Dodge Challenger 1970 – Amazing exhaust sound!

The 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T could be ordered with four completely different V8s, from a torque-heavy 383 Magnum all the way up to the legendary 426 Hemi — and each one sounded nothing like the others. Only a few hundred Hemi and Six Pack cars were ever built. Read on to find out which engine actually made the best case for itself.

There’s a reason certain Mopar exhaust notes make grown adults stop mid-sentence at a cruise night — and it isn’t just decibels. The 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T could be ordered with four completely different engines, and each one had its own personality under load, from a torque-heavy rumble to something that sounds like it’s spoiling for a fight. Most people assume “Challenger R/T” means one specific engine and one specific sound. It doesn’t. What Dodge actually let buyers check on the order form that year is wilder than most realize, and the rarest of those options barely made it into a few hundred cars total.

Four Engines, Four Very Different Attitudes

Standard power in the 1970 R/T was the 383 Magnum V8, rated at roughly 335 horsepower and 425 lb-ft of torque and backed by a three-speed manual unless a buyer specified otherwise — and even that “base” engine was already a genuine muscle car motor, not a placeholder. Step up the order sheet and Dodge would sell a 440 Magnum four-barrel at 375 horsepower, the legendary 440 Six Pack at roughly 390 horsepower on triple two-barrel carburetors, or the 426 Hemi, officially rated 425 horsepower at 5,000 rpm with 490 lb-ft of torque at 4,000. Four completely different engines, four completely different exhaust notes, all wearing the same R/T badge. R/T stood for “Road and Track,” Dodge’s performance designation that also came bundled with heavy-duty suspension, dual exhaust, and other equipment aimed at buyers who intended to actually use the car hard, not just look fast parked in a driveway.

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The Numbers That Make the Hemi Cars Nearly Mythical

Of everything Dodge built that year, the Hemi R/Ts are the ones collectors chase hardest — and the production numbers explain why. Only 287 hardtops were built with the 426 Hemi for the U.S. market, split roughly 137 with the four-speed and 150 with the automatic, plus 60 more with the Special Edition package and just 9 convertibles. Add it up and you land around 356 Hemi-powered 1970 Challengers total. The Six Pack cars were more common but still far from plentiful — about 1,640 hardtops, 296 Special Edition cars, and 99 convertibles.

The Six Pack’s Case for Being the Smarter Buy

For all the Hemi’s mystique, plenty of period buyers and modern enthusiasts alike argue the 440 Six Pack was the smarter choice — nearly identical straight-line performance to the Hemi at a lower purchase price, simpler carburetion to service, and none of the Hemi’s reputation for needing a specialist mechanic to keep it happy. The triple two-barrel setup delivered that same theatrical throttle response as the Hemi’s dual quads, just with a lower price of entry, which is exactly why Six Pack cars remain more attainable for collectors today without sacrificing much of the drama.

Why ‘Standard’ Wasn’t Really Standard

It’s easy to read “base engine” and assume mild. Not here. Chrysler built the Challenger to compete against every other pony car on the market in 1970, and even the entry-level 383 Magnum in R/T trim delivered real muscle car performance and a genuinely aggressive exhaust note of its own. That’s what made the 1970 Challenger R/T lineup so interesting — there wasn’t really a bad way to order one, just different flavors of loud, each with its own dealer-lot personality.

The Shaker Hood That Told the Whole Story

Buyers who wanted to broadcast their engine choice from across the parking lot could option the Shaker hood scoop, a functional air intake that bolted directly to the engine and visibly shook at idle and under throttle — a detail that made the car’s power train impossible to hide even with the hood closed. It’s a small mechanical flourish that has become one of the most recognizable Challenger R/T details among enthusiasts, and it remains one of the most requested features on restored and restomod builds alike.

1970 Versus the Rest of the First-Gen Run

The Challenger only ran as a first-generation body style from 1970 through 1974, and 1970 is widely considered the high point of that run for available performance — later years saw engine options shrink dramatically as emissions regulations tightened and insurance premiums climbed. That makes 1970 the single best year to find every one of these four engines still on the table simultaneously, a window that would never fully reopen for the nameplate. By 1971, the 426 Hemi option had already vanished from the order sheet entirely for the Challenger, and the following years saw further engine reductions as Chrysler scrambled to keep pace with tightening federal regulations.

How the Market Prices These Engines Today

Unsurprisingly, the collector market prices these four engines in almost exactly the order their rarity and reputation would suggest, with Hemi cars commanding the steepest premiums, Six Pack cars close behind, and 440 Magnum and 383 Magnum cars offering the most attainable entry points into genuine 1970 Challenger R/T ownership. That spread gives enthusiasts at very different budget levels a legitimate way into the same body style and the same R/T badge, just with a different soundtrack under the hood.

Living With Any of the Four Today

Parts availability today favors the 383 and 440 Magnum cars, since those engine families saw wider use across Chrysler’s broader lineup and enjoy stronger aftermarket support, while Hemi and Six Pack owners often rely on more specialized suppliers for period-correct components. That practical difference matters as much to a modern owner’s day-to-day experience as the horsepower figures ever did, and it’s a real factor buyers weigh before committing to whichever engine’s exhaust note they’ve fallen for.

One Badge, Four Personalities

What makes the 1970 Challenger R/T genuinely special isn’t any single engine — it’s that Dodge let buyers choose their own adventure under one nameplate, from a torque-heavy 383 to a screaming 426 Hemi, and every single combination still wears the same aggressive fastback body. Fifty-plus years later, that range is exactly why the 1970 R/T remains one of the most collected and most debated muscle cars of the era, with fans arguing engine preference the same way they did on the showroom floor in 1970.

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