Chrysler redesigned its B-body intermediates in 1971, taking on a fuselage look that you either loved or didn’t. 2-door hardtops and 4-door sedans wore separate sheet metal, so the Dodge Coronet 2-door was eliminated, and the Charger carried that mantle for the brand. With its long nose and short deck qualities, this 1971 Charger SE is a rough project that’s in a driveway in The Colony, Texas, and it’s available here on eBay. For $5,000 or less, you can adopt it for your own purposes.
Charger sales increased by more than a quarter in 1971, but Coronet production fell by more than a third, so it seems the Charger only picked up the slack from its cousin. The Special Edition (SE) model found 15,800 buyers in 1971 with its higher level of trim. A 318 cubic inch V8 was standard, and the VIN on this Charger indicates how this car was equipped when it departed the assembly line.
This Charger may have been a thing of beauty 55 years ago, but now it’s more of an eyesore sitting in the seller’s driveway. Most HOAs would take exception to it residing there, perhaps a motivation for the seller to decide to sell it (just a guess). The Dodge will need loads of work, especially when it comes to the body, paint, and interior. And its running condition is probably non-existent without much effort.
The mileage of this Mopar is below 70,000, so the car doesn’t look to have been well taken care of during its heyday. We assume there’s a 318 with a TorqueFlite sitting there, but chances are this machine hasn’t moved under its own power in many moons. If you’re looking for a third-generation Charger project, is this one you’d undertake? It would probably find more takers if it were an R/T.
That’s a big block.
The picture in the featured writeup above was from the Coronet R/T from earlier today. The engine in the car that is the feature of this writeup is a small block as per the eBay ad.
Steve R