1970 - THE BEAT GOES ON
Everywhere you looked in 1970 there was something new from Chrysler. Dodge finally got a car for the Pony Car class with the all-new Challenger, which
shared its E-body platform with the totally revamped Barracuda from Plymouth.
Both were available with every engine Chrysler built from the Slant
Six to the Hemi. Performance Barracudas were badged as 'Cudas and hot Challengers
wore the now revered R/T badging. Both 'Cuda (AAR) and Challenger (T/A) received
special Trans Am models equipped with exclusive 340 engines (rated at 290
horsepower) breathing through three Holley 2-barrel carbs. Gone from the
compact Dodge Dart option sheet was the GTS model and either the 383 or 440
big-block engine. Both the Charger Daytona and Charger 500 were gone as performance
models, with the 500 continuing as an up-scale trim level.
Plymouth added three new models with the Road Runner Superbird - a Daytona
look-alike designed to win Richard Petty back from Ford as the most notable.
It worked! At the other end of the spectrum was the Plymouth Duster. Built
on the same A-body platform as the Dart and earlier Barracudas, the Duster
received a performance model, the "Duster 340" along with its mainly
economy status. The 340-powered Mopar compacts continued to embarrass Brand-X
owners at every stoplight in America. With historical ties to 1956-58, a special
performance model wearing the Fury name once again appeared. The Sport Fury
GT could be had with the 390 horsepower 440+6BBL engine. Few were built, making
it a very rare and collectible car today.
Hemi engines for 1970 had hydraulic
lifters for easier maintenance and a running
production change found 440+6 engines with Chrysler-built cast-iron intake
manifolds replacing the earlier aluminum Edelbrock manifold.
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