When is the last time you saw a Charger photographed with bugs on the hood and dirt in the wheel wells? In an article published by Classic Industries, they did just that while taking the opportunity to give some credit to a classic car lover who puts significant mileage on his Coke-bottle B-body.
According to the article, owner Jasper Thomas drove this black beauty from Vancouver, Canada to the Classic Industries Retail Showroom in Huntington Beach, California for the shoot. For those without a smartphone handy, that’s a 2,600 mile roadtrip in a 50-year-old car!
And this isn’t your run-of-the-mill 318 Charger. Classic goes on to explain, “Jasper wanted to maximize performance while also retaining complete reliability for long road trips.” The engine bay houses a big-block stroked to 500 cubic inches and fitted with 13:1 compression pistons. That kind of squeeze requires high-octane fuel-metering via a FAST XFI fuel-injection system and a tank full of E-85 or race fuel. Power flows through a Tremec TR-6060 transmission that allows for deep overdrives and easy highway cruising.
Like many ’68 Charger fans, Jasper’s first introduction was during the famous car chase scene from Steve McQueen’s Bullitt. Classic writes, “He recalls falling in love with the sleek Mopar muscle car at that time, and when his father passed away, Jasper decided to restore a Charger as a tribute to him.”
Jasper did just that with plenty of help from the Classic Industries catalog. They summed it up nicely, echoing sentiment from many Classic customers with, “[Jack] said that his experiences with the parts and service were ‘awesome, period!’”
