The Internet tells us commas can save lives, and the listing for this 1971 Dodge Charger R/T here on eBay includes some non life-threatening stream-of-consciousness text including “71 Tons of documentation.” Of course even “tons of documentation” would be (hopefully) a slight exaggeration but it certainly catches the eye. Documentation on this Logan, Utah classic includes often-lost items like an original broadcast sheet, original sales documents, and more. Joking aside, these items add value when you’re selling what’s offered as an original R/T car. Not only that, it’s adorned with decals from Mr. Norm’s Grand Spaulding Dodge, Chicago’s legendary go-fast dealer. The seller warns that rust sullies the entire car, but that hasn’t stopped one of at least seven bidders from pledging more than $10,000 for the opportunity to undertake a restoration of this R/T. That number fails to meet the seller’s Reserve, totaling less than half of the $25,000 Buy It Now price. That’s a lot of money for a car missing its original 440 that needs fresh metal from stem to stern, but never underestimate the power of Mopar Madness.
I suppose the seller avoided showing this non-original motor because it does not come with the car, but a nice shot of the entire engine compartment would be nice. Clearly someone gave up on this Dodge at some point and let parts fly off of it to benefit other cars. Normally we see that on cars that were declared a total loss, but this one looks straight, until you see the rear…
The rear took a hard shot that probably sent this sweet Dodge to an early junkyard grave. The left rear looks even worse, with both quarter panels, and possibly the trunk floor area crunched. That’s a lot of work, folks. I replaced one quarter, the tail panel, and part of the trunk floor on my ’89 Mustang and that was more than enough. The broadcast sheet on this Coronet-based Charger does not have “Sold Car” coded, which I believe means this dealer-configured car may have graced the showroom floor so buyers knew what a hot Charger R/T would look like in their driveway. The interesting combination of vinyl top and the A33 Track Pak with the not-too-crazy 3.54 rear axle ratio seems perfect for up-selling potential buyers. “You work hard, right? You deserve a reward like this powerful and stylish Charger R/T. Forget about that sticker price; let me talk to my manager.”
I’m no Mopar expert but the listing makes no mention of the hidden headlights that we normally see on a Charger SE, and I found nothing denoting this option in my cursory review of the documentation. Maybe our knowledgable Dodge experts can comment below on the hidden headlights. Someone may have simply swapped in an SE grille because it looks super-cool. The automotive hobby doesn’t always have to include a profit motive. This car could become a memorable multi-generation project or a labor of love for someone who always wanted one like it. Starting with a genuine R/T car and keeping your restoration close to stock can’t hurt you down the line. Would you drop $25,000 on this needs-everything factory muscle car?
Deep dive history of this car…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWec6AxzTJ0
Thanks, JCA! 27 min and nothing explains the hidden headlights. He does say it was a “really cool option” or something like that but I don’t see where it was ordered or specified. For the record we’d love to hear from the buyer of this car, or any car featured here. Thanks again!
I get the whole MOPAR madness thing, but I sure don’t understand spending even 10K to start with for a very rusty car with no motor. Now that “340” Dodge Demon featured yesterday looked like a potential bargain.
Wow. What a mess. I envision a dinner table conversation similar to the one in Field of Dreams after Kevin Costner blew all their money on the baseball field and they were about to lose the farm about 3 years from now. Only here, given demographic trends, there will be no Shoeless Joe and 1919 White Sox team to save them.
the movie, Christine……….ya cant polish a turd!
Gotta love that JC Whitney steering wheel. Now here’s an idea, how about trashing the “value” idea, forget about resale, just fix it up as you like it, keep it and love it yourself. That would put a dent into all these crazy prices and open the hobby back up for the regular guys out there. You want the hobby to live on? Well, the young people today can’t afford this madness. Besides, why should they? They have no connection to these cars, but make them fun and afford able and the hobby will live beyond us. So what is it going to be, altruism or greed?
Most enthusiasts under the age of 50, with the exception of very rich ones, have turned to Radwood cars by now. I could probably buy 20 of those for what this is going end up costing.
The hobby is staying alive with performance cars too. You don’t have to buy Radwood “nostalgia” cars if you don’t want to. Unloved performance cars are around in every generation. I pointed out on here new edge Mustang GTs a year or two ago that were everywhere and around $2k , now they are disappearing from the roads and I see them selling for $5k. That’s a pretty cheap muscle car on it’s way up that you can work on and modify and get your money back. You can find an early 2000’s BMW 328i or 330i now with a 5spd for around $2k. Needs a little love but nice cars selling at parts value. We don’t realize these cars are 20 years old already and the next gen will want to revisit and collect them soon, keeping or gaining value.
Post-Radwood but same idea. Fun performance for cheap. That’s how these muscle cars once were for a brief but glorious time, c 1974-84.
Ummmm…greed?
Wow is this rusty mess or what? I really like this car and the documents are cool, too bad the car is toast. I bet the frame rails can be crushed with pliers ! This will cost north of 150K to restore correctly. Sometimes ya gotta just say No.
I’ll never understand why people would put their pictures on ebay sideways or upside down.
I’m the 3rd owner of this car (which was named Brutus due to a story that happened when I was in the process of possibly buying the car at the time). I owned this car 15 years. I always kept it sheltered to slow down any more deterioration and hopes to getting around restoring it. But too much life got in the way, and I very, very reluctantly sold the car in 2008 due to the recession and loss of my job. After purchasing the car I have tracked down the second owner who had great stories about it and unbelievably still had the four-speed console in his garage said he forgot to put in the car when he sold it when he gave to me for free. He got me in touch with the original owner’s wife because he had passed by that time and I talked to her. After I sold it I never seen it again until the YouTube video. And I couldn’t believe it. Utah of all places. I live in Indiana. But I was ecstatic knowing that it was still around. I tried messaging the guy who did the video to ask if it had sold and if so to pass on my email to the owner if you would like more stories and know more about the car, but I never got a reply. Auto Evolution did spread on this car, I emailed them twice and asked them and didn’t get a reply from them either. Todd, I like to ask you or anyone that’s read this article for help if they know of the current owner or know how to get in touch with them to pass my email along if they want to have more inside knowledge about the car. I would like what I know about the car and the previous owners to go along with the documentation which I was responsible for hunting down and purchasing for the car’s provenance. As far as hideaway headlights, this car didn’t come with them. There’s no proof in the documentation of that option anywhere. Thanks, Todd for this write-up on Brutus because, like the YouTube video, it’s always good to see an old friend. 👍🏻
I had actually watched his 3 part videos of when he got this car as well as at least 20 others… pretty much from a Mopar Muscle car hoarder. Some were in pretty good condition, some were a little worse than this. The “documentation is what’s going to sell this car unfortunately, some people have more money than brains. It is cool, but way more work than I’d ever want to take on (or pay to have someone else take on). But you know someone will!