Automotive archeology: Uncovering the history of this classic 1970 Dodge Challenger

Contributed Pat Kaniuga

I first saw the 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T convertible at the World of Wheels car show at the Winnipeg Convention Centre in 1988. I was 20.  

It was the height of the 80s car customizing craze and I remember thinking at the time: "This is the ugliest Dodge Challenger convertible I've ever seen". It had massive tires, mag wheels, lots of chrome, Black Cherry paint and a custom beige leather interior.

Fast forward more than three decades and it's sitting in my garage. Now, it's my mission to restore this car with as many original parts as possible — and to uncover its history along the way.

I purchased the Dodge from a body shop owner a year ago. He had bought it from the original owner, a man named Tom Cooper, and had started to restore it. But other projects took his attention away from the Dodge and it sat gathering dust for over two decades.

Until now.

In addition to restoring vintage vehicles, I love digging up the stories they tell by meeting the people who've ridden in them over the years. I call it automotive archeology.

Would you drive a car painted 'panther pink'?

This particular model is rare in the first place, only 54 of these cars were sold in Canada in 1970. But what makes the one I have special is that it is believed to be the only one that arrived in Canada in the factory hue of Panther Pink.  

It was the 70s, after all, and wild colours helped market performance cars to young buyers who might like to cruise in a Plum Crazy purple or a Go Mango orange.

I love digging up the stories [vintage cars] tell by meeting the people who've ridden in them over the years.- Pat Kaniuga

The original owner of this car, Tom, wasn't into Panther Pink. He had the dealership paint it orange as a condition of sale. Few men — who were the main performance car buyers back then — wanted a pink car. Because of that, they are now sought after and highly collectible.

Once the car was in my garage, I posted a Kijiji ad looking for information on its history. Several replies introduced me to Erwin Rempel, a mechanic who worked at the original dealership and remembered the car.  

His call led me to call Evelyn Funk, the widow of the dealership manager who drove it throughout the summer of 1970. 

"Ed and I got engaged in that car, the day before the July 1st parade in 1970. I don't know if those are the kinds of stories you're looking for?"

Why yes, Evelyn. Those are exactly the kinds of stories I'm looking for.  

Miss Centennial Manitoba

Evelyn told me about a pageant winner who rode in the car on the Dominion Day Parade in Lac Du Bonnet, Manitoba.

1970 was the province's centennial year, and it was a very big deal. It turns out that pageant winner was Darlene Williams (née Meyer), and she was crowned Miss Centennial Manitoba.  

I tracked down the (still reigning) Miss Centennial in Rocanville, Sask., and called her up. I introduced myself and said: "You don't know me but I guarantee you this is the most interesting call you'll get this week."

Darlene remembered the car right away.

"I arrived in Lac du Bonnet and this beautiful car was waiting for me," she recalls. "It was a beautiful vibrant pink that I shall never forget, it was just shining in the sun and waiting to take me around town... I felt like a celebrity all of a sudden."

Darlene shared her memories of the day she drove around her hometown as a sudden celebrity. She even sent me photos. To me it felt like striking gold. 

There have been a lot of those moments as I trace the history of this car. In my year of sleuthing I'm happy to say I've acquired new friends and a great tale along the way. 

I found the niece of the original owner who supplied pictures from 1980 with it's fresh Black Cherry paint job.  

I met Sam, the apprentice mechanic who worked on it 30 years ago.

"I painted that engine yellow," Sam told me when I popped into see him at the auto shop where he works today. 

"I still have the trophy [the Challenger] won from World of Wheels."   

And I've hired Erwin Rempel, the mechanic-turned-painter who first answered my Kijiji ad and started my journey into the past, to paint the car pink again — the way it was when he first saw it when it was brand new. 

When the car is back together, running and painted pink again, I've invited Darlene Williams to come and replicate the photo she took as an 18-year-old Miss Centennial, riding and waving from atop the back seat. I'm sure she will look pretty in pink. 

Then, I'll know that all the hours spent, money invested, and skinned knuckles I got bringing the car back to its former glory were worth it.