Purchased: February 1990 (Victoria, Australia)
Engine: 245 HEMI (cu inches, approx. 4.0 litre)
straight six, 165bhp, 235 lb/ft.
Transmission: 3 speed manual floorshift
Color: Red/Silver exterior, black interior
Options: Very Loud Stereo (aftermarket), two way
airconditioning (you select which windows to roll down while driving along...)
Story: Introduced in August 1971 the Charger
was Chrysler's premium 'sports' car in Australia in the early 1970s. Although
a two-door muscle-car car seems normal in the US, in Australia Ford and
General Motors were racing four-door sedans with large V8s. Chrysler answered
with two remarkably powerful 6 cylinder models - the E38 (280bhp, 310lb/ft,
3 speed manual) and E49 (320bhp, 325lb/ft, 4 speed manual) Chargers in
1971 and 1972 respectively. This power was extracted from only 265 cubic
inches (4.3 litres) breathing through triple side-draft Weber carburettors.
Unfortunately for me, E38 and E49 Chargers were rarer than hens teeth by
the start of the 1990s, and I had to settle for a 1974 VG Charger XL equipped
with a 245 HEMI and a 3-speed manual gearbox. I'd restored the paintwork
and interior by the time this picture was taken, and had plans to drop
in a 265 HEMI at some stage (which in stock form was good for 203bhp) but
things never quite got that far.... (and then I bought a VG Pacer to restore
that instead)