This 1970 Dodge Charger 500 project raises the question of how desirable an unusual set of factory specs makes a Mopar, especially when one of them is a 3-speed manual transmission, which doesn’t sound as rewarding in real driving as a 4-speed. Further complicating matters is that this one’s a roller, with no motor or transmission present, so there’s zero chance of this ever being a numbers-matching example again. It’ll be a mental challenge for the next owner to decide whether to restore this 1970 Dodge Charger 500 here on eBay stronger than before, or stick with the original codes. Whichever path you have in mind, this B-Body is in Asheboro, North Carolina, with the current bid of $4,350 still short of the reserve.
The seller calls his Charger a barn find, but with all the rust and patina, this one must have spent decades outside before ever finding its way into the safety of a barn, and made an exit from those confines a while ago, judging from how far the tires have sunk into the ground. The fender tag indicates a color code of TX9, black, but you’d never know it from looking at the outside now, especially with the green trunk lid. Rust on the lower quarters is specifically mentioned, so those will for sure need repairs, but hopefully some of the other panels will be salvageable.
In addition to the exterior, this one will also require attention inside, and a driver’s side floor pan at minimum. However, this Charger came with a couple of good interior options, including a rear window defogger (H31), and another 3-speed accessory in addition to the transmission, the windshield wipers (J25). The frame is stated to be super solid, and the one rail we get to view appears reasonably strong.
A 383 was originally in the bay, but it looks like years have passed since any engine has resided there. It would be tempting to install a 440 with either a 4-speed or a TorqueFlite, but going back with the 383 and 3-speed would be true to how this 1970 Dodge Charger 500 began life, and that transmission would probably be more attention-getting at car gatherings. Either way, this one will need lots of work before it’s ready to be back on the road in any configuration. Which direction would you go in with this one?
I’ve had the same questions, and dug into this. If you’re driving a car with a torquey engine, which the 383 certainly was, and you’re not racing it, three is really all the gears you need. Each of these gears will get you going just fine at any particular speed. Plenty of pony/muscle cars were sold with three-speeds, including each and every one sold with an automatic (okay, PowerGlide excepted.)
Four speeds were useful for racing, but they were mostly useful for street cred.
seems to be missing a few parts but has great “patina”.
You learn something new every day. I never would have thought you could buy a 383 Charger with a 3 speed stick. I saw a Duster with a 340 and 3spd. stick once, and for how many years 3 gears was good enough. After the gas crunch of ’73 economy cars were big sellers and all had 4 speeds. Then came the 5 speeds like my (new for me) 2003 PT Cruiser. My son just bought a Mazda 3 with a 6 speed stick. Now that is too many gears for me.
In this case it looks like 3 was on the floor, not the tree – there’s a noticeable cutout for the floor shifter and a bump out for its linkage – so it be a matter of what could physically fit under the tunnel, and which gear knob you put on as the project’s last step.
Tony’s parts has a few 383 blocks for sale
The next owner isn’t likely to care how rare a 383 and 3spd manual 1970 Charger was. Both are long gone and the market doesn’t really care. This will likely be built as Pro Touring/Restomod, I’d bet the engine will be based on a wedge head RB or a later model Hemi of some sort.
Steve R
Don’t let the studios get a hold of it.
They will destroy it, in another movie.
Rare Tuxedo car! Black/Black with a white Interior. I can understand a /six, but a 383 with the 3 speed? It is supposedly a 500 model. I think that would be a one of one car. We’ll see what the reserve is soon. Bet it’s $20K. If you can get it for $10.000, it might be worth it. I would go back with the original colors, 383 and maybe 3 speed ball on the A883 below. Just saying. Marc.
I passed on a nice 69 Charger 500 back in 80-81 because i thought the rear window looked like a 66-67, yuck.
I was in a local yard back then and found three 69 Chargers, side by side. all were med brown, tan interiors, no options except p/s, p/b. slant 6 three speeds on the column and all were in surprisingly good shape.
Another yard had five or six R/Ts in decent shape, picked a lot of parts from them
AAR Cudas, T/A Challengers, Dusters, GTXs all over the place and no time/money/storage for them. Oh well
The 3 speed transmission is not a big deal. In 1970 Dodge offered the “500” trim package on the Charger of which 27,264 were so equiped. The real prize is the race built1969 “Charger 500” which came with a unique flush mounted front grille with exposed headlights, aerodynamic “A’ post covers and flush mounted rear glass of which 500 were produced.
Sorry, but even at $5k, it’s too much for what this needs–strong PASS
I had, but it’s long gone now a 70 Charger 500.
Originally built in July of 70 in St Louis. Canadian export. No tach, no vinyl roof, but was a 318 car with a 3 speed manual. Buckets and center console.
Hemi orange was the original paint.
This car reserve is probably in the mid Twenty range in guessing as the interior is there, to give you an idea what needs to be fixed
I’m sure the reserve is about $20,000.🙄
According to the 70 Dodge Charger registry they made 109 cars with a 383 4 Barrel 3 on the floor.
“This listing was ended by the seller on Wed, May 28 at 2:01 PM because the item is no longer available.”
Wow