Sunday, March 24, 2019

I get lucky finding stories that involve famous people, cool cars, and a rescue from a junkyard



it was the car used in the Dodge Safety Sheriff Joe Higgins commercials with the new Challenger

Making his first appearance in a Dodge car commercial in the fall of 1969, the first lines, "You in a Heap 'o Trouble, Boy," made actor Joe Higgins a celebrity.

From 1969 to about 1975, Joe Higgins parlayed his excellent acting skills into a wonderful promotional career with Dodge, first as a comical agent pitching various features of cars on television.


Then Dodge gave it to the winner of the 1969 Dallas 500, which was Bobby Issacs. He'd also had the pole position.

When Bobby picked up the car at Dodge City, a now well-known photo was taken of him and Sheriff Joe with the Challenger in-front of the dealership.

The EV2 Hemi Orange 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T was being used in commercials for Dodge City in Charlotte, North Carolina, close to Bobby’s hometown of Hickory.

 Bobby’s new Challenger came equipped from the factory with the standard 383 Magnum engine backed by an A833 Pistol Grip 4-speed transmissions. The car was loaded with options including the light group, black leather bucket seats, rear window louvers, front power disc brakes, seat belt group, 3.91 geared Sure-Grip rear end, air conditioning, tinted glass, pedal dress up, hood pins, locking gas cap, undercoating, hood pad, rear spoiler, bumper guards, power windows, AM/8 track, rear seat speakers, power steering, Rim Blow steering wheel, V21 hood black out, black R/T longitudinal stripes and 14″ Rallye wheels.

Unlike a lot of celebrity figures that receive free cars, Bobby kept the Challenger. His son Randy would drive the car to high school, eventually crashing it into a fence in the early ’70s, wrecking the front end. This would be the end for the Challenger and it was sent to a local junkyard.

The Challenger was eventually rescued from the junkyard and passed around a few times in the Hickory area before ending up getting restored

http://phscollectorcarworld.blogspot.com/2013/01/whatever-happened-to-dodge-safety.html
http://moparconnectionmagazine.com/bobby-isaacs-legacy-dale-mathews-1970-dodge-challenger-r-t/

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