{"id":34440,"date":"2020-02-08T16:00:16","date_gmt":"2020-02-08T21:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=34440"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:23:08","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:23:08","slug":"never-ending-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/gallery\/2020\/02\/never-ending-love.html","title":{"rendered":"Never-Ending Love"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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We have moments in our life that we never forget and will cherish forever. Oftentimes, they include a loved one that was a major part of our lives. For Rich Schmidt, fighting in the jungles of Vietnam in the late 1960s, it was about survival. It was a turbulent time in American history. An ongoing war that had no end in sight taking place thousands of miles away while the massive unrest happening at home was testing the basic foundation this nation was founded on. What kept Rich going during these dark times was the letters from a young lady named Kittie that he\u2019d never met. She was a friend of Rich\u2019s cousin. His cousin was worried about him and had asked Kittie to correspond with Rich to cheer him up. After reading her letters, Richard was starting to have feelings for Kittie despite the fact they had never met. Richard wanted to meet this woman whose letters kept him sane in the darkest period of his young life. Unfortunately, Richard would have to complete his tour in S.E. Asia before heading back home to Chicago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After serving his country with honor and distinction, Rich\nleft the army in 1969 and finally got to meet Kittie. The two instantly hit it\noff and it was love at first sight. The two got married in August of that year\nand thus began their life together. By March of 1970, Rich had turned 25 and\nKittie suggested they go out and get a brand-new car to celebrate Rich\u2019s\nbirthday. He had been eyeballing the new Challenger that made its debut back in\nthe fall of 1969. It was Dodge\u2019s contender in the highly competitive Pony Car\nmarket that was dominated by the Mustang and Camaro. Kittie only had one demand;\nshe wanted a convertible since she had been driving a 1963 Chevy drop top ever\nsince her and Richard began dating. So, the two hopped in their 1968 Charger\nand headed over to Elmhurst Dodge in Elmhurst, Illinois, and ordered a\nbrand-new 1970 Challenger R\/T convertible. The Schmidts went through the\noption list together and ordered the Challenger R\/T in B5 Blue with a black convertible\ntop. The standard 383 Magnum V8 with 335 horsepower and optional four-speed\ntransmission provided Kittie and Richard plenty of fun for their daily driving\nduties. The interior of the Challenger R\/T had the Rallye instrument cluster\nand full-length console along with other cool amenities and comforts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Challenger R\/T arrived at the dealer in May of 1970\nand soon Kittie and Rich left Chicago headed for some major road trips that\nincluded a much-needed vacation to Daytona Beach. Later that year, they headed up\nto Minnesota on a surprise visit to one of Rich\u2019s army buddies on his wedding day.\nAs with many new cars of that era, the Schmidts\u2019 Challenger R\/T was not without\nissues as it left them stranded on the Kennedy Expressway in Chicago when the\ncar was just a few months old due to a fuel line issue. That didn\u2019t stop them\nfrom driving their big-block E-body daily up until 1976 and racking up over\n27,000 miles, which included going through harsh Windy City winters. But before\nit got parked, Rich was feeling ambitious around 1974 and stripped the body\ndown to bare metal and repainted the Challenger R\/T to Steel City Gray in his\ngarage as Mother Nature had wreaked havoc on the factory B5 Blue enamel paint.\nLike many gearheads, Rich always enjoyed doing modifications to the Challenger\nR\/T that included aftermarket wheels, tires and minor engine mods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Like many of us in the hobby, me included, priorities\nchanged, including family, career and other life-changing events. The\nChallenger R\/T got parked in a garage and slept for 40 years without moving,\nbut it was Rich\u2019s dream to get the car back on the road. It was, after all, the car\nhe and Kittie spent their youth in. The Challenger R\/T was more than steel,\nrubber, oil and gas to Rich, it was a part of his and Kittie\u2019s life together.\nIt was Kittie who bought the car for Rich on his 25th birthday and it became part\nof their family. Unfortunately, Kittie passed away from cancer in 2013 and it\ndevastated the family. Rich then made it his mission to get the Challenger R\/T Convertible\nout of the garage and back on the road. To achieve this, it needed a complete restoration\nfrom top to bottom and front to back. Time can take its toll on many things,\nespecially 50-year-old muscle cars and it can be a very daunting task to get\nthem restored and show-worthy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The restoration process kicked off in 2014 and Rich\nenlisted the help of Custom Classics Auto Body and Restoration in Island Lake,\nIllinois. The Challenger R\/T was completely torn down and the year-long process\nbegan. The old Steel City Gray paint Rich applied in his twenties was removed\nand a fresh coat of B5 Blue was sprayed on the body panels. Wanting to upgrade\nthe look of the car, Rich had the guys at Custom Classics install a T\/A rear\nspoiler, R\/T hood and Bumble Bee stripes, and upsized the wheels to aftermarket\n17-inch Mopar\u00ae<\/sub> style Rallye wheels. The 383 Magnum also got a shot of more\nhorsepower with the installation of an Edelbrock hi-rise aluminum intake\nmanifold, Quick Fuel 750 CFM carburetor, hotter camshaft, Mancini Racing billet\nrear seal and high-volume water pump, MSD ignition, TTI headers\/exhaust system\nand much more. To take advantage of the increase in power, Rich had the guys\ninstall bigger diameter Hotchkis sway bars, four-wheel disc brakes, Bilstein\nshocks, and other updated suspension parts to make the Challenger R\/T handle better.\nThe whole \u201crectification\u201d process only took one year and was completed in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Since then, Rich as racked up 3,000 miles on his Challenger\nR\/T going to car shows. It\u2019s sort of a tribute to his late wife, Kittie, and her\nmemory will always be with Rich, especially when he turns the key and the 383\nMagnum fires up and the Challenger R\/T rolls down the road. We cannot think of\na better way to honor and cherish the remembrance of someone we adored our\nwhole life, a person who had always been there for us and remained at our side\nto the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It surely is a never-ending love. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some cool pics of Rich\u2019s Challenger R\/T Convertible\nafter the \u201crectification.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n