The Dodge Challenger will always be a popular model among muscle car enthusiasts, but it’s amazing how much more desirable even a plain-jane 318 car can become when one is discovered in a garage still wearing its California blue plates. This Butterscotch yellow Challenger has been in or around this garage for close to 50 years and is a total time warp specimen that has since been moved out to a new location with gorgeous shiny paint under all that dust. Find it here on eBay with bids to $23,300 and the reserve unmet.
I’m not at all surprised the reserve remains unmet; this is a once-in-a-lifetime car for someone, but it’s also a relatively low-spec model with the garden variety 318 under the hood. However, as noted above, those details matter less and less when a car like this emerges from its garage tomb with perfect panels, an incredible interior, and paint that still looks pretty darn fresh after a good wash. The condition, in this case, also refers to the rust-free bodywork, chassis integrity, and how undisturbed it remains under the hood.
Wow – check out that post-wash shot for a reveal! The paint job actually gleams like new, and while it’s clear this Challenger was loved, it’s important to keep in mind that you’ll still want to do a full mechanical assessment before driving it too far. Hoses, plugs, wires, water pump. thermostat – the usual suspects when it comes to getting a car to come back to life. That said, the seller claims it runs and drives very well, so perhaps there’s less work to do here than I originally thought. It’d be incredible to find a stack of records to go along with this survivor Challenger.
The small detail we tend to overlook or make assumptions about is that a car with outstanding original bodywork and upholstery must also be a low-mileage time warp vehicle. Not so! This car has 77,000 miles on the clock, which gives an owner plenty of time to crease the fender or rip up the carpets. The fact that this Challenger still looks so good and has relatively few faults to report suggests that after its owner passed away or stopped driving, the Dodge was looked after like a member of the family. Bidding isn’t done on this low-mileage specimen, and hopefully it sees an outstanding price and goes into a collection that exercises the cars on weekends but never puts it in harm’s way.
The opening shot is what car people dream of. I love this hobby.
High bid is a scammer, and the bid history is mostly scammers. Nice Challengers, looks like the real deal. Know what you are buying.
Cheers
GPC
Very nice car. Representative of almost all the Challengers ever made. The performance cars were just a thin sliver of the total, yet today, it seems like a standard engine was non existent. Will this car stay as a place holder of what once was the norm? Not at that price. Too bad. Plus it is pricing so many people out of the market for a classic car. In my small town of 50,000 people, I see so many muscle cars with what have got to be almost six figure restorations. Makes no sense to me, as so many regular people couldn’t possibly afford that. A buddy pointed out to me that a flaw in the 401K laws lets you use some of your retirement money and put it into a car. At first I didn’t believe that but I looked it up, seems to be true. There are going to be a lot of younger Boomers and Gen Xers who are going to be sorry when the market drops out of these in the near future. Better get used to spreading cat food on toast for three meals a day.
we won’t even get into opportunity costs regarding using your 401-k money on a guess that this particular middle of the road car will accelerate into the stratosphere price wise , but chacun a son gout
However I will give you 10000 for it out of the plastic change jar.
It’s not a flaw in the 401K law, just an exploit… and to utilize it, you absolutely cannot purchase the car for personal use. The same goes if you use it for real estate. It’s an investment; you can’t buy yourself a vacation home or a street driver. The penalties are stiffer than just withdrawing early, too.
As far as the market dropping out on ’60s-early ’70s cars, hold onto that dream. It’s repeatedly predicted but has yet to happen for any era of automobile. Cars remain valuable long after their original collector audience dies. Remember when vintage Ferrari prices crashed in the early ’00s? Guess what? They’re back and crazier than ever. Have you priced out a ’32 Ford coupe lately? How about a tri-5 Chevrolet? Even if the bottom were to drop out completely, the only folks that’ll be eating pet food are the ones stupid enough to borrow money (or gamble their future) against a TOY. Monetary value notwithstanding, a collector car is a toy.
I’m an enthusiast, so value is of no importance to me*. I own all of my cars–no loans, no liens–and if they can’t be driven and enjoyed, why bother having ’em?
*I prefer ~low~ values… more cars for me!
Perhaps I read it wrong and you are right on the 401K angle, but then I have to figure out how so many locals from where I live can afford $80-100K cars for the weekends. Man, there are a lot on the road this year. There is not a large number of highly paid people here. So the question remains, how? Of course, with the cost of a top tier pick up hovering over 80K, and I see a lot of those too, I have to assume these are on long term loans. Would a bank actually loan someone 100 grand on a 1970 Charger? You would think the banks would have learned their lesson back in 2008, but then again the taxpayers bailed THEM out, not us. I would like to remind the locals here that despite the joys of driving a “perfect” 50 year old car to shows is a joy, there are many other worth while things to spend that kind of money on. Perhaps save for retirement? Kids to get through college? Despite what the government says with the FASFA forms for college financial aide, most parents do not help young people out with costs. I find that abysmal Our daughter said she was the only kid in her sorority whos parents had helped out with any money at all to go to college, yet I saw many an expensive car there on parents weekend. I guess that is just a character flaw and not in line of what this place is for, so maybe I should stop writing..
Always liked this color, even though it wasn’t very popular. Then again I like odd colors; I have a Duster 340 in F1 Mist green that most people cant stand, but I love it !