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Arizona Survivor: 1973 Dodge Charger

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The seller’s uncle is the only owner of this original 1973 Dodge Charger. It’s located in Phoenix, Arizona and is up for sale in a short 3-day no-reserve auction here on eBay, where bidding is currently at $1,575 with no reserve!

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When I first saw this listing, I thought it was really clean, but as I looked closer I found a few wear spots. Definitely the victim of some “parking by feel” over the years, or maybe that was the car’s neighbors? Either way, you’ll have some minor body repairs to deal with. There’s some rust issues as well, which is a little bit of a surprise on an Arizona car. Maybe it hasn’t been there for its entire life?

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You can see the vinyl top deterioration as well. If you want to keep it original-appearing, that will have to be replaced; otherwise there will be some body work needed to remove the stainless strip and fill some holes. The aftermarket body side molding would go anyway, so the missing piece on the driver’s door doesn’t bother me.

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The interior looks OK, but with buttons missing off the seats and a cracked dash, for it to look really nice you’ll have to spend some money. You can see that despite the air conditioning, power brakes and power steering, power windows didn’t make the options list for this particular car. The air conditioning even works! The seller has posted some videos, but the links in the auction aren’t working for me.

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The 318 V-8 starts and runs well, and the automatic transmission functions as it should. I don’t see anything under the hood to alarm me and there are signs of maintenance; I believe the alternator is relatively new and I don’t think those segmented belts were available when this was new (were they?) Battery terminals are clean and I see no reason why one shouldn’t expect to be able to drive this car right away and to continue to drive it as you improve it over time. What do you think?

Comments

  1. Avatar Jim

    Easy a $5,000 car.

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  2. Avatar Blindmarc

    I agree with Jim.

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  3. Avatar randy

    I don’t agree. We’ll see. This is not what I was expecting to see when I opened this post. Where is Ricardo Montleban? I had forgotten about this body style “charger”.

    My room mate in the USAF barracks had a green one of these. Very cheesy to say the least.

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  4. Avatar Todd Zuercher

    Pretty sure I saw this car parked alongside the road somewhere on my commute home last night with a sign saying $3600 in the windshield….now if I could just remember where it was…..

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  5. Avatar Chebby

    Now this is an interesting find!

    The least desirable of the Chargers, but more unique than the Dart with which it shares those hubcaps. In used-car condition circa 1980 it walks the line between cool and not really worth it. Can be much improved….but easy to spend more on the details than it’s worth.

    A black dash and console would be better than the white/wheat….so many shades of beige in the interior makes it look more worn and dirty than it probably is. And is that carpet blue/greenish?

    Me, I would give it a white $50 Rustoleum paint job (google it!) and add some Magnum 500s.

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  6. Avatar Brado

    Shame the powerful prowler got lumpy
    5k a good price
    Engine bay has room to roam, add a good granny tranny it’s a sleeper!
    Plushy too

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  7. Avatar Brian

    Why is it so far from me? I have access to a few 360s, 383s, and 440s to choose from to wake it up and I love this body style charger.

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    • Avatar dave

      Have it transported.

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  8. Avatar Dan

    I had one of these back in the late 70’s. Snot Green with black interior optioned out just like this one. It was one of the most comfortable and nicest driving cars that I have ever owned. If I was near this one I would snap it up just for old times sake.

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  9. Avatar Charles H.

    This generation of Charger may have been the least popular with the general public, but they made awesome NASCAR Cup racers, especially for the “KING” Richard Petty!

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    • Avatar randy

      I bet those cup racers did not have much in common with this example.

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  10. Avatar Rex Kahrs Member

    Looks like the front bumper has a sort-of “Dagmar” treatment!

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  11. Avatar Rod

    I also had one a 71 version. Great car nice to drive. If I wasn’t into my current project I would purchase this and do minor work to keep as a driver, my wife loved the one I had. Needs some TLC but it would look great afterwards.

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  12. Avatar MountainMan

    While obviously not the most popular charger body style these still have a cool factor about them. For someone who wants one this doesn’t look like a bad place start off. IF the price stays low the buyer can add the magnum wheels chebby mentioned and really change the look of this one and have a pretty good looking car. Personally I would rather have a dart but different strokes ya know

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  13. Avatar St.Ramone de V8

    Wow! That’s a long nose. I always liked this generation of Charger, especially with the hide-away headlights. Forgot how huge they were.

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  14. Avatar Charles

    Lots of rust for an AZ car? And it’s undercoated. Who undercoats in the dry SW? Maybe it started life somewhere else? Maybe to owner retired from up north to AZ. Nice car, but needs both rear quarter panels. I would probably build an RT clone from it.

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  15. Avatar piper62j

    You’re spot on Charles… when I see undercoating I immediately believe it’s hiding something.. When I restore a car, the belly is clean and shiny so people can see the real deal..

    Lots of rot on this puppy for an AZ car, so it must have been sitting in a dry swamp for a few years somewhere along the line..

    Nice, but sad…

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  16. Avatar Mark S

    Not!…… One of Chysler Corps. greatest moments.

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  17. Avatar G.P. Member

    I have a 1986 Buick Century that was bought in Minnesota and was completely undercoated, under body, trunk, etc. When it was brand new(got the paper work) because it spent most of it’s time in AZ. Sound proofing and to keep the road heat out from under the car. That’s what I was told. It now has 86.000 miles on it and it has the 3.8 with leather, still a nice car.

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  18. Avatar alfred

    would not hit

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  19. Avatar Moparmann Member

    Why is there a seeming bias against body side moldings? There are so many inconsiderate/non-caring people out there, who think NOTHING of slamming the door of their daily driver appliance/lifted truck/mommy van etc. against the side of cars they park alongside of (which is why I always seek the furthest space away, preferably w/ a curb on one side). In the 70’s these (sometimes a factory option) moldings were put on to keep the sides of your pride and joy pristine. Color matched moldings are available today for a number of cars, both factory ($$$!) and aftermarket as well. :-)

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  20. Avatar piper62j

    Moparmann…. I agree… My new Denali has color matched side moldings.. Need I say more?

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  21. Avatar Charles H.

    In my opinion, this looks to be factory body side molding and not aftermarket as Jamie said he thought. This is the only type of molding that I think I could live with on one of these cars.

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