From One Family to Another, This 1970 Dodge Charger 500 Is a Keeper

This Member Story first appeared in the July/August 2024 issue of Hagerty Drivers Club magazine. Join the club to receive our award-winning magazine and enjoy insider access to automotive events, discounts, roadside assistance, and more.

My son and I saw this orange 1970 Dodge Charger 500 in the parking lot of a supermarket. We approached two white-haired ladies who were near the car and learned they were mother and daughter. The mother, sitting on a bench wearing large cataract sunglasses, turned out to be the owner. I said that my son and I would be interested in the Charger if she ever sold it and left my name and number.
Ten years passed.

I was home working at my desk when the old house phone rang. The answering machine picked up, and I heard a female voice I didn't recognize. Then came the words, "You left a note about my mother's Charger." I leaped out of my chair and grabbed the phone.

Her mother had recently died. The Charger was the first new car the family had ever bought. The father picked the car, but the mother chose the color-Go Mango Orange. Over the years, several people had left notes expressing interest, but none of the other old phone numbers were viable anymore, except mine.

The car had been garaged for much of the past decade, needing too much work to pass inspection. Opening the garage, I realized there was much to do-you could see the garage floor through the rusted trunk. But it was a 1970 Charger. The family, for their part, really wanted the car to go to someone who would appreciate it and drive it and love it as they and their mother had.

So we made a deal. Before long, my garage was bursting with enormous boxes from Classic Industries and Auto Metal Direct. The entire rear was replaced, including the sail panel, quarters, trunk floor, and rear frame rails. A friend's son-in-law then did the body work-blocking, sanding, and eventually painting (PPG Go Mango Orange).

We also stripped and restored the interior, which is how we found an amazing handwritten note left by one of the car's assemblers. "Today is the 12th of December, 1969. Night is going by pretty good. Want to get home to see my girls. Barbie, I love you. Bonnie, I love you." What a time capsule.