“I really enjoy this car,” says Tim. “Compared to the other Mopars, it handles like something modern, and it responds; it’s definitely the most fun car in my collection. I normally keep a set of radials on it so I can take it out when I want to just drive. I bought it thinking I’d resell it; after driving it, now I will never sell it.”

Mileage: 20.600

Production: 2724 (1,120 four speeds)

Color: FE5 Rallye Red paint with accompanying A22 elastomeric bumpers, black interior

Standard Equipment: A53 Trans Am package (15x7 Rallye wheels, AAR graphics, fiberglass hood, rear fiberglass spoiler, side exit exhaust, heavy duty suspension, E55 340 engine, D21 four speed, D56 3.55 Sure grip, U01 Goodyear tires - E60 front/G60 rear tires front, V6H tape stripe, W34 collapsible spare)

Continued...

FE5 Rallye Red was not a High Impact color (EV2 Tor-Red was), but the color works perfectly on this terrific survivor car, especially with the color-matched elastomeric bumpers and mrrors. Many AARs were not heavily optioned due to the high initial price; this one is an exception.

Options: (A22) Elastomeric front and rear bumpers (includes outside mirrors (left remote control) and deck panel treatement) * (A62) Rallye instrument cluster group * (R22) solid state AM / 8-track * (R31) dual rear speaker * (S74) power steering fast ratio (Y16) sales group * (A67) rear window louvers * (C16) console *(G15) tinted windshield * (J55) undercoating * (J78) front spoiler package.

Cost: $4,724.05

Helping boost the sticker price to over $4700.00 were the optional rear window louvers.

The Pistol Grip was one of the highlights of the 1970 model year; it looks right at home in the AAR.

The AAR hood used a scoop designed by National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA); created due to issues with aircraft approaching the speed of sound, it was not as functional on an automobile. It looked cool, though…

This air cleaner sealed the Six Pack carb layout to the scoop to keep cool air moving into the engine.

From behind, the car takes on the classic appearance of an American street machine, yet is completely stock as sold to public.

Pam on the road in the FM3 1970 Charger; like most of the cars in the Wellborn Museum, the car can be driven, and is…

Museum Masterpieces by Geoff Stunkard

VEHICLE: 1970 Dodge Charger R/T

Restored by: Dale Gyorvary

Engine: Dodge 440 Six Pack Magnum

Transmission: 727 Torqueflite

Rearend: 8.75 banjo-type with 3.23

SureGrip Interior:  black hound’s-tooth/white insets

Wheels: Magnum 500

Tires: Goodyear Polyglas G70-14

Special Parts: FM3 Panther Pink paint plus standard equipment for R/T package (believed to be one of two FM3 440-6 Charger R/Ts built).

Owned by The Wellborn Musclecar Museum

Musclecar paint schemes grew more and more crazy in the late 1960s, and Chrysler’s legendary foray into the world of HIP (High Impact Paint) began in 1969, when five special paint colors debuted. These paint hues were actually an extra cost option, so such colors can add to a car’s collector value today. Things got even more extreme in 1970; the Charger here is painted code FM3, known as Panther Pink.

Other Dodge HIP colors in 1970 were EK2 Go-Mango (yellow-orange), EV2 Hemi Orange (or red-orange), FC7 Plum Crazy (purple), FJ5 Sublime (light-green), and FY1 Top Banana (yellow), with FM3 Panther Pink and FJ6 Green-Go (a deeper green than Sub Lime) both added at mid-year. For Plymouth, the corresponding colors were EK2 Vitamin C Orange, EV2 Tor-Red, FC7 In-Violet Metallic, FJ5 Limelight, FY1 Lemon Twist, with FM3 Moulin Rouge and FJ6 Sassy Grass Green added later.

Indeed, it appeared that all of Detroit had gone psychedelic by then; colors plus wild graphics and styling options abounded from the Big Three – scoops, blisters, wheels and wings. And the displacement wars were waging – the 440 was joined in 7+ liter territory with GMs 454” and 455” inch plants in the midsize body range that year. Chrysler did not add cubes for 1970, choosing instead to add more carbs, a package Dodge called the Six Pack.

After showing up in a handful of Road Runners and Super Bees in 1969, the 440 Six Pack was the newest mill for the Dodge line-up in 1970, available in the B-Body and E-Body performance lines and rated at 390 horses. It featured heavy-duty internals and the trio of Holley two-barrels just like the 1969 version, and its main benefit was more fuel throughout the RPM range. Indeed, it was a better street choice for many than the Hemi, since it achieved quicker peak horsepower on a lower torque curve than the 426 ‘elephant’ did. The Six Pack in this Charger R/T is coupled to a Torqueflite and a highway happy 3.23 SureGrip 8 ¾ differential.

Outside, this particular car was optioned with the white vinyl top and the longitudinal sport stripes that were new for 1970 (you could still get the Scat Pack rear-wrap stripe as well). Though it was an R/T model, it did not get a deck wing, and there was no ‘sport hood’ available yet for the Charger (that year’s Road Runners, GTXs and Coronet R/Ts, on the other hand, offered several variations). It also left the St. Louis assembly line with both left and right outside sport mirrors, tinted windshield, and front and rear bumper guards. Magnum 500 road wheels (code W23) and Goodyear Polyglas tires were part of the mix as well. . The F70 tire was the largest available from the factory on this model, but this example now uses the wider G70-14 replacements.

Inside, our Charger came with the scarce hounds-tooth buckets, covered with black vinyl featuring white cloth insets, plus the console with floor mount, woodgrain appliqué  dash with the standard Rallye cluster design (but no clock or tach), AM radio, and the black steering wheel with lower ½ horn ring.

So, who ordered it that way? Believe it or not, this was a sales bank car. These were models built by the factory for general distribution, and sales bank cars helped keep the assembly line busy and helped assure that a ready supply of cars was on hand for the dealerships. It was built very late in the 1970 year, July 10 being the scheduled production date, and may well have been done to help clean up what was laying around the plant since the Charger would undergo some serious restyling the following model year (which would actually begin a little more than a month later).

Tim and Pam Wellborn spotted it at the Mopar Nationals in 2004, and Pam knew it fit her outlook on life to a ‘T.’ Owner Dale Gyorvary had decided to sell it, and it is believed to be one of just two FM3 Six Pack Chargers built that year; the price was reasonable and Pam wanted something that could be driven around. The Six Pack fit that final requirement perfectly.

“What I like best is the color obviously, and I love ‘70 Chargers, unlike my husband, who’s crazy about the ‘71s,” she says with a grin. “The car was done, we didn’t have it do anything to it, and the white accents make this car a standout. It also has that hounds-tooth interior, and it was the only 440 Six Pack in our collection at the time. Those are all the reasons I gave Tim when I said ‘we need this car!’ that day.”

There was one other important reason: she and Tim had first dated in a 1970 440 Charger many moons ago. That car, unrestored and painted Jamaica Blue, is still in their collection as well.

This car has been featured in Musclecar Review and Old Cars Weekly magazines