That's what I did with my '72 Challenger. Still my daily driver for just a bit longer until I get my Duster on the road. But after I went through the suspension and brakes and did a few bolt on mods to the engine (4 barrel, headers, electronic distributor) I've driven it over 40k miles in the last 5 years. I drive it year round, although that's a bit easier in California than the rest of the country.
As far as mpg's, you need some tuning in a BIG way. I get 16-17 on the highway with my 318 and 3.23 gears, and that's in a heavier Challenger. I usually get 13-14 around town, but I drive it like a musclecar so I could probably do better. I got 17-18mpg with the 2.76 gears it came with.
Don't let anyone tell you that you can't daily drive one of these cars. After I initially went through everything and rebuilt the suspension and tuned the engine etc I've done very little work on the Challenger, mostly just normal maintenance. I did initially spend a few thousand dollars getting it to where I wanted it, but I also did more than was necessary - Hotchkis UCA's, 1.12" torsion bars, 11.75" disks and 11" drums, 17x9" rims with 275/40/17's, streetmaster intake with a 625 Carter, Hooker Super Comp headers, B body 8 3/4 rear with 1" offset hangers, and a few other goodies here and there. Since then its been a very trouble free car, and although I'm going to be pulling it off the road to finally fix up some body issues the mechanicals are still doing well.
As far as mpg's, you need some tuning in a BIG way. I get 16-17 on the highway with my 318 and 3.23 gears, and that's in a heavier Challenger. I usually get 13-14 around town, but I drive it like a musclecar so I could probably do better. I got 17-18mpg with the 2.76 gears it came with.
Don't let anyone tell you that you can't daily drive one of these cars. After I initially went through everything and rebuilt the suspension and tuned the engine etc I've done very little work on the Challenger, mostly just normal maintenance. I did initially spend a few thousand dollars getting it to where I wanted it, but I also did more than was necessary - Hotchkis UCA's, 1.12" torsion bars, 11.75" disks and 11" drums, 17x9" rims with 275/40/17's, streetmaster intake with a 625 Carter, Hooker Super Comp headers, B body 8 3/4 rear with 1" offset hangers, and a few other goodies here and there. Since then its been a very trouble free car, and although I'm going to be pulling it off the road to finally fix up some body issues the mechanicals are still doing well.