Among Mopar muscle fans, few names resonate like the Challenger T/A. Built for the street with Trans Am roots, the 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A remains one of the most desirable variants from the golden era of Detroit muscle. This particular example, listed here on eBay, is a real-deal JH23J-coded T/A finished in its original high-impact FC7 Plum Crazy Purple. Located in Celeste, Texas, this project car has a clean title and is priced with restoration potential in mind.
There’s a lot going for this T/A despite its current disassembled state. The listing confirms that it retains its numbers-matching 340 Six-Pack engine block, albeit not in the car, along with the correct T/A-specific cylinder heads, rocker arms, and exhaust manifolds. Even the intake manifold, triple-carb setup, and correct oval air cleaner are present. That’s a big deal for anyone aiming to preserve authenticity in a high-dollar restoration.
The 340 cubic inch small block was a powerhouse in its day, factory-rated at 290 horsepower but widely believed to make more. With a unique fiberglass hood, side-exit exhaust, and rear ducktail spoiler, all original OEM parts still with this car, the T/A was no poser. According to the seller, those components are still intact and original to the vehicle.
Inside, the car retains its original black bucket seats, rallye dash, and console, with the factory AM/FM radio and rare three-speaker dash setup still present. Much of the trim is included, and the seller notes that even the space-saver spare and inflator bottle remain, a rare bonus for a car that’s clearly spent time off the road.
The trunk floor appears to be in surprisingly good shape, and most of the glass (minus the windshield) is accounted for. While the odometer reads zero, likely due to restoration disassembly, this Challenger T/A presents an exciting opportunity for Mopar enthusiasts looking for a numbers-matching, well-optioned, and factory-documented car in a legendary color.
Challenger T/As aren’t getting any easier to find, especially in project form with so many original pieces intact. Would you take on a full restoration, or would you preserve its current patina and enjoy it as a survivor?
This is about as good as it gets today for a restorable T/A. Looks like a typical “I”ll take it apart to restore it” stalled project, but I see virtually every hard to find part there. Space saver tire is over $1K by itself if you can find one. It’s not the typical Mopar rust bucket with a VIN.
Just depends what you can buy it for, because everything from motor to brakes to suspension to gauges, dash and interior will need to be redone on top of body work. I restored an AAR so I comment based on that.
For the “But it doesn’t have a 4 speed” gallery, you likely never drove one. If you want to shift yourself, far better at this point to clean up the #’s matching auto tranny and put it aside in a nice crate, then install a modern 5 speed Tremec. They now fit E bodies fairly well. You won’t lose a dime, and the car will be far more driveable than an old 4 speed would.
True plum crazy cars had a white flower print tops? so what happened?
Not T/A’s! Actually, my factory plum crazy 1970 Challenger didn’t have a vinyl top either.
Perhaps they should have, but except for possibly a handful, they didn’t. Mod tops didn’t really come in a color that would match purple, not that that would stop mother MoPar from building a few.
That’s sweet, condition color , original parts, I think the only thing that could make it better would be the pink color. The pink with that stripe is something you don’t see every day.
It’s neck and neck that purple is sweet too.
I would have to have them both.
Great starting point for this project. All the important stuff is there for a Fabolous restoration. Like to see it when it’s done.
The bidding “war” is between only 2 individuals and I’ve got $1000 betting one of them is the owner driving it up. Sorry folks…but $26K plus is not a good starting point for this car – just my humble $0.02
It is a T/A. Checkout what they are going for these days and you might see the value.
“value” is an interesting term. I prefer ROI. This car will require an incredible investment just to make it truly drivable. Granted it “may” be numbers matching as the seller claims, but it’s still a ridiculous amount of $$ to bring it to “valuable”.
Hagerty says a #3 is worth about $73k and a #2 is $20k more. So the question is, could you restore it for less than $50k?
Has been on here before……the sellers are the Mark Walburg of Texas…..
It it sold for the asking price you could have a #1 car for #2 prices. This is a good value and a very rare and desirable car. I doubt it will sell for this though and will bring top dollar. At the current price there is too much meat left on the bone, and finding the right buyer will take some time.
The 3 speed auto is totally unsuited for what this car was supposedly (T/A) made for bit for a resto it will work just fine.
It is crazy that such a nice car was allowed to deteriorate to a condition like this!
Mark Worman special.
Ended at 40.1K.
Reserve Not Met.