WATCHING the door creep open to reveal Ralph Biagi’s garage is enough to send any Mopar fanatic insane with glee. First, a shiny chrome bumper peeks out, then a gleaming red tail-light, then a fat yellow arse, and, finally, it’s there in all its glory: a 12-second, 500-cube Dodge Challenger.
“The Challenger was my dream car when I was younger,” Ralph says. “I still enjoy driving it.”
Restored before it was cool, it presents as an immaculate streeter, despite Ralph having to adapt Celica stainless mouldings to the fat-arming zone and a wooden broom handle into a window runner. “You can get replacements now, but it still works perfectly,” he says of his bush-mechanic solution.
It’s not the car I’m here to see, though. But before I get to the…