Do You Recognize this 1974 Movie Lot Charger?

Y28 Code

Have you seen this car? Not cars like this one, but this actual car? Chances are if you have, it was during its life as a background player in movies and television 44 years ago. Andrew Gurka’s 1974 Charger began its career in showbiz in late 1973, shortly after it was delivered to Studio Dodge in North Hollywood, California. The Charger’s factory broadcast sheets list production code Y28, signifying that it was built as a public relations and promotional use vehicle. Studio Dodge loaned the Charger to Universal Studios, who used it for roughly six months before returning it. Upon its return, it was sold for $5,450 to a woman who put her ‘72 Chevy Monte Carlo towards the purchase price.

Charger Fan

Gurka didn’t just see the ‘74 one day and decide he’d try it out, he’s been a fuselage-era Charger fan for a long time, owning three ‘72 Rallyes over the years. When he and the ‘74 crossed paths eight years ago, he was in the market for a ‘73/’74 model, due to their electronic ignitions and retractable belts (remember tucking those older Mopar belts between the seats to keep them out of the way?). The rare factory sunroof caught his eye and he made an offer on the car, but he and the owner couldn’t see eye to eye so the Charger wound up in New York.

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Second Chances

A few years later, Gurka saw that the car was up for sale again, this time in Las Vegas. The owner reportedly wasn’t up to having the needed repairs done on the car, including fixing the non-functioning A/C. Gurka, not wanting to miss out on the ‘74 another time, snapped up the car and brought it back to his home in Michigan.

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Inspection

With the car back home, Gurka took a close look at what he’d purchased. The car was mostly original, with 52,000 miles on the clock, and had been partially restored. The original 440 ci V8 had been rebuilt in Ohio, by Koffel’s Place. Relatively few hardtop Chargers made it off the line with 440s for 1974, only 208 total and only four of those came with the manual sunroof option. Of those four, Gurka’s car is believed to be the only one still in existence.

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Option-ized

The car’s promotional intent insured it left Chrysler’s St. Louis plant with a slew of other options to go along with the 440, the sunroof, and the A/C, the Charger came loaded with power windows, power steering, automatic transmission, cruise control, AM/FM radio with rear speaker, and rear-window defroster. In 1974, a Mopar rear defroster meant a rear-window blower, the Charger’s was a driver-controlled two-speed unit. While down on power by ‘74 with 275 hp, the mighty 440 still managed 375 lb-ft of torque.

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The Return

Gurka sent the Charger to Wrenchers in Novi, Michigan to bring the car back up to snuff and correct all the little problems that crop up on a car that’s not been closely looked after for a number of years—including a fuel line that had slipped dangerously close to one of the 440’s exhaust manifolds. They removed the aftermarket carb, intake and valve covers, and replaced them with the correct factory-installed items, and of course got the A/C blowing cold again.

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Color

Great Lakes Auto Body & Trim stripped and repainted the Charger in its original yellow for Gurka, and reapplied the Rallye package’s black graphics. The car still wears Road Wheels, though they are 15-inchers now rather than the 14-inchers the car was wearing when it left the factory. Gurka loves the wheels and has never been tempted to switch to anything newer or larger—he likes the car just the way it is. If you remember seeing Gurka’s Charger just the way it was in 1974—perhaps being passed by a speeding car in McMillan and Wife, Emergency, or Rockford Files—let us, and Andrew Gurka know.

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