Southern Tablelands Heritage Automotive Restorers Club Inc.

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10^th Anniversary Dinner July 2011	Car of the Month

Craig Rowland’s 1969 Dodge Coronet

Photos by Steve Cole.

1969 Dodge Coronet 440 – Craig Rowland.

Sometime in the mid 70’s, I saw a movie called ‘Vanishing point’ and fell in love with Dodge Challengers. I set myself a goal to one day own one. I had the good fortune to grow up in a household that had a steady flow of American cars come through the driveway as my dad was a mad car nut. He loved everything American, except Chevs “stay away from them boy, they’re just Holdens from America”. He had some nice cars like a Buick GS 350, Oldsmobile 98, Cadillac Deville and so on. He also had the occasional Chrysler, like Dodge Phoenix’s, Australian Chrysler by Chryslers etc. He was an American car nut through and through but deep down I believe he was a MOPAR man, this is where I think I get it from.

Joining the army and starting a family put any chance of getting a Dodge Challenger on hold indefinitely; I resigned myself to a life of family ‘shopping trolleys’ and practical cars to get from A to B.

Over the years, I saw a great many Dodge Challengers at car shows, it seemed every man and his dog had one and I began to grow cold towards them, I wanted something different! I purchased a model kit for this strange yet tough looking car, a 1970 Dodge Superbee and so I set my sights on one. All cashed up and nowhere to go I floundered trying to find one I could afford so looked at 1969 models. As luck would have it, there was one for sale in QLD and, without giving it too much thought I bought it. It was a decision that I almost came to regret once I had the car in my hot little hands.

The Dodge Coronet is built on Chryslers B body platform, a unibody construction sharing many similarities with Plymouths of the same era. The 440 was the base model, then there was the 500 that had more chrome trim and more standard options and then at the top of the tree was the high performance Superbee.

At some stage in its life, my Coronet had been in an accident, taking a hit in the left front corner. This must have wiped out the front end and a 68 front was put on it, so now it’s half 68 and half 69 and to top it off, it has Pontiac seats in it. These will get the heave-ho once I source a set of correct seats. There is some pretty bad rust in the chassis rails and the chassis itself is a little bent, so much to do but a major resto is planned for later this year (2011).

It currently has a 318 small block V8 but that will not do, so I’ve purchased a 440 Big Block and the plan is to clone the car to Superbee configuration. I’ll be painting the car black but will retain the vinyl roof. I personally think all two-door Dodge muscle car should only be painted black.I continue to source replacement parts for it from the USA, such as chassis rails and Superbee specific items and luckily, just about everything is being reproduced so it’s not too difficult to gather parts, the hardest thing is hiding the boxes once they arrive from the US from my wife who is very anti-car.

I plan on having the car ready for Chryslers on the Murray in March 2012 and I’m sure with many late nights working in the shed, ably assisted by Steve Cole and Paul Anderson, I’ll get there.

Ultimately, the car will be dedicated to my Dad, who passed away 2 years ago and never got to see the car.

Story provided by Craig Rowland

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