1968 Dodge Charger R/T

TIME SEEMS TO HAVE STOOD STILL for decades in Wellsville, New York, from its sleepy village downtown and quiet neighborhoods of older homes to the rolling hills, and farmland on the outskirts.

More than 140 years ago, Wellsville was transformed by the 19th century oil and natural gas drilling boom that began just over the border in Titusville, Pennsylvania, and spread like wild­ re over the Appalachian Basin. Later, Wellsville became home base for a refinery owned by petroleum giant Sinclair. Sinclair's operation was the region's largest refiner of Pennsylvania sweet crude and it brought prosperity to the community producing oil, grease, naptha, gasoline, and more. A massive fire shuttered the refinery for good in the late 1950s and by the 1980s, a landfill on the 100-acre compound was targeted for cleanup as a Superfund Site. Today, the remediated land is part of a college campus.

Our featured 1968 Dodge Charger R/T as it appeared in the 1970s while Don Smith of Cattaraugus, New York, owned it. He bought the car from the family of the original owner in 1975 for $325 and sold it in 1996.

It wouldn't be hyperbole to say there's petroleum still running through Wellsville's veins, and beneath its sleepy facade there's still a hunger for big gasoline burning V-8 engines. Among the most hungry seems to be a core group of Mopar enthusiasts bent on keeping the traditional Pentastar machines of the muscle car era alive.

One of those enthusiasts is Holgar Kurschner, the one-man restoration band behind Supercar Restorations in Wellsville. Time isn't standing still inside Holgar's shop these days. You might remember him and Sam Ballard from our June 2018 issue as the guys responsible for the epic reconstruction of Sam's 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona.

As a follow-up, Holgar lit a ­fire under the restoration of this 1968 Charger R/T owned by another avid, lifelong Mopar enthusiast, Dennis Graham, also of Wellsville.

This Medium Dark Turquoise Charger was bought new at Falls Dodge in Niagara Falls on May 27, 1968. Its owner, Jim Hennegan, moved to Florida, but after his death in 1974, his son Michael brought the car back to New York. Michael then sold the car for a mere $325 to Don Smith of Cattaraugus in 1975.

Over the years, Don drove the car, did some engine work on it and had it repainted. In 1996, Don reluctantly decided to let the Charger go, and its sale attracted the attention of a trio of Mopar enthusiasts from Wellsville, one of which was Holgar.

"Charlie Walc, Brett Riethmiller, and I went out to look at that car," Holgar said. "Charlie ended up buying it—I went along just to see a car and go out for a beer."

Charlie began working on the Charger, but his interest was eventually drawn away by another project, and he sold the Charger to current owner Dennis in 2001.

"I was looking for a 1968 Charger, and my friend Charlie had this one," Dennis said. "He'd bought a GTX and didn't want to restore this, so I bought it. My son and I brought the car home, put it on the lift and started to scrape the undercoating off. Then, I sent it out and had it sandblasted."

With the body stripped, it went to a local restorer who started repairing the car, and that's where it remained, unfinished and in limbo, for more than a decade.

In 2016, Holgar caught wind of the stalled project and contacted Dennis to inquire about finishing the car.

"Sam's Daytona was just about done, and a friend mentioned Dennis' car, so I called Dennis and asked him if he wanted to come look at the Daytona and see my work," Holgar said.

Interior soft parts are all new from Legendary on this nicely optioned '68 Charger that coddles its driver with air conditioning, power brakes, power steering, and an automatic transmission.

The two struck a deal and soon the Charger's body was on its way to Holgar's shop where he assessed what it would need.

"It had been sandblasted, and a trunk floor had been put in it. It looked like a partial floorpan, as well," Holgar said. Holgar proceeded with the metal work, installing a trunk extension as well as repair panels at the lower front and rear of both quarters. The car's original hood was deemed too rusty to be reused, so a replacement was found and then sent out for stripping and e-coating. The doors, fenders, and trunk lid were rust free, so they were stripped and primed with Axalta VariPrime self-etching primer.

After shooting the Charger's body and panels with urethane primer, Holgar applied U-Pol body filler where needed, then smoothed it up with 80-grit paper, followed by 180 and 220. Following that, Holgar sprayed on multiple applications of build primer, which he block-sanded starting with 220 and worked his way up to 600.

Once Holgar was satisfied with the body, everything was shot with Axalta Chroma Base mixed to match the car's original color, followed by four coats of clear. For a flawless finish, Holgar sanded it with 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, and 3000, followed by buffing.

While the body took shape, the Charger's original 440 block was punched out .030-inch, then stuffed with forged pistons and a balanced rotating assembly. The heads were reconditioned, and a Lunati camshaft installed. The engine was then finished in acrylic enamel custom blended to match Chrysler turquoise engine paint.

Holgar rebuilt the car's original 727 TorqueFlite automatic transmission, but rather than paint the case, Dennis beadblasted it and then scoured it with abrasive pads to deep clean the original cast-aluminum surface.

The original axle was sandblasted and painted semi-gloss black while the rear leaf springs were disassembled, sandblasted, refinished in semi-gloss, and reassembled. All of the high-wear suspension and steering bits were replaced, but the front-end hard parts were refinished and reused. The lower control arms were treated to a urethane-paint faux finish that replicates the original bare metal dipped in Cosmoline used by the factory. The original K-member, meanwhile, was sent out for powder coating.

Inside, Legendary installed its own seat upholstery and door panels as well as the Charger's headliner and vinyl top. Carpet from Auto Custom Carpets was laid down on the floor of the cockpit. The Charger's original dash pad was pressed back into service while the instrument faces were restored by Performance Car Graphics and the bezels rechromed by GCar.

After years of sitting idle, the Charger was completed in about 18 months—in time for its first outing at the Hemmings Concours d'Elegance in Lake George, New York, last September, where it scored second place in the Fresh Restoration category. Dennis' plan was then to take the Charger to some larger events, display Holgar's work, then burn some gasoline on the roads around New York's Southern Tier and beyond.

"I'm pleased with the way it came out," Holgar said. "It was a fun car to do. When show season is over, we'll take my red line tires off, and Dennis will put on a set of BFGs so he can drive it."

The car's bumpers have been replated and the exterior treated to a smattering of NOS emblems.

Owner's View

My friend back in high school had a 1968 Charger, and I had a 1968 Road Runner, but I always admired the body style of that Charger. I like this car a lot and Holgar did a great job—it's an awesome color, and I could just sit back and look at it in my garage for hours. Honestly, I haven't driven it yet, but I plan to, and take it to some local shows. I'd like people to see it because it's a very pretty car. —Dennis Graham