Challenger vs Charger Drag Race: Hemi Swap 1970 Dodge …

No Bolts Left Behind lines up two eras of Mopar at Irwindale’s eighth-mile: a 1970 Dodge Challenger swapped to a modern 5.7 Gen III Hemi against a 1973 Charger running a carbureted 361 big block. It’s fuel injection versus carburetor, manual versus automatic, drag radials versus street tires — all motor, no power adders. The result isn’t as lopsided as the numbers suggest. Watch the classic and the modern Hemi settle it on the track.

On paper this should not even be close — and that is exactly why it is worth watching. One 1970 Dodge Challenger has been cut open and rebuilt around a modern 5.7-liter Gen III Hemi, fuel-injected, backed by a manual transmission and hooked up on drag radials. The other, a 1973 Charger, runs an old-school 361 big block breathing through a carburetor, shifting through an automatic, riding on plain street tires. Two generations of Mopar engineering line up on Irwindale’s prepped eighth-mile with nothing artificial in the mix — no nitrous, no turbos, just displacement and attitude. The gap between old and new might turn out to be a lot smaller than the spec sheet promises.

Old Heart vs New Heart

The matchup, staged by the No Bolts Left Behind channel against fellow builder NightWrencher, is really a debate about how you make a Mopar fast. In the 1970 Challenger sits a Gen III Hemi — the same modern architecture Dodge has leaned on for two decades, here swapped into a first-year E-body that originally never dreamed of electronic fuel injection.

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Across the line, the 1973 Charger stays faithful to the era it was born in: a 361-cubic-inch B-block, a four-barrel carburetor, and a torque converter doing the launching. It is fuel injection versus carburetor, manual versus automatic, sticky radials versus street rubber, all decided in about six seconds.

Why the Eighth-Mile Changes Everything

That short distance is what makes the format so revealing. On the eighth-mile, the launch is everything, and traction becomes the great equalizer. The Hemi-swapped Challenger has the technology advantage and the better tires, but a prepped surface and a well-driven big block can close the distance in a hurry.

Every variable — tire selection, converter, driver reaction — gets magnified when the whole race is over before either car really stretches its legs. That unpredictability is what keeps spectators leaning in, never quite sure which philosophy will blink first.

The Hemi-Swap Movement

Beyond the stopwatch, this is a celebration of the Hemi-swap movement that has reshaped classic Mopar culture. Dropping a modern, reliable, fuel-injected Hemi into a vintage Challenger gives owners the looks they love with the drivability the originals never had — a car that starts on a cold morning and cruises without drama.

Purists may still prefer the carbureted big block’s honest, mechanical character, and that tension — old soul versus new heart — is exactly what this race puts on the strip. All motor, no gimmicks, two Dodges settling it the way it should be settled.

Watch the full video and share your thoughts below.