There’s a little bit of car left in this 1970 Dodge Charger R/T, here on eBay, already bid to $8,700. These remains are located in Baxley, Georgia. I cheated with this photo because it shows this car’s best angle. Below we’ll see what’s really up with this offering. The Charger was a triumph in the muscle car world – a story of the bold overcoming the timid. The Charger was originally intended to be gradual iterations of the Coronet – a modest entry to the biggest party on the block. But an out-of-left-field designer in the far orbit of Dodge’s B-body team came up with a winning design for the second generation of this famous car. His name was Richard Sias, and while his Coronet-loving boss was out of town on a European vacation, Sias was given the design job for the second-generation Charger. That’s when sales took off.
The subject car is rusty. The seller wants us to know it’s rusty. It’s actually hard to hide that it’s rusty. Here’s the rear of the car, and boy, there is a lot of daylight in those panels. The seller indicates he is 68 years old and doesn’t have the wherewithal to tackle a project of this magnitude at this juncture in his life. Unfortunately, this Charger has no fender tag, and its title story is a bit convoluted. Somehow it was tagged with “flood/water damage” in a title application – which is plausible, given the car’s condition. It comes with a bill of sale only.
Despite the rough appearance, the car has a few attributes. It’s red, sort of. It has a 440 cu. in. motor. The VIN indicates it came with a four-barrel carburetor. It has factory air, the Tic Toc Tach, its original eight-track, a good grille, two original wheels, and a few other worthwhile parts. The motor is “stuck” according to the seller, who has not tried to do anything with it. It has an automatic transmission.
The interior is actually this car’s strong suit. The front seats are pretty good. The rear seats are even better. But is this enough to get past the rust-fest going on elsewhere? I would part this thing out, but then, resto-mod Chargers are breaking six figures. Maybe there’s enough here for a professional shop to turn it into a gem. What do you think?
This isn’t the same seller of the Triumph is it? Somebody out there tell me what you can do with this car after paying over 8.7K for it. Don’t have a clue myself.
Put the VIN and fender tag on something else. Yes, that’s illegal but you know people do it. This is too far gone and rusty to restore. So you can put two and two together on that!
Fender tag is MIA. So much for that idea.
That’s probably why the price is under $10,000. But those can be reproduced.
I would have it hauled back to the junkyard.
At $10K. if this is truly an RT, then with a bit of investigation, you can find the body Vins, check against motor Vin. Titles can be gotten, just takes work. You make sale conditional on it not showing up stolen.
If this is matching #s, it will be worth to bring this one back. This is an AC car, rallye dash. You can see all the gremlins, it’s not like you are going to find stuff hidden under shiny paint and bondo. Rebodying the bad parts is no big deal. We don’t have chassis pics but the floor might be good. Trunk pan obviously bonds.
If the car has any structural integrity, then it’s worth doing, even if the motor has to be sleeved. $100 K car when done correctly.
$150 K investment to get it close to right.
Candidate for a Swiss Cheese Racer?
If you squint, you can almost make out a six figure car.
Sometimes, I just don’t get it, I love trying to find cars at a good bidding price, but this one, I just don’t get it, Maybe as a good commercial for Rust-oleum
lol….yea or Ziebart !
I am very much aware of the negative legal impact regarding removal of vin and other tags. However, I am not sure of the legal aspects of removing panels, firewall and incorporating those into a new body or chassis? Technically, the vin or firewall tags have not been removed, one could argue this would be a legal way to rebuild a viable new body? Any, actual ideas (legal) regarding this approach?
Replacing sheet metal is just like any other car, it isn’t illegal. A rebody opens up a can of worms.
Omg….poor thing is riddled with rear end cancer. ebay pics are even worse.
Probably needs a whole new clip on the rear. Among other things ! pass
High amp Alternator is wrong,exhaust manifolds are off a later year vehicle,mid seventies.
The carb Qjet don’t think so.Why is the rail in the trunk missing on the drivers side it would have the numbers needed to tell what it is.
The engine has a vacuum module in the back on the engine.
A.C. Line are wrong on the engine.Too many AC lines
By the looks that engine came out of a motor home.
Evidence points to a husk of a 70 charger engine pulled long time
Very bad parts car.That engine is 100% not an HP ,my guess motor home or a Cordoba engine.
Forget the matching numbers, this engine has an egr valve, a heat stove over the exhaust manifold and the valve covers are newer than 70. Someone
even threw a Quadrajet on there, it’s not even hooked up. You would need Mark Worman to fix that heap up and it would probably cost you north of 100K.
even has a huge alternator, was thinking motor home or maybe cop car as source
Yes, it certainly does have an EGR valve on it, and it started life in Corporate Blue, too. That’s a low compression, malaise-era ’73 or later engine (may or may not even be a 440, as indiscriminately as things have been swapped on this one), not a proper, high compression, 375 horse 1970-spec 440 Magnum that the car should have been born with.
They say love is blind, but in this case it has deep pockets. It would be cool to Graveyard this old beast, just for the accomplishment. I know that goes against the trend to make money, but sometimes its just about doing something others fear to attempt. I am fixing up a 70 Nova that is nothing special, but it lights the candles when other day to day items don’t. I think we all need something that is like that, and more now than ever.
Well at least the seller knows and says it’s ROUGH. True, it has good options and some parts, but gawd, the rust! What a monumental project! You gotta be an eternal glass half full optimist to even consider this, but, someone out there will do it, and good luck to them.
If your Dad was a TV repairman with an ultimate set of tools* and you were performing the resto yourself you might have a car worth more than you have invested (with your time being paid out at minimum wage). If you paid someone to complete the resto it may be a wash but just barely.
(*Credit: Jeff Spicoli)