Finding what you consider to be a forever car and then realizing life has different plans for us is a familiar tale in this hobby. The seller of this claimed low mileage Dodge Magnum indicates he didn’t expect to be selling what is believed to be an 11K-mile car so soon, but health concerns dictate it must be sold. The Magnum is one of my favorite B body cars, and this one looks quite nice with deep dish steel wheels, white-letter radials, and an awesome period-correct color scheme. Find it here on eBay with bids to $4,605 and the reserve unmet.
The Magnum hails from an era wherein NASCAR made everyday drivers seem like they were a port and polish away from taking to the tracks. The current landscape of America’s most well-known racing series makes the vehicle entrants look quite distant from their production siblings, and it’s difficult to imagine a scenario where your average Camry owner can draw a line between their hybrid commuter sedan and what you seen on the oval. The Magnum, of course, has a much different connection to the sport, ultimately coming to light in many ways to keep Richard Petty on Mopar’s payroll. The ensconced headlights are just one clue as to why the Magnum was destined for NASCAR.
Of course, like my reference to the modern-day Toyota Camry, the road-going version of the Magnum was far more sedate – but at least there was more positive brand association between Chrysler and NASCAR than you see today. The Magnum still reflected some of the negative headwinds affecting the car hobby as a whole, with once-thundering nameplates being crushed under the weight of shifting priorities related to fuel conservation and engine efficiency. The Magnum at least offered an intimidating appearance combined with decent – but not great – engine options. Obviously, the seller’s car bears all the hallmarks of a low-mileage survivor, particularly in the cabin.
“Lean burn”, two words that didn’t exactly inspire a lot of enthusiasm among the muscle car class, still seem fairly hollow today as it relates to real-world performance. Regardless, a 360 is a 360, and the seller’s car could have been equipped with a more humble powerplant given the engine options that year. The listing notes some nice improvements, like an A/C conversion to R134, along with new shocks and tires. The Magnum doesn’t come up for sale all that often, and the seller’s Buy-It-Now of $11,500 seems reasonable enough.
The Magnum was one of my favorite cars back about a hundred years ago when I was a teenager, maybe not hardly that long but it’s been quite a while. Fast-forward to now and I still dig their looks and that way cool front end. I don’t remember seeing many (or maybe any) in this color running around my neck of the woods back in the day, but I really like how it works on this body.
If anyone’s wanting to buy me a car in about the ten grand range for Christmas, I’ll take this one!
Always had a soft spot for these cars, purposeful look overall.
This one is a looker and sure to be a lot of fun for the new owner!
Nice.If I weren’t so old and cutting back,I would jump right on that.I had new 70 Super Bee,74 Chrysler Newport Custom plus 3 Plymouth Aclaims and a 88 Dodge Minivan.Loved them all.
I agree with Mike. Someone wants to buy me a Christmas gift, this would be perfect. Love everything about it. Although I would’ve preferred buckets and a center console. I would’ve also ordered it with T-tops. I know most of you cringe at that but always liked them. Add some power to the motor and a 3″ exhaust and it would be perfect. Even like the color.
The wheels are horrible and the front end sits way to low to be neither safe nor having integrity.
This is a way better choice than gm’s g body fleet. Never owned one. They just weren’t that plentiful. Would definitely be a nice addition to anyone’s garage. The only downside is the paint color. Especially since everyone is now a Dave Kindig in the paint booth. Local body shop gave me a quote of 12k for a repaint no body work just a resort. This car deserves a new paint job sublime would be good forme personally. Good car to dump 30k in. You’ll always stand out.
Reminds me of watching the old Nascar races on the 12 channel tv 📺 set. 🏁
Ditch the Lean Burn anti-smog gear, and put a proper fuel injection setup on it, and have fun! The lean-burn system, Chrysler’s trademark for an electronic feedback carburetor, was the worst of all possible worlds. Almost impossible for a shade tree mechanic to tune, but not nearly precise enough to meet the ever more draconian anti-smog rules without creating major drivability problems (Dieseling, stumbling, hesitation and surging), it was the last of the half-assed attempts to meet the EPA rules before the American car makers bit the bullet and went all in for EFI to solve the problems once and for all! Even then, they took the half step of installing Throttle Body Injection (TBI) on their engines before finally conceding the obvious and adopting true port fuel injection sometime in the late 1980’s.
The car is perfect, except the engine needs pulled and built.
Or put in from a totaled police innercepter 392 Hemi. Matted to a pistol grip 10 speed, Ford 9″ rubbed with 31 spline axles.
Quarter mile 6.5 sec. Top speed, 392mph……
Put that in your pip and smoke it Daniel…..lol….🤣
I had one the computer system went out put direct connection distributor on it added 35 HP and better mpg WOW loved it! Great ride if I had the funds I would do it again
Love the color but not the wheels. Too bad body parts are hard to find for these beautiful cars. I think the price is a little high, but I’m cheap. LOL. GLWTS