J.R. Goodman has been involved in the collector vehicle hobby ever since when, in 1992, his admiration for Bruce Lee led him to buying the “Black Beauty” car from the 1960’s show, Green Hornet, a 1966 Chrysler Imperial.

His enthusiasm for Bruce Lee films quickly turned into a passion for old cars, and he says he’s owned five collector vehicles since that first purchase, 15 years ago. 

One of those vehicles is the 1972 Dodge Challenger that he bought for himself and his son, Mike, to work on together.  J.R. says that his son was interested in Hot Wheels toys when he was a youngster; but, when the age of 16 arrived, in 2002, it was time to buy the real deal for the father-son team to restore. They began bidding on EBay and eventually received notice that they had placed the winning bid.

After buying the Challenger, the two did a lot of restoration work, including welding and installing new floors, but, according to J.R., “it got to the point where it stalled.”

J.R. points out that, in 2003, his son, Mike, had bought his own 1972 Plymouth Barracuda and focus shifted from the Dodge to the ‘Cuda.

Mike must have realized that the Challenger was being neglected, because, unbeknownst to J.R., he decided to write a letter to the TLC show Overhaulin’, requesting that Chip Foose and his team makeover his dad’s Mopar.  Strangely enough, J.R. says that, at about the same time, he had written a similar letter to the TV show, requesting the same for his son’s vehicle.

“I think his letter must have been a little more persuasive,” says J.R.

The Challenger was selected and in store for a makeover-- but, at the time, J.R. was clueless.

He says that his son had called him, while he was house-hunting in Florida, to say that the Dodge had been stolen (when it had actually been given into the trusty hands of Foose).  Thinking that his baby had been abducted was not pleasant for J.R., nor was learning that his son had actually lost the car in a race... nor was the ‘reveal,’ during which he was placed on top a casino roof, geared up in a bullet proof vest.

But, despite the original dissapointment and the frightening reveal (at which J.R. says even the real cops showed up!),  J.R. was enthused to find out that he had been lucky enough to have been chosen to have his car Overhauled and even luckier to be selected to have the car made over in front of a huge live audience, at the 2007 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, N.V.

He says that when he and the crew went to unveil the car, thousands of people began cheering.

“It was a once in a lifetime experience.”

For more details on J.R.’s Overhaulin’ episode, visit: Dodge Challenger.

Story by: Becky McLaughlin