The Charger stumbled onto the scene for model year 1966, when Dodge reworked the Coronet to enter the muscle car market. The new Charger was not particularly inspiring and didn’t sell well. Thanks to a vacation taken by the chief designer at Dodge, Richard Sias was allowed to design a successor to this first gen Charger, instead of the “Coronet team”. Coke bottle styling, a flying buttress roofline, and a wicked front end with hidden headlights were hallmarks of the second-generation Charger, and it raced out of showrooms and into 96,000 garages in 1968 alone. Here on eBay is a 1968 Dodge Charger R/T project car, bid to $35,000 – reserve met – and located in Olympia, Washington.
The heart of the matter is the numbers-matching 440 cu. in. Magnum V8 generating 375 bhp. With this car’s TorqueFlite 727 automatic, zero to sixty flashed past in under seven seconds. This car’s story includes the original owner racking up only 67,000 miles before “something” went awry in the engine, causing him to park it under a pine tree in 1979. A second owner did a thing or two to the car in 2007 but gave up and is now selling the car to fund another restoration. Unfortunately, the outside air was not healthful for the Charger, as the motor is now stuck, and the tin worm has a secure hold.
One of the challenges facing Charger restorers is that in the best of circumstances, their windshields – front and rear – tended to leak. This in turn causes cabin and trunk floors to rot away. This car has rust in spades – in fact, the trunk rust got ambitious and went right to the frame. You’ll need lotsa patch panels and skill with a welder to take on this ’68.
The interior is…. partially there. On the other hand, the car has cruise control, air conditioning, bucket seats, power windows, and an eight-track. (Ok, the car might be worth it for the eight-track.) The original color is red, a plus in the marketplace. The car also comes with some original paperwork including the build sheet found under the back seat. Now let’s talk about value. This car needs virtually everything, and even then, some of its virtues may hold risk: the numbers-matching motor is stuck, for instance. It’s also an automatic. It’s not a Hemi. And it’s not a 1970. That’s when the factory used a lot of wild colors that are all the rage these days – Plum Crazy, Sublime, Go Mango… What kind of price will we see on this one before it goes to its new home?
Based on the present bid I don’t know how far the bids are going to go but some idiot with more money than brains is going to buy it.
Only a lunatic would even pretend you could recoup your money out of a project like this. There are only so many Baby Boomers to go around you know to buy a finished project. They are a vanishing breed, and with them, so goes the market for these. The day of the sixties muscle car is over. Start buying hot Japanese hatches, that is the future. The only true value here is a little trim and scrap value. The owner understands that, but also understands that the false perceived value is still great and he won’t be around to hear the cries of anguish or see the tears when the new owner finally figures out his folly.
Yep to far gone for that price..
No guts y’all. I don’t see rusty Chevs here. They aren’t worth this much money done.
Don’t know where the cave is you’re in, but the Muscle car market is not down, except for Chevs. Whats with the cracker box furign cars?
The windows were not “prone” to leaking on any B body Mopars , the trunk areas generally rusted out from water shooting up inside rusted out rear quarters during rain or snow periods, and then just sitting – something that happened to a lot of cars. The floors, like many other cars rusted out from the bottom in, as the underside of the cars was generally only lightly painted compared to the rest of the car. Roof leaks generally were caused by rot in the roof, generally caused by water retention in cars with vinyl tops . See how crusty the lower quarters are? that’s how the water got in the trunk . Sitting outside for decades doesn’t help either , as they say , rust never sleeps
35k? Put down the pipe!
Is there $30,000 cash in the glove box? Mopar fever? Shill bidding, c’mon man.
People here always complain when a Mopar sells for big money – This desirable 68 RT has the original drivetrain and is loaded with options at 35 grand and people are stupid top want it , but a desirable 70 428cj Mustang with everything that made it a 428 CJ car is missing at 20 grand is a good price because people want Mustangs ? Sure this one is rough, though no where near as rough as a lot of cars on this site , and its complete . How many Muscle and Pony cars show up on this site have the header that starts with something like “1 of 1″ , or” big block muscle” , only to find the wrong drivetrain in it, or none at all ? This is a real R/T , with a 440 . It has a lot of options too – power brakes , power steering, A/C , optional steering wheel ,rear window defogger , console shifter, vinyl top , cruise control , 8 track player, and probably more that I cant see, and its a popular color combo. This was not a cheap Charger when it was new and should be restored
When I bought these new, and 1-4 years old, I removed the rubber trunk mat.
It did not allow water, moisture to dry.
This way, I accidentally removed the trunk floor rust issue.
Almost zero paint was spilled on the trunk floor when built new.
This will be a 100k car in a few years. I’ve owned Ford’s, Gm’s and I always come back to the 68 Charger, the sexist 60’s car built imo.
No way this car was a run of the mill dealership lot purchase ! A loaded car like this was either a special order by a customer , or special ordered by the dealership to use as a showroom model to show off what could be ordered . I’d like to think it was a showroom model ; 68 was the first year for this body style , and I’m sure Dodge wanted to show it off to the public .
It will be a $100k car after you buy it for 35k, and then spend 100k restoring it. So, 35+100=100? I’m not a math major but….
SOLD for $36,100.
The American version of Porsche in 2022.