By Dean Larson

Photos: Seller, eBay

They’re still out there… That four-word phrase is said with pride by every single barn-find hunter and lucky buyer after they’ve be persistent or fortunate enough to rescue a forlorn muscle machine. And while they’re at least 100 times more difficult to come by these days, they still seem to be out there — the big-block ’69 Camaros, W-30 Olds and HEMI Challengers. Some of these finds go straight to eBay where we lowly keyboard commandos can drool, and it doesn’t get a whole lot more mouth watering than a barn-find 1970 426 HEMI Challenger R/T in B3 blue.

The Dodge Challenger was a new sexy image for Dodge in 1970, paired with Plymouth’s Barracuda. Both cars were based on the E-body super coupe platform, with pretty much every conceivable powertrain option possible, from the 198 ci Slant-six, to the 440 ci RB big-block. But the top dog was of course the 426 ci HEMI, which was available right out of the gate in 1970 with 425 hp and 495 lb-ft.

When this car rolled of the lot new, it had to be just about the swankiest soul machine on wheels, with a full fender tag worth of performance and cosmetic options. Beyond the HEMI, the car was fit with a shaker hood, DANA 60 axle with 4.10 gears, power brakes and a 727 TorqueFlight transmission. But this car had style too, finished in B3 light blue with blue high-back bucket seats, remote-control mirror, hood pins and a white longitudinal stripe — talk about a looker!

Like most high-performance cars of the era, the HEMI Challenger probably led a rough life though. The HEMI must have been blown up at some point, as a 440 Six-Pack replaced it, and the original DANA 60 axle was destroyed or repurposed somewhere along the line as well. Interestingly though, the 440 RB engine was again swapped for a different 426 HEMI (a ’66 coded block), along with a standard 8 3/4 rear axle, and the car appears to have sat for sometime in this configuration. It’s interesting to see the car returned to HEMI spec without undergoing a correct cosmetic restoration, but the car wasn’t always the blue-chip collector that it is today.

In terms of barn finds, it doesn’t get a whole lot more legit than this. The Challenger has been stored since the early ’80s in a barn with a dirt floor, meaning rust is going to be a factor here. The sheet metal will need some work, and most every part of the chassis will need to be blasted and refinished. But the reward when that work is done is a seriously rare HEMI car; one of 287 ’70 HEMI Challengers, and one of just 150 built with a TorqueFlight automatic according to the seller.

Located in San Tan Valley, Arizona, the auction closes later today and the current high bid is $63,500. See the HEMI Challenger here on eBay.