'58 Dodge | Aprilia RSV | BMW Streetcarver | Sketchpad
I got acquainted with my red dream car in the summer of 1997. I was 15 at the time. I was visiting my Grandfather in Los Angeles, (when I lived in Colonial Beach). One of the things we always seemed to do when I visited was to take an obligatory foray to the greater Los Angeles area wrecking yards. It's nice weather in July (hell, its always nice there), and Granpa had the assistance of a young back to help him.
Most of the boneyards we perused, as we quickly found out, wouldn't let me in because I was too young. That left us to comb through the older, less commercialized yards.
This time, we were looking for a parking light lense to my Grandma's Lincoln Town Car. We found ourselves at an obscure place called Valdry's Auto Dismantling. This place wasn't like any other junkyard we had been to! This place had all sorts of cars, and I am not talking about '86 Tracers, and '91 Colts, I am talking about BMW Isettas stacked on top of '59 Vette rear clips!
So I asked Mr. Valdry the obligatory question: "Do you have any old mopars here!?"
"Sure, there's a '51 Coronet over there, but you are free to look around", was his reply.
A little dejected, I checked out the Coronet, and the contents of the yard with my Granpa.
I left my Grandfather chatting with Mr. Valdry a short time later, and to my surprise, I spied a Challenger! She was blue, faded to a primer gray. My first assumption was that she was a 318 car, and someone put the R/T hood on her. As I sprinted up to the car, I noticed that underneath the poorly masked blue, were shades of FE5 Red.
I don't remember if Red had her engine displacement Hood Callouts, but I do remember the hood blackout treatment did not have the "R/T" script.
My eyes fell out of my head as I popped the hood. Expecting a tired 318, or a slant six, I was greeted with a complete, Magnum 440! This motor was not lacking a thing, and all the big block key players were present, the big radiator, clutch fan, you name it. She even had air conditioning and cruise control!
While this isn't Red, this one is pretty close!
I excitedly read not one, but two fender tags, and all of Red's options verified my amazement. The black vinyl top was mostly missing, save for a few tatters around the "SE" C-piller emblem, and the roof drip rails. A generous amount of aluminum tape encircled the small window plug's seam, and fringes of red were present around the rear luggage rack, and bumblebee stripe. The Astrotone applique was present, but the shiny exhaust tips were visibly missing from the dual cutout rear valence.
As I worked my way to the black leather interior, the first thing I noticed was that Red had Power Windows, A three speaker dash with AM/FM radio (who in the hell listened to FM in 1970!?), a rear defroster, and a partial horn ring wheel. Red's driver's side bucket was broken in half. Her overhead consolette was a little better, save for the lenses for the seatbelt and fuel lights, that were melted. She even had a rear defroster!
I couldn't believe my eyes! This was a complete car! Even the 14" Rallyes were shod with polyglas tires!
I don't remember my feet touching the ground as I made my way back to Granpa and Mr. Valdry.
"She has been here since 1989", Mr. Valdry said. "She even runs, even though I don't have the key!"
I couldn't believe my ears! I was grounded temporarily when he told me that he would sell her, but for ten grand (!), which to a fifteen year old, was a lifetime away.
I kept on checking on Mr. Valdry, and "My" Challenger, when I would come and visit my Grandparents in the summers. I started saving my pennies for the day I could purchase my dream. I moved to California right after I graduated high school, and you would think that with the money I had in my pocket, I would run to Mr. Valdry's. As you can see by this website, I didn't. The night I got off the plane, I saw a black 1958 Dodge, and the rest is history.
For kicks, I went and visited Mr. Valdry in December of 2005. Alas, someone had purchased my Red. Hindsight is 20/20, I am just hoping that someday, I can find my dream car again.
For you Moparites, though, I do have a few things. Her vin, which is registered with The Los Angeles Plant Registry, is this: JS29U0E216085. Yes, I memorized the VIN. I even have her Fender Tags, transcribed on a tattered page out of my grandfather's notepad (he always carried one, along with a minimum of three pens in his breast pocket) in my wallet right now. Here are her Fender Tags as well.
This is how they break down...
N85-Tachometer, N88-Cruise Control, N95-Evaporative control emission system, Required for all California Cars, P31-Power Windows, R35-AM/FM Radio.
M21-Drip Rail Moldings, M31-Side Moldings, M91-Luggage Rack, N41-Dual Exhaust, N42-Exhaust Tips (PROOF THAT CA CARS DID HAVE TIPS!).
C55-Buckets, C34-Front Seat Shield (?), H31-Rear Defroster, H51-Air Conditioner, J25-3 speed wipers.
V1X-Black Vinyl Top, A01-Light Group, A62-Rallye Dash, B51-Power Brakes, C16-Bucket Seats C26-Console.
FE5-Rallye Red, HRX9-Black Leather Interior, 000-Upper Door Paint, C15- DEC 15, 1969 Build Date, 078328 Sequence Number.
E86-Magnum 440 4V, D32 727 Automatic, JS29-Challenger R/T SE, U0E-440, 1970, LA plant.
V1X-VINYL TOP, V21-Bumblebee Stripe, Y14-SOLD CAR, 26-Heavy Duty 26" Radiator.
As you can tell, Red is a pretty rare bird indeed. One of 733 rare. If you aren't up to code reading, she is a 440/727 RT SE, Red/Black/Black, and basically every option short of power seats.
From what I gathered, Red lived in Gardena most of her life, after being constructed 12 December, 1969. I don't know how many owners she had, or what dealership she came from. I am assuming that she could have been sold at Tom Rhody Dodge, if it were still in business in 1970. I saw paperwork for a gentleman named Kim, who lived there in Gardena, and his record stops in 1989. I personally think that Red was stolen from Mr. Kim, hence the bad overspray. Mr. Valdry received lots of cars from the surrounding municipalities, so I bet she was a theft recovery, even though I don't remember seeing any damage to her lock mechanism.
I don't know where my Challenger went, but I can be she is in good hands now. I would like to know what became of her, and...IS SHE FOR SALE!?