NASCAR-powered Charger racer brought back from the dead

Photo of Iain Kelly
Iain Kelly

Contributing Journalist

1 min read

Sports sedans were the wildest tin-top race cars to take to Aussie race tracks for decades. With thundrous injected V8s set back into the cabin, tube-frame chassis, inboard suspension, lightweight bodies, and gargantuan aero, they blended F1, NASCAR, and Le Mans.

While the class shrank in popularity in the 1990s, South Australia has spearheaded the revival of classic 1970s Sports Sedans. Jason Waye of Tuff Mounts and the Muscle Garage workshop has been integral part in saving a bunch of epic ex-racers, but it's arguable none had the standing of Clem Smith's Valiant Charger.

The former owner of Mallala race track built this Charger Sports Sedan back in the heyday of the class. After Clem passed away the Charger was looking a bit sad from years in storage, so Jason and his Muscle Garage crew did the needy for the new owner and got it back to stunning condition.

Turn the volume on the video up and listen to the 5.9-litre Dodge NASCAR V8 sing as the car turns its first laps at its former owner's track.

Should more classic Sports Sedans make a comeback? Let us know in the comments.

Photo of Iain Kelly
Iain Kelly

Contributing Journalist

A love of classic American and European cars drove Iain Kelly to motoring journalism straight out of high school, via the ownership of a tired 1975 HJ Holden Monaro.  For nearly 20 years he has worked on magazines and websites catering to modified late model high-performance Japanese and European tuner cars, as well as traditional hot rods, muscle cars and street machines. Some of these titles include Auto Salon, LSX Tuner, MOTOR, Forged, Freestyle Rides, Roadkill, SPEED, and Street Machine. He counts his trip to the USA to help build Mighty Car Mods’ “Subarute” along with co-authoring their recent book, The Cars of Mighty Car Mods, among his career highlights.  Iain lends his expertise to CarsGuide for a variety of advice projects, along with legitimising his automotive obsession with regular OverSteer contributions. Although his practical skills working on cars is nearly all self-taught, he still loves nothing more than spending quality time in the shed working on his project car, a 1964 Pontiac. He also admits to also having an addiction to E30 BMWs and Subaru Liberty RS Turbos, both of which he has had multiple examples of. With car choices like that, at least his mum thinks he is cool.
About Author

Comments