Museum’s muscle

The vehicle featured in this year’s Thunder Bay Museum Classic Car Raffle is more road ready than showroom ready, says the museum’s director.

The Thunder Bay Museum launched its annual car raffle Monday. The draw, traditionally held every two years, offers residents a chance to win a 1973 Dodge Challenger Rallye. The museum purchased the car from a dealer near Toronto in November and kept it under lock and key until the raffle announcement.

Museum director Tory Tronrud said some of the car’s parts have been replaced, so it isn’t 100 per cent authentic. The Rallye version of the Dodge Challenger is rare and as a result is traditionally appraised for a higher value. But because the car isn’t completely authentic it has an estimated value of $20,000.

Tronrud said he looked in the local market for a classic car, but after he exhausted his search he had to look elsewhere. The previous owner gave him a good deal on the rare 1973 Challenger, but the museum director wasn’t able to publish exactly how much the car was purchased for.

"Challengers are actually quite rare because (Dodge) didn’t make as many as Chevy’s Camaros or Ford’s Mustangs," Tronrud said. "Getting one that’s actually the Rallye version is good too because that was sort of the top of the line. It has been restored; it is not 100 per cent perfect. It’s not a showroom car, it’s a car for driving."

For those unfamiliar with the classic car, the Challenger offers a lot of power while delivering a smooth ride for any driver, he said.

Raffle chair Tina Bucknell said since they found such a good deal on the car they decided to hold another raffle just a year after the last one.

Traditionally, the raffle raises about $50,000. With 9,500 tickets in total to sell, Bucknell said she hoped to raise the same amount this year.

"We don’t get any other funding from anywhere else," Bucknell said about the museum.

"It is really hard these days to make money. We’ve had a hard time but we manage. The raffle really helps us. I hope we sell out again."

Tickets are available on Tuesday at the Superstore for $15 for one ticket, $20 for two tickets and $40 for five tickets. The raffle will be held on Oct. 9, 2011.