The Dodge Challenger arrived on the scene in 1970, the last of the “pony car” entrants. It was modestly successful the first year, but shrinking demand for performance cars beginning in 1971 hit sales of the Challenger especially hard. Depending on the records you consult, this ’71 convertible may be one of only about 180 built that year (roughly 1,800 drop-tops in total with 10% overall Challenger production painted Plum Crazy purple). It will need loads of work but has its original 318 cubic inch V8 and a lot of documentation. It even comes with a parts car to sweeten the deal. Located in North Caldwell, New Jersey, this rare Mopar is available here on craigslist for $18,000. Tip of the fedora goes to Gunter Kramer for this tip!

Challenger would share its new E-body platform with the Plymouth Barracuda, but they rode on different wheelbases and shared no sheet metal. In its first year, the Challenger saw the production of more than 76,000 copies, which was a far cry from the Ford Mustang’s peak in 1966 (607,000), but the market was well saturated after five years. Output would drop by two-thirds in 1971 with the Barracuda suffering a similar experience. The insurance companies had done a deal on muscle cars at that point and since the Challenger was often marketed as a performance car, its sales would suffer,  too. Things didn’t get much better for 1972-74 and Chrysler got out of the pony car business after that.

Convertibles wearing Challenger badging were rare in 1971 and would be non-existent by 1972 as Chrysler scaled back. One out of every 10 Challengers built that year came finished in FC7 Plum Crazy, which was known as In Violet over at Plymouth (the Dodge name was much sexier). About two-thirds of the drop-tops assembled had the basic 318 V8 like in the seller’s car, but it looks to have been picked clean of many parts. The same V8 is in the 1972 donor car (no picture provided from the exterior), so maybe you can borrow from it since the purple car is numbers matching.

Besides it being both a ragtop and having the hot color, this Challenger has the benefit of coming with its broadcast sheet to back up the seller’s claims. While the floors and quarters panels have been redone on the primary car, we’re told more is needed. For example, it looks like this Dodge was in the process of becoming an R/T tribute given its hood, so do you go back to a regular hood if your notion is to stay close to original? Items on the MIA list include bumpers, some glass, some interior pieces, and the gas tank. But it’s a factory A/C machine if that hardware is still around (or you can take it off the parts car). If you bought this Dodge, what would be your goal?  Restoration or restomod?