Can’t wait for the Dodge Challenger Concept to enter production? You might be in luck. Foose Design and Unique Performance have announced a limited edition line of 1970 HEMI Challengers with upgraded performance and appearance modifications. The prototype will be completed by June 15, 2006, and production will begin in July. “The response to our Foose ‘69 Camaro was fantastic, which led to an outpouring of requests for a similar car from MOPAR fans,” said Unique Performance President and CEO Douglas Hasty. “Our 1970 Challenger program is designed to fulfill those wishes with a very, very small run of an even more exclusive MOPAR. Working with Chip, our team will turn a handful of these vintage muscle cars into pink slip winning, Z06 eating supercars.”
The team will transform 1970 and 1971 Challengers with modern wheels, engines, suspensions, transmissions and interiors. Each Foose Challenger will be clad in DuPont’s Hot Hues custom finish and have a sleek custom interior. Either a 347 c.i.d. HEMI small block or a 426 c.i.d HEMI big block can be mated to the TKO 5-speed transmission. The car will feature a Unique Performance Parts rear suspension, 4-wheel disc Wilwood Brakes, Foose 18″ wheels and BF Goodrich tires. Styling cues include Foose emblems, a custom front grill, shaved bumpers and custom hood. Each car will have a unique serial number for documentation purposes.
“I’ve always loved the lines of the ‘70 Challenger,” stated Chip Foose. “It may be the quintessential American muscle car from that period. We’re adding contemporary speed gear and updating the Challenger’s style to redefine the vintage car as the ultimate limited edition MOPAR.”
Award-winning Chip Foose penned the Foose Challenger. He is the creative head and driving force behind the respected automotive and product development company Foose Design. Headquartered in Huntington Beach, Calif., it specializes in illustration, graphics, ideation model making, surfacing and complete construction of automobiles and automobile-related products.
“Nobody does it better than Unique Performance and Chip Foose,” added Hasty. “Every car is a piece of art that is equally at home on the track, street or a Concours. With sizzling design and supercar capabilities, the new HEMI powered Foose Challenger will rocket past the pretenders on the road. It’s the ‘bad to the bone’ MOPAR that fans have wanted for the last 35 years.”
Unique Performance, which began as a hot rod shop 20 years ago, has evolved into a premier limited volume auto production manufacturer. Unique Performance manufactures the Shelby G.T.500E and G.T.350SR continuation cars based on vintage Ford Mustangs, as well as the Foose ‘69 Camaro. The company offers a line of Foose designed cars based on the current Ford Mustang in cooperation with Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide.
06/13, 10:28 AM
posted by:
duh
I didn’t know plymouth made challengers? I thought they made the CUDA!
06/13, 10:30 AM
posted by:
Anonymous
Beautiful.
06/13, 10:46 AM
posted by:
Toy Yoda
I like this retro style the American car mfg are bringing back. When cars are looking rounder and smoother, these more angular and boxy cars come out, bucking the trend. However the styling mileage you get out of them is about as anemic as the mpg the original cars got.
It’s ironic how these muscle cars came out right around the time of high gas prices in the 70s. Now, again, in the new millenium, the muscle cars are coming out with high gas prices. As much as I like how these cars look, I can’t like them too much for what they ultimately represent: American stupidity.
06/13, 10:56 AM
posted by:
Mark IV
Foose is only slightly behind Carroll Shelby in putting his name on anything for a buck. More “Plymouth” Challengers will be taken out of he collector market and sold to people with more money than brains. Unique has driven the market for decent 67-68 Mustang fastbacks up buying them and bastardizing them into replicas of a non-existant car from a crappy movie!
06/13, 11:12 AM
posted by:
Jim in LA
plymouth challengers?
i worry about people who can’t even get their press releases right.
i agree with Mark IV (a Jack Webb production!) – foose is really doing the conspicuous cash-in early on in his career. typically you wait until you’re in your 50s or 60s to do this.
06/13, 11:13 AM
posted by:
Adam
Z06 eating? I highly doubt that. I agree with #5. It is sad that these already rare cars will be made even more so. Why not just make a full on replica? IT would be the same product in the end and just about as “collectable” while the real deal can live on unmolested.
06/13, 11:14 AM
posted by:
Anonymous
Muscle Cars were around way before 1970 Toy Yoda. How about during the early 60’s with cars like the Impala 409’s, Catalina 421’s, Ford 460 Galaxies. The Muscle Car as we know it, a big v8 in an intermediate sized car was invented by Pontiac in 1964 called the GTO.
FWIW: Gasoline prices did not jump up until 1973. What killed the “Muscle Cars” in the 60’s and early 70’s were insurance regulations and costs and safety regulations more than gasoline prices at the time.
06/13, 11:14 AM
posted by:
nickv
Muscle Cars were around way before 1970 Toy Yoda. How about during the early 60’s with cars like the Impala 409’s, Catalina 421’s, Ford 460 Galaxies. The Muscle Car as we know it, a big v8 in an intermediate sized car was invented by Pontiac in 1964 called the GTO.
FWIW: Gasoline prices did not jump up until 1973. What killed the “Muscle Cars” in the 60’s and early 70’s were insurance regulations and costs and safety regulations more than gasoline prices at the time.
06/13, 11:15 AM
posted by:
Anonymous
Dodge Challengers.
06/13, 11:19 AM
posted by:
Toy Yoda
Yes, you are right, muscle cars were around alot longer than the 70’s. So I should shut my stupid trap. I shouldn’t have classified all muscle cars as that. Sorry. Ugh.
06/13, 12:08 PM
posted by:
Ed
Next up: Foose modifies a limited edition Ford Camaro. I agree with Mark IV, Foose is almost as bad a whore as Shelby is now.
06/13, 1:11 PM
posted by:
Anonymous
There are a few what are called ProTouring cars that will hand a new Z06 it’s ass on and off the race track. It’s really easy to do. Go to a protouring site and see what it’s all about.
These old muscle cars can be made to run with the best of the new “muscle”.
06/13, 1:21 PM
posted by:
Niels
Ridiculous. They need to leave the classics alone. They’re hard enough to find stock.
06/13, 2:04 PM
posted by:
Anonymous
What’s wrong with modifying a muscle car? to make it better than stock? Ah…
06/13, 4:23 PM
posted by:
manny
a CLASSIC muscle car. though it does make yours faster and everyone elses worth more…
still… there are some things that should be left be.
06/13, 8:42 PM
posted by:
John Mopar
It is a 1971 Challenger, not 1970. More importantly, why would someone want to buy a copy of a custom car? Isn’t the purpose of a custom car to be unique? I don’t understand all the Elenor clones either.
06/14, 10:08 AM
posted by:
James
Its pretty dam easy to make any muscle car faster than a ZO6, even an AMC. That is why we love them
12/27, 4:36 AM
posted by:
Chip Foose le meterá mano al 1970 Dodge Challenger
[...] VÃa | Leftlane En MotorPasion | 1969 Foose Camaro Convertible, 1965 Shelby Mustang GT350SR 40th Anniversary [...]