SpeedSUVs.com — For classic car enthusiasts, the relationship with a vehicle is rarely a one-time project. Automotive journalist Elana Scherr has embarked on a comprehensive journey to restore her beloved 1970 Dodge Challenger for the second time. This project is not the result of a sudden collision or a dramatic highway accident; rather, it is the consequence of the steady, inexorable march of time. When a driver purchases a 33-year-old muscle car, applies a fresh coat of paint, drops a junkyard recreational vehicle motor under the hood, and drives it regularly until the vehicle reaches 56 years of age, a second restoration becomes an inevitability. The passage of years and miles eventually demands that the entire process begin anew, stripping the classic machine down to its bare metal to preserve its history and performance.
The Origins and Early Days of the Blue Challenger
The journey of this specific 1970 Dodge Challenger began when Elana Scherr and her husband purchased the base-trim muscle car from its original owner. At the time of the purchase, the vehicle already showed a significant number of miles on the odometer. Furthermore, it suffered from an unfortunate recent history of being parked outdoors. The previous owner had left the car sitting under a neighbor’s active water sprinkler. This exposure to constant moisture had severe consequences for the vehicle’s bodywork. On the roof, where a cracked vinyl top held water directly against the unpainted steel, corrosion had taken hold. Moisture trapped beneath the vinyl allowed rust to eat tiny, persistent pinholes through the metal, setting the stage for long-term structural challenges that would eventually require professional intervention.
Initially, Scherr and her husband did not intend to keep the base-trim 1970 model. At the time, Scherr already owned another classic muscle car: a brute of a 1972 Dodge Challenger. That ’72 model featured a transplanted V-8 engine and a matte black paint job applied with spray cans. The aggressive, weathered appearance of the ’72 Challenger was known to cause curtains to twitch in some of Los Angeles’s more upscale neighborhoods. While Scherr was perfectly content living what she described as the rat-rod muscle car lifestyle, the fate of the 1970 Challenger changed completely once it returned from the paint shop. Glistening in a bright, vibrant blue hue reminiscent of a cartoon dolphin, the refreshed 1970 model captured her heart. Scherr immediately decided to abandon the rat-rod aesthetic, sold her black ’72 Challenger, and focused her attention entirely on the blue ’70 model.
Upgrades, Commuting, and Media Exposure
To transform the newly painted blue Dodge Challenger into a true performer, Scherr squeezed a massive 440-cubic-inch big-block engine under its hood. This engine, sourced from a junkyard RV, provided the muscle car with substantial power. The vehicle was quickly put into active service, pulling double duty as both a daily commuter and a weekend drag racer. Scherr kept the big-block engine humming through various stages of her professional life. She used the Challenger to commute first to her job at a public relations firm, and later drove it on a 60-mile round trip to the editorial offices of Hot Rod magazine. As her career progressed into freelance writing and eventually a staff position at Car and Driver, the blue Challenger remained her primary choice of transportation.
Beyond daily driving duties and quarter-mile runs down the drag strip, the blue 1970 Challenger accumulated a unique resume of media appearances and industry testing. The vehicle served as a prototyping mule for an aftermarket suspension manufacturer, helping to test and develop new components. It also made a notable television appearance on American Top Gear. In addition to these roles, the Challenger participated in several magazine dyno tests and professional photo shoots. Over the years, the car performed countless burnouts. Scherr recalls one particular incident where she executed a burnout directly in front of a police officer. When confronted, she jokingly apologized, stating she had not seen the officer through the thick cloud of tire smoke—an excuse that the officer did not find particularly amusing.
The Toll of Time and the Slide Back to Jalopydom
No vehicle is immune to the effects of hard driving and exposure to the elements. The long, hot hours spent commuting on Southern California freeways, combined with the steady kick of grit and debris from the racetrack, accelerated the Challenger’s decline. Over time, the vehicle began its slow slide back into a state of disrepair. The bright blue paint began to crack along the rear quarter-panels. On the roof, the tiny pinholes that had been temporarily addressed years earlier began to spread once again, dimpling under a peeling clear-coat layer. Furthermore, a deep scratch on the front fender began to show a rusty stain just below the side marker light. This rust was a constant, humiliating reminder of an incident that occurred just one week after the car’s first paint job, when Scherr accidentally rolled the newly painted vehicle into a concrete post at a local gas station. The Dodge was looking increasingly ragged, losing its clean appearance and failing to qualify as a cool, intentional patina.
A Comprehensive Metalwork Restoration
Having previously attempted a quick cosmetic fix on the damaged roof, Scherr understood that this second restoration required a much more thorough approach. The damaged roof panel needed to be completely replaced. Fortunately, aftermarket body panels remain widely available for first-generation Dodge Challengers. After paying an expensive shipping fee, Scherr secured a brand-new replacement roof panel and delivered the vehicle to a trusted metalworker named Peter. Known affectionately in the local car community as Peter the Swede, he is actually Finnish. Despite his actual Nordic heritage, the nickname stuck due to a general local ignorance regarding Nordic geography. Peter specializes in Mopar vehicles and possesses the metalworking skills required to handle extensive classic car rust repair.
As is common when moving a project car from one craftsman to another, Peter was not particularly impressed by the previous bodywork and quick fixes. He began excavating the layers of old body filler, commonly known as Bondo, that had been applied during the car’s first restoration. Peter sent daily text updates to Scherr, detailing the unexpected discoveries uncovered beneath the filler. In the world of classic car restoration, unexpected surprises almost always manifest as hidden rust. Once Peter successfully cut out all the corroded metal and welded the new roof panel in place, the next phase of the project required further disassembly to prepare the entire body of the Challenger for a fresh application of paint.
Uncovering a Personal Archeological Record
One of the most rewarding aspects of purchasing a used classic car is discovering the small artifacts and clues left behind by previous owners. These items often tell a silent story about the car’s history, such as a collection of vintage national park maps tucked away in the glovebox, discarded aluminum beer-can tabs hidden behind the interior door panels, or even unusual items like several cloves of garlic left in the trunk. However, during this second restoration, Scherr found herself undertaking a unique form of personal archeology. Because she had owned and driven the car for over two decades, the debris and lost items uncovered during the disassembly process belonged entirely to her own past.
As she stripped the interior, she discovered sand clogging the ventilation ducts—a direct remnant of an off-track excursion at Buttonwillow Raceway when she carried too much speed into a sharp hairpin turn. Beneath the dashboard, she uncovered a tangled mess of old electrical wires, which were left over from a long-forgotten test of an aftermarket air-fuel ratio meter. Tucked deep in the crevice between the driver’s seat and the center console, she found a tube of expensive mascara. It was a cosmetic item she had actively searched for six years prior, only to have it turn up during the teardown of her classic muscle car. Each discovery served as a physical milestone of her journey with the Challenger.
Preparing for the Final Paint Phase
To ensure the paintwork met the highest possible standards, Scherr enlisted the help of another friend, Dave Shuten. While Shuten normally focuses his talents on building high-end, award-winning custom show cars, he agreed to assist with the more conventional Dodge project. Shuten maintained incredibly strict standards for the vehicle’s preparation. He visited Scherr’s home twice to inspect the progress of the disassembly, and both times he rejected the level of teardown. Each time, he delivered his assessment with a polite but firm judgment, indicating that if it were his project, he would strip the car down even further. Motivated by his high standards, Scherr continued to strip and clean the vehicle until it was finally deemed ready for Shuten’s shop. The Challenger is currently undergoing final smoothing and a complete respray in its signature bright, dolphiny blue paint.
A Career Defined by Automotive Passion
Elana Scherr’s deep connection to car culture was not something she recognized early in life. Like many young girls, her childhood career plans revolved around becoming a veterinarian, an astronaut, or an artist. She came closest to the artistic path, attending the prestigious art school at UCLA. During her time in art school, she frequently painted detailed images of automobiles, despite the fact that she did not actually own a car. In fact, Scherr reluctantly obtained her driver’s license at the age of 21. It was only after getting behind the wheel that she discovered a profound love for cars and driving. She quickly realized that a vast community of people shared this passion and wanted to read about car culture, creating a need for dedicated automotive writers.
Since finding her calling, Scherr has built a highly successful career writing for numerous automotive magazines and digital publications. Her work covers classic cars, car culture, emerging automotive technology, motorsports, and detailed reviews of new vehicles. In 2020, her writing was recognized by the Motor Press Guild, which awarded her the Best Feature award for her Car and Driver story detailing a road trip through classic Americana in a Polestar 2 electric vehicle. In 2023, she received first place in the 16th Annual National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards, presented by the Los Angeles Press Club, for her feature story about Washington, D.C.’s unique slugging carpool culture.
With the metalwork complete and the paint process underway, the physical reconstruction of the 1970 Dodge Challenger represents the next major milestone. Reassembling a vehicle that has been completely stripped down is a daunting task, but Scherr remains optimistic about the challenge ahead. Having successfully built, driven, and maintained the vehicle through decades of hard use, she is ready to piece her beloved blue Mopar back together, ensuring it remains on the road for many more years to come.
