| Above: It's okay Jerry. We can't drive 55 either.... |
In an automotive world that had gone just a little crazy by 1970, it was hard to be sedate. After all, you could order musclecars in pink, purple, electric green, yellow and many other ways – setting on basic black did not win you a lot of street corner stares. You could also get some wild stripes and decals on your car, things that made everyone look twice.
 The 1970 Charger still looks modern, even in the company of a couple of new-era Rumble Bees. The swoopy curved-panel styling was among the most pronounced of the muscle era. |
But Gordon Garland, who lived in Colorado at the time, decided he didn’t want any of it. The factory hood flat-black treatment was left off, and so was the wrap-around bumble bee rear decal. However, he did opt for the SE (Special Edition) package, which gave the car a vinyl top, the hood-mounted turn signal indicators, extra interior lighting, and the woodgrained dash panel. These creature comforts were augmented by a six-way drivers seat and reaqr window defogger.
 This was the final year of the second-generation Charger design, the 1968-1970 era which included the Charger 500 and Dodge Daytona. The 1970 R/T option featured the unique side scoops on the door. |
But Gordon really wanted horsepower, something a little stouter than his 340 Dart Swinger. For that reason, he added an even one hundred cubes and two more carburetor barrels by checking off the new-for-1970 440 Six Pack option. The Six Pack was considered a very good alternative to the more expensive and maintenance-heavy 426 Hemi, and could be had in both the Dodge midsize B-body and new E-body line.
The 440 Six Pack was more than just a carb package, too. After development, it had been released in limited quantities in 1969, featuring a stronger crank, heavy duty rods, and forged pistons. A high-lift cam shaft that used a tapered lobe to rotate the lifters was revolutionary, eliminating the cam wear problems associated with tight valve spring rates. Atop this was a highly-visible Edelbrock aluminum intake and three Holley two-barrels. For 1970, the Charger was ironically the only Chrysler model that did not offer a fresh-air (Ramcharger) induction system to feed those big cubes, either in 440 or Hemi form.