They say don’t judge a book by its cover. You certainly shouldn’t judge this 1972 Dodge Charger by its rather dilapidated appearance. You can’t tell from looking at it, but it’s one of only two known 1972 Chargers still in existence to come with a 440 Six Pack V8 from the factory. After being buried under junk in a garage for decades, it’s off to get the proper restoration a car this rare deserves, and the Auto Archeology YouTube channel is taking us along for the ride.
“But wait,” you may be saying, “the 440 Six Pack wasn’t available after 1971, you terrible AI excuse for a writer.” After all, it’s reasonably well-known that Chrysler had planned to offer the classic 440 cubic-inch V8 with three two-barrel Holley carburetors in the 1972 Charger Rallye and Plymouth Road Runner GTX, even going so far as to produce dealer spec sheets listing it. But then, in late October of 1971, Chrysler changed its mind and dropped the Six Pack option “due to emission control difficulties,” according to a letter to dealers shown in Auto Archeology’s video. The 440 and 440 Magnum would continue.
However, there was a period of about one week after orders for 1972 models opened and before this decree came down from above. That means seven lucky people, at most, managed to get the 440 Six Pack option before the window closed. The car featured in this video is one of only two 1972 Six Pack Chargers documented to still exist today.
Far from original
This particular car originally belonged to a Chrysler executive, which does make you wonder if said executive had some inside knowledge of the Six Pack’s impending cancelation, and ordered one of the last ones while that was still possible. After that, it was sold from the Chrysler Lease Lot and promptly turned into a race car, with no care or possibly even knowledge of just how rare this car was. The original engine that made this car so special is long gone, and the rest of the car was used and abused for drag racing throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. Then the owner stashed it in a garage, and it stayed there ever since.
The car was never truly lost. It was in the May 2009 issue of Mopar Collector’s Guide magazine; then, Ryan Brutt of Auto Archeology wrote about this same car for Mopar Connection in November 2015. It just remained buried under boxes in the same garage all this time. The family finally decided to let the car go to a new owner, who sent it straight out for a full restoration to bring it back to its former glory. It is being restored to its original configuration, before it was torn apart to become a race car. That would include a 440 Six Pack under the hood for the first time in more than 40 years since it was pushed into the garage with no engine at all.
