With so many second-generation Dodge Charger offerings in the present day being projects, butchered, rotten, or cloned into something they were never intended to be, it’s refreshing to locate one that still remains similar to how it began life, even if the car isn’t one of the more desirable R/T models. Many sellers choose the auction path when trying to find a new home for their B-Body, but the owner of this 1969 Dodge Charger here on eBay in Catonsville, Maryland, has gone the other route and set his buy-it-now price at $74,995, with an option to offer less if you feel that’s a bit steep. Let’s jump into the details to see if that’s near a reasonable cost.
For starters, the seller says he’s owned this Charger for about 17 years, plus informs us that it was originally a California car. That’s not the factory paint, but it is the correct color, the uncommon Bright Turquoise Metallic hue (code Q5 on the fender tag). The finish appears good as does the body, and the vinyl top has also been replaced, so things outside seem A-OK, which is often one of the areas where many B-Bodies suffer. It’s not specified what the undercarriage metal looks like, and while there’s no obvious reason to think the frame might be compromised, it’s probably worth asking just to make sure before you decide to drop big bucks on this one.
Underneath the hood presents positives and negatives, with the good news being this Charger is a factory big-block car. While it would be great to find a 440 or the other famed monster motor here, this one left Hamtramck with a 383, which is what’s in the bay now. Unfortunately, it’s not the numbers-matching component, but the TorqueFlite is, and the seller states that the Dodge runs and drives well. It’s also good to find out that the car has only traveled a total of 50,599 miles.
The interior seems already in good enough condition for a driver, and it’s always welcomed to find examples with factory A/C, although it’s not functioning at this time, nor is the radio. Although this one isn’t quite show quality, it appears the imperfections found are relatively minor, and costs would likely add up quickly to get a non-running project up to the standards found here. The NOM is unfortunate, but overall, this is a very nice and desirable Mopar that I’m sure will attract a buyer sooner rather than later. Is $74,995 in the ballpark for this 1969 Dodge Charger? All things considered, how much is a fair price to pay here?
Holey smokes – I can’t believe I bought a ’68 R/T for $2,500 back in the early 00s.
Take a zero off of that, and I paid it for a ’68 383 Charger in Phoenix in the early 80’s!
While $74k+ is a hefty chunk of change, this one should be enjoyed for what it is and not what it was or might have been.
It’s pretty, but if the mileage claim is accurate, what happened to the original engine? For that kind of money, the A/C and radio should at least be working. I think someone is dreaming, although where would you find one mostly original in such great shape?
Not sure about the mileage claim either, many of California cars racked up a lot of miles, they were driven year round but since they didn’t rust it wouldn’t show unless they ran into things. That would go a long way towards explaining the repaint and engine swap. As for the engine swap, I had a 71 SS Camaro in the early 1980’s that spun a bearing, I looked around for a machine shop to rebuild it, they all said 2-3 months. Another option would have been to buy a stock off the shelf engine from a rebuilder, it was a bit cheaper, more importantly there would be no wait. I went with a local shop and waited because I didn’t wanted a modified rebuild rather than stock. The thing most people forget, most base engines in muscle cars were nearly the same as passenger car engines with slight modifications such as a cam or recalibrated carb and ignition. For a car like this, probably someone’s basic transportation, it would make more sense to buy an off the shelf engine than have the original rebuilt to save time, no thought would have been given to matching numbers. To be honest, if I knew I could have walked into a GM dealer and bought a crate LT1 I would have, the cost would have been similar and it would have saved me from taking the bus or riding my bike for a couple of months.
You are right, for $75k, fix the radio and at a minimum, put in a new heater core.
Steve R
I missed where they said it needs a heater core. One of the reasons they didn’t do that is because it may not be available anywhere. My uncle has a 68 Coronet, and can’t find a heater core anywhere.
Zen, Rockauto has htr cores for all engines for ’68 coronet –
but only without A/C.
While a heater core is something like a $100 dollar part, the labor (at least on an A/C equipped car), is usually considerable. More like $1000 if you’re not doing it yourself. I know at least on GM cars you need to also source a Fisher body manual (to know where all of the hidden screws in the dash are), and very few shops are comfortable with doing this work on a classic car where spilling anti-freeze all over the carpet is a liability.
That said, for 74k, I expect the radio, A/C and heater to work. 2nd gen Chargers seem to be getting insane money these days though…
Most reputable radiator shops can fix a heater core. I had mine done a couple of years ago, mostly because the aftermarket versions, like Spectra, don’t seem to last as long as the originals. Not a job I enjoy doing earlier than I have to! For the asking price, everything should be operational. And even then, it is priced like a numbers matching car.
I agree. For that money the seller should get the radio and A/C working.
Nice? Yes. $75k nice? No
I just have to say…… I love seeing ’68 and ’69 especially Chargers in more unique colors like this one. Absolutely beautiful color combination inside and out. These are very handsome cars, Chrysler had a styling and performance hit on their hands. I always think of the beginning of the Bullet chase scene how beautiful that Black Charger looked. ( And the Mustang too) . I agree with Nevadahalftrack I’d enjoy it exactly for what it is now, nothing else.
Warner Brothers classic 5 days ago put the entire chase from Bullit on their YouTube channel, it’s 10:48 long, since then its already been viewed over 420,000 times.
Steve R
Funny you should say that @Steve. It actually popped up last night and I watched it. Most likely why I thought of it. Thanks for mentioning that. I’ll have to see if it was theirs I watched last night.
Yep. Thats the one I’m watching it again!!! Thank you
That was me! 🤣
To Zen you need to go to YEAR ONE they have almost everything for these older cars I would be really surprised if they did not have the heater core
Classic industries shows one for 66-70 B-bodies w/AC for $429, their non-AC heater core is $149. If it’s the correct one that would help explain why the owner didn’t change it.
Steve R
Great looking Charger. Lotta bread. Hopefully it’s as nice as presented. Like that nothing looks wrong and it looks like it could be in a vintage photo. Wish I had some stupid money.
A buddy from H/S bought a beautiful copper colored 69 with white vinyl top & interior, a 383 & a rare factory power sunroof in the late 70’s for $950!
I’m pretty sure most of us who come to this site have bought & sold a car at some point & wish we knew then what we know now. Asking prices for classic cars are just insane anymore.
At this asking price, everything ought to work. And I’d like to see a picture of the pedals. And some history.
The headline to this article asks, What’s it worth? My answer is, not 75K. While it appears to be a better than average example of a ’69 Charger, in my opinion, it is fairly pedestrian. To even approach this kind of money, it would need to be a 440 at a minimum. Now I am fully aware of the fact the mid-sixties Mopar guys (and gals) seem to think that they are rarer than hens’ teeth, but in reality, there are a bunch of them out there. I also realize that some folks seem to be willing to part with some pretty crazy amounts of coinage for these things, but one of those folks would not be me.
It like the “after” to the one on the trailer in the earlier listing.
Beautiful looking car. It looks brand new, like it came from a Dodge showroom back in 1968-69.
Except for the dead heater core, air conditioner, and radio, sure.
One of our best friends had a car just like this one except for the colors–his was yellow, with the black vinyl roof. He was a lifelong car guy, and would later run his own classic-car shop. He had been driving since he was about 12 –illegally, but he was one of those guys who had always looked older than he was. He eventually sold his Charger, but never stopped regretting it. Said it was his favorite car ever.