The Ford Mustang began the pony car revolution in 1965 and many manufacturers were caught off-guard, scrambling to catch up to the new lucrative market. Dodge, who was late to the party, introduced the Challenger in the fall of 1969 as a 1970 model. It was one of two Chrysler E-body cars, the other being the slightly smaller Plymouth Barracuda.

The Rise and Full of the Muscle Car
America was well on its way to winning the Space Race, Baby Boomers were graduating from college, and high-octane gasoline was relatively inexpensive when Pontiac introduced its GTO, alerting America's automakers to the potential for large profits through performance. The muscle car allure was a blend of performance, simplicity, and practicality, with accommodations for up to six passengers. No exotic materials or engineering were required.

The Big Three quickly found that enthusiast cars lay dormant beneath the skin of their regular model lineup. The recipe was simple, and one that was around since the early years of the automobile - a large engine installed into a small or midsize vehicle. To spice things up further, a few new paint codes and a few square yards of wild graphics announced the presence of something special. Modesty, however, resulted in what was described as a 'sleeper.'

General Motors led the charge with all four of its line, albeit without Cadillac, producing examples of the new breed known as muscle cars. Ford and Mercury were quick to follow, and Chrysler installed the Hemi into its Dodge and Plymouth divisions. One of Chrysler Corp's high-wing 'homologation specials' won the Daytona 500 in 1970, starting what has been called NASCAR's 'modern era.' Even staid American Motors entered the Muscle Car arena, hoping to stimulate sales and showcase their line of vehicles.

While the Muscle Car movement plowed forward a quarter-mile at a time, America's insurance companies heard the muscle car growl and moved in for the profits and the kill. The federal government also took notice, enforcing safety improvements and emission reductions that knocked these relatively inexpensive factory hot rods 'onto the ropes', the final blow coming from the Middle East and its oil embargo.

The Challenger
By the late 1960s and early 1970s, buyer's had a host of options to select from, and as a result the Dodge never lived up to the factory's marketing expectations. Nevertheless, the Challenger offered a wide variety of options catering to a wide audience. Bodystyle included a hardtop and convertible, both with a full-width grille opening, the familiar 'Coke-bottle' profile, and a low profile stance. In the back were two large, rectangular tail lights.

Buyers seeking comfort and luxury could select the Special Edition which added a padded vinyl roof with a small rear window, luxurious appointments, and special ornamentation. The high-performance version was the R/T (Road and Track) which had a 383-CID four-barrel V8, instrument panel Rallye cluster, electric clock, Rallye suspension with sway bar, upgraded drum brakes, and F70-14 fiberglass belted black sidewall tires. They also had R/T lettering and ornamentation, and longitudinal tape or bumblebee stripes. Sales proved lackluster, so Dodge would discontinue the R/T option on its remaining convertibles for 1971, making it a one-year-only production run.

The Challenger T/A option was available only on the hardtop and was introduced in early January to homologate the model for Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Trans-Am racing. Power was from a 340 cubic-inch 'Six-Pak' with three two-barrel carburetors. It sold for $4,056 and 2,500 examples were planned, one or each dealer.

In March, Dodge began offering a lower-priced version of the Challenger called 'The Deputy' and had a base price of $2,725. It came with a 198 CID six-cylinder engine with a single-barrel carburetor. This was one of the nine possible engine combinations Dodge offered on the Challenger in its first year. Options included the wedge-powered 383- and 440 4-barrel cars, the 440 Six Pak, and the 426 Hemi. By the close of the year, just 12 examples of the 1970 Hemi Challenger R/T convertibles were built on the Hamtramck 'Dodge Main' assembly line, which constructed all the Hemi E-body models for the company. Of those 12, five buyers optioned the A833 18-spline 4-speed transmission as opposed to the TorqueFlite, and of those five, even fewer selected the Super Track Pak to the vehicle's options list. This meant the E74 Hemi and A34 Super Track Pak came with the 4.10-geared Dana 60 Sure Grip differential, cooling components, power front disc brakes, and extreme-duty suspension.

Chrysler built 1,543 'Street Hemi' engines for its Dodge and Plymouth lines this year, with 482 being installed in the Dodge models, including the Coronet, Charger, and Challenger. 137 were Challenger R/T hardtop models with four-speeds and 150 with TorqueFlites. An additional five R/T convertibles with four-speeds and four with TorqueFlites were also built. The Challenger R/T SE hardtop editions also received 60 Hemi engines, with 23 backed by a four-speed and 37 with a TorqueFlite. Of the 482 Hemi engines installed in Dodge vehicles for 1970, the Challenger received 356.

The 426 'Street Hemi' had hemispherical combustion chambers, five main bearings, hydraulic valve lifters, a 10.25:1 compression ratio, and delivered 425 horsepower at 5,000 RPM.

Trans-Am Team
The NASCAR-derived 426/425 HP was among the most legendary of all Detroit street power-plants, and the name Challenger would become synonymous with 'Muscle Car.' To boost popularity and showcase its performance, Dodge contracted Ray Caldwell's Autodynamics in Marblehead, Massachusetts to oversee its factory Trans-Am team efforts. The list of drivers included Sam Posey, Ronnie Bucknum, and Tony Adamowicz. The Caldwell team built a car taken off a local dealer's showroom floor, painted it 'sub-lime' green, gave it the No. 77, and assigned it to Sam Posey. A second chassis, provided by Dan Gurney's All American Racers (who were managing the Plymouth's racing efforts), was completed mid-season and wore the No. 76. Some resources were shared between the two teams, along with AAR's personnel, including Bob Tarozzi and Phil Remington, who lent their expertise in chassis engineering and roll-cage construction. The Gurney-built cars used a conventional rear suspension and John Miller-developed engines using special Trans-Am four-bolt-main blocks from Chrysler. The Caldwell went a different route, using a rear-suspension setup with a live axle inspired by the Can-Am racing series. Its 305 CID V8s engines were built by Keith Black, also using Trans-Am blocks.

The Dodge cars wore flamboyant Sublime paint schemes while the Plymouths were more restrained with their dark blue paint. In efforts to reduce weight, the Challenger body was acid-dipped (perhaps only #77) - and as the story goes - perhaps it was left in the bath a little too long. With weakened integrity, an inspection official either dented or pushed entirely through the car's roof just prior to the start of the season. With little time to spare, the team scrambled to replace the roof. After acquiring a Challenger from a local Dodge dealership, the roof was cut-off and installed on the racing Challenger. The stresses of racing further revealed the weakness of the body, and the team was forced to weld the cracks between races.

The #76 and #77 gave Posey two cars to alternate between, and it gave Dodge two cars to contest the final two races of the season. Posey drove the No. 77 and Bucknum drove the No. 76 at Seattle Washington. At Riverside, California, Adamowicz drove the #76 and Posey in the #77. Posey had placed 6th, 3rd, and 5th at the start of the season. The fifth at Bridgehampton was a DNF, officially listed as 'throttle' as Posey and Gurney were instructed by Chrysler to never admit to blowing an engine in a race. The first outing for the #76 was a Donnybrooke where it DNF'd, a performance it would repeat in its last outing of the season at Riverside. At Mont-Tremblant, Posey finished in fourth with the #76, and then a third at Kent (in the #77). The #76 appeared in four races while the #77 appeared in the balance of the events.

Due to a lack of proper testing, the Dodge Challenger was unpredictable in turns and often suffered engine failure. The Challenger finished 'in the points' in six out of eleven races, including three podium finishes. It ended the season just above its sister company, Plymouth, for fourth place in the season standings. The Dodge team had 18 points and the Plymouth had 15 points.

After the end of the 1970 Trans-Am season, the Big Three - Chrysler, Ford, and GM - withdrew their official support for the series. It is believed that the #76 car moved to the USAC series and continued to compete well into the 1970s.