One thing I’ve realized over the last three decades since having a cell phone, a person can never have enough chargers. This 1973 Dodge Charger Rallye Coupe is one Charger that I would never lose. This one is listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $11,500 or make an offer. Sparks, Nevada is where this car is located, just a mile or two east of Reno, the Biggest Little City in the World.
In 1971, Dodge came out with the third-generation Charger and it was quite a departure from the previous generation cars. Although, compared to the fastback models that they started with in 1966 and 1967, this was a pretty sedate update. The second-generation cars are without question the most popular and valuable. They hit squarely in the golden era of muscle cars and finding an unmodified one now would be almost impossible. Not so for the cars made between 1971 and 1974 like this example.
This is a “barn find”, according to the seller. This car was in storage since 1994 and there is “no rust anywhere” other than under the chic, tony, suave vinyl top that everyone loves, especially on a Dodge Charger.. Dodge sold almost 110,000 Chargers in 1973, the most for any of the third-generation Chargers. This is a Rallye Coupe and they also made a Rallye Hardtop.
There’s the famous slap-stick automatic. A lot of us were hoping for a 4-speed manual, but a Torqueflite automatic is a good second choice. You can see some cracks on the dash but things look nice and tidy inside other than that. This is quite a luxurious interior for a “muscle car”.
Speaking of muscle, this is the freshly-rebuilt 340 Magnum V8 with around 240 hp. This one was torn down and rebuilt with “10.3 to 1 TRW forged 30 over pistons, sealed power rings, 1 sleeved cylinder and all bored 30., hot tanked block/heads/decked block/cam/tower bushings/crank turned 10 and 10. Comp cam (268h)/lifter/springs/valves/seals, oil pump, bearings, felpro gasket kit, ARP headbolts/oil pan/intake/valve cover bolts. Midon oil pan, moter [sic] mounts, tranny mount (all tranny seals), fuel pump, reman thermoquad, fuel lines/sending unit, boiled out fuel tank, volt regulator/PCM box, water pump, belts/hoses, double roller timing chain, starter.” This baby is ready to roll! Are there any fans of this generation Charger out there?
Last of the nice big Mopars. Not to sure about the engine mods in this day and age, but what a nice car! I’d paint it some wild 70’s Mopar color.
I’d like to see a little more of that red Road Runner in the background!
I’m with you there. Looks like a real keeper!
Restore the exterior to original, & even the weird graphics down the side if anyone offers repro. I had a plain jane ’74 SE with a 318, & they are definitely comfortable cars to ride & drive in.
Engine paint looks more Chevy orange than hemi orange to me but that’s o.k. because I like it more. My second favorite chargers,66-67 being the bests an that screaming 340 is ma mopars best engine
Did you see the roof on this car?
Good luck with that, the worm has set in big time.
The roof is an ugly mess but I’ll bet there is a reproduction roof available. it would be a bit of work to change it out and your going to need a tig welder. Personally I would not put the vinyl back on after the roof was restored. As for the rest of the body I’d repaint to stock colours, and if the decals aren’t available then I’d have them done in paint.
A sign shop with a big printer should be able to reproduce these. Might be pricey if they have to do art and all, though. I used to do stuff like this all the time.
Looked – Classic Industries offers the stripes new for $321.99.
I have a 73 dodge polara, does that count?LOL.Bruce.
Hi Bruce, partial credit. How did your car escape the Blues Brothers movie? I thought they got all of them. :)
Partial credit.I found it in storage and purchased it.Runs like a scalded dog and its up for sale so I can finish my redoing my 56 Chrysler Windsor.Bruce.
Bruce: Where is it located and how much are you looking to get for it?
Jason, she is in Sevierville T.N. I am down to my final offer 4,500. and you can drive it home or I {hate to due it} will part her out.Need the $$$$ for my 56 Chrysler.Thanks Bruce. tnyahoo@aol.com
Hmmmmm, Reno is on the way home…,,
Had a nice phone conversation with the seller, about 10 days ago. Sounds like he performed a lot of work on the car. Like virtually all “barn finds,” it ended up needing way more than anticipated just to be a “driver.”
And it’s far from a finished project yet.
Offered him $9K but he didn’t bite. Might have more in it, it’s easy to spend big money when a car needs everything, even if the parts are available – as is the case with most anything mechanically for those MoPars.
My pet peeve: people who comment barn find threads with “just leave it as is and drive it.” Yeah, right. You can drive it around on your trailer, maybe.
The Road Runner is his keeper, mucho $$$$ invested.
Cheers,
Bill
I used to have a 73 Se back in the day. Was one of the most comfortable cars I have ever owned. The colours back then were a little wierd. Mine could be best described as snot green with a matching vinyl 1/2 roof. Would love that car today.
I have mixed feelings about cars from this vintage. You still had the traditional blocks, but the life was drained out of them for the emissions control. The styling was still cool though. These were a little before my time. Although I have fond memories of them because of the styling. Anyone out there that could shed some light on the performance modifications when these were new? When the emissions systems were disconnected did the smoke? I still see lot of these at the car clubs but they are usually performance modified to the hilt.
Hi Joe, from what I remember, the emission controls were just to get it off the lot.( to meet federal specs from the factory) There was little, if any, enforcement for taking the stuff off.( at least in the mid-west) It was usually the 1st thing to go. Trouble was, engines had been detuned so much anyway, it didn’t make much difference. Many went with pre-emission engines, which were a dime a dozen. My ’71 MGB had a smog pump, ran terrible, backfired, wouldn’t idle, surged, then one day, all those problems stopped and it ran great. Open the hood, the pump froze and the belt broke. It wasn’t until fuel injection became the norm that those problems were dealt with. The only time I remember cars smoking, was when the choke stuck.
1973 was the first year of the EGR valve and the beginning of a long slide into emissions oblivion until fuel injection became the norm. Then driveability improved. Still have nightmares of the endless vacuum hoses of the 70’s!!!
Thanks Howard, the detuned engine is probably why I see so many of these in non original condition heavily modified. Someone near me has a similar one in red with the black budge hood sitting in their driveway for over 15 years. No I know why it is still sitting there. You basically need a new engine to make these worth anything, along with a lot of work and money you may not get back.
I just remembered a story .When I had my small shop in Califon N.J. A widower women ran a local pub outside of town. She had bought her son a 73 charger it was a real nice car. It was gold with the striping down the side and you could throw and switch and a hood scoop would pop up on the hood. Well the son wasn’t real car savy and had blown up 2 motors in it before and she could find any one who would replace the motor in it then{it had the 440 motor with the 4 speed trans in it.}Well I took it in and said I would work on it. The motor had slung a rod because he ran it out of oil. Even in 1978 it was like hens teeth trying to find a 440 motor back then. I called a way out in the county junkyard and the guy said yes he had one. I went out to the place and the guy directed me to a row of dodges and said it was in that row. I went down the row and found it. It was a N.J. STATE TROOPER car hat had been hit in the rear and crunched all the way almost to the back seat. I jumped on it. So the car wound up with a state trooper intercepter motor in it. After I got it back together and took it out for a test drive. That car was so fast i never did get it to 4th gear.{there were a lot of mountians around my shop} She was happy and so was the kid. I wonder what ever happened to that car.Bruce.
If I’d been in your shoes, I’d have made her an offer she couldn’t refuse! That was a killer combo back then. I’m surprised the NJHP didn’t pull the engine before junking the car.
I had a friend who bought one just like this from some fly by night dealer car had been repainted and was a pretty good job i road in the back once with my gal friend the factory rear seats had no padding and springs weak except for poking your butt cheeks.The Smogged over Doggy 340 ran okay but not like the early 275hp units.Not a fan of the chargers after 70.
I like the overall look of this car, nice with bucket seats and console ( so many of these came with the bench seat ) looks like a nice project, but I think the seller should have taken the $9 grand and run. The roof alone is scary, who knows what’s going on in those dark places you can’t see.
I don’t like it. Sticks out too far from the axles both front and rear.
Yep Derek, I was thinking also about the significant overhangs, particularly the front. Mass outside of the wheelbase has the effect of increasing yaw stability, which makes cars like this great straight line and highway machines. Unfortunately, it means that curvy roads become less than fun. Cars that do well in the twisties are generally more interesting to me.
The ‘overhangs’ are not as bad as they look in the photos. Shot up close with a wide-angle lens, they are exaggerated. I think you’d find they’re not so very different than on the Charger that was in the Bullitt chase scene, and they flung that car around like nobody’s business. Maybe the photo of my green w/white below gives a more accurate idea of the front overhang – it’s just not that much.
Don’t sneer at that Slap Stick…my ’72 Charger 440 would bark the tires in second gear at about 5 grand and ran up to 140mph in 100% stock trim. Should have kept it 35 years ago…
My brother claims that the green w/ white Charger in my post below, when he owned it, ran up to 130 on the top end. It had either a 2.45 or 2.76 gear. I wish I’d kept mine too.
I’m feel pretty certain that my ’72 had a 3.55 sure-grip to go with the 440 Magnum motor. I sold it to the parts manager at the local Plymouth dealer(a man in his late 50s). G-70-14 tires, unmodified in any way. He took the Charger out shortly after buying it on the interstate late at night with a friend watching the speedometer, because he was so focused on the road. They hit 140 before he backed off only because the hood was shaking. I still have the NOS Hemi hood emblems I bought for the car that year, but never installed.
Will we all be kicking ourselves in a few years for not making an offer?
That picture of the top is pretty spooky. Otherwise it looks pretty decent. It may not be a ’70 RT with a Hemi, but it’s still cool. Would be stunning and unique correctly restored in its original color with the stripes and top.
Cars for sale like that, at that price, leave me shaking my head. I always loved that series of Charger but particularly the 71 and 72 which could be had with a 440 that still had power. I owned a 73 with a 400 2bbl and bench seat (boo) which was pretty sharp, if I say so myself – back in the day when you paid inside after you pumped your gas, lots of people asked me ‘is that your Charger outside?’. I sold it for $700 in 1979.