1970 Hemi Challenger Convertible

**olredalert** · #1 12-19-2009, 08:32 AM

------Yup, it was a Cuda. Sorry for the confusion. Could the car I saw and raced have been the test car??? Im a bit confused as I know what I saw. I may have beat it but I still thought it was the coolest Cuda I ever saw. And,,,Thinking back, I bought the Vette in February so it must have been probably early April by the time I was at Moroso with it. I never talked to the kid but it appeared as though he had just set foot in it for the first time.......Bill S

------And,,,sorry for the highjack!!!

**Tracker1** · #2 12-19-2009, 07:47 PM

If it was a real 70 hemi cuda convertible with red guts and red bumper, and red shaker it would have to be the CARS test car. HOWEVER - very little is known about the car after it left the press fleet and before 1976 when it surfaced and Herb MCandless bought it in pieces. It passed from McCandless to Alan Boltz, then to Paul Suloff in the early 80s - it was a mess.

In Feb. 1979, This car was still in many pieces in Alan Boltz's garage, not racing in Florida. I'm just repeating the known public history of the car, not questioning your recollections. I'm sure you saw what you saw, but if the known history of the test car is to believed, then it was not this car. And there are no records of another car just like it (red interior).

I am willing to bet my house that you raced THE OTHER 1970 red hemicuda convertible - black interior, column shift, now owned by the Blakes. It is a 34,000 mile original car that was in Florida (Sarasota and beyond) from the mid-seventies to 1982 when the Blakes bought it. seen here:

http://www.blakemachineprojects.com/RED70VCONVERT2.html

Now we have really hi-jacked the thread.

**Tracker1** · #3 12-19-2009, 08:01 PM

pic of both

**olredalert** · #4 12-20-2009, 03:02 AM

-----Desmond,,,I saw the car in question in 1970 not 1979. 1970 is a long way from 1979 but no harm no foul! As you can imagine I remember the red interior vividly as you just didnt see a car like that every day. The thing was striking, but the kid couldnt drive it. A lot of kids back in the late 60s/early 70s from the Palm Beach area got cars that were over their heads operationally. Id bet he either hurt the car early on or got a bunch of tikets and probably got rid of it .....Bill S

**Tracker1** · #5 12-20-2009, 03:40 AM

Your post says Feb. 1979 redalert.

By "new" 1970 LT1 Vette I just figured 'new to you' as your car would have been 9 years old by then.

If it was in fact 1970 then you definitely saw this car. Nothing is known of it before '76 so you probably saw it in the hands of its first new owner after it was released from the press pool.

**olredalert** · #6 12-20-2009, 08:12 AM

------So it does! I just now spotted the typo in my post. I apologize. It was 1970 and I had my LT1 for about a month. It was the first one in Ft.Lauderdale........Bill S

**mockingbird812** · #7 12-20-2009, 08:18 AM

Fat fingers Bill! The "9" and the "0" are right next to each other!

**olredalert** · #8 12-20-2009, 08:36 AM

-----Fat fingers, fat head, or something like that.......Bill S

jannes_z-28 · #9 12-20-2009, 07:15 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Now we have really hi-jacked the thread.

[/ QUOTE ]

No problem, I got an answer on my question, the rest is a bonus and very interesting.

Jan

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