As a Teenage Mopar nut I begged my dad to buy one of these local in 1985. The price was $5,500. I told him one day they're going to be worth a fortune! He laughed and laughed.
In my high school years in the mid-80s I owned both a 1973 Barracuda (my 1st car) and a 1970 Dodge Challenger He is being very generous in describing the build quality of these machines. Every time I see one advertised as: "Restored to factory original.", I feel a cold shudder run down my spine.. and I'm a fan!
Great video, I bought a low mileage TA in 75, they have a higher speed steering box. Mine had very accurate steering and great handling especially after I added BFG TA’s. A 50 year old might have a little wear in the steering box, ball joints or tie rod ends and the body may have lot some of its stiffness. They were rated at 290 hp just like the Boss 302 and Z 28. The TA engine has a six pack, unique large port manifold, feeding special lager port heads, bolted to a rare high nickel block and large rectangular port headers. The ports required pushing the valve pushrods together and cast steel offset rocker arms to align with the valves. That with a proper fiber glass bonnet scoop, huge air cleaner, and low restriction exhaust so I believe they made much more than 290 hp. These engines were unique to TA’s and AAR Cudas and this is why they cost more than the hemi package. All the drag racers hunted the engine blocks for years. You can see a lot of the differences just buy removing a valve cover. It is incredible to see a TA still running after all these years. Thank you sir. Dan
Hi Donald. And of course "Vanishing Point " with Kowalski (Barry Newman ) being chased across America by the police gave these cars worldfame in 1971. I fell in love with that car ! And it's worth mentioning that Jensen put this engine in their lnterceptor Thanks Donald
The pistol grip needs new bushings is all, Don. Hurst still sells all the parts for those and they're quite reasonable and will take care of the buzz. Oh - and the T/A Challenger is the single best looking car of the era, hands down. AAR is a close second. - Ed on the Ridge
NFW...The AAR was THE most awesome looking car to roll off a Detroit assembly line. The strobe stripe on the side is still being copied on other cars...
My favorite car of all time that i wish I could afford now is an 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302. As an kid growing up watching all these fantastic cars,,I'll never tire watching any of those cars from that time being driven and enjoyed.
It's not a 302 - you'll have to stay tuned for that, so make sure you subscribe and turn on post notifications - but perhaps this Boss 429 video (with some 302 Trans Am footage included) will tide you over! ua-cam.com/video/skNqz3fPLPQ/v-deo.html
Nick Panaritas, of Nick's Garage, dyno tested a stock 340 six pack and he got 326 HP and 357 pound feet of torque. So it was making about 36 more HP, or a little over 12%, more than the factory rated it. The 340 was called "The Giant Killer" because it would give the big block engines of that era a run for their money. It was about 100lbs lighter than a 383, (and made almost as much HP), and about 150 lbs lighter than a 440, and about 240lbs less than a 426 Hemi. The Challengers and Cudas with the small blocks handled better in the turns. My first car I bought in 1977 when I was 18 yrs old, was a '71 Barracuda with a 318 and a 3 speed on the floor. I always wanted to put a 340 and a 4 speed with a pistol grip in it, but I was in college and just didn't have the cash. I regret selling it to this day.
Thank you for the Trans Am footage, I want to watch a whole race now! I watched an Iroc race recently, it was not as exciting as the Trans Am clip in this video. My GF was a NASH RAMBLER AMC man. So my first muscle car crush was the Javelin AMX, I saw them brand new in the dealership my GF went to for regular maintenance. One time, they gave him a brand new Pacer as a loaner while working on his. People looked at the Pacer like it was a UFO! But by my Jr. High years, the sexy CHALLENGER with snorkel scoops was my crush! I'd love to see Dodge, who absorbed AMC, do a retro AMX with a HEMI. The Cuda was more popular in high school, but for me, the CHALLENGER was the one!! I later had a 67 Barracuda for a while. Loved this video!!!
Major "If only I had...." Back in 1972 I worked at a bank in SW FL. I bought one of these (green, white interior, 4-spd) from our repo department for..... $300. It needed some work and clean up - easy peasy. Kept it a year or so and sold it for $900. Wow - what a great ROI. And now - worth a few dollars more than $900. 😞
Donald in a musclecar,..with a bow tie.😁Who would ever thought that??Every episode reason for a big smile.Keep up the good work ... 0ldskool superK🎯🎯L!!
I bought my 70 Challenger 340 automatic 727 with an 8 3/4 rear end in 1979. I still own it. White with black bucket seat interior. The engine is warmed up with some high performance goodies. .500 lift crane cam with adjustable rockers. 7 qt. oil pan with high volume Melling pump. Air gap intake with a 750 avs carburetor. Headman headers with dyno max mufflers. 8mm wires on a dui distributor. Runs good and I drive it weekly. Been with me so long it’s part of the family.
Great video! A 1970 Challenger 340 4-speed is my favorite pony car of all time (my mother had a '70, 383 TorqueFlite). I was a rabid TransAm fan in that era and my older brother had a Boss 302 Mustang. P.S. That Challenger could use some front shocks!
2011 Rt I manual like driving an amusement ride every time, I 'aint racing nobody just enjoying the ride. Appreciating what as far as I can tell seems to be a reliable purpose built machine.
Hello sir! I had an Challenger 70 in the 70,s with the 440" in the country of Finland, the Mopar place! In the 80,s i had an Barracuda with an 318", it was a bad engine so, in with an 440" and we go! That was a fast car, the 403 meter (1/4 mile dragrace in Europe we did racing alla summer long, best time was 11,3 sec! It was good time then! Also had Darts and other cars but Barracucra and Challenger was the number one car at that time!
Seeing Mr. Osbourne behind the wheel of that Challenger T/A, rowing the pistol grip 4-speed with his trademark bowtie... Among my favorite presenters in Automobilia.(my late father's 1971 Challenger 340 4-speed rattled exactly the same as this car)
I Favor The AAR Cuda, Even That Hood Of Challenger, Was Sweet, BUT Especially With 4 Speed From Factory, AAR"s Had Rally Dash, With Factory Tach, I Saw 2 TA"s With A Rally Dash !!!!
I enjoyed the remarks about the old Trans Am racing very much. Also, yes it was a very different time. We drove around in cars that were much less safe, used them in unsafe ways, and accepted it. He is very right about the way you drive cars of that period. At speed you have to careful about sharp inputs. I remember taking my mother's 71 Cutlass up to about 85 and it sort of floated off the ground. There was so little grip it was obvious you couldn't put much cornering or braking load on the tires. I especially love the Mopars of this period. It does disturb me a bit, though, since Donald Osborne is usually so precise, often correcting Jay Leno, that he refers to the Plymouth E-Body as a Barracuda--that is what the A-Body car was called up to 1969, when it was replaced in 1970 by the E-Body car, which was always called 'Cuda both in the advertising and the various logos and badges--this was not a nickname.
Nothing like a 6 pack that you can drive. Beautiful sublime color. Cool rims. Scoop. Made for roadracing. A midsized car. Believe it. I had a Chevelle. Not like this car. Wooden wheel. Love the side exit exhaust . The blue collar muscle car. ❤❤🤑🫠👍🏁
Yes the late 60's early 70's was indeed a great time for gearheads, not just on your side of the pond either with the Trans Am series, here Down Under in the same period the Australian Touring Car Championship spurned on the muscle car wars too between Ford, GM Holden and Chrysler with "Win On Sunday, Sell On Monday" ethos especially when it comes to Bathurst 500m/1000klm winners(Aussies Daytona 500) and the trickle down effect in the sales rooms for the rest of the race winning model's range.
😂😂😂it's hilarious that you brought up the demon I had a 1971 Dodge Demon RT and it was beaten by my challenger so I slid it got no regrets with it my TA-RT is far Superior it's going to be my street legal TRANS-AM racecar ❤ thanks for this highly informative video I appreciate it I subbed to this channel keep making great auto content 😂❤
06:28 If Donald had been playing banjo at this moment, he would have been "pickin' and-a grinnin' " ... But I guess we will just have to stick with "the grinnin' " for now. You can tell he was having a good time. I may have even heard a slight "Jay Leno chuckle" coming out of him during this clip. 😆😅😂
Not better than a 1970 Hemi 4 speed R/T But the 340 six pack was highly underrated. It was quick. And handled much better than the Big Blocks. Bought a 70 T IN Humble Texas in 1978 for $1,500 4 speed.
Note the first thing to go in these old A, B and E body mopars was the steering. They good when fairly new but overtime the steering gear would just get sloppy with excessive play. I have owned and driven enough of them.
Beautiful car but I had to chuckle while watching the initial driving clip when he was sawing away at the steering wheel while just putting around, these and most cars from this era really aren’t that fast compared to the cars available today and the steering was always vague at best if you swung the steering wheel around on a modern car like that you’d get pulled over for drunk driving 😂
I bought a regular 1970 Dodge Challenger then put the 440 six pack engine in it and then added the TA hood and trunk lid I call it the (tart) as in TA RT because it's got all the good parts of both cars the TA and RT because I love all of the 70's Dodge Challengers so sure you can call mine a posh posh or the TART of the road it is sweet to drive and race both road cars and drag strip and if your going against it it'll make you sour because it'll kick your butt it has a 1000 psi shot of nitrous oxide just in case someone is catching up to me 😂😂😂 seriously though she's a hellacious car and it's white from vanishing point
There's one true down side to mine it's got the three speed torque flight automatic transmission so it's not that unbeatable 😢😅😊 still one of a kind car 😂
Sam looks so tiny in that thing... head in front of a steering wheel..really gotta sit close don't ya ?. though I never had the chance to drive a Challenger from that era, come a long way, course my 2021 Scat pack is smaller I believe ...
Dude, imho the '71 Donahue #6 Sunoco Javelin is one of three of the most beautiful American race cars ever. The other 2 being the Ford GT and the Shelby Daytona. Ya know...all these years later - all 3 of those cars would STILL👈🏼 kick ass!
As a Teenage Mopar nut I begged my dad to buy one of these local in 1985. The price was $5,500. I told him one day they're going to be worth a fortune! He laughed and laughed.
Who's laughing now?
They say the same about current challengers and chargers
@@Xterminate13I'm definitely not getting rid of my 2017 scat pack shaker
@@Xterminate13because of electric cars
@@RobertBrown-jm8ipI think they will hold their value
Challenger T/A and AAR Cuda have always been my top two Mopar dream cars. If I ever won the lottery I'd get one. Love them.
Brings back great memories. I followed Trans Am racing as a boy back then and my dad drove a Cuda 340!
In that case, be sure to check out our AAR Cuda video: ua-cam.com/video/9KZkxvuPW7U/v-deo.html
In my high school years in the mid-80s I owned both a 1973 Barracuda (my 1st car) and a 1970 Dodge Challenger
He is being very generous in describing the build quality of these machines. Every time I see one advertised as: "Restored to factory original.", I feel a cold shudder run down my spine.. and I'm a fan!
Love mopar 340s , my favorite V8 of all time.
Great story about the Trans Am series and the details of this particular Challenger T/A. I always learn something from Donald.
Great video, I bought a low mileage TA in 75, they have a higher speed steering box. Mine had very accurate steering and great handling especially after I added BFG TA’s. A 50 year old might have a little wear in the steering box, ball joints or tie rod ends and the body may have lot some of its stiffness.
They were rated at 290 hp just like the Boss 302 and Z 28.
The TA engine has a six pack, unique large port manifold, feeding special lager port heads, bolted to a rare high nickel block and large rectangular port headers. The ports required pushing the valve pushrods together and cast steel offset rocker arms to align with the valves. That with a proper fiber glass bonnet scoop, huge air cleaner, and low restriction exhaust so I believe they made much more than 290 hp. These engines were unique to TA’s and AAR Cudas and this is why they cost more than the hemi package. All the drag racers hunted the engine blocks for years.
You can see a lot of the differences just buy removing a valve cover.
It is incredible to see a TA still running after all these years.
Thank you sir.
Dan
I admit I always preferred the shorter wheelbase 'Cuda over the Challenger. The stance and proportions of the Plymouth was just spot-on to my eye.
Have you seen our ‘Cuda video? ua-cam.com/video/9KZkxvuPW7U/v-deo.html
For me the lines on the Challenger were more appealing. Cuda was more slab sided on the rear. Both beautiful though
@lenmaryan7943 Agreed. The rear quarters on the Challenger are so much nicer than the Cuda's slab sides.
Hi Donald. And of course "Vanishing Point " with Kowalski (Barry Newman ) being chased across America by the police gave these cars worldfame in 1971. I fell in love with that car ! And it's worth mentioning that Jensen put this engine in their lnterceptor Thanks Donald
Donald, no script and you tell the story of the car, the time period and the “feeling” enjoyed when driving these time capsules so well! Wonderful! 😉
The pistol grip needs new bushings is all, Don. Hurst still sells all the parts for those and they're quite
reasonable and will take care of the buzz.
Oh - and the T/A Challenger is the single best looking car of the era, hands down. AAR is a close second.
- Ed on the Ridge
NFW...The AAR was THE most awesome looking car to roll off a Detroit assembly line. The strobe stripe on the side is still being copied on other cars...
The 340 6-pk offered a gr8 power-to-weight and [manageable] package.
Great vid. Better satisfied smile here on Mr. Osgood.
Love it.
I still think its the best looking muscle car, who ever was at Dodges design and graphics studio at the time just hit it out of the park.
Is the true same opinie
My favorite car of all time that i wish I could afford now is an 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302. As an kid growing up watching all these fantastic cars,,I'll never tire watching any of those cars from that time being driven and enjoyed.
It's not a 302 - you'll have to stay tuned for that, so make sure you subscribe and turn on post notifications - but perhaps this Boss 429 video (with some 302 Trans Am footage included) will tide you over! ua-cam.com/video/skNqz3fPLPQ/v-deo.html
Nick Panaritas, of Nick's Garage, dyno tested a stock 340 six pack and he got 326 HP and 357 pound feet of torque. So it was making about 36 more HP, or a little over 12%, more than the factory rated it. The 340 was called "The Giant Killer" because it would give the big block engines of that era a run for their money. It was about 100lbs lighter than a 383, (and made almost as much HP), and about 150 lbs lighter than a 440, and about 240lbs less than a 426 Hemi. The Challengers and Cudas with the small blocks handled better in the turns.
My first car I bought in 1977 when I was 18 yrs old, was a '71 Barracuda with a 318 and a 3 speed on the floor. I always wanted to put a 340 and a 4 speed with a pistol grip in it, but I was in college and just didn't have the cash. I regret selling it to this day.
Thank you for the Trans Am footage, I want to watch a whole race now! I watched an Iroc race recently, it was not as exciting as the Trans Am clip in this video. My GF was a NASH RAMBLER AMC man. So my first muscle car crush was the Javelin AMX, I saw them brand new in the dealership my GF went to for regular maintenance. One time, they gave him a brand new Pacer as a loaner while working on his. People looked at the Pacer like it was a UFO! But by my Jr. High years, the sexy CHALLENGER with snorkel scoops was my crush! I'd love to see Dodge, who absorbed AMC, do a retro AMX with a HEMI. The Cuda was more popular in high school, but for me, the CHALLENGER was the one!! I later had a 67 Barracuda for a while. Loved this video!!!
Major "If only I had...." Back in 1972 I worked at a bank in SW FL. I bought one of these (green, white interior, 4-spd) from our repo department for..... $300. It needed some work and clean up - easy peasy. Kept it a year or so and sold it for $900. Wow - what a great ROI. And now - worth a few dollars more than $900. 😞
I had a 70 Challenger 340 4 speed, was not a T/A but still it held its own. Yeah, wish I still had it.
What happened to your 70 Challenger? If you don’t mind me asking.
Beautiful car, well done
Donald in a musclecar,..with a bow tie.😁Who would ever thought that??Every episode reason for a big smile.Keep up the good work ... 0ldskool superK🎯🎯L!!
You are a breath of fresh air! Really learn alot about cars, and other STUFF!!
Awesome Presentation!!!!
I bought my 70 Challenger 340 automatic 727 with an 8 3/4 rear end in 1979. I still own it. White with black bucket seat interior. The engine is warmed up with some high performance goodies. .500 lift crane cam with adjustable rockers. 7 qt. oil pan with high volume Melling pump. Air gap intake with a 750 avs carburetor. Headman headers with dyno max mufflers. 8mm wires on a dui distributor. Runs good and I drive it weekly. Been with me so long it’s part of the family.
Hard to find a good driving road in Rhode Island, but you did. Looks great
Great video! A 1970 Challenger 340 4-speed is my favorite pony car of all time (my mother had a '70, 383 TorqueFlite). I was a rabid TransAm fan in that era and my older brother had a Boss 302 Mustang. P.S. That Challenger could use some front shocks!
2011 Rt I manual like driving an amusement ride every time, I 'aint racing nobody just enjoying the ride. Appreciating what as far as I can tell seems to be a reliable purpose built machine.
Hello sir! I had an Challenger 70 in the 70,s with the 440" in the country of Finland, the Mopar place! In the 80,s i had an Barracuda with an 318", it was a bad engine so, in with an 440" and we go! That was a fast car, the 403 meter (1/4 mile dragrace in Europe we did racing alla summer long, best time was 11,3 sec! It was good time then! Also had Darts and other cars but Barracucra and Challenger was the number one car at that time!
Seeing Mr. Osbourne behind the wheel of that Challenger T/A, rowing the pistol grip 4-speed with his trademark bowtie... Among my favorite presenters in Automobilia.(my late father's 1971 Challenger 340 4-speed rattled exactly the same as this car)
I Favor The AAR Cuda, Even That Hood Of Challenger, Was Sweet, BUT Especially With 4 Speed From Factory, AAR"s Had Rally Dash, With Factory Tach, I Saw 2 TA"s With A Rally Dash !!!!
You mean this 'Cuda? ua-cam.com/video/9KZkxvuPW7U/v-deo.html
Enjoy!
I enjoyed the remarks about the old Trans Am racing very much. Also, yes it was a very different time. We drove around in cars that were much less safe, used them in unsafe ways, and accepted it. He is very right about the way you drive cars of that period. At speed you have to careful about sharp inputs. I remember taking my mother's 71 Cutlass up to about 85 and it sort of floated off the ground. There was so little grip it was obvious you couldn't put much cornering or braking load on the tires. I especially love the Mopars of this period. It does disturb me a bit, though, since Donald Osborne is usually so precise, often correcting Jay Leno, that he refers to the Plymouth E-Body as a Barracuda--that is what the A-Body car was called up to 1969, when it was replaced in 1970 by the E-Body car, which was always called 'Cuda both in the advertising and the various logos and badges--this was not a nickname.
The performance version was called 'Cuda. The base model was still called Barracuda in '70-74
Nothing like a 6 pack that you can drive. Beautiful sublime color. Cool rims. Scoop. Made for roadracing. A midsized car. Believe it. I had a Chevelle. Not like this car. Wooden wheel. Love the side exit exhaust . The blue collar muscle car. ❤❤🤑🫠👍🏁
It's love at first sight. This is my true dream car and I want to purchase one someday in panther pink or deep purple.
Yes the late 60's early 70's was indeed a great time for gearheads, not just on your side of the pond either with the Trans Am series, here Down Under in the same period the Australian Touring Car Championship spurned on the muscle car wars too between Ford, GM Holden and Chrysler with "Win On Sunday, Sell On Monday" ethos especially when it comes to Bathurst 500m/1000klm winners(Aussies Daytona 500) and the trickle down effect in the sales rooms for the rest of the race winning model's range.
😂😂😂it's hilarious that you brought up the demon I had a 1971 Dodge Demon RT and it was beaten by my challenger so I slid it got no regrets with it my TA-RT is far Superior it's going to be my street legal TRANS-AM racecar ❤ thanks for this highly informative video I appreciate it I subbed to this channel keep making great auto content 😂❤
I had that same hood scoop on my 340 Duster. I wish I had put a 6-pack carb intake on it, but I was a broke teenager when I owned it.
Came for the car, stayed for the dapperly dressed gentleman.
Oh, Trans Am is back in some form. It can be pretty good, it's on UA-cam. :) Under 'Trans Am Series' or something.
Along with an AAR Cuda, these are some of the most beautiful beasts to be concocted by Mopar. In my opinion of course.
Have you seen our AAR 'Cuda video? ua-cam.com/video/9KZkxvuPW7U/v-deo.html
@@AudrainMuseumNetwork I believe so, but I will have to go watch to make sure. Thanks!
Para mi el carro mas lindo de los 70 y de otras décadas my favorito 440 six pack
Thank you Donald!
Thank you for your support! Please consider subscribing if you haven't already! bit.ly/3RjleYp
Don is such a nice guy. I would like to meet him and talk.
Best car, best colour!!!
06:28 If Donald had been playing banjo at this moment, he would have been "pickin' and-a grinnin' " ... But I guess we will just have to stick with "the grinnin' " for now. You can tell he was having a good time. I may have even heard a slight "Jay Leno chuckle" coming out of him during this clip. 😆😅😂
I can tell he steering gearbox needs replacing.
Looks like someone did the one wheel peel at about the nine minute point of the video
The Trans Am series still exists
Not better than a 1970 Hemi 4 speed R/T But the 340 six pack was highly underrated. It was quick. And handled much better than the Big Blocks. Bought a 70 T IN Humble Texas in 1978 for $1,500 4 speed.
Do you still have it?
Note the first thing to go in these old A, B and E body mopars was the steering. They good when fairly new but overtime the steering gear would just get sloppy with excessive play. I have owned and driven enough of them.
FirmFeel rebuilds them, or switch over to a Borgeson unit
, can that seat go back anymore for ppl with longer legs?
Beautiful car but I had to chuckle while watching the initial driving clip when he was sawing away at the steering wheel while just putting around, these and most cars from this era really aren’t that fast compared to the cars available today and the steering was always vague at best if you swung the steering wheel around on a modern car like that you’d get pulled over for drunk driving 😂
Cars like these , and the group B rally cars of Europe, made me the car but I am today . 🇬🇧
I bought a regular 1970 Dodge Challenger then put the 440 six pack engine in it and then added the TA hood and trunk lid I call it the (tart) as in TA RT because it's got all the good parts of both cars the TA and RT because I love all of the 70's Dodge Challengers so sure you can call mine a posh posh or the TART of the road it is sweet to drive and race both road cars and drag strip and if your going against it it'll make you sour because it'll kick your butt it has a 1000 psi shot of nitrous oxide just in case someone is catching up to me 😂😂😂 seriously though she's a hellacious car and it's white from vanishing point
Its 54 years old.
There's one true down side to mine it's got the three speed torque flight automatic transmission so it's not that unbeatable 😢😅😊 still one of a kind car 😂
Donald is cool
Sam looks so tiny in that thing... head in front of a steering wheel..really gotta sit close don't ya ?. though I never had the chance to drive a Challenger from that era, come a long way, course my 2021 Scat pack is smaller I believe ...
110 inch wheel base on the challenger not 111
Bowties & Muscle cars don't mix!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂🤪🤪😜🤪
The Javelin and AMX were a better looking design
Luckily, we have an AMX video for you: America's SECRET WEAPON - The AMC AMX 390
ua-cam.com/video/CJwMqQzrszY/v-deo.html
Dude, imho the '71 Donahue #6 Sunoco Javelin is one of three of the most beautiful American race cars ever.
The other 2 being the Ford GT and the Shelby Daytona.
Ya know...all these years later - all 3 of those cars would STILL👈🏼 kick ass!
Totally subjective, and, I don’t think so!
@@ckelly3862 yep ok
Why is that,,,better
My uncles all dodge men my father chevy sales for 40 years astronuate vetts
Wen Cars and Cigars?
Give me a break, you're comparing a 50yr old car to a modern car? 😆😅😂🤣
Beautiful car but built like crap. Blow molded interior, no wheel wells. I know cuz my dad bought one this year, brand new.
Just like everything else built back then... but those old cars had way more personality than the new ones.
😂😂😂 mr magoo XXI Century versión 😅😅 , Is a joke alk this 😅😂😂