Video Transcript

(Music)

A 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A. Those letters stand for Trans Am. A road car series dominated by Z-28s and Boss 302s. Dodge threw its white hat in the ring with a fierce new pony car, and with that a muscle car legend was born.

(Tommy)>> Trans Am rules stated you had to sell what you raced. So the street version was every bit as powerful. It all started with the viscous 340 six pack. That was your only engine choice, and no other Dodge had it.

(Joel)>> Horsepower was underrated at 290. Yeah, try closer to 350. Part of its power came from the innovative snorkel scoop, which was raised an inch above the hood. This helped it avoid the slower, choppier air on the hood's surface.

(Tommy)>> The oval air cleaner sealed direction to the fiberglass hood for maximum air flow. Crack open a six pack and you'll find three two barrel carbs sitting on top of an Edelbrock aluminum intake.

(Joel)>> Keeping with the race imagine, the exhaust exited in front of the rear tires. To achieve this the pies had to do a U-turn inside the mufflers. The T/A was also the first muscle car to come stock with two different size tires. Up front you had two E-60-15s, and in the back a fatter g-60-15s. Front and rear spoilers and a race style gas cap completed the look.

(Tommy)>> The suspension got several upgrades, including the rear leaf springs that had a higher load rating. The front and rear sway bars were stiffer, shocks were heavy duty, and power disc front brakes.

(Joel)>> Inside the T/A a Hurst pistol grip put all that firepower in the balm of your hand. Bucket seats and rally gauges were included, but a/c was n/a on the T/A.

(Tommy)>> The Challenger line debuted in '70. It was built on the all new E-body platform. It shared some styling with its sister car, the Cuda, but Challengers rode on a two inch longer wheelbase. The body line creases, quad headlights, and venturi grille helped to set it apart.

(Joel)>> You can tell a true T/A by the fender tag. It's got to have Trans Am stamped right on it. This all original numbers matching beauty was bought back in 1975, and recently restored to stock.

(Tommy)>> It's definitely a fun car to drive. It's fast and always gets a lot of attention.

(Joel)>> T/As didn't do all that well on the race circuit, though it did make a few top three finishes. Dodge only managed to sell about 2,400, party because the Trans Am package costs over $1,000 bucks! There were plans to offer it again in '71. It even showed up in the Scat Pack brochure, but Dodge was pulling out of racing and the muscle car market started to fade.

(Tommy)>> With its loud exhaust and a 340 six pack you don't need a radio to hear sweet music. The '70 T/A ended up a one year only model, making it highly sought after today. Good luck finding and catching one of these.
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