Rare 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T SE in Panther Pink

Rare 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T SE in Panther Pink.

Ken Katarynchuk has one of those maladies that often afflict men of middle age.
“Yes,” Ken admits, “I’ve got rare-car-itis.”
Not only that, he suffers from the Mopar variation. Good thing wife Jan is sympathetic. The Katarynchuks live in Edson, Alta., in the mountains about two hours west of Edmonton. The good news is they’ve got a quarter section (64.7 hectares) so the backyard’s not overwhelmed by the car collection. The bad news is that their spread is down a 10-mile gravel road, so any vehicle going to a car show, or just out for a drive, has to be trailered out to the hardtop. Can’t risk a stone chip on any of those wild Mopar colours from the 1960s and ’70s.
The Katarynchuks still own the car they got married in – a 1972 Plymouth Roadrunner 400 with 3-speed auto and painted Hemi Orange – one of 1,489 made with that combination. They bought it in 1974 and it was the car in which Jan learned how to drive.
Ken’s first collector car was a 1968 Mustang GT fastback, blue with white C stripes and a 390 V8. He bought that back in 1996 and kept it – even after he caught the Mopar bug.
Everybody has a Mustang, right? So Ken started shopping for something not so common and turned to Dodge and Plymouth muscle cars.
The stable of restored vehicles includes:
A 1969 Dodge Superbee with a 426 cubic inch Hemi V8 and 4-speed, painted Copper Bronze metallic with a tan vinyl roof and one of only 12 exported to Canada.
A 1970 Dodge Coronet R/T 440-4 speed in Sublime with black bucket seats – one of 405 made.
A 1970 Charger SE 383 with automatic, blue leather interior and Bright Blue metallic paint.
A 1971 Charger Superbee 440-six pack with 4-speed, white interior and Bright Red paint – a numbers matching car and one of only 30 built.
Still to be restored:
A 1970 Hemi Superbee, in Hemi Orange with a black vinyl roof and white C stripe and tan interior – one of two shipped to Canada of just 34 made.
A 1970 Charger R/T SE, with 440, auto transmission, power windows and 8-track and painted Plum Crazy.

Ken and Jan’s first muscle car – a 1972 Roadrunner 400.

Perhaps the rarest of Ken’s cars is a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T SE with a 383 and 4-speed. It’s one of only seven such cars painted in Panther Pink – a $14.05 factory option – and one of only three with the “ultra-rare” magenta side stripes. Today, it’s the only one listed in the Chrysler registry.
Ken bought the car from its fourth owner in Kincaid, Sask., in 2001. It had been painted white by the third owner but the original pink was showing through in the door jambs and trunk. The engine compartment had been brush-painted black and the transmission was John Deere yellow.
“It was a driver,” says Ken, who did exactly that with the car until 2005, when he began a complete restoration.
“It’s over-restored to 1970 standards,” says Ken, with more attention to body gaps and paint than when it was built and sold new off the showroom floor at Chinook Chrysler in Calgary.
Unfortunately, the car was finished “three days too late” for Ken and Jan to make it to the first ever Panther Pink reunion in Carlisle, Pa., last July. But they’ve since taken the Challenger to events in Calgary, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Belvedere, Ill. and Kamloops, B.C.
“Pinky” will return to Kamloops for Hot Nite in the City Aug. 7-8, where its colour makes it a natural to help publicize the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation’s CIBC Run for the Cure on Oct. 4.

Write to Glen at glenwoodcock@canoemail.com

Ken’s Mopar muscle, stacked neatly in the garage.