The first-generation Dodge Challenger isn’t the kind of vehicle you think about when talking race cars, but the E-body actually hit the race track. It happened in 1970 in the SCCA Trans-Am championship.
Dodge joined the series in 1966, the Trans-Am’s inaugural year. It shared the “over 2-liter class” grid with Ford, Plymouth, and Chevrolet. Although it started the season with a win, the race-spec Dart wasn’t fast enough for the Mustang, and Ford won the championship with a comfortable lead.
Dodge returned in 1967 and started the season with a win. However, the Dart was unable to get close to the podium for the remainder of the season and finished behind Ford, Mercury, and Chevrolet. The division then abandoned the championship. After two years of absence, Dodge returned again in 1970.
This time around, the company didn’t rely on the Dart but chose to race the then-new Dodge Challenger. It commissioned Keith Black to build a 303-cubic-inch (5.0-liter) V8 and pitted the E-body against the tried-and-true Ford Mustang Boss 302 and Chevrolet Camaro Z/28. Plymouth did the same with the third-generation Barracuda.
Unfortunately for Dodge, the Challenger was far from successful. With only three podiums in 11 events, Chrysler’s division ended the season in fourth place, above Plymouth. Ford took a comfortable win. Dodge left the SSCA again, ending the Challenger’s short-lived racing career. However, the venture did spawn one of the rarest and most desirable iterations of the nameplate.
Because Trans-Am regulations required each automaker to build a number of street-legal counterparts for homologation, Dodge developed the Challenger T/A. It featured a six-barrel version of the 340-cubic-inch V8 and a host of unique components.
Rated at 290 horsepower, 15 horses more than the regular Challenger 340, the T/A hit showrooms with a suitcase-sized air scoop, a matte-black fiberglass hood, side-exiting exhaust pipes, a unique stripe package, and a heavy-duty suspension. Dodge built 2,399 units, which makes it the third-rarest 1970 Challenger after the HEMI R/T and the 440-equipped R/T. The T/A also accounted for only 3.1% of that year’s total production. Plymouth offered a similar Barracuda called the AAR ‘Cuda.
Although it’s nowhere near as potent as the HEMI R/T, the Challenger T/A is a sight to behold. Especially if we’re talking about perfectly restored examples, like this four-speed example in FE5 Bright Red. Spotted at Ideal Classic Cars, this T/A looks the part despite not wearing one of the famous High-Impact colors. Red and black is such a classy combo, even on a fully-fledged muscle car.
It’s unclear if this T/A rocks a numbers-matching V8, but everything appears to be period-correct under the hood. But even if it’s not all-original, this T/A is a rare gem thanks to its four-speed gearbox. That’s because Dodge sold only 989 units with the manual transmission. Check it out in the video below.
