1970 Dodge Challenger And 1970 Plymouth Barracuda - Leading By Example

Joseph Kulick of Hughestown, Pennsylvania, is one amazing guy. Sure, we're a little jealous that he and his wife, Mary Pat, can somehow afford two classic, fully restored, big-block E-Bodies on a high school teacher and professional landscaper's salaries.

Joseph is the original owner of this Rallye Red '70 440 Six Barrel, four-speed 'Cuda, picking the car up during the freezing winter of 1970. Joseph kept his foot in the Plymouth for three years before he got married. With the change in his new living conditions, the 'Cuda was then committed to daily driver status. After a three-year stint as a daily driver, the E-Body was then stored in a garage, kept safe from the Northeastern winters and salted roads. After six years, Joseph, a new father by this time, decided to exhume the red coupe from its pen and take it out when weather permitted. For the next 10 years, the 'Cuda became a source of enjoyment for taking the kids to grandma's house for Sunday dinners.

By 1992, the Plymouth began showing its age. A succession of engine failures, oil leaks, a failed water pump, and visible rust convinced Joseph to take it to an auto restoration shop. After five miserable years of little good being done, Joseph and his now grown boys took the 'Cuda back and decided to strip the car apart themselves. After disassembly, Coventry Restoration dove into the body work and paint with professional fervor, while the Kulicks attacked the motor, transmission, and suspension. The engine was rebuilt by Krause Motorsports back to stock specs, re-using nearly everything on the factory engine. The West Newton, Pennsylvania, engine shop exceeded the Kulicks' expectations by even coming to their home to help advise them in the rebuild. Coventry Restorations repaired all the shoddy work performed by the previous shop and replaced panels where necessary. the 'Cuda still wears its original Rallye Red paint in places that didn't required rust repair and panel replacement. The freshly repaired body was then returned to Joseph's garage where he and his boys began piecing the puzzle back together.

So original is Joseph's E-Body that it still retains its factory elastomeric bumpers and Shaker hoodscoop. The Super Track Pack Plymouth wields all its original running gear (taken off earlier for the restoration), restored, repainted, and freshened up. But the 'Cuda wasn't destined to be the only amazing E-Body in the Kulicks' corral.