The Beast

"The Beast" on the NASCAR track at Rockingham, NC during a Mopar
Muscle Club meet. The "Ram Air" is open, sucking in small cars and
children. For those wondering, I was only doing 70-75 mph. I didn't want
to add my paint to the stripes on the walls!

This is a 1971 Dodge Charger R/T, it's the last year that the early generation of Charger R/Ts were made. Depending on the web site you read the
production figures will vary so I show the mid range number of 2743. We bought this car new in 1971 .... when Janice and I were still "children". How
many are left???

It has even placed second, twice, in the '71-'74 "B" bodies class at the Mopar Nationals.
Oh, it was driven, not trailered. After all that's where the fun is with these cars.

If you read car magazines you would think that there were no performance cars made after 1970. I, of course, have to disagree. The 440s only lost 5 HP
over 1970 (which was easily regained by carb rejetting and a distributor re-curve) and the Hemi didn't loose any HP.

Start the engine and listen to the MUSIC; the sound of the engine and the booming of the exhaust. If that doesn't get your heart started then you're
probably already dead.

There are newer cars that are faster, but none (except maybe the VIPER) has the "presence" of the old muscle cars. It gets out several times a year,
that's probably why it only has 85,000 miles after all these years. After all how much "presence" can polite society stand?

Hey, you can actually see the engine! I think the 440 SIX PACK air cleaner is bigger than some 4 cylinder motors I have seen..

R/T stands for "Road/Track" but Janice says it really means "Removes Tread"!

1971 Dodge Charger R/T standard equipment.
440 Magnum, 370 HP Torqueflite automatic
Bucket seats Extra heavy duty suspension

Optional equipment on "The Beast"
Six Pack (3- 2 barrel carbs): The last year multi-carbs were available from the factory: Yes it gets bad gas mileage, but hey when all 3 carbs are open
...... WHO CARES!

Ramcharger hood:
The ram air hood opens with a flip of the vacuum switch, then you to remove the VW bugs that were "inhaled" into the aircleaner.

3.23 limited slip 8 3/4 rear end:
This car was made for the open road, the 3.23 gears allow it to live in that zone.

15" Rallye Wheels:
It's amazing that when G60-15s (approx. 235/60-15) bias ply were the baddest tires available that these cars could run 13 second quarter miles. Now
its got 245/60-15 B.F. Goodrich radials.

AM/FM/Cassette Player/Recorder:
What no 8-track? Nope, in '71 you could get a cassette unit that allowed you to record from the radio or optional microphone. In case there was a
"disco" song you wanted to record. AAHHHHGGGGG, DISCO!!!!

Spoilers:
This is when spoilers were put on real muscle cars ..... not "wanna be"s.

Console:
They had to have somewhere to mount the cassette unit.

Exhaust tips:
I still think the '70-74 tips are some of the best looking exhaust tips ever put on a car.

Rear window defogger:
Pulls air in through a speaker grill to a two speed blower motor. It's amazing what comes out of the rear window vent when the defogger hasn't been
used in a while.

"Parts, 'ya gotta have ... parts ......"
Over the years I've been able to pick up some of the "just incase" parts. Along the way I also picked up a set of '71 R/T louvered doors and the VIN
number is about 100 units different from mine. They may have been made on the same day! Well, I found that ironic.