Tim Baisley could have ended up as a Chevrolet guy: His first car was a 1967 Chevelle Super Sport, handed down from his brother.
But he chose an automotive path that would have made Walter P. Chrysler smile. “I’ve spent a lot of time loving and owning Mopars,” said the 63-year-old Peekskill resident.
That love affair has included an infatuation with Dodge Challengers. “I’ve had four very desirable 1970 Challengers,” he said, including the 383-cubic-inch RT and the 340-cubic-inch six-pack TA.
Baisley said that while he loved those Challengers and their mag wheels, stripes, fiberglass hoods, spoilers and tachometers, his favorite is the model he bought in January for $56,000 at auction: a stripped-down 1970 Challenger powered by a slant-six engine.
The slant-six Challenger is unusual enough that he had never seen one in person until the car was shipped to him from Chicago. Dodge built 83,000 Challengers in 1970, but only about 16,000 came with the slant six, and most were converted to V8s. “Owners never restored them, loved them or took care of them,” Baisley said. “There are so few left.”
His Challenger has already appeared at local car shows, including the Tuesday evening cruise at the I-84 Diner in Fishkill and the Wednesday evening show at Bear Mountain State Park. Baisley also plans to take it to Pennsylvania for the Carlisle Chrysler Nationals, which features nearly 3,000 vehicles.
The first-generation Challenger was produced by Chrysler from 1970 to 1974, a “pony car” to compete with the Ford Mustang, Chevy Camaro, Pontiac Firebird and AMC Javelin. It shared parts with its slightly smaller cousin, the Plymouth Barracuda.
The Specs
Assembly: Commerce, California
Body: 2-door hardtop
Total production: 83,000 (16,000 slant six)
Engine: 225 cu in slant six
Horsepower: 145
Carburetor: Single, one barrel
Transmission: 3-speed manual
Fuel economy: 20 mpg
Cost: $2,850 ($23,000 today)
Before he bought it, Baisley’s Challenger went through a “rotisserie” restoration: Everything from the wiring, brake cylinders and fuel lines to the sheet metal and paint was replaced if not in good condition. Because of that attention to detail, Baisley said he considers the car to be an original, as if it was just off the California assembly line.
“It was born with Go Mango orange paint,” he said. “It was born with the slant six. It was born with a manual transmission.” (The transmission is a slight departure from the factory original; the Challenger is outfitted with a 1980 four-speed manual truck transmission with overdrive.)
The bare-bones, black vinyl interior lives up to the base model’s “stripper” nickname. It has crank windows. There is no power steering, no air conditioning, no console, and no radio. The windshield wiper fluid is activated with a foot pump.
Baisley describes the handling as “sloppy-dirty,” even with new steering components. “There’s an inch or two of play, left and right, before you start turning the wheels,” he said.
He likes how the slant six and four-speed transmission perform. “I’ve gone up to 65 mph in third gear,” he said. “The car wants to go in fourth gear above that speed; that’s amazing.” The clutch is a bit stiff, and the car has “no super acceleration,” Baisley said. “It takes a bit to get it going 30 mph but it’s extremely happy at 65 mph. I don’t go faster than that.”
