This Dodge Charger's here for go, not show
Tuesday, 12 October 2021
This article was first published in Octane Fix Online magazine.
When you hear the word “Charger” visions of an orange screaming V8 American car flying through the air instantly jump into your mind, but this cool car was cool even before them Duke boys trashed a Charger or two.
Paul Collins had a vision in his head that he wanted this Charger to reflect the early NASCAR racing era with that staunch look of solid black wheels, big tyres and the traditional big white lettering.
The silver framed Hemi Orange flanks highlighting the manufacturers graphic and all done in a satin finish to give a tough “we’re here to go, not for show” look. He certainly achieved that with this staunch looking build.
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The reverse scoop on the bonnet shoving air down the four-barrel carb on that 383 Big Block Hemi fully takes on the race aspect of those early Chargers.
These early Chargers are certainly in a league of their own, with Dodge builds of the day taking on every challenge to have a super-cool car with sleek lines, and room under the guards for big wheels feeding the horsepower from those technically-awesome Hemi engines to the ground.
Then back it all up with a classy interior to give them a sophisticated appearance, but at same time still filling the black and chrome dash with gauges to make let you know that when you sit in that driver’s seat and take hold of the steering wheel, something exciting going to happen when you stomp on that gas pedal.
Dodge only built around thirty-five thousand of these, so you can imagine there won’t be too many cruising the streets these days.
Paul found this one living in a shed in Masterton, and being a factory Big Block with a four-speed gear box bolted to it, it was a must-have! He soon got a plan together to make this Dodge his.
The dash was sent off to Canada for a rebuild and a luminescent gauge cluster fitted (which looks stunning by the way!), while new carpet, hood lining and trim were sourced and fitted to bring the tired-looking interior back up to the standard of the awesome factory look.
The body – originally silver – was stripped and detailed to reflect the NASCAR styling and that Big Block 383 and four-speed box were given a few performance treats as well.
Knowing that the braking systems of the day weren’t exactly built to stop these things in a hurry, a set of larger Wilwood rotors and calipers were bolted in up front, and of course the suspension was lowered and reset to make it go around New Zealand corners, along with giving it that cool race car stance.
Like pretty much every muscle car or hot rod built, there is always something to test you out.
We call it “teething”, somehow that’s supposed to make us feel better when mysterious things just happen, and we end up sitting on the side of the road. The personalised plate “DODGEE” reflects the first few runs, but this cool looking Muscle car from 1966 still puts a smile on Paul and Adele’s faces when it starts up with that awesome rumble of a big block Hemi.
Year: 1966
Make: Dodge
Model: Charger
Engine: Factory 383 Big Block with street cam with headers, Edlebrock intake and carb
Transmission: 4 speed A833 rebuilt with lower first gear ratio cluster, hard to find but worth the wait
Diff details: Factory 8 ¾”
Suspension: Lowered with all new shocks and reset springs.
Brakes: Boosted Wilwood front discs and calipers, rear drums
Wheels and Tyres: Pursuit steel rims, 15x10 rears with 275/50/15, fronts 15x8 with 245/60/15 Dog bowl hub caps.
Interior mods: Factory refitted 4 seater trim kit, carpet and hood lining. The luminescent dash was sent to Canada to be rebuilt and was so worth it, they are so cool…
Other modifications: Deleted all the chrome and stainless fixtures, painted what needed to be there gloss black.
Octane Fix is an online magazine for the grassroots car enthusiast – check out the latest issue here.