CC hunting is a game of chance, but it can also be a game of patience. Among the parking areas and side streets familiar to me in the little corner of north Tokyo I now call home, there are a few cars under tarps that I know are worth keeping an eye on. Because someday, that tarp may well be off.
I found this one a long while back – probably the month we moved here, in January. I’ve already featured it in my Isuzu Bellett post. It’s located pretty close to where I live, and the size of the thing made it highly intriguing. Its American origin was 99% certain, in my mind. I often wondered what was under there – my top contender was a late ‘60s T-Bird, for some reason, but I would not have bet anything on it.
Back in Bangkok, there were a couple interesting mystery cars about that I never managed to uncover. And there are a few others in Tokyo as well, but this one was on the top of my list. And then, on a Sunday last month, it finally happened: the cover was off and I could finally (albeit quite briefly) shoot this mystery car. It was really worth the wait, as I expected.
I was very quick with the photos – someone was obviously in the middle of washing the Challenger, among other things. And sure enough, somebody came out to hang the laundry. I had almost the photos I wanted. Almost.
There isn’t anything I can say about this car that hasn’t been covered already. We’ve had a number of CC posts about these (links listed at the end) – including two this year already, so this is just a pure eye candy / fish out of water piece. Finding this in Tokyo is plain weird, though I suppose one should expect the unexpected here.
I did promise myself that I’d revisit Challenger alley to see if I could catch Big Blue here again. And I got lucky again, this time managing to score an interior shot – not a very good one, but better than nothing. The first encounter would have been a better opportunity, as the window was lowered. But I just hadn’t been quick or daring enough on that day.
Fuselage Mopars are the most interesting American cars of the period, in my view. But just read any CC post and comment section on a Fuselage, it’s incredible how divisive they are. Some people really love them, others utterly despise them – there is no middle ground, it seems.
I have no skin in this game, but from a purely design perspective, I’m glad these existed. They were the last flourish of the wacky ‘60s before creeping Broughamization and 5-mph bumpers ushered in the Malaise era.
Would I ever consider buying this? Not likely. Too big and too thirsty, for one thing. Also, the name “Challenger” is more associated with the space shuttle disaster than anything else, for my generation. I like a challenge, but I’m not too keen on a Challenger. Still, it was great to have seen one of these big brutes up close. Glad someone here likes high-performance Fuselage Mopars – and occasionally takes the cover off.
Related posts:
Curbside Classic: 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T Convertible – Son, That’s Plum Crazy!, by Jason Shafer
COAL #14: 1970 Dodge Challenger – A Secretary’s Special in Hemi Clothing, by Ed Hardey
Curbside Classic: 1970 Dodge Challenger – Vanishing Paint, by David Saunders
Curbside Classic: 1970 Dodge Challenger – The Life of the Party by PN
Museum Classic: 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T SE – It’s Pink!, by Tom Klockau
Automotive History Oddity: 1971 Dodge Challenger “Coupe” With 198 Cubic Inch Slant Six, by PN
even the bike was uncovered!
Now seeing that on the streets of Tokyo would truly surprise me. Some interesting things in the interior such as the faded black carpet, the extra aftermarket gauges (monster tach), and the shifter. Do not like the look of those shifters but then I also don’t like the look of a floor shifter sans a console. You really need a console so as not to look naked.
I hate the look of ratchet shifters but I vastly prefer the floor shifter sans console. Consoles clutter interiors, I wish they didn’t become standard options
I actually prefer the console except in one certain instance where it tends to get in the way.
What mostly bothers me with the consoles in E-bodies is mostly tied to the the 4 speed shifter admittedly, if it had the original auto slap stick the console works much better, but manual boot is visible from below on the side and really clunky, and the console just isn’t useful or stylish enough to overcome that detail
As nice as it is, the car still looks like a work in progress, with the bare shifter and the open hole and dangling wires for the door-mounted loudspeaker.
Lovely car, and surprisingly ding free considering the tight parking space. I’m fascinated by the beautifully crafted ramp sections in the gutter allowing the car to mount the curb.
I am a citizen of the world whose mind is wide open, so much so that unkind types have suggested that many matters pass directly through it without leaving so much as an small impression, but they digress. To me, it means more that I accept all people in their full peopleness without judgement or partiality.
However, I must warn our Professor that the prohibition upon the lifting of covers out of an overwhelming curiosity to see what lies beneath applies with equal force to the covers of cars as it does those of peoples, and that pleased as we are to see a Bellett or another Challenger, this site does not cover bail.
Considering the modern LX based Challenger has outlived not only its predecessor but almost every other retro design from the trend’s peak with the closest it can be within regulations and platform economics to faithful cues, it could very well be argued the original Challenger might be the most timeless design of the period – (timeless =/= best looking, put down the torches and pitchforks!). Remarkable considering its poor sales performance in the original ponycar market, but the 71-73 Mustangs were the best sellers, so what did the public know? I firmly believe the second gen F bodies make a case for superiority, but we’ll never know how the styling would fly because GM listened to dumb focus groups and released a carbon copy of the 5th gen/1st gen aping car with even gunslittier windows for the 6th gen instead.
The E bodies may have cribbed the basic profile from the first gen GM F bodies but the massive tumblehome and fuselage elements really make it its own. For as much flack these get for their interiors, especially the door panels, I really don’t see the problem some have with the rest. First gen F bodies are literally a boring flat sloping wall with sparse instrumentation. By comparison the instrument panel, the Rallye one that is, might be the best looking set of instruments ever put into an automobile. Even the fake wood grain applique looks nice. I really like the B5 blue on this one, I’m not the biggest fan of blue cars but the torque thrust spokes and white stripe contrasts really make it pop
These were sort of the anti-Japanese cars of their time. Japanese cars were often oddly styled and modestly powered but were packaged efficiently and built with tremendous care. Take each of those attributes, turn it inside out, and there you have the Challenger.
It would indeed be a treat to see one of these so far out of its native habitat. They have become boring to me at car shows, but I would love to see one in the wild like this.
I almost never see them at car shows, 68-70 B bodies and E bodies are so financially far out of reach for most average collectors/hobbiests now a days the only place to find them in the flesh is at an auction or a museum. Not only is this one cool to see out of its natural habitat, it’s pretty cool seeing one in not perfectly restored condition, or high end Restomod state. This is just a modestly souped up muscle car on Mag wheels, you need a time machine to the 80s to find any others like that.
Funny you mention them being the anthesis to Japanese cars of the era, which is pretty accurate, but the thing is when Japanese styling wasn’t being odd in this era, it often directly took cues from cars like this. They almost seem like an alternate reality
“Finding this in Tokyo is plain weird, though I suppose one should expect the unexpected here”
No more weird (and arguably less so) than the brown Mitsubishi Sapporo spotted last Saturday in Telford, Shropshire: one of only 3 in Great Britain…Telford? Certainly not the great metropolis like Tokyo!!
That’s a real beauty – your neighborhood is starting to look a little like mine….:-)
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-outtake/curbside-outtake-1969-chrysler-300-convertible-tokyo-leviathan/
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-outtake/curbside-outtake-1970-dodge-charger-not-the-car-id-take-to-the-annual-police-ball/