Gas Monkey Garage Scores Three ’70s Challengers in Remarkable Shape
Founder Richard Rawlings stumbled upon these first-gen Mopars sitting in a small-town Texas barn since the ’90s.
In the rural town of Bridgeport, Texas, three Dodge Challengers from the ’70s were parked for the final time, doomed to collect for decades. That was until Richard Rawlings from Gas Monkey Garage and a few extra hands showed up hoping to buy them. All three Challengers had vibrant stories attached to them; some came with stories of trouble and lawlessness, others were fairly modest. Either way, Rawlings and his chosen few were very excited by the idea of taking the three sibling Challengers to be fixed up and sold. After all, restoring classic muscle cars is their specialty, and these had “guaranteed business” written all over them.
As the video begins, we see Rawlings telling the cameras that due to the remoteness of Bridgeport, they weren’t able to broadcast their video live. Rawlings was tipped off in the middle of the night that the three Challengers were ripe for the picking, so the crew made the hour drive with trucks that were capable of hauling them all back to the shop for restoration. Rawlings and a few of his friends were able to get a sneak peak into the garage where the three Challengers were kept, and the collective reaction was a moment of silence as they stood in awe. There they were, a black Challenger named “Night Thing,” an orange one with original plaid seating, and a purple RT named “Trouble.” The trouble Rawlings now saw before him was getting the original owner, Landy, to sell.
“We saw pictures, which is one thing, but can we get them bought but you never know,” said Rawlings. “Usually, this is the part where the guy comes in, he starts talking about them, and then he decides that he wouldn’t mind keeping a few.” Rawlings was nervous, and rightfully so. Landy lit up so brightly as he spoke about each Challenger.
“The cool thing about this car is the one has power windows,” says a friend of Rawlings of the purple Challenger RT, who spoke with the original owner beforehand. “It also has AC, power steering, and power brakes! It is an auto though, which is sad.” The purple Challenger, the 1971 RT 383, was supposedly a car that was reminiscent to Stephen King’s famed Christine. Landy said that the car was nothing but trouble for him. After he bought it, it took him two whole weeks of non-stop wrenching before he ironed out all the kinks. After that, things would be going smoothly, and the car would randomly pose problems for him. Hence why he not-so-lovingly called it, “Trouble.”
Night Thing, the black Challenger, was one that Landy was particularly fond of. Supposedly, he got himself into more than a handful police encounters, including a few chases. After all, he did fit the thing with nitro, and had the original engine bored out to make more power. So, he was more than capable of giving the local police a run for their money.
Finally, the orange 1971 Challenger sitting pretty in the back was a daily driver of Landy’s wife. No notable history was attached to it, but the original plaid seat covers were intact. The interior in general was close to perfection aside from the decades and decades of dust. His wife loved that car, but due to her husband’s established and very negative reputation from Trouble and Night Thing, she was regularly harassed by police whenever she left the garage.
In fact, Landy said regretfully that the local police’s negative attitude toward Landy and his wife’s Challengers was why they were parked. After all, a person could only be pulled over for discriminatory purposes for so long.
Landy did try to pass them onto younger relatives, but felt strongly that the kids of the younger generation (millennials) “aren’t responsible enough.” So, in the garage they sat until Rawlings waltzed in looking to buy. After some serious negotiation between Rawlings and Landy, all three Challengers were sold to Gas Monkey Garage for $38,000 dollars.
“We got three Challengers that haven’t seen the light of day since the 1990s,” said Rawlings. “That’s pretty cool.”
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