Ben Leonard
Addison, Michigan
'70 Charger
267 Horsepower
What's a guy to do when he grows up watching the Dukes of Hazzard? Buy a Charger of course. This time, the Charger is a 1970 model, and is owned by Ben Leonard, owner of a vending business. Ben has owned his Charger for close to 10 years, and the older paint work was done by Precision Paint & Restoration, in Osseo, Michigan.
The 440 is a mildly rebuilt mill, with durability and enjoyable driving in mind. The .30-inch over bored cylinders are filled with Ross pistons that are connected to the stock connecting rods and crankshaft. Altogether, ben's Charger displaces a mild 10.0:1 compression ratio. Like we said, enjoyable driving was the goal. A Comp Cams Extreme Energy stick works the valves in the ported 906 heads, and feeding it all is a Demon carburetor on and Edelbrock dual-plane manifold. TTI headers with 3-inch Flowmaster mufflers finish off the sound.
The transmission is definitely geared towards enjoyable driving. Ben had SMR transmissions build him a 727 and mount a Gear Vendors under/over drive unit to it. Finally, the 8-3/4 rear is filled with a Sure Grip, and a set of 3.91 gears. If you like the wheels, then you like American Racing's Torque Thrust II's. These ones are 15 x 7, and 15 x 8 inches, and are wrapped in Dunlop radials measuring 235/60-15 and 265/50-15, and fit the car perfectly.
Although the air conditioning robbed some of Ben's horsepower, we're certain that it's worth the sacrifice in order to be cool and enjoy the ride.
| RPM | HP | TQ |
| 2900 | 118.11 | 213.87 |
| 3000 | 136.94 | 239.73 |
| 3100 | 147.63 | 250.11 |
| 3200 | 160.06 | 262.68 |
| 3300 | 179.11 | 285.01 |
| 3400 | 198.73 | 306.97 |
| 3500 | 212.06 | 318.22 |
| 3600 | 221.81 | 323.59 |
| 3700 | 229.82 | 326.22 |
| 3800 | 235.08 | 324.92 |
| 3900 | 238.61 | 321.34 |
| 4000 | 240.77 | 316.15 |
| 4100 | 246.32 | 315.54 |
| 4200 | 249.90 | 312.51 |
| 4300 | 252.34 | 308.22 |
| 4400 | 253.65 | 302.78 |
| 4500 | 254.35 | 296.86 |
| 4600 | 257.24 | 293.71 |
| 4700 | 259.91 | 290.45 |
| 4800 | 263.51 | 288.33 |
| 4900 | 266.77 | 285.94 |
| 5000 | 267.23 | 280.71 |
| 5100 | 267.49 | 275.47 |
| 5200 | 265.23 | 267.89 |
| 5300 | 261.97 | 259.61 |
| 5400 | 255.19 | 248.21 |
| 5500 | 251.14 | 239.82 |
| 5600 | 249.25 | 233.77 |