On Aug 29th, 2005, Joe's 1970 Challenger SE was in a shop about 1/2 a mile from Lake Ponchartrain in Slidell, La. Unfortunately Hurricane Katrinia was heading our way. We had to evacuate. There was no way we could get the Challenger out of the shop.
We packed up and left Slidell and prayed for the best. Of course, as most people know, Slidell received a direct hit and the Challenger was in salt water up to the dash for about 10 hours.
The mold set in. We could not return or check on the Challenger for about 1 week. It was gone.Once, we decided that, we were on a mission to find another one.
Joe left for Ocala, Fla. to Garlitt's big Mopar show to find another one. No luck. A friend spotted a Charger for sale on a web site and then lost it. 2 days before the trip to Garlitt's he spotted it on E-Bay. We called the owner about a buy now price, but he would not reveal it. On the way back I asked my friend to call the owner of the 1971 Super Bee to see if it sold. It had not and he asked the price. It was reasonable so we headed out to Forked River, NJ. Quite a long trip in 2 days from La.
On Nov. 12, we purchased the Super Bee and headed back south with our new "1BAD383". That is our license tag on the car. The VIN is WM23N1A175402. The engine is 300HP 383 with a 727 auto on the floor. The Car is red with a white vinyl top and white buckets.
Tag breaks down like this:
- ROW 1
- E65 = 300 hp, 383 4-bbl
- D32 = A-727, 3-speed Automatic Transmission Heavy Duty
- WM = Charger Super Bee
- 23 = Charger 2 Dr. H/Top in 1971
- N = 383 4bbl V-8 300hp:
- 1 = 1971
- A = Lynch Road Plant
- 175402 = Serial number
- ROW 2
- FE5 = Bright Red
- C6XW = White Buckets
- TX9 = Black Lower Body paint (you will see this on the inside of the doors)
- 426 = Build date April 26
- 086997 = Order Number
- ROW 3
- V1W = White Vinyl Top
- U = U.S.A.
- C16 = Console w/Woodgrain Panel
- ROW 4
- G11 = Tinted glass all
- ROW 5
- 01136 = Gate Number
- 174926 = Line Number
- 419 = 383 4BBL, auto. trans., heater, 300hp
- 042 = 3.23 open, 8 3/4, 10" rear drum - front disc/LD drum
Joe & Patty
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