Ride Of The Week 10/25/2021: Steve Frei's 2017 Challenger T/A

It's A Time Machine

In the 1985 film, "Back To The Future", Dr. Emmett L. Brown invents a time machine from a car, a 1981 Delorean DMC-12. In the film, the first "temporal experiment" takes place in the wee hours of October, 26th, so this week we honor the anniversary of that fictional time machine, with a real one.

Steve Frei’s 2017 Challenger T/A grabbed my attention with his display showing the AAR Cuda he owned when he was in his teens with the story about “going home again”. I love hearing the stories about getting a car that was just like the one you had as a kid. Now, with the demise of Plymouth, a 21st century version of the AAR Cuda is impossible, but this T/A Challenger is a reasonable facsimile as it was Dodge’s version of the Trans AM Racing series entry from Plymouth.

Steve worked for 44 years, waking at 5am and taking every overtime he could get before retiring. He said that if Dodge ever came out with a T/A version of the Challenger, he’d get one. They did in 2017, but Steve was waiting for just the right time.

Steve’s older sister was a big influence on him and this car. She just loved that old Cuda and would ask him to take it out for a spin when they were kids. While Steve was deciding to pull the trigger on the 2017 T/A he found online last fall, his sister suffered a heart attack and passed away. That was it. Life is too short and the car was still available after several months. Steve decided that there was no time to wait.

He bought the car in May of 2021 and has been transported back to the early 1970s when he owned the Cuda. “It’s the same hood. When I look out over that blacked out hood, I’m 18 years old again. It’s a time machine!”

So forget what Christopher Lloyd's character says about the Flux Capacitor. Just get yourself a modern version of the car you grew up in. THAT, is what makes time travel possible!

If you’d like your ride to be featured as a #carshowlife #rideoftheweek, send us your story and at least 6 photos to info@carshowlife.net.