at a different local Dodge dealer with a friend in the parts department ordering a ton of brand new replacement parts. These included:
New door hinges
Replacement Shaker hood
Factory Challenger TA left front fender
Hemi Torsion bars
New R/T leaf springs
Set of 3 complete 6 pack carbs and linkage
A bunch of new trim parts and replacements for small broken things.

Combing local junk yards he found a nice Challenger TA right front fender, and bought a complete Shaker assembly off a wrecked fK5 440+6 Cuda(this hurts my heart).
Taking the car apart around 1977, he installed the hood and fenders, cleaned the rest of the rust free car, and gave it a nice backyard respray of B7 blue. The car got pushed into his garage(a double deep 2 car) and then it sat.

Life gets in the way and changes your plans, and this is one of those times. David had his first child, money was tight, and the car became a someday project. Unfortunately that someday never came and David Kartman passed away on October 13th of 2019 at 70 years old.

At that point David’s 3 children, as well as him brother Tommy, began going through everything, including the 6 vehicles David left behind. His Challenger being parked behind a 1956 Chevy 4 door. Eventually one daughter and her husband came for the Chevy, but the other daughter and son began fighting over who was taking the Challenger.

Fast forward a couple of years. It’s now 2021, the town where David lived his whole life is having their annual town wide yard sale, and Tommy has decided it’s time to begin to sell things from the overloaded garage.

I should add one more thing here, and I mean this in no disrespectful way. But David and Tommy’s family was a very private churchgoing family. They didn’t socialize much outside of their local church, and while Tommy ended up hanging out often at the bar my dad frequented in the 70’s and 80’s, David kept to himself and no one in the small town spoke much to or of him or their family.

My family has lived in the same town that David and Tommy lived for generations. My mom and dad first heard about the Challenger after David passed away, but upon hearing about the family drama I didn’t want to get involved, but since it’s been several years I figured it was worth looking.

So the day of the town wide yard sale my dad and I are told early in the day about Tommy selling tools and stuff out of the garage and decide to take a walk down the street and look. When I say down the street, I mean their property is literally about 500 feet down the street on the other side of a cross-street from us.

So down the street we walk and find Tommy doing exactly what we were told. He’s going into the garage, removing random stuff and putting it on a table in front of the door. We begin discussing stuff he’s selling and he mentions that the Challenger is still sitting there and he’d love the room back in his garage, since he’s now moved back into the house.

Taking the opportunity I ask to look at the car. He agrees, opens the garage door, lets us(my dad and I) in, and closes the door, telling us to knock when he wants it reopened. The pictures are what my dad and I find.

And this story will continue in the next post.