A white 1972 Dodge Challenger pulled into a summer Mopar meet and immediately caught our attention because of its resemblance to the 1970 Challenger in ‘Vanishing Point’.
We knew it wasn’t the movie car, given the fact that all five Challengers were destroyed after filming, along with the fact the Challey at the show was two years newer than the ‘Vanishing Point’ car.
However, we believe the ’72 Challenger at the Mopar show had an even better storyline because it was a legacy car willed to John Dempsey by his younger brother James after his passing.
Jim Sutherland
John believes he may have influenced his brother James because John owned a 1970 Dodge Challenger when he was in high school. John mentioned his brother James loved his ’70 Challey and it may well have ignited his interest in first-generation Dodge Challengers.
James bought his 1972 Challenger about 26 years ago and began a meticulous restoration of the vintage Mopar pony car. He continued to invest time and money into the car until his passing.
John told MyStarCollectorCar the car was a big financial investment for James because he was not mechanically inclined and had to rely upon the advice of other people, including a mechanic who believed he should put lower rear gears in the car, presumably because the mechanic liked good burnouts.
Unfortunately, the decision to replace the factory 2:73 gears with 3:91 gears cost James three engines because the lower gears were murder on them whenever he hit the highway. The ultra-high RPMs at highway speeds eventually blew up the engines on longer road trips.
James like to visit his family in a city about 200 miles from his home and learned the hard way about low gears on the highway. His brother John still has the low gears in the Challenger but intends to replace them with the original 2:73 gears at some point in the future so he can hit the highway in the Challey.
All three engines in the ’72 Challey were 340 small blocks because they provided a solid balance between lively performance and liveable economy. John will stick with his brother’s engine choice and will protect it from excess abuse under his watch.
The Challenger is a full-gauge car that provides more accurate readings of the engine’s vital signs for John. He likes the factory-correct rally wheels on the Challenger, probably because they really look retro cool on the car.
John has made very few changes to the Challenger except for a rear wing he added because he liked the look on the car.
It is important to John that he preserve his brother’s memory with the car, so he left the ash tray full of cigarette butts placed there by James during his final years of driving the ’72 Challenger.
The 1972 Dodge Challenger is in exactly the right hands with John because he respects his brother’s wishes for the car and will continue to maintain it at a high level in memory of James.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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