Raw and Pink

Do you like attention? Then get yourself a pink muscle car. On a sunny spring evening, as I cruise through southern Stockholm in the company of a Dodge Challenger and its owner, the interest in this pink machine is overwhelming. Never before have I seen a muscle car draw so much engagement – from both men and women alike.

“The color is called Panther Pink,” says the car’s owner, Karl-Erik Ångman – known simply as Kalle to his friends.

Intense is the only word for it, not unlike Peter Sellers’ bumbling character in the Pink Panther films. But while the Pink Panther is awkward, Kalle’s Challenger is sleek. The color grows on you, too. The more I look at the car, the more I like it – especially as the sun sets over Stockholm, the capitol city of Sweden. The paint transforms from piercing to rich, from almost shrill to a fresh explosion of color.

“Challenger T/As aren’t exactly common, especially not in this color. But my 1970 Dodge isn’t an original T/A – it’s a mix of all the coolest things from the muscle car era,” he says.

So, it’s not accurate to call the car a T/A clone. It is better described as a tribute – to muscle cars in general and the Challenger T/A in particular. And a spectacular one at that.

Kalle’s drivetrain recipe is crisp: a Chrysler 440-cubic-inch V8 delivering 526 horsepower at 5,400 rpm and 727 Nm at 4,600 rpm, dyno-tested by Swedish Mopar_® guru Jari Konola. A 727 TorqueFlite with manual valve body sends the power down the driveshaft, and the crowning jewel is a Dana 60 rear axle with 4.10:1 gears and 35-spline axles.

Just mash the pedal – no worries about grenading gears.

The Challenger first came to Sweden in the early 1990s, spending a few years in small villages like Brunflo, then Svanabyn, before ending up in Stockholm.

For Kalle, the car entered his life as a partially built Super Stock project. He bought it in the fall of 2010 as a bare chassis without engine or powertrain – but in good shape, complete with an SBF-approved roll cage.

“I talked a lot about the purchase with my friend Jan ‘Wicke’ Wikström in Svanabyn. He has a knack for knowing where every Mopar muscle car is hiding between the Dalälven river and the Three-Country Cairn. Wicke is a bit of a Chrysler baron in northern Sweden. I was originally after a B-body, but in the summer of 2010, Wicke called and said his Challenger project wouldn’t be finished anytime soon. I said it might be interesting, and sure enough, it was. So I bought it,” Kalle says.

Since Kalle had previously owned a 1970 Plymouth Duster and already collected parts for a potent engine (including a supercharger plan), he had everything needed to power the Challenger.

To keep that power planted on asphalt, the front end was fully rebuilt with new bushings and shocks and fitted with the second-stiffest torsion bars available for an E-body.

When it came time to sort out the rear axle, dark clouds gathered – but quickly cleared.

“I was looking for a Dana 60 but thought the prices here were outrageous for junk that still needed rebuilding. In early 2011, I got in touch with a guy named Greg Sandford in the U.S. He sells Dana parts on eBay, and after some emails I ordered an axle from him. He built a fully restored Dana 60 with a new housing, gears, bearings, pinion – everything. Including shipping to Sweden, it cost the same as a worn-out one here,” Kalle says with satisfaction.

He adds that the axle is shortened to B-body dimensions – about two inches narrower than an E-body – to fit wider wheels.

“Tires were a tough decision. I wanted a bit of a NASCAR look, but not fully racecar. In the end, I went with widened steelies: 63 Series O.E. Chrysler wheels with retro style. The grip is great with Mickey Thompson Sportsman S/T radials up front and ET Street radials out back,” he says.

He also found original Dodge dog-dish hubcaps in decent shape, which he says finish off the steel-wheel look nicely.

This summer is Kalle’s first real driving season since the build was “finished” (though every enthusiast knows a car is never truly finished). Last summer brought some teething problems.

“I was running a Poly V-ribbed belt for the alternator and water pump. Coming back from a meet north of Stockholm, the engine suddenly overheated. I opened the hood and the belt was hanging like cooked spaghetti. Getting a replacement on the spot was impossible, so I made a temporary belt out of
zip ties between the crank and water pump pulleys. I bundled several together, taped them up, and ran them over the pulleys. It worked for several miles. Without the alternator, though, I had to stop again later. Today, I run an electric water pump,” he says with a laugh.

This past winter, he stayed busy. Among other things, he built a three-inch exhaust system, relocated the battery to the trunk, rewired the car, installed a nitrous kit and added Calvert Racing traction bars.

For the coming winter, even more is planned to make the Challenger sharper still – including four-wheel disc brakes and a screw-type supercharger from HPS Superchargers.

This is not the last you’ll see of Kalle’s Challenger. But more likely through the windshield than in the rearview mirror…