Way back in about 1970, I was a freshly minted apprentice at Chrysler Australia in Adelaide and I was fortunate to be assigned to the Experimental Engineering department. The development of the Charger had not long finished and the two development "mules" were still there. At first sight they looked like standard Valiant utes but a closer inpection revealed they had been built on the Charger's shorter wheelbase and the bulkhead behind the driver's seat had been recessed into the utility tray to give the correct driving position. The utes ran full Charger spec running gear and drivetrain including hemi 6 packs up front. I guess they had been ballasted in the back to simulate the Charger's weight, but by the time I came along, they were being used (without ballast) for general hack work around the factory. I remember they were something special to drive!
Both were street registered and I heard later that one of the utes had been given to or acquired by one of the Geoghegan brothers and used as a race car tow vehicle. I've always wondered what happened to them, whether the still exist and are on the roads somewhere.
4 comments:
would be far better in a Mk7
It wouldn't be the first time.
any idea what power it made?
Way back in about 1970, I was a freshly minted apprentice at Chrysler Australia in Adelaide and I was fortunate to be assigned to the Experimental Engineering department. The development of the Charger had not long finished and the two development "mules" were still there. At first sight they looked like standard Valiant utes but a closer inpection revealed they had been built on the Charger's shorter wheelbase and the bulkhead behind the driver's seat had been recessed into the utility tray to give the correct driving position. The utes ran full Charger spec running gear and drivetrain including hemi 6 packs up front. I guess they had been ballasted in the back to simulate the Charger's weight, but by the time I came along, they were being used (without ballast) for general hack work around the factory. I remember they were something special to drive!
Both were street registered and I heard later that one of the utes had been given to or acquired by one of the Geoghegan brothers and used as a race car tow vehicle. I've always wondered what happened to them, whether the still exist and are on the roads somewhere.
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