The seller of this 1972 Dodge Charger mentions the words you see here in the title – “…a real 1-of-1 car,” and I’m trying to determine if it’s hyperbole or truth. The Charger is equipped to the hilt, and likely in a series of combinations that make it hard to replicate. Hopefully, one of our Mopar-savvy readers can perform a quick VIN decoding to unravel this lavisihly appointed Charger SE. You’ll find it here on eBay with a $10,500 Buy-It-Now and located in lovely San Jose, California.
One of the first indications that this Charger is more special than most is the factory power sunroof. I’ll admit, I tend to roll my eyes at the over-zealous option checklist breakdown to determine how many of a car were made, but the sunroof in this era of Mopar was a rare box to be checked. Going further, the seller points out that this is a factory 440 car (original engine is missing) with SE trim, which supposedly places it among just 62 cars equipped in exactly this manner.
Here’s a sampling of the other options the Charger came with: “…power steering, power disc brakes, air conditioning, 440 cooling and suspension, swaybar package, electronic ignition, automatic transmission, hideaway headlights, Rallye dash w/150 speedo w/clock, AM/FM radio, floor mount console recorder, rear window defroster, 8 3/4 rear end, tilt steering column, dual chrome mirrors, 440 emblem for front fenders, front top fender turn signal indicators, Rimblow steering wheel, dash curtesy light , tinted glass and power windows.”
Going one more step further, the seller notes that the color combo is what really sets it apart: black bench interior with special order dark metallic silver paint and a black vinyl top with the SE chrome package. A real 1-of-1? We’ll leave that to our VIN or build tag sleuths, but it is hard to deny that well-optioned cars like this tend to be desirable to collectors of every marque. The question is, is the seller’s price realistic or is the non-numbers matching drivetrain a deal-breaker on a car like this?
$10,500 for a rusted, trashed hulk without engine? But hey…you got rim blow horn and dual chrome mirrors! Take my money!
It’s the Cordoba’s daddy. The 440 adds some interest, but not enough to rise to this ask for such a dilapidated car IMO.
I’m not a mopar guy so.all the 1 of 1 of 1 crap bugs me. If they were such great muscle cars then they should’ve made more of them imho
Mopars always had/have very strong motors/running gear, some body styles hot in late 60’s [cuda-charger], but body quality was very-very poor, like a poorly fitted tin can !! I won’t buy/have 1 except the motor running gear 4 a Rat Rod
As a child my father bought a 69 Road Runner, and besides the window whistle, new carb floats and having to tighten up the drum brakes it had very little problems. The paint was sweet (black with blue int) I loved that car and owned 3 myself. Not all were bad, he ordered his.
Pic is what it looked like.
So you chose a Rustang. Sorry you can’t afford a Mopar anymore.
1 of 1 does not always mean worth a lot of money at least not the way it sits now.
This would be one for “Graveyard Carz” to restore. Mark Worman would have a fit about this one.
The sunroof must make it 1 of 1 because there is a green one with a white top sitting across the road from my house with the same stuff and has the original 440 in it and running!!
Yeah, right up there in the history books with one of one Duesenbergs, Bugattis, Packards, etc.. looks like any other 72 Charger, and no one will care.
A sunroof was a rare option back then, see attached image for production numbers:
The real value is the ‘special tool’ that came with the sun roof option to manually close the roof when the drive mechanism failed.. Usually in a level 6 thunderstorm. Hey, it was sunny a few minutes ago.
This find makes me wish I knew then what I know now. My 2nd car as a 19 year old was a black on black 72 Charger 340 mag, Hurst 4 speed, buckets, console, and factory power roof. It was beat up but solid. I paid $200 for it in 1980 and sold it 6 months later for $250, thinking I did well. According to your chart it was a 1 of 83. Fond memories.
I love it when sellers price based on what a car was. It’s a long way from that now.
“What it was…”. Well-put. I don’t know whether that’s worse or pricing it based on “what it COULD be”. Anyone else remember when this body style was one step sideways from a Cordoba?
And in terms of a performance car, wouldn’t a loaded-up one of these weigh 4200 lbs? Or more?
3500 lbs is probably more like it. A 1971 Boss 351 was 3550, and could do 0-60 in 5.8 secs, and high 13’s in the 1/4 mile. A Lincoln or Cadillac of the era was 4400 lbs and up.
Greetings All,
They always tell you, you gotta sell the “sizzle” not the steak.
I’m always leary when I hear 1 of 1. It makes me wonder if the seller says to him/her self “ I’ve never seen one of these before, it must be the only one”! Price does not reflect the fact that it will never be a numbers matching restorable vehicle. IMHO of course.
@Mikes hot rod shop.
Several years ago I acquired a 1912 Little and was assured that it was the only known one in the world. I then discovered that there was another pictured in the book “Sixty Years of Chevrolet.” A few years later I was contacted by a guy from Canada that was compiling a list of all known Littles and he needed to know all about mine so as to confirm that there were now known to be ELEVEN of them! So, beware of paying a high price for a so called 1 of 1 without confirmation.
I believe I know where’s one down in Iowa in a private collection if that’s the one I think it is.
I bet you were a Little upset.
Some people get around “numbers matching” by buying a date coded engine. I know it’s not the same, but it’s about as good as you can get at this point of the car’s life.
If it sells, I hope the seller uses some of the money on grammar and spelling lessons.
One of one yippee ….
Where’s the matching engine ? Oops 😬 sorry no longer original ?
Hey are those snow tires on the back as that makes it one of …..
It’s an automatic too! Wow I agree it’s a
Cordoba baby….
Gosh I hope you got this junkyard dog 🐕 for less than scrap metal pricing .
Are the Cali liscence plates on the car to make it numbers matching 😜
Good luck flipper of new found rust treasure
NO! Mopar is a one of one for me! I owned four of them before I wised up! Lots of great looking cars by Mopar over the years but crappy reliability, high maintenance and operating costs!
With out the original 440 it is just another Charger.
Paying extra for a hole in the roof that reduces vehicle structure and guarantees a future water leak on my head never made sense to me….
The 1 of 1 claim is now null & void, since the original engine is MIA. There are hordes of Chargers out there running on non-original engines. Cars like this pop up quite often, so you’re bound to stumble on a better buy than this clunker
Oh yeah?!? What about the Chargers with non-original non-running engines out there, hmmmm? Does that make them none-of-one?
I think that makes them one of many.
I had a dollar bill in my pocket that was one-of-one. Unique serial number, but missing it’s original power than when it was new. And goodness knows how many owners it had until I decided to flip it for half a cup of coffee. Luckily I had a stablemate in my pocket otherwise I’d have been under water (or coffee-less) on my investment.
Now that is one BF Deal!
this would take a ton of work to get it up and running, and it is missing it’s born with 440 would not take the seller’s word for it, unless he had a Galen Govier report without the original 440, as someone else pointed out, it is just another Charger
Who doesn’t love a good rim blow?
According to the 1972 data posted earlier, there were 398 of this car…so there is a likelihood somebody else took better care of theres and would sell it to you for a like, or lesser, price. Gotta love those faded, brushed aluminum Centerline wheels that we all hopped curbs with back in the day. I wouldn’t give this a second look in the salvage yard if there were any other true muscle cars in the vicinity. And with no 440 sitting in the engine bay…fogetaboutit.
Whoever owned the car at one point decided it was so rare and valuable he or she would take really good care of it …so one day it would sell for 10 grand. Not.
You have to wonder about the mentality of those owners in letting a luxury muscle car deteriorate like this. That car was probably $6000 in 1973. That’s about 60 or 80K today.
What would make this car truly special is a 4-speed which “automatically” (see what I did there? :) ) triggered the Dana 60 rearend installation. 1972 was the last year this was possible. Then it would be something.
Those pictures sure look like the car was not spending its days rusting in San Jose Ca. I dont recall any forests in that city. Maybe in the Santa Cruz mountains but not San Jose. But restoring big cars takes big bucks and restoring partial cars is even costlier. Not for me.
A good candidate for a current Hemi swap with auto transmission. SE given hidden headlights grille, sunroof, power windows makes it a body worth saving. A two fender tag optioned car. That’s a BIN price….may sell much lower…and would be a good project for say 6k.
Since the original engine is missing the one of one claim is worthless, even if true. But the seller does in fact have something here. The car is remarkably rust free, is an original 440 car, and has a factory sunroof. Almost any car that is approaching 50 yrs old that was produced in numbers less than 500 has value. It is indeed “rare”.
But the seller’s ask of over $10K? It would appear he has been taking advantage of California’s lax marijuana laws.
Considering how the car is optioned, even if it is a one of one car, who would want it?
It has a bench seat. It has a column shift automatic and it has a Chrysler New Yorker steering wheel.
This doesn’t look like the type of car to be put back together and to be shown with pride at a car show. People would have too many questions.
Besides all of that, it is just a two door Coronet.
I would rather have the Dart or Valiant that is next to it in the first picture.
Why oh why would anyone order a new Charger with a front bench seat…
Like the one I had. Which, like so many cars I sold in the low hundreds, are now worth well into five figures. I sold this one for $650 when I needed $$ for the down payment on my new Trail Duster. It was a 400 2bbl and a 2.76.
One day I pulled up at my friend’s auto repair business in this Charger and a punk who worked there pulled up beside me in a customer’s big Ford wagon with a 460 he had just tuned up, and said ‘This wagon will blow the f****g DOORS off your Charger.’ Well, it didn’t. It lost.
Interesting car in many ways, all those options and radio delete??? Also the 440 emblems on the front fenders refer to the model NOT necessarily the engine (that is missing) which could have been a slant six or 318, 340, 360, 400 or the 440, which by 72 was detuned to be hardly recognizable compared to its late 60’s self. This bench seats were standard on the 440 model other than the sunroof, and possibly color, and radio delete. This is basically just one of thousands of Coronet 440’s (model) sold by Dodge. $10,000+? $2000 maybe.
Options baby….who else offered a cassette recorder tape deck….and you can guess with the sunroof open and bench seat dilly…..
I sold my one of none 72 442 last year. Can you tell?
Well… With no motor it is no longer a “numbers-matching” car, unless you can find the original engine block.
I can think of a lot better ways to spend $ 10,500..ugly and no motor
I have a limited edition zebco 202 I’ll trade you for it.
I see pics of my old SE Charger is still floating around. This car is currently now in Australia being restored by the relative that originally bought it from me. I’ve had a couple dozen or so of the 1971/1972 Dodge Chargers and this was the 2nd most rarest of them. I’m going to stay in contact with the new owner and will post pics if the ever get it restored. You guys should see the 1971 Charger R/T I got in recently. Said to be one in 12 and is being turned into a RATROD.
One of twelve, and you are going to Rat Rod it? I wouldn’t brag about it if I were you.