the dealership was in central LA, and special ordered this R/T to be catnip to Mopar musclecar buyers, and intended to race it when the 1970 model came along a year later to replace it in the showroom.
But a guy came in who wouldn't be denied, and paid what the dealership who didn't want to sell it, demanded.
He died within the decade, and his widow then drove it as a daily commuter. It's a Super Track Pak 4.11 geared Dana 60, 727, 440 4 barrel.... but it wasn't able to run forever without oil added, and soon windowed the block with the #2 cylinder piston.
She had it taken to the nearby service station who replaced the block, and dumped the ventilated one in the alley behind the service bay...
About this time, a car finder was out getting the local kids hired on a muscle car search party, handing them photos of the cars he was out to locate. One of the kids saw this getting the engine replaced, let him know where it was, he contacted the widow who was read to sell, and Victor bought it from the finder for a good 200 dollar fee.
This was in the early 80s, and he set about restoring it, after the original block was grabbed before it could be sent to the junkyard. The original block was a condition of the purchase, as Victor was an NCRS Corvette guy, and matching numbers stuff is critical to them.
He cleaned up and restored the original parts, had the block welded and fixed, and has only driven it 1000 miles since finishing the restoration. It hasn't left the garage in a decade, and this was it's first day out breaking the long hibernation.
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