It wasn’t that long ago that a different, clean, Plum Crazy 1970 Dodge Charger caught our eye on the used market, but there’s now a Challenger R/T from the same year and painted the same color available. Apparently, we like Purple around here. Spotted on Hemmings Classified is a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T with 96,199 miles on the odometer. The seller, Ryle’s Rides in Sacramento, California, is asking $69,995 for it.
Per the factory fender tag, this one was originally powered by a 383-cubic-inch Magnum V8 engine paired to a four-speed manual gearbox. But somewhere along the way, somebody dropped a 440 big-block V8 from 1969 into it instead.
This motor gets an aluminum intake manifold, four-barrel carburetor, chrome valve covers, and an upgraded aluminum radiator to help keep it cool. The four-speed manual gearbox remains, albeit rocking a pistol-grip shifter. On the outside, there’s the black vinyl roof, a matching black center stripe on the hood, R/T badges, and Rallye-style wheels wearing BFGoodrich Radial T/A tires. Inside, bucket seats face a wood-rim steering wheel.
Worth 70 grand?
For context, 1970 was the first model year of the Challenger, which meant it was actually one of the later additions to the whole muscle/pony car craze. It resembled the existing Plymouth Barracuda quite a bit, which makes sense as they were both built on the E-Body platform. Back in the day, the Challenger had a starting price of $2,850, whereas the more potent R/T went for $3,266.
Throwing those two figures into an inflation calculator, by the way, returns about $25,000 and $28,000 in today’s money, respectively. This car’s modern equivalent, a two-door 2027 Dodge Charger Scat Pack, starts at around $50,000 for the base trim (not including destination), in case you need yet another reference point as to how expensive things have gotten. The cheapest compact car Kia sells in 2026 starts at $27,075. Seventy grand, then, for a used but clean classic Challenger seems… not too (Plum) crazy, actually.
