I know what you’re thinking: this again? Have we not been Challengered enough? Well, what can I do? We’ve covered these many a time on CC and this is the second 1970 Challenger I’ve caught in Tokyo, so clearly there is a fan base for these here. And I’m sure some of you enjoy the occasional Challenger, too. I know I do.
Is it a genuine R/T? Does it have the 440 or the Hemi? Has it been in Japan since birth? I have no idea. This post is not about that, it’s just an excuse to gawk at a car that seems like it was designed on a different planet. A close encounter of the Big Three kind, if you will.
The overwhelming majority of cars in Japan do not exceed 170cm (66.9’’) in width. Anything over that limit gets slapped with a “3 number” plate (the 330 numeral seen here) and subjected to heavier tax. Of course, there are other measures that can impose said tax, such as an overall length above 470cm (185’’) and an engine over 2000cc. There are some Japanese cars that are subject to the “3 number” plate rule, but they tend to be only slightly over that 170cm width, if at all. The Challenger, for its part, is a whopping 76.5’’ (194cm) wide.
It’s a bit longer than regulation size as well, but just by 16cm. And well beyond the 2-litre limit of course, though we’re not sure by how much exactly. The issue of width does make it a (wait for it) a challenging means of urban transport in a place like Tokyo. And parking this thing would not be the only issue.
This may not be too obvious on this Ginza area street, but there are a lot of places that will become impossible to reach by car if you drive a one as wide as this. Many streets are just too narrow. Not all cities in Japan are like Tokyo, though – central Sapporo, for instance, has a lot more elbow room to swing a classic Mopar about.
That’s not to say that you cannot drive around the Japanese capital in your Challenger. These pictures are proof positive that it can be done, just like some folks have tackled US interstates in a Subaru 360 or an Isetta. You can do it, but it’s not the most adapted tool for the task at hand.
There really isn’t much difference between owning a Dodge Challenger and a Lamborghini here. One may be easier to get into than the other, but as a means of urban transport, both are equally impractical.
Yet they do exist. And if they didn’t, Tokyo would be a far less interesting place. A wide car broadens horizons, even when the streets remain pretty narrow.
Related posts:
Curbside Classic: 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T Convertible – Son, That’s Plum Crazy!, by Jason Shafer
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
Cohort Pic(k) of the Day: 1970 Dodge Challenger Coupe – 198 Slant Six Under The Hood?, by PN
CC Capsule: 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T – The Big Reveal, by T87
COAL #14: 1970 Dodge Challenger – A Secretary’s Special in Hemi Clothing, by Ed Hardey
I still have enthusiasm, that’s a GREAT looking car. The first and last photos in particular are very nice.
Most you see now are wild colors, but it sure is striking in white. Nice find.
That sure looks a lot like the OA-5599 Dodge from the “Vanishing Point” movie.
These cars looked wide even here in North America.
Modern attempts to recreate the original lean and mean vibe of this model look like the newer models may be mean, but definitely not lean.
Someone really loves this car.
Someone really loves this car.
Very much. Those hood and trunk gaps are way better than new. This car has a lot of someone’s time in it.
“Kowalski made it to Tokyo?” was my first thought, as well.
Agree with RLPlaut. My first thought was the iconic movie as well. I really wanted one like that but ended up with a safe 318 V8, 3 speed automatic.
Your comment about width(and length) reminds me of the early 70’s Charger that was at Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy when I arrived there in July 1983 en route to the USS Eisenhower. It filled the better part of four parking spots. Clearly it’s owner had to get to work early to find a place to park.
Nice car its not as wide as even a basic truck so it should fit on a street ok long is the big one does it fit in parking spaces my daily drive is like that it takes up an entire parking space and its not a really big car
The owner seriously needs a brown vest
It’s tough to make out, but I think the engine call-out emblems on the hood indicate a 440 Magnum.
It would make sense: typically, a Six-Pack or Hemi has a shaker scoop, and this one, with the basic outside rearview mirror, doesn’t look to be a very highly optioned R/T.
Also very kowalski, that is for the original movie. 440 magnum, standard twist off gas cap, standard chrome driver side mirror. I think this challenger was probably cloned into the movie car, it has way too many seldom seen traits that that car had.
That is to say, who knows what’s actually under the hood and if it matches the badge? Could be a 318!
Yeah, kind of coincidental how the feature car so closely matches the movie one.
IIRC, supposedly, all of the cars, save one, were 440 Magnums, and were all trashed.
The one remaining good car had a 383, and it was used as a tow car for the climax when the white Camaro was towed into the snow plow blades.
The 383 was in front of a torqueflite as well, repainted white from green, which you can spot in some of the desert scenes where the white paint was chipped off.
It’s a shame they were scrapped, I’ve never seen another original Challenger R/T equipped this low spec and low profile in any color, so the Vanishing Point cars may well have been two of two. If you pay close attention they had the (seemingly)uncommon vinyl with cloth seats too, which I wonder if this one sports
Didn’t know about the lone 383 car originally being green then resprayed white to match.
In fact, it sort of sounds like the 383 wasn’t part of the original group of cars and the producers needed one more since all of the 440 cars were too beat-up for the final scenes/post-production.
I can see the filmmakers taking extra care of it, too. Maybe whomever they got it from weren’t as amiable when they returned all the trashed 440 cars.
Re wide cars in Japan – I saw a guy trying to manoeuvre an enormous Hummer through Amerikamura in Osaka – made this gaijin smile !
The US just having celebrated July 4th is reminiscent of the 17-76 license plate number on this. Happy BiCentennial and almost a half again.
The owner obviously has a covered, if not totally enclosed, space in which he keeps this car. It just looks too good. Very nice find.
I’m not usually inspired by the Mopar E bodies, but this one is just wow! Sporty, elegant, and as others have pointed out, restored better than new.
Pretty impressive condition for something so wide in limited areas. Great shots!
The Porsche Cayenne in the background is just as wide as this Dodge Challenger
Even though it is wider than the contemporary Challenger, it is, to me, considerably more attractive. Having owned two of the first vintage, it would have been extremely difficult for me to resist buying a new one if the proportions were the same. The Prius which is ahead of the Challenger in one picture, would be my more sensible choice. I have a 2015 Prius.
As I’ve said before, some of Chrysler’s best-styled cars from the past, looking like General Motors designs.
There is a lot of Mercury Cougar in the Challenger design, in fact look what is right in the room during the early clay stages
No surpise there. The Challenger was Chrysler’s upmarket ponycar, designed to compete for the same consumers looking at buying a Cougar or Firebird.
Chrysler gets a lot of grief for the extra cost of putting the Challenger on a slightly longer wheelbase than the Barracuda, but it makes sense from that perspective.
We had visiting engineers when I was a product engineer, most often from Italy or Japan, but also on occasion from England, for a substantial amount of time (usually 2 years but often longer).
One of the engineers from England bought a Dodge Ramcharger over here, and had it shipped back when his assignment ended. I doubt he lived far from the city, as his job was in Hursley, and we often wondered how he’d be able to deal with the size of the vehicle. Of course there are trucks and farm vehicles in England, but the roads are pretty narrow in places, such that a Ramcharger might be a handful if driven routinely over there.
Of course even in the US there are places with narrow roads. My Dad’s favorite movie was “The Deer Hunter” where the main character owns a 1960 Cadillac, though in the movie he takes it to the country to hunt deer, he also drives it in where he lives around Pittsburgh, and the roads can be pretty narrow in places there. We actually lived in Pittsburgh a couple of years in the early 60’s, but my parents are from eastern Pennsylvania, where the roads can also be pretty narrow (since the towns existed long before automobile traffic, and the roads are likely paved over from horse and wagon times).
The worst thing about the Challenger is probably the vision out…lots of blind spots that give you an extra “challenge” (sorry, couldn’t resist the pun).