1969 RT/SE lost in wildfire

[RTsehibb]

Hi guys, this is my first post here in 4 years.  Sorry, its' not a pleasant one.
I lost my 96 RT/SE in the 2020 Northern California Wild Fires.  90+ homes in my very remote neighborhood were destroyed along with my home and my Charger in the garage.  It was the LNU Lightning Complex Fire in addition to another fire an arsonist started to cover up the murder he just committed at the Lake Berryessa Dam.   It was the perfect storm of wildfires with only one narrow canyon road to drive in and out of the neighborhood.
I owned the car for 28 years.  I got it from the original owner who I worked with in the 1990's.  The guilt of not doing more to move the car (in our 5 minutes they gave us to evacuate) has been very painful for years.  That car was a part of my history and a part of our family.
I am trying to move on now and purchase another car.   As much as I think the 68-70 Chargers were the most beautiful cars ever made, I need to get another model of Mopar.  I just cannot look at the lines of a 68-70 now.  A 71 RT Charger would be my favorite. 
Before I get into that, I wonder if you guys would allow me to explain why I left my Charger in the Garage that day and evacuated in my truck with one of my boats hooked up (We were planning on boating that day as we did the day before).  My wife also evacuated in our newer car with all our animals on board.
I attached a photo the original owner took of the car right after he bought it new in Livermore CA in 1968 or 1969.  He put Ansen slot mags on it and kept the redline tires.  The next photo is the car after my 28 years of restorations and modifications.  Many of you like Firefighter and others helped me with great advice to rebuild my 440, rebuild my grill, and last pick out the wheels and tires I wanted for it.  I still appreciate all the advice you gave.  The last one is the car where it sat in the garage and was destroyed beyond repair.
If you guys do not mind, I would like to post some more pictures of the car, its' history since day one, and why I did not (When I technically could have) leave my truck and boat to burn up and drive the Charger out of there.  Its' a long story and this sucks to write this but I think I owe you all an explanation of how it happened.  In the end, I was the one responsible for allowing such an important piece of Mopar history to be lost.  I can only apologize – explain – and try to move on with life. 
Thank you for reading this
RTsehibb

[Dino]

I'm really sorry you lost everything including your Charger, but you don't owe anyone anything. You got yoiyr family out and that's really all that matters.
If the 2nd gen is your love, then don't settle for anything else. The past is the past. Get another and start over. There's plenty out there. Go get one and make it your own.

[73rallye440magnum]

Don't apologize.
You had minutes to gather what you needed.

Good luck on your Charger search.
Look forward to your pics.

[tan top]

aww nooo  sorry to  hear & see this,  bummer to say the least known the original owner too , DAMN ,  looks like it was a awesome charger, 
think you got the right idea if i lost my charger had it since april 1989,  would never get another second generation, especially to start another nut & bolt resto & start all over, &  knowing  that unless your going to pay stupid money for one all done properly these days , its going to be nothing like the charger i had .  or especially yours knowing the original owner & history on the car ,
would definitely  not have another second generation as much as i love them & the shape is the most beautiful shape known to man, except for a womans body. getting another wont be the same  imo
i would prolly get something modern now like a hellcat
thanks for sharing the pictures & story  , looking forward seeing & reading more
good luck  on your third generation search  

[RTsehibb]

Thanks 73 ralley,

While the wife got leashes on the dogs and tried to catch the cat, I was loading long guns into the truck!  All this while over excited County Sheriff Deputies yelled at us to leave now.  I will tell you guys more later - with pictures as I have gone to adult beverage time after writing the above first post on this topic. 

Thank you again,

Randy

[70 sublime]

Sorry for your loss

Maybe since you had a 69 try and find a 68 or 70 Charger ??

I tried to work on a couple 70's Barracudas but found my heart was just not into it so let them go and found another second gen Charger

Do what you have to do

[doctor4766]

Wow that's a tough story to read.
Hopefully you were insured well enough to rebuild your home and lives after such a terrible experience.
If you can't bring yourself to getting another Charger, there are plenty of alternative Mopars to choose from.
If it were me I'd be looking for a nice early Challenger or Barracuda.
Good luck finding what you're looking for.

[RTsehibb]

More history on the destroyed Charger – hope you don't mind the long read!

So, in 1990 I had a very nice 383 4spd Road Runner and a friend at work tells me he had a 1969 Charger RT/SE he bought new.  He had been a Crew Chief / Waist gunner on a Hughey in Viet Nam.  When he got back from his tour, he spent all his Army money at the Livermore Dodge dealer and ordered the car.  I told the original owner I would sell my RR and buy his car in a heartbeat.   I kept asking him, "A real 1969 RT/SE Charger?"  he laughed and enjoyed the compliment.   
He ordered an RT/SE 440 automatic with floor console, light bronze metallic paint (T3 or T5? I would need to look at the broadcast sheet I still have), white vinyl top, stripe delete, 355 sure grip, saddle tan leather interior, am/fm radio with rear speaker, hubcaps with red stripe goodyear tires.  He often raced his friend who had a super bee and enjoyed many years with his Charger.  He even put a bumper hitch on the Charger to tow his ski boat with it. 
I guess around the late 1980's he and his brother-in-law pulled the 440 and trans for a rebuild.   He then sold it to the same brother-in-law who lived nearby.  It was driven every day and the original owner still did all the maintenance on it for his in law after the sale.   The car was part of their family so this way the original owner could still have it around but not have it taking up space at his house.
He asked his brother-in-law if he would sell it to me.  The in law agreed and said $3000.  The original owner and I test drove it all round and I got to hear many cool stories about the car.  He even shoed me the baseplate of the original dual snorkel air cleaner to see where he drilled out extra holes for more airflow back in the 1970's.  The very original car was kind of a mess but after owning several Mopars, I knew I would keep this one for a very long time.  I bought it and promised the original owner I would fix it up.  Living paycheck to paycheck, I sold my 69 RR to a classic car dealer for 5 grand and then spent any extra money I had on the Charger.
The car had front end damage, the vinyl top was shot and the seats were toast.  The un cut door panels, steering wheel, dash and working radio were in great shape.  In those days you could still find 69 Charger parts in a wrecking yard and I did.  I fixed all the damage and even matched the original paint to make it look presentable.  The original owner was not happy about the fact I changed the white top to black, swapped the Ansen slot mags for road wheels, and especially when I later repainted it R4 bright red WITH the rear RT stripe.  Sorry, I was young and wanted that look for the car.  He did like the new seat covers, carpet and headliner I replaced.
The Charger was pampered for many years but I did drive it – even at the Sacramento Raceway drag strip once or twice.  The best ¼ mile I could get was a 14.5 spinning tires through first and second.  I thought it should be faster as I had already replaced the RV cam that was in it (With an original 440 HP purple shaft Mopar cam) and installed hardened valve seats.  Years later the fuel pump pushrod was making noise and I kept disassembling to finally find metal in the cam bearings.  I then pulled the 440 apart along with the block this time.  Sure enough, as I had read on this forum, the shop that rebuilt the 440 back in the 1980's had put not only an RV Cam in the 440 HP, but low compression pistons too!  I fixed that – with the help of people on this site.
Around 2019 I had the fresh engine in it.  I also rebuilt the grill which was a major pain but the car was fantastic.  The sound was way different with the correct pistons.  I put on a staggered set of new 15" torque thrust wheels to get the stance on the car I always wanted.  It looked great at car shows.  I only had around 100 miles on the rebuilt engine so I went easy on it.  When I dared to open the secondaries on the 750 Eddy carb, I was planted in the seat with the best sound ever (Stock manifolds with Ultra Flow Mufflers).

How The Charger Was Destroyed

My house was in a remote neighborhood of approx. 300 homes.  It was a 45-minute drive to go anywhere.  The only road going there was through a canyon so not much for evacuation choices.  In this neighborhood the Fire Departments would evacuate the 300 homes anytime a fire was near due to the possibility of the canyon burning and the homes being surrounded by fire.  Then after evacuation, you were not allowed to go back to your house.  Evacuations lasted days or even a week without any fire in the neighborhood.   Worse, the power would go out and everything in your fridge would rot.  This pattern happened often.  My neighbors and I were sick of it.   I know its' the safe route to take but I miss the old days before lawsuits when fire departments would jump on a fire ASAP.  Now they must evacuate everyone first and then stage – its' just the way it is.

I had my RT very secured and locked up in my garage.  I was confident this would be just another precautionary evacuation.  Besides, I had nowhere else at all to store it safely and indoor storage companies were way too expensive for me.  I would never store the car outside for people to access.  This was The San Francisco Bay Area where crime is commonplace.  I know that well - as I worked in Law Enforcement for many years before retirement.  The Charger was my pride and joy and I kept it safely locked up.  I spent way too many years of hard work on it and wanted to enjoy it throughout my retirement. 
Warm - dry weather with several lightning strikes caused several fires in the area.  I drove around the hills in the neighborhood to confirm the fires were still many miles away so no big deal I thought - they have plenty of time to stop those.  We much later found out an arsonist started yet another fire that could surround the neighborhood.   Within minutes an evacuation order was issues and Sheriff Deputies came pounding on the door.   With the wife and animals loaded in one car, she would not leave without me.  I reluctantly got in my truck with one of our boats on a trailer (We had been boating each day) and we were escorted out through the canyon.  I saw dozens of fire trucks in our neighborhood and had confidence they would stop the fires in time.  I was wrong.  In the 24 hours after we were evacuated, the arson fire now threatened much larger communities in Solano County.   Most all the fire trucks left our neighborhood as anyone who was going to evacuate had left.  The trucks were reassigned to more populated areas so our neighborhood was doomed.  Many brave neighbors stayed and fought the fire themselves.  Approx 90 of the 300 houses -and mine- were gone.

My house and car were incinerated.  My wife and I spent hours sifting through the rubble and found nothing.  Anything not solid steel in the garage was gone.  All the panels on the Charger were shrunk and I am sure the transmission and my new forged pistons in the 440 were a pool of metal on the floor.  There was no way to get the hood open so I photographed everything for insurance.   Thankfully I had the Charger and my 21' Pontoon Boat insured.  With that combined money I plan to buy another car.

Attached are most all the pictures I have of the RT/SE.  In the frenzy of evacuation, I was stupid enough to forget all my pictures, yearbooks, diplomas, certificates – all of that.  At least I had many photos on my phone.  (I cannot complain as we had insurance and we were fine).  We moved north but I still own the vacant lot at the lake.

The attached photos are:

The original 110 photo the original owner gave me at work one day after I got it.
Charger in my driveway after I got it original paint.
Charger next to my 69 Fury (Great Car I used for a commuter).
New black top and road wheels next to my 5.0 Mustang
Back from the paint shop.
After reassembly – you can see my Power Ram in the paint reflection.
Charger at the last car show I took it to.
Fresh rebuilt Engine 2019.

[RTsehibb]

More photos

Engine and what was left of the car.

[RTsehibb]

Thanks to all for reading the above long story of my car. 

The insurance company towed it away and I later heard it was auctioned at a yard in Bay point CA.  The only thing anyone could use is the vin tags off it and the original keys I gave them. I doubt the 40 over block could be saved but who knows? No idea what any of that would be worth.

If anyone knows of a (car show ready) automatic floor shift console 71 Charger RT for sale, please let me know.  I'm also looking at 70-71 E bodies and 71 RR and GTX's.   Thanks

Randy

[held1823]

Terribly sad and tragic, losing the home and car, but thankfully material things can be replaced. The moment I read about you loading long guns and her looking for the cat, my first thought was screw the guns, the pets and the photos are the only things that can't be replaced. I can't imagine trying to wrangle a cat in that situation.

[b5blue]

 

[hemi-hampton]

Bummer, sorry to hear this.

[Kern Dog]

That is some terrible luck. Thank the Lord you are okay though.

[Mytur Binsdirti]

That's awful. I hope that insurance will cover all your losses.

[69rtse4spd]

So sorry to hear this.