{"id":41181,"date":"2020-08-05T10:00:08","date_gmt":"2020-08-05T14:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=41181"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:22:37","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:22:37","slug":"giveaway-challenger-r-t","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/gallery\/2020\/08\/giveaway-challenger-r-t.html","title":{"rendered":"Giveaway Challenger R\/T"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The owner stories we feature on\nDodgeGarage are all unique in so many different ways. No two are alike, and\nthe history around each car can provide enough material to fuel a miniseries on\nNetflix. Last month, while attending the Carlisle Chrysler Nationals, we came\nupon a 1970 Dodge Challenger R\/T with such an inimitable background. We\nliterally stopped in our tracks for a closer look, and while it might appear as\njust another highly optioned 1970 Challenger R\/T emblazoned in HEMI\u00ae<\/sup> Orange, it was\nthe background of the original owner that made it so much cooler. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To learn more, we need to go back\nto 1969 when Dodge, Plymouth, Ford and Mercury were engaged in an all-out war\nfor NASCAR supremacy. One of the leading drivers campaigning under the Dodge\nScat Pack umbrella that year was Bobby Isaac. This tough charging, no-nonsense racer\nwho hailed from North Carolina drove the number 71 Charger Daytona for Nord\nKrauskopf, who owned the K&K Insurance company. With crew chief Harry Hyde\ncalling the shots on the engine and chassis setup, Isaac was a force to be\nreckoned with on the NASCAR super speedways. Isaac\u2019s HEMI engine-powered wing wonder\nhugged the high-banks and flew past the competition at speeds averaging anywhere\nfrom 144 to 180 mph. Coming off a great season that saw Isaac claim 17 wins and\n20 poles, he wrapped up 1969 by winning the inaugural Texas 500 on December 7\nof that year. For his efforts and stellar performance that catapulted the\nCharger Daytona to even more legendary status, the Dodge PR department, led by\nFrank Wylie and Moon Mullins, awarded Bobby Isaac with a free, brand-new\nChallenger R\/T that he could order however he liked. Being the consummate racer\nknown for drafting the competition, Isaac ordered his Challenger R\/T with a 383\nMagnum V8, four-speed transmission. But he also wanted creature comforts such\nas  A\/C, power steering and brakes, power\nwindows, leather seats, deluxe seat belts, rear window Louvers, rear decklid spoiler,\nblack longitudinal R\/T tape stripe and an eight-track tape player. Isaac also\nordered his new Challenger R\/T in HEMI Orange, same color as his Charger\nDaytona racecar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It was March of 1970 when Isaac took delivery of his\nChallenger R\/T at Dodge City in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Dodge PR\nDepartment arranged to have their famed TV spokesman, Sheriff Joe Higgins,\nonsite to present the keys to Isaac during a photo opportunity. Soon after,\nIsaac drove the Challenger R\/T around Hickory, North Carolina, when he wasn\u2019t\nsetting records and competing on NASCAR tracks all over the country. By August\nof 1971, Isaac transferred the title of the Challenger R\/T to his 17-year-old\nson Randy, who drove it to high school. Unfortunately, Randy constantly\nhammered on the Challenger R\/T and ended up driving it through a fence and into\na ditch. By May of 1974, the Challenger got sold and passed around to different\nowners and it eventually ended up in a junkyard. Ironically, throughout all\nthis abuse, the Challenger R\/T always lived within 20 miles of Hickory Speedway\nin North Carolina, where Bobby Isaac ran his first and last race before he passed\naway in 1977.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By the 1980s, the poor Challenger\nR\/T once owned by NASCAR champ Bobby Isaac was looking rough. Remember, Isaac was\na NASCAR superstar and even set 28 world speed records at the Bonneville Salt\nFlats; many still stand today. Petty might have been Plymouth\u2019s star, but it\nwas Isaac that made Dodge such a huge force in NASCAR. Luckily, it was the keen\neye of longtime Mopar\u00ae<\/sub> drag racer Dwight Arrowood that saved Isaac\u2019s Challenger.\nArrowood knew the history of this Challenger R\/T, bought it, and began the\nrestoration process in the late 1980s. He painted the unique Challenger with Imron\u00ae<\/sup>\npaint and painstakingly tried to make the car as correct as possible. It was\ninteresting that despite the Challenger being wrecked and spending time in a salvage\nyard, it still retained the rare and highly sought-after rear window louvers\nand trunk spoiler. Those two original factory parts go for thousands of dollars\namong enthusiast collectors but somehow, they avoided being pried off by\ndubious part dealers scouring boneyards at night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eventually, Arrowood sold the Challenger R\/T to a friend\nin the early ’90s who had it for 18 years, but it was the persistence of the car\u2019s current owner, Dale Mathews, that\npreserved this rare piece of Dodge history. Mathews made some minor corrections,\nmaking the Challenger R\/T more faithful to its original configuration, as ordered\nby Isaac. \u201cThe car was restored in the late ’80s and the paint is about 33 years\nold. When it was restored then, the damaged\ndoors were changed to manual crank window doors and the leather interior was\nreplaced with vinyl. I recently\ncorrected it so now it has the power windows and leather seats as it was built\nwith,\u201d said Mathews. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Restoring and\ncollecting rare and vintage Mopar vehicles is nothing new for this 59-year-old\nmechanical engineer from Lenoir, North Carolina. Mathews happens to also live\nin the same part of the Carolinas where Isaac drove his prized Challenger back\nin the day. \u201cI still own a 1970 Plymouth Superbird with a 440 Six Barrel engine\nthat I\u2019ve had for 28 years now. I just recently restored it and I\u2019ve been\ndriving the big Superbird as much as possible,\u201d smiled Mathews. \u201cI also have a\n1971 Plymouth Road Runner that I\u2019ve owned for 27 years. It\u2019s a nice companion\nfor my 1971 Plymouth GTX,\u201d laughed Mathews. Not one to sell his cool rides, Mathews has also\ndiversified his collection over the years. \u201cThere\u2019s also some odd stuff in my\ngarage, like a 1961 Plymouth Suburban station wagon that has a 413 long ram big\nblock. A 1970 Plymouth HEMI Road Runner four-speed pre-production \u2018pilot car\u2019, and\nmy 1973 Dodge Challenger that I\u2019ve had for 41 years. My father bought it for me\nin 1979 and it\u2019s a one owner car with 28,000 miles that has the original\nGoodyear Polyglas tires that are still holding air. I\u2019ve bought and sold a lot\nof Mopars to be able to get the ones I have today. I\u2019ve also drugged a lot of\nvintage Dodge and Plymouth muscle cars out of people\u2019s backyards through the\nyears,\u201d reminisced Mathews.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When it came to confirming the special background on this\nChallenger R\/T, Mathews put his detective hat on and went about obtaining all\nthe paperwork to remove any doubt from those irritating naysayers one runs into\nat car shows and on the internet. \u201cLuckily, the North Carolina DMV records are\naccessible and very detailed, and they have on record and sent me copies of the\noriginal window sticker, Manufacturer\u2019s Statement of Origin dated January 12,\n1970, the original application for title by Bobby Isaac on February 7, 1970,\nand the transfer of title to Isaac\u2019s son Randy on 8-26-1971,\u201d said Mathews. Not\nonly did Mathews track down these rare documents, he also has the Challenger\u2019s\nwindow sticker that shows the codes such as \u201cY28 Company Car, Y21 Special\nHeader,\u201d as well as a special line saying, \u201cBOBBY ISAAC NASCAR GIVEAWAY CAR.\u201d The\nwindow sticker is even signed by the lady at the dealership that delivered the\nChallenger R\/T to Isaac confirming the options. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Not one to just stare at his collection of rare and\nvaluable Mopar vehicles, Mathews makes it a point to drive and show his cars at any\nopportunity. \u201cI was just at Carlisle Chrysler Nationals with the Challenger R\/T\nfor the 50th<\/sup> reunion of the 1970 Dodge and Plymouth model year,\u201d\nsaid Mathews. \u201cThe Isaac Challenger R\/T is also scheduled to be at Muscle Car\nand Corvette Nationals in November.\u201d One of Mathews\u2019 fondest car show memories\nwas five years ago at the Wellborn Wing Car reunion where his Challenger R\/T was\nreunited with the Bobby Isaac race Daytona. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But it\u2019s more than car shows that Mathews enjoys; he just\nwants to drive his cars. He\u2019s got the right attitude when it comes to what\nthese machines are all about. Living 10 miles from the nearest town, Mathews\nuses many of his vintage Mopar muscle cars to run errands. Bobby Isaac may have\ndriven his Challenger R\/T for only a year, but Mathews plans on racking up as many\nmiles as he can. According to Mathews, \u201cI just tell fellow enthusiasts to drive\nthem as much as possible and get it out for others to enjoy.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Check out these additional images of Dale Mathews\u2019\nawesome 1970 Challenger R\/T, it might just motivate you.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n