1970 Dodge Challenger - Circling The Drain

This morning, I jumped the fence again at the impromptu junkyard around the corner from us to see if that 1970 Dodge Challenger was still there. With a new interchange being built a quarter mile or so south of here, I have a sneaky feeling she may be circling the drain; a number of the cool old wrecks are not here anymore. The interchange will enable easy access off I-90 to the Cleveland Clinic facility they're building right off of what will be the exit. Can't imagine the folks with the stethoscopes and white coats would want a junkyard in their midst. Such the price of progress. 

Dodge was late, some say too late to the pony car party when they introduced these in 1970 as the market for them was already shrinking. Blame insurance surcharges and saturation for that, emissions and safety regulations and the OPEC embargo kicked out the remaining legs on a table that wasn't very sturdy to begin with. Dodge got out of the game by 1974 building a fraction of the number of "ponies" GM and Ford built. Shame too, these cars have always been a favorite of mine.  

The weather extremes here have ravaged her. Throw in bog like conditions on a cloudy, dank morning and we have a visual tsunami. 

Apparently, you could buy these damn fake hood scoops from your local "MOPAR" dealer parts counter back in the day. I think they're atrocious. Like a big boob job on a woman who's not built for them. 

I've never driven one of these and I don't want to. Better to dream about what it could be like than be disappointed. Contemporary reviews were not kind noting with the right engine they were quick enough, but they handled like a truck with square wheels. They say don't meet your heroes; been there done that enough times to tell you that sentiment is true. 

 Some things on our bucket list are best not crossed off.