Kids Restore Dad’s 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T in Memory of Late Mother.

Grab a box of tissues, you’re gonna need ‘em for this one. This is the story of Richard Schmidt and his beloved 1970 Dodge Challenger convertible and the amazing story behind it, and the underlying history that makes it such a prized possession for Richard and his family.

When Richard shipped out for Vietnam, he left behind a fiance who wasn’t quite ready for the life of a military wife, so she mailed the ring to him and broke off the engagement. To help ease Schmidt’s pain, his cousin asked her friend Kitty to write to him while he was deployed, and the two ended up hitting it off. When Richard returned home from the war, they were married and would spend the rest of their lives together. Or at least the rest of Kitty’s life.

For his birthday, Kitty suggested Richard get himself a new car, with the single stipulation that he could order any car he wanted, as long as it had a drop top. Richard had already been scoping out the soon-to-be-released Dodge Challenger and ordered on to his liking. Outfitted with the iconic 383 Magnum power plant and a four-speed pistol grip transmission, the M5 blue Challenger would become a part of the Schmidt’s early life together. As they often do, the daily-driven ride began to show its age after a few years, so it became one of those ongoing projects that are supported by the best of intentions, but often hindered by life and all that goes with it.

The car would sit in various states of repair for forty years, a span which saw the Schmidt family grow, the shrink by one when Kitty was lost to cancer in 2013. To honor their mom’s memory, the Schmidt children had the car painstakingly restored to its former glory, surprising Richard with the keys to his new-again Mopar in 2015. The car sees regular street use, and though he trailers it occasionally on longer trips, Richard is adamant that the car is no trailer queen, and we’re sure Miss Kitty wouldn’t have it any other way.