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One of the most iconic musclecars of all time is the 1970 Dodge Challenger. It single-handedly represented everything that was right with Chrysler performance machines during the late ’60s and early 70s.
The Petty Motorsports-built 426 features a blower and over 700hp under the hood. Should make running down to the corner store for a gallon of milk easy work.
It had style, class, and the option of to have power in abundance when ordered with either the 426 HEMI or 440 6-Pack powerplants. But after only a few years the Challenger went away, and it’s fan base never thought they would see one in production again.
Fast forward to 2008, and it was again possible to buy a brand new, 425hp, HEMI-powered Challenger that had all the same personality of the original. Combine that with the fact that the modern Challenger looks much like the original, and you have a winning formula.
Enthusiasts like Mike Williams noticed this, and he had to get a Challenger for himself. But he didn’t settle for the run of the mill SXT, R/T, or even an SRT8 model. He went straight to The King himself, Richard Petty, to have Petty’s performance shop build him the ultimate road-going Challenger.
Petty went into business a few years ago building some of the fastest, loudest, and most powerful tuner late-model Challengers on the road today.
We ran into Williams’ Challenger at the Continental Tire booth during this year’s SEMA show, and when we did, it immediately stopped us in our tracks. It was sprayed in a high-metallic shade of black, and it was sitting on a killer set of 20-inch Forgeline FS3P wheels wrapped in Continental ExtremeContact rubber measuring 275mm wide up front and 295mm wide in the back.
Even with all of the modifications, Richard Petty makes sure there are enough subtle clues to hint at this car's performance.
To further compliment the paint and wheels, the Challenger was also adorned with an exclusive “King Edition by Petty” tail stripe and rear spoiler. To fit the blown 426ci. HEMI without any clearance issues, a large Shaker scoop was grafted into the hood.
Between the stroked out powerplant and the Magnuson supercharger with 12psi, the Challenger’s engine puts out a total of over 750hp with further aid of an ATI 17% overdrive damper, 90mm throttle body, and Kooks long tube headers that feed into a Corsa catback exhaust system.
Underneath the Chrysler LC platform you’ll find a complete Petty Garage suspension package that includes subframe connectors, the optional six-speed crossover bar, front and rear sway bars, coil-overs, and front and rear strut tower braces.
Even on the inside the Challenger gives it's owner the exclusiveness of owning such an incredible machine.
Brembo 4- and 6-piston calipers, and Brembo rotors help bring the new-age musclecar to a halt. To round out all of the exterior modifications, the interior received quite a bit of sprucing up itself with a Katzkin interior upgrade and a Hurst shifter, all topped off with Petty embroidery and PG logo floor mats.
Williams’ King Petty Challenger (Number #002, by the way), represents how the aftermarket and an experienced racer and tuner like Richard Petty come together to build the ultimate street machine.
It gives the current crop of musclecar enthusiasts hope that despite the current economic climate, high gas prices, and ever-enforcing EPA regulations, we can keep building the cars of our dreams.
