1970 Dodge Challenger RT/SE Special Edition with a 426 Hemi

At the Mecum Auction in Schaumburg, Illinois, restorer Tim Wilhelm walks through a numbers-matching 1970 Dodge Challenger RT/SE Special Edition built around the legendary 426 Hemi. From its Canadian-spec build codes to a factory options list that reads like a wish list, this Challenger was restored down to details most owners would never think to chase. See just how deep the documentation goes.

Restoring a numbers-matching Hemi Challenger is one thing. Restoring it well enough that the man who did the work can rattle off two full pages of factory codes from memory is another thing entirely. At the Mecum Auction in Schaumburg, Illinois, restorer Tim Wilhelm walked through a 1970 Dodge Challenger RT/SE Special Edition built around a 426 Hemi, and the sheer depth of factory-correct detail he’d chased down said as much about the car as the Hemi badge on the hood. This isn’t a car that got restored to look right. It’s one that got restored to be right.

The Restorer Behind the Build

Tim Wilhelm, of AutoTech Restorations in Dyersville, Iowa, took on this Challenger with the kind of documentation-first approach that separates a museum-quality restoration from a good-looking driver. Working from a build date of October 13, 1969, Wilhelm reconstructed the car’s factory specification down to individual option codes, treating the original build sheet less like a reference and more like a blueprint that couldn’t be deviated from.

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A Factory Options List Worth Reading Twice

The tag options alone tell a story: a black vinyl top, the light package, a Rallye instrument cluster, power brakes, deluxe seat belts, a center floor console paired with an overhead console, six-way adjustable front bucket seats, a remote sport chrome mirror, and hood pins. Add the full set of drip rail, body sill, and body belt moldings, dual exhaust with chrome tips, a tachometer, power windows, an 8-track radio, and a white longitudinal sport stripe, and you have a car optioned well beyond a stripped-down Hemi special.

Built for a Different Market

One of the more unusual details on the build sheet is a code marking this Challenger as built to Canadian specifications, a detail that adds a layer of rarity most domestic-market Hemi cars simply don’t carry. Combined with tinted glass, a rear window defogger, and a 3.23 Sure Grip rear axle, the car was clearly optioned by someone who wanted comfort and drivability alongside the Hemi’s brute performance, not a stripped race special built for the strip alone.

Why the Hemi Badge Still Changes Everything

None of those comfort options change the fact that this is fundamentally a 426 Hemi car, and that single fact reshapes its entire market position. Hemi-powered Challengers occupy a different tier of collectibility than their small-block or even 440-powered siblings, and a documented, numbers-matching example with this level of factory paperwork is the kind of car that draws a crowd the moment it rolls across an auction stage.

What a Restoration Like This Represents

Watching a restorer walk through a build sheet this dense, code by code, is a reminder of how much research goes into getting a car like this right. Every moulding, every console, every mirror had to be sourced, verified, and installed to match a factory specification from over fifty years ago. That’s the difference between a car that merely wears a Hemi badge and one that has earned its place as an accurate, documented piece of Mopar history.

The Mecum Stage as a Proving Ground

Auctions like Mecum’s Schaumburg event serve as a proving ground for restorations like this one — bidders and spectators alike scrutinize every detail, comparing build sheets against the physical car in real time. A restoration this thoroughly documented doesn’t just look impressive on stage; it holds up under exactly the kind of scrutiny that separates genuine, well-researched builds from cars dressed up to merely resemble the real thing. That kind of exhaustive documentation doesn’t happen by accident — it requires original invoices, dealer records, and sometimes conversations with the family who owned the car decades earlier, pieced together until the picture is complete enough to defend in front of skeptical judges and bidders alike.

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