Plum Crazy Drop-Top: 1971 Dodge Challenger

Disclosure: This site may receive compensation from some link clicks and purchases.

The Dodge Challenger would enjoy a five-year run in the 1970s but came along as the pony car market was reaching saturation. In 1971, a Challenger convertible with a V8 engine and painted FC7, or Plum Crazy, would have numbered in the hundreds when new, so it’s a rare find today. This one-owner Dodge is a numbers-matching automobile that may have only 27,000 miles on the odometer. Located in Glendale, Arizona, this beauty is available here on eBay for the Buy It Now price of $62,500. Or you can submit an offer and hope for the best.

Challenger production would get off to a good start in 1970, sharing its new E-body platform with the reinvigorated Plymouth Barracuda. After registering sales of 77,000 units, demand dropped to just over 27,000 copies in the car’s sophomore year, of which only 1,774 were drop-tops with any V8 motor. Considering that about 10% of all Challengers were painted purple, no more than 200 copies like the seller’s car may have been made.

All the sheet metal on this Challenger is said to be original with no patches or repairs and it has only been repainted once in its original color, sometime in the 1980s. It shines up well and looks quite tidy, including the white convertible top. The black and white interior looks as solid as the rest of the car. The engine is the entry-level 318 cubic inch V8 paired with a TorqueFlite automatic transmission and a Slap Stick shifter in the console. It’s a well-optioned drop-top with power windows and factory air conditioning, which needs a recharge (why not take care of something simple like this before listing the car for sale?).

We’re told the Dodge runs well and comes with plenty of documentation, including two fender tags, a build sheet, and a title dating back to its original purchase. The only known non-working item is the clock. We’re told there is a video of the car in action, but the seller forgets to provide the link to it. Challengers from 1971 aren’t in unlimited supply after 50 years and a convertible in a Hi-Impact color like this in survivor quality condition don’t come around every day. And the asking price reflects that.

Auctions Ending Soon

Comments

  1. J_PaulMember

    Just FYI, this car was already listed on Barn Finds multiple times this year (August 7 and June 29).

    Like 23
    • Mike

      Yep, posted 3 times by 3 different writers. I think they just post without looking at the website. Weird how many times it happens on this website. Maybe everybody is on the same wave length.

      Like 8
      • AnthonyD

        Saw each post. Barn Finds should be embarrassed.

        Like 7
  2. Charles Atlas

    This car would look good in my garage parked next to my 1986 Ford Escort Pony 4 speed.

    Like 21
  3. Rex Kahrs Rex KahrsMember

    I’d park this car in my living room. We hardly use that room.

    Like 11
  4. CCFisher

    There were 2165 Challenger convertibles built in 1971, so the count of Plum Crazy convertibles is probably in the dozens, not the hundreds.

    Like 3
  5. TimS

    Somebody please fill me in on why this is clever. I’m familiar with the real Charles Atlas. The Who taught me. This guy, I don’t get.

    Like 12
    • Frank Sumatra

      Dynamic Tension! Will turn you into a beast of a man!! The best part is the final cymbal crash and bass drum note from Mr.Moon. Thanks for the flashback!

      Like 6
  6. George Louis

    Russ Dixon: Mathematics must NOT have been your best subject. The original Dodge Challenger Production years were: 1970, 1971, 1973, and last 1974 which was a shortened production run as Chrysler ended production in March 1974 as I recall. That makes a total of FOUR (4) production years not “FIVE” as your state in your text.

    Like 0
    • AnthonyD

      What about 1972?

      Like 0
  7. John Oliveri

    Boy would a nice 383 or 440 find it’s way in that engine compartment, put the 318 on the shelf for someone more intelligent than i

    Like 2
  8. Howie Mueler

    If i was the seller i would have at least one photo with the top down. Nice if you like purple.

    Like 2
  9. John Klintz

    If one had the means this would look great in the temperature controlled garage parked next to the Kaiser Manhattan listed elsewhere today. Two vintage survivors to drive when one desired to do so.

    Like 0
  10. Bob Wade

    Way too much cash for this. You can pick up a rotisserie resto T/A for that money.

    Like 4
  11. Bob Wade

    Way too much cash for this. You can pick up a rotisserie resto T/A for that money.

    Like 3
  12. GPAK

    The only known non-working item is the clock…….

    errrrrrrrr AND ,

    the AIR CONDITIONING !

    If the air ‘just needs a recharge’,
    why didn’t the seller ‘just’ do it ??
    Surely buyers can see through that old deception by now !

    Like 6
    • AnthonyD

      Sure…just needs a recharge! For what they’re asking for this car, you would think they’d spend $100 and just do it. Even if it needs an entire system….just do it! BTW…this car has been advertised on here 3 times before. It’s getting a little “old”.

      Like 5
      • George Louis

        It is not “Getting OLD” it is old!!!!!

        Like 0
    • Gary

      Freon is like gold. Worse yet, pretty hard to find gold. Why not just spend the grand and convert it? Add it to the asking price, it would be appreciated. Of course, there is the flippers code that says, it is a sin to not make every penny you can lie your way into getting. Hate to have him black balled in their fraternal organization, the Blackhearts.

      Like 0
      • George Louis

        Gary: WELL SAID AS STATED!!!!!!

        Like 0
  13. stillrunners

    Agree with Bob – it’s been for sale a long time – maybe the seller should consider dropping the price.

    Like 3

Leave A Comment

RULES: No profanity, politics, or personal attacks.

Become a member to add images to your comments.

*

Barn Finds