White Hat cars were built exclusively for Chrysler executives and featured options that might not be available to the public. The retired executive wanted a Charger with all of the features of an R/T but with a column shifter as opposed to a console shift with bucket seats.
The old executive had driven the Charger only 14,000 miles from 1969-83.
Their conversation resulted in the man showing Ted his car, which originally was not for sale. But when the men had finished talking, Ted had bought the car and was driving it home!
Ted added the beauty to his collection of 14 other mostly Mopar products and a rare 1927 Chevrolet touring sedan.
The Charger is equipped with a 383 Magnum V-8, a 727 automatic transmission and air conditioning, which was somewhat rare for muscle cars of the late 1960s.
Ted and his wife enjoyed the car and put about 20,000 miles on it over 28 summers.
In 1991, Ted had the car repainted in its original color and had a new vinyl top installed. The interior is 100 percent original, as is the engine and transmission. The original radiator and alternator have been rebuilt, and the air conditioning is still blowing cold.
When Ted was in his 80s in 2011, he began to thin out his collection and offered the Charger to his younger cousin, Steve Stewart, who had admired it for many years. Steve bought the car with 34,400 miles showing on the odometer.
He drives its only on nice days and has logged just 2,000 miles over the past few years.
Although the Charger took first-place honors in the early 2000s at the Mopar Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park for B Body Class, it has only been shown a handful of times. Steve and Ted mainly just owned it for their own enjoyment.
Steve commented that while his prized Charger is fast, the original drum brakes and poly glass tires are not much good in getting it stopped quickly! He said he has had the car sideways more than once trying to get it stopped.
I have invited him to bring it to one our cruise-ins at The Southsider Voice, which will be held the first Friday of each month from May through October. Maybe you will get the chance to see this beauty.
Until next week, keep on cruising!