Godfrey Qualls was always a thrill-seeker and an adrenaline junkie, enlisting in the U.S. Army where he would perform more than 300 jumps before eventually returning home to Detroit and becoming a police officer. When he returned to the Motor City, Qualls would also purchase a 1970 Dodge HEMI Challenger R/T SE that, over the next five years, would become nothing short of legendary, successfully competing in a slew of illegal street races that earned the Dodge mythical status. Known as ‘The Black Ghost,’ this ultra-rare Dodge was eventually passed down by Godfrey to his son just prior to his death in 2015. Seven-years-later and Qualls’ son is now putting this legendary street racer up for auction, marking the first time in history that The Black Ghost has ever been available for sale.
With a 426ci (7.0-liter) V8 under the hood making 425hp, the HEMI Challenger R/T SE was already an incredibly capable vehicle, however, this didn’t stop Qualls from bestowing the Dodge with numerous cosmetic and performance tweaks and upgrades including a factory-installed V1G Gator grain top roof cover, custom Zulu-inspired Africa decals, a Hurst pistol grip shift lever, and a Dana 60 rear differential, just to name a few. The car’s monicker comes from the fact that, after street racing, Qualls would spend weeks if not months on hiatus, tuning and optimizing the Challenger behind closed (garage) doors before returning to underground competition just as randomly as he’d disappeared. Never rebuilt and still in its original state, The Black Ghost is also one of less than two dozen 426 HEMI Challenger R/T SE four-speed manual examples produced for 1970, making it nearly as rare as it is special.
It really is difficult to overstate the significance of the R/T SE Challenger as, not only has it been featured in a slew of magazines and books, graced a myriad of prestigious concours events, and won a variety of elite awards, but The Black Ghost was also the basis for one of Dodge’s seven recent Last Call Edition muscle cars that the firm is using to say goodbye to the current Charger and Challenger. The car is also part of the National Historic Vehicle Registry and is even recognized by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The legendary 1970 Dodge HEMI Challenger R/T SE ‘The Black Ghost’ is slated to go under the hammer at Mecum’s Indy 2023 sale starting May 12th. And, while Mecum hasn’t cited an amount that they expect the car to fetch, industry experts currently value regular mint condition four-speed manual 1970 Dodge Challenger HEMI R/T SE examples at around $350,000, so once you factor in the story behind this specimen, it’s one-of-one nature, and historical significance, it’s not hard to see why some anticipate The Black Ghost to sell for close to, if not over $1,000,000 when it takes its turn crossing the auction block next month.
