Mopar muscle guys are very specific when it comes to what they like.
In other words, they don’t get excited by Aunt Mae’s ’64 Valiant four-door sedan with a Leaning Tower of Power Super Slant Six under the hood.
A 1970 Challenger T/A is a much different story.
Jerry Sutherland
These cars were built to answer the need for a car that could handle straight line and road performance, so the lightweight 340 cubic inch V-8 was fitted with three two-barrel carbs to coax a rated 290 horsepower out of the small block. Most people believe the car had at least 350 horsepower, but insurance companies didn’t need to know the real number.
That’s why Cory Yelk bought his Challenger T/A, because he knew how rare and desirable these cars are many years later. They didn’t fly out of dealerships back in 1970, but history was very kind to the ’70 TA.
Cory found the car in 2006 when he said he was in the right position to do a search for a Challenger T/A. He’s always wanted one–and in 2006 the sun and the stars aligned for him.
This T/A was originally blue with a white interior, but it was painted over the years since it left the factory. Cory knows this because he has the original build sheet. He said you can fake dash plates, but build sheets are the final verdict, in his opinion.
Cory’s car still has the factory 340 Six Pack V-8 and 4-speed manual transmission it had on the dealer’s floor. There were 53,000 original miles on the car and Cory said he has added “maybe 1000 miles” since 2006.
There’s a reason why this car didn’t pile up the miles. It didn’t come with the stock 3:55 gears. This Challenger T/A came with the more track-friendly 3:91 gears because it spent most of its life doing miles in quarter mile chunks at the dragstrip. Cory said it also came with the Dodge Challenger T/A Plymouth AAR proportioning valve used back in 1970.
Cory respects his T/A, so he doesn’t pound on it. He believes stuff is too expensive to fix so he doesn’t risk breaking things on this rare piece of classic Mopar muscle. Instead, he drives it at a sedate 60-65 miles per hour and he reports it’s only putting out 2200 rpm at that pace.
The key to this car’s condition is good ownership, so Cory wants to maintain that tradition. He took a long time to own one and he wants to keep it in the same shape as it was when he grabbed the keys from the previous owner.
Cory is very happy he owns a piece of Mopar history, but he hopes to add a sister to it if he could find a 1970 Plymouth AAR. He said they would make nice bookends in his garage, and he’d have two classics under one roof.
Classics with a Mopar Holy Grail history.
Jerry Sutherland
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
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