I'm not exactly an ''old timer'' but I graduated high school in 1980.
Back then (in the mid to late '70s) from what I remember, E-Bodies weren't that common overall, but they were around here and there.
I swear that there were more in our local junk yard than seen on the street.
That being said, my older brother was big time into '70 Challengers.
In the spring of 1978 he answered a local ad for a '70 Challenger with a 440 in it with a bad automatic tranny in it.
When we went to look at it, it was actually a '70 440 6 pack R/T car with a slapstick transmission and a 4:10 Dana 60 rear end.
It was dark brown with a brown interior, and had Appliance 5 spoke mags.
The body was in good shape other than a few small rust bubbles here and there.
It had been repainted once.
The engine was all original even the hose clamps, manifolds, and air cleaner. (The car had 40,000 miles on it.)
He paid a fair price for the day of $1450 for it and we drove it home.
The tranny wouldn't shift out of first gear and the carbs leaked.
It was probably matching numbers too, we didn't check or care at that time.
So, what did he do with it?
Well, he had a good 440 4 barrel with a B&M transmission and headers, in it went, and the original engine, 6 pack, air cleaner and trans still bolted up went under a tree with a piece of plywood covering it up.
He drove it for a couple of years (he never lost a street race with it) and sold it for $4500.
He wanted a Hemi Challenger, and this one wasn't good enough.
The guy that bought it didn't care about the original engine and stuff and didn't want it.
He then sold the engine etc. to my oldest brother and he rebuilt it and it went into his '71 Challenger R/T 383 car.
My brother used the money to buy a 440 console auto Super Bird for 8 grand.
It was a very nice car I may add.
He never did get a Hemi Challenger....
Other cars that you saw a lot of were Camaros, Trans Ams, Corvettes, Mustangs and Cougars, and Dusters.
Dusters and Swingers were everywhere!
Oh, the good old days.....
