From One Family to Another, This 1970 Dodge Charger 500 Is a Keeper
This Member Story first appeared in the July/August 2024 issue of Hagerty Drivers Club magazine. Join the club to receive our award-winning magazine and enjoy insider access to automotive events, discounts, roadside assistance, and more.
My son and I saw this orange 1970 Dodge Charger 500 in the parking lot of a supermarket. We approached two white-haired ladies who were near the car and learned they were mother and daughter. The mother, sitting on a bench wearing large cataract sunglasses, turned out to be the owner. I said that my son and I would be interested in the Charger if she ever sold it and left my name and number.
Ten years passed.
I was home working at my desk when the old house phone rang. The answering machine picked up, and I heard a female voice I didn’t recognize. Then came the words, “You left a note about my mother’s Charger.” I leaped out of my chair and grabbed the phone.
Her mother had recently died. The Charger was the first new car the family had ever bought. The father picked the car, but the mother chose the color—Go Mango Orange. Over the years, several people had left notes expressing interest, but none of the other old phone numbers were viable anymore, except mine.
The car had been garaged for much of the past decade, needing too much work to pass inspection. Opening the garage, I realized there was much to do—you could see the garage floor through the rusted trunk. But it was a 1970 Charger. The family, for their part, really wanted the car to go to someone who would appreciate it and drive it and love it as they and their mother had.
So we made a deal. Before long, my garage was bursting with enormous boxes from Classic Industries and Auto Metal Direct. The entire rear was replaced, including the sail panel, quarters, trunk floor, and rear frame rails. A friend’s son-in-law then did the body work—blocking, sanding, and eventually painting (PPG Go Mango Orange).
We also stripped and restored the interior, which is how we found an amazing handwritten note left by one of the car’s assemblers. “Today is the 12th of December, 1969. Night is going by pretty good. Want to get home to see my girls. Barbie, I love you. Bonnie, I love you.” What a time capsule.
It was a thrill to see my story in my July Hagerty Magazine. Thank you so much for publishing it- then a second thrill when, as I was making a Hagerty payment, I decided to poke around to see if maybe it was online too, and it was.
Upon first seeing the car, after my giddyness wore off, I could see this car needed a lot of work. While at first glance, the body looked pretty good, but I could see the rear was entirely rusted. The rear quarter panels had a lot of cancer on them. The frame rails were rusted through. The trunk floor, the trunk extenders, were done, and you could see the garage floor through the trunk floor, and they would have to be totally replaced. The front quarters were also rusted & dented a bit. I knew there was easily about $5,000 worth of just body parts alone.
But, it was a 1970 Charger. The VIN was an XP29, It was a 1970 Charger 500 in GoMango Orange, Automatic Console on the floor, 318 V8, 1 owner car.
The original vinyl roof was in excellent condition. Aside from the usual worn carpet, worn headliner & 2 tired interior front door panels, the interior was in moldy, but fantastic condition.
The Charger 500 was an upgrade between the base and the R/T. The 500 came with upgraded interior, Power Steering, Power Brakes with Disc Brakes up front, and drum rears. It had AM/FM, with a cool fader knob, Air Conditioning, and all the upgrades like center floor mounted console, Drivers side adjustable mirror, and the like.
So we made a deal. It was easy to see how much the car meant to the 2 sisters, and the memories it had. They really wanted the car to go to someone who would appreciate it and drive it and love it like they and their mother did.
After all the parts were bolted on, then onward to my friend’s son in law, who did the bodywork, blocking, sanding, and eventually painting it PPG GoMango Orange. Then we put the interior back together, with new carpet & headliner. We also took the seats, console and plastic parts and refreshed them as well. I rebuilt the original 318, and added long-tube headers, new manifold with a 4BBl Holley, cammed it, and gave it an electronic distributor, new exhaust.
Also, upon tearing the Charger’s interior apart in our restoration, we found 2 intact build sheets, in really great condition!
Great job, Jerry! Wonderful story and a beautiful car! Grandma and Grandpa had a new 68 Charger in Bronze which I was pictured next to in my uncle’s dress, brimmed, Air Force cap at 4, and then a new 73 Charger SE in Gold over Gold, rally’s, console and A/C. I was 8 and in love! Enjoy your Charger!
Wowsers. Quite a project. Turned out really nice! Although it’s not a favorite of mine, I can certainly appreciate what it took to accomplish, and it’s a great-looking example of what was and is a very popular car with tons of folks. To have gotten that call so long after the initial contact is remarkable (I’ve left numbers before and NEVER been called). The note from the factory-worker is just icing on the cake. Congrats on a job well done! 👍👍
That top picture is quite lovely. Beautiful car in a beautiful location.
Awesome charger. Beautiful restoration so fortunate to own a piece of mopar history. Congrats on your find.
There’s something really special about being the second owner of a beloved family car. I bought my 56 DeSoto in 1984 from the widow of the original owner. She had several interested buyers but I think I got it because I told her it would be a keeper for me. True to my word, I still have it, and have no intention of letting it go.
Great story, great car. Enjoy the heck out of it. For me, I think replacing the original engine is not the correct direction. Tons of resto mods with big engines out there. Not so many original ones with an original smaller displacement motor
It has the original 318, rebuilt.
Tom C – fine print at the top states the owner is putting in a 440… based on the fact he rebuilt the original 318, chances are he’ll keep it in case he wants to take it back to OE. Hey, gorgeous car, well-loved and used, that’s the key!
I ordered and bought a 1970 Dodge Charger 500 with the 383 Magnum and 4-speed. Wish that I still had that car. After three years I sold it and bought a pickup truck.
What no AC? Bad move unless you live in Canada.
Aw, there’re tons of muscle cars running around without a/c just like in the old days. This car has what my car has, which is all ya need: Wing Windows, Baby! 🤣
Fantastic story – this is what the collector car hobby is all about !
Gorgeous car.
Its so cool to see stories showing that these cars were part of peoples lives – the attachments and meaning they have to family, especially having being owned for such a long period of time. It hits home for me as I still have my first car I bought over 44 years ago with my now passed on brother – a 69 Z/28).
Wouldn’t it be amazing to show this beautifully completed car to the original owners daughter who called you back to sell you the car. It would be a great tribute to the family and a real treat to see.
I vote for a epilogue to this story !!