The Old-School 1968 Dodge Charger

Back in the 60’s and 70’s muscle vehicles shaped their own culture. Likewise the 1968 Dodge Charger R/T Hemi was everything a muscle car ought to be, dominating both power as well as panache.

This vehicle has attained a lot of trophies, such as best special effects paintjob, best Pro Street, Meguiar’s Show Car Superstar as well as the famed People’s Choice. It is a 1968 Dodge Charger that runs on a 426 cubic inches bulky engine called Ray Barton Hemi and it is owned by Terry Mourched. His blown Dodge Charger is about as sturdy as one could get.
As soon as the decision was made to design his magnum opus, Terry attained the hard to get hold of 1968 Dodge Charger, which showed up to his doorstep on his birthday literaly in pieces. “It was just a bare shell with seats, without an engine as well as hundreds of parts in placed in a lot of boxes,” explains Terry. It was at this point Terry acknowledged that a assembly of this scale would require the talents of some of  best in the business.

Terry credits his desire for Mopars to Protrans Performance Automatics’ Fred Soleiman. Fred has got a reputation for assembling tough transmissions and as well as being his older cousin so he is used to being around a lot of  various Mopars that were brought in the workshop. The stock version of the ’68 Charger is as much an extraordinary car on its own, nonetheless what the boys had in mind was a lengthy way from factory. Fred had sourced the blown Barton Hemi out of the US.

For any Mopar fanatic the words ‘Ray Barton’ and ‘Hemi’ can only have one universal meaning: raw bulk horsepower. The Charger recorded a 426-cube Barton motor, with 4340 steel crank, forged pistons, H-beam rods, custom aluminium sump, aluminium heads as well as a filthy great 8/71 pump topped with twin APD carbs. It’s been driven to 1000 horsepower and 900lb-ft of torque, which is more than plenty for a vehicle destined to see ample of miles being on the road.

Even though it would have looked remarkable being left bare, the House of Kolor Violet Kandy top coat is a on spot option. Paying homage to the mythical muscle car-era colours like Plum Crazy and Wild Violet, but the intensity and vividness of the finish is pure Elite Hall porn and all the praise goes into the hard work put in the shell by Danny, Dez and the team at Custom Bodyworks.

Inside, comfort is a primary goal, being important to Terry given his firm requirement that the vehicle needs to be a street-adapted cruiser.Matt Gilkes from Inside Rides at South Nowra grab hold of the original seats and re-trimmed them in suede and Mercedes leather, with flooring and lining from the German brand in order for them to match. This Charger drives on 24-inches bulky Simmons Wheels framed on top of the Wilwood’s brakes.

Terry is in love with his vehicle and contemplates that the equipment inside marks proper statement. According to him, the 1968 Dodge Charger is precisely what the muscle car market demands should be.

“This is truthfully a story about the constructors, and not about the possessor,” he admits at the end.