Every now and then a car comes along that seems so reasonably priced I’ll wonder if it will last through my opportunity to share the details, and this 1973 Dodge Challenger here on Craigslist appears to be one such example. Sure, it’s not a ’70 or ’71, so I get that the desirability is lower, but read on and see if you don’t think this one’s a pretty good deal based on what you could still drive away in at your Dodge dealer during 1973. This E-Body is located in the Tri-City area of California, with the asking price set at $18,500.
Some good news right off the bat is this car appears to be a Challenger Rallye, a model that replaced the R/T series a year earlier, which offered a few goodies beyond the base car such as a performance hood plus fender louvers and taped stripes down the side. The seller believes his car is still wearing the original paint, and if that’s true not only has the finish held up reasonably well but so has the body, with probably the worst-looking areas appearing around the rear window and where the vinyl top has been removed.
Normally, about right here I’d show you an engine photo, but surprisingly the seller neglected to include one, so for the moment let’s focus on the underside. The seller does provide half a dozen pictures from down below, and overall things are looking quite solid on the south side. But back to the motor, the Challenger is equipped with a 340, with some more good news being it’s the numbers-matching factory powerplant and has only been driven about 6k miles since a rebuild. The automatic transmission has been changed out, but the original component comes with the sale should the next owner wish to take it with them.
Definitely one of the weaker areas of the car seems to be the interior, and I’m not sure why somebody would install a rear-view mirror like this in a Challenger or any other car, but at least that’s an easy fix. There are some cracks in the dashboard, and we don’t get a clear shot of the gauges but you got a nicer set of instruments with the Rallye model so hopefully, they’re salvageable. Overall the inside appears a little ripe for wear, but with the solid body, underside, and original rebuilt 340, at just $18.5k you’ll hopefully still have enough leftover in your bank account to make those repairs. What are your thoughts on this 1973 Dodge Challenger?
MUCH better than the black wreck a few cars down, even at double the price…
How about we remove those horrible buck-tooth protuberances off the bumper? Might bring the price up a bit.
Those bumper guards were standard equipment in ’73 and look normal to me, who had a ’73 Barracuda. If they were missing, it would look strange to me, so all a matter of perception.
what bout that stupid golf cart review mirror
Not even one engine photo. Looks a bit rough to me.
Looks like they tore off the vinyl top and sprayed it flat black
With an original rebuilt 340 it’s a good price.Looks very solid and the vinyl rust isn’t that bad.Too bad no engine pics but at least some good undercarriage pics.The black one for almost 10k today pffft no way.Mopar guys will eat this up in no time I’m sure.Glwts.
If you want an E-Body at a not ridiculous price, this could be the right car. Wish there was an under the hood photo or two. Seems to be a fairly solid example but still needs a complete restoration. I don’t forsee any major body work, but it needs refinishing and a new vinyl top. Dash pads are available for this, engines been rebuilt, maybe. The original transmission is available according to the seller. Unless it got grenaded like a Challenger Demon I read about, then the original transmission should be rebuildable. The A727 Torqflite is relatively cheap to rebuild. If you want a car you can restore and enjoy, this could be it. It’s biggest problem is it’s not a 1970 or 71. Go for it, restore it and enjoy driving something not many other people have.
I totally agree – this is not a bad price. I’ve been looking mostly at ’73 Barracudas / Cudas (it was the first car I owned) and they are all just ridiculously priced.
You could restore this car and asking 40K+ would not be out of the question.
Couldn’t tell which oil pan it is but haven’t seen one that low to the ground on anything but a race car. Overall pretty decent car.
Deep transmission pan.