We usually take it on a week-long summer vacation every year. Last year it went out to the Smoky Mountains, Atlanta, and all over that part of the country. This year we drove it down to Texas. Its out pretty much from Easter until Thanksgiving, and then it gets put away for the winter. But for the eight months its out, we drive it every week. So says Gerry Spray about the annual mileage his 71 Challenger racks up. A drop-top E-Bodywhat better way to see the country?
Gerry bought the car about six years ago, and set about doing a complete restoration. While most would jump at the chance to own a convertible Challenger, were fairly certain the majority of enthusiasts wouldnt have jumped at the chance to retain this cars original driveline. In a biggers always better hobby, a 318/904 powertrain combo usually isnt held as the object of desire for performance enthusiasts. But Gerrys version of performance differs from most, and wed have to say we like it.
Its not much of a quarter-mile machine, Gerry says. Its more a highway cruiser than a race car, thats for sure. Im not sure what the rear gear ratio isits got to be in the 2sbut it idles along real nice at 100 mph on the toll road, and it gets 16.5 miles per gallon.
He sent the original 318 to the machine shop, where it received a .040-inch overbore, a mild Edelbrock cam, intake and carb, an electronic ignition, and not much more in the way of hot rod performance. Backing up the mild-mannered engine is a stock rebuilt 904 with a Slap Stick shifter and the mystery-geared 8¾. The stock standard suspension (Thats why its got all that body roll to it!) was retained along with the manual drum brakes on all four corners, and power steering rounds out the mechanicals.
The car was sent to the bodyshop where it was taken down to bare metal and massaged back into shape, with any rust cut out and patched before the car was resprayed in B-5 Blue. The interior was also attended to with new covers, door panels, and back panels, and after a year the car was ready to be put back on the road for 26,000 miles of fun and good times to date, including autocrossing it when the opportunity arises, as seen here at the Mopar Super Weekend in Topeka last year.
A lot of people get on me about driving a fairly rare car so hard. But if I break it, I can fix it. Gerry says. People with cars sitting in their garage under a car cover drive me nuts! The worst you can do is break them, and if worse comes to worse, if nobody got hurt, it was just a carstart over again. If they break it, then they can push it back into the garage, throw the cover back on it, and theyll have the same thing they started witha useless car that just sits in their garage under a cover. But theyll at least have had some fun with it. And besides, you can fix just about anything today.