BUILT BY STEVE STROPE

A Charger was acquired 10 years ago, with the hope of one day turning it from a rust bucket into the nicest GENERAL LEE REPLICA anyone has ever seen. Yeah, you read that right! A two year search for one led to its purchase in Southern California. This was a running, numbers matching, 1969 Charger RT/SE with a 440 Magnum. Included in the price: an original vinyl top, faded Sunshine Yellow paint, scavenged hood, seats that looked to have been in a knife fight , drum brakes that took 100 yards to come to a stop and that intoxicating old car smell. There were rock chips on the windshield and God knows what under that paint.. Like most Chargers, the trunk was rusted out and the gauges didn’t work (however the tic-tock clock worked -go figure). Using that clock to gauge fuel consumption on the drive home, it felt as if I was on top of the world. I wore a smile from ear to ear. The exhaust coming through the floor may have had something to do with it (the exhaust cut off right under driver’s seat). Either way, the feeling was indescribable. Yes, I was in love.

The car did make it home but never started again. I had spent my last dime on it and decided to just start saving money again for a proper restoration. I didn’t want my car to become a casualty of the Garage Black Hole. Once a powerful metal beast that roamed the streets, reduced to a storage device for Christmas decorations and empty beer cans, the Charger sat for 10 years …

This 1969 Charger’s time has come…Steve Strope’s name has become nomenclature when it comes to bold but understated automotive art. Never removing the soul of a car, the vehicles that leap from his imagination to the pavement are statements you can’t ignore. On the drawing boards for many years now, Steve’s concept for this Charger has, in his words, “come to a head”. The 515 GTB is on its journey to become one of the privileged few to be reborn at his PURE VISION shop.