Mar 10, 2018  •  Uncategorized  •  42 Comments

Psycho 2: Custom 1971 Dodge Challenger SE

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The 1970s may have been the height of wild car customizations. While the funky 1970s style wasn’t popular with everyone then, it certainly isn’t now. I personally think it has aged quite well! When applied cleanly and professionally to a car like this, this groovy 1970s custom style is flattering and will certainly draw a crowd at any show. Factory restored Challengers are beautiful, but in a sea of original-looking cars this 1971 Challenger is sure to draw the most attention! Find it here on Hemmings in New Jersey with a price tag of $38,990. Thanks to Ben B. for sending in this funky custom! 

Given the wild exterior of this car, I honestly expected the interior to be funkified too! I love 1970s-style custom vans, so I wouldn’t have been disappointed to see velour and shag. I suppose that since this was originally a show car, it was designed to be clean and crisp. To quote the seller, this car has “new black vinyl interior, rally gauge, dash and console.”According to the ad, this Challenger was originally shown in 1978 in the Midwest and on the World of Wheels tour. It has also been featured in Mopar Collector Guide magazine in 2016.

According to the ad, “The motor is a built 340 has a hot cam in it, an electronic ignition, and headers that go into the TA side pipe exhaust.” The 340 is hooked up to an automatic transmission “with a shift kit and slap stick console, with a 3:55 posi rear with traction bars.” This car is truly the spirit of the late 1970s! It also has power steering and power brakes.

Dubbed “Psycho 2” on the trunk lid, this Challenger has a seriously wild paint job. To some people this is nothing but ugly, but to others this is a work of art! A paint job like this takes lots of time and lots of skill. It may not be a perfectly preserved numbers-matching 99% original survivor, but it is a period custom that really speaks for the era it was created in and should be preserved as such for that reason. I don’t know about you, but I would drive this!

Comments

  1. RayZ
    Mar 10, 2018 at 12:24pm

    Love it, would drive and show it all over. In a world of over restored cars, this car is a breath of fresh air.

    Like 0
  2. Steve R
    Mar 10, 2018 at 12:44pm

    It’s tacky, but represents a specific point in time, just like many of the 50’s customs and 60’s gassers. This is the real deal, not some half baked recreation. Like stated in the write up, restored cars are common, this will stand out from the crowd.

    I’m not sure about the price, it seems a bit high, but it is a Mopar.

    Steve R

    Like 0
  3. Coventrycat
    Mar 10, 2018 at 12:52pm

    Rolling porn flick.

    Like 0
    • Phil
      Mar 10, 2018 at 2:59pm

      I hope the new owner has/grows the requisite moustache to go with !!

      Like 0
  4. Crazyhawk
    Mar 10, 2018 at 12:58pm

    I’m so glad there are still some cars out there like this! LOVE IT! I think E-body Mopars seem to lend themselves the best to modifications. Always thought they looked better than any other musclecar when jacked up with fat tires.

    Like 1
  5. jimmy hartnell
    Mar 10, 2018 at 1:12pm

    not my taste…. way over the top with that multi color theme… still a car for many to enjoy if you’re into rainbow paint jobs

    Like 0
  6. tje
    Mar 10, 2018 at 1:18pm

    Like all of it except the grill..

    Like 0
    • Rspcharger Rspcharger
      Mar 11, 2018 at 9:11am

      Agreed.

      Like 0
    • Newtown Jack
      Mar 12, 2018 at 10:13am

      Yup – restore the grill – keep the rest

      Like 0
  7. Nrg8
    Mar 10, 2018 at 1:18pm

    I think at one point the whole interior was done like the rear package tray.

    Like 0
  8. Mike R.
    Mar 10, 2018 at 1:25pm

    There was a touring car show at the local mall back in the ’70’s with a very simmaler painted Challenger. Up close, it was a great paint job, but very busy on the eye’s. I think the one I saw was featured in CarCraf. Had a different grill insert. These are fun to look at, I’d be afraid some onlooker would drive into it!!

    Like 0
  9. Dave, South Australia
    Mar 10, 2018 at 1:25pm

    Absolutely stunning paint job, would take the bars off the front grill however.

    Like 0
  10. exartist
    Mar 10, 2018 at 1:31pm

    Man there were a lot of drugs available in the 70’s.

    Like 0
  11. Reginald R McNair
    Mar 10, 2018 at 1:43pm

    one of the better looking multi-color paint jobs that I have seen. It scream look at me…. and not ..look at me cause I’m a race car. Sadly (for me) I would be scared to drive it on the street….only because the paint job is unreplaceable.

    Like 0
  12. Ian C
    Mar 10, 2018 at 1:47pm

    This ride gives me a tingling in my “special place”.

    Like 0
  13. Suttree
    Mar 10, 2018 at 1:47pm

    Built in a time where numbers matching and OEM anything and everything were barely a concept beyond concours competitions.

    Like 0
  14. Lydel
    Mar 10, 2018 at 2:29pm

    Those look like 70 tail lights

    Like 0
  15. Troy s
    Mar 10, 2018 at 2:51pm

    Not too bad, at least there is no tunnel ram or blower sticking up out of the engine compartment! I’d rather see a solid paint job compared to the zany car craft magazine striped job here, but other than that I really like seeing a built Mopar compared to all the factory correct cars people go nuts over nowadays. That gets kinda boring after awhile really.
    Street Freaks!!

    Like 0
  16. moparman1123
    Mar 10, 2018 at 2:51pm

    Those indeed are ’70 tail lights and also ’70 seats. I had a ’71 Challenger R/T 340 Four Barrel B5 Blue. I saw this car for sale somewhere several months ago.
    Looks cool but will be tough to find a buyer. I agree the grille looks silly.

    Like 0
  17. Danger Dan
    Mar 10, 2018 at 3:05pm

    I’m waiting for Richard Simmons to hop out and do some jumping jacks

    Like 0
  18. Miguel
    Mar 10, 2018 at 3:19pm

    I wonder why the builder didn’t do anything to the engine compartment.

    That yellow jumps out at you.

    Also this is what we used to call a show car.

    Now any old car that still runs is a show car.

    Like 0
  19. UK Paul
    Mar 10, 2018 at 3:39pm

    Love it

    Like 0
  20. Steve A.
    Mar 10, 2018 at 3:40pm

    Oh, HELL YEAH!!!

    Like 0
  21. JW
    Mar 10, 2018 at 3:44pm

    I love it and I miss the 70’s.

    Like 0
  22. RH FACTOR
    Mar 10, 2018 at 5:15pm

    Long time ago, a friend had a ’69 Camaro, 427 car painted like this. I called it the Circus Wagon, much to his dismay.

    Like 0
  23. Rusty Lanier
    Mar 10, 2018 at 5:43pm

    I have some bell bottom pants to go with that and a polyester leisure suit.

    Like 0
  24. Comet
    Mar 10, 2018 at 5:59pm

    I’m so old…I Love it. Now get off my lawn!

    Like 0
  25. Sam
    Mar 10, 2018 at 6:18pm

    Hells yes!

    Like 0
  26. John D
    Mar 10, 2018 at 9:31pm

    But I’m just getting my ball that rolled into your yard.

    I used to love to do endless line doodles and 70s flames.

    Like 0
  27. SC/RAMBLER
    Mar 10, 2018 at 10:00pm

    Beautiful csr, great paint job that could not be duplicated today.Obviously a true artist painted this car. I agree with comment that i would be afraid to drive on the street, especially here in philly, people don’t know how to drive, or PARK ,i laugh at peoples attempts at parking.

    Like 0
  28. Larry Q
    Mar 10, 2018 at 10:26pm

    A built 340…one of the most wonderful sounds ever..at idle or wot

    Like 0
  29. Russell
    Mar 10, 2018 at 10:29pm

    Let me drive you to “Funky Town”! I love it, it’s aged very well.

    Like 0
  30. Suttree
    Mar 11, 2018 at 6:31am

    This car has aged like a fine Boone’s Farm wine!

    Like 0
  31. Bruce Fischer
    Mar 11, 2018 at 6:48am

    Not real crazy over it.This is the way a Challenger should look like .I had this one back in the 70s. Bruce.

    Like 0
  32. Classic Steel
    Mar 11, 2018 at 7:15am

    So this is what happens when you grow up on a multiple color partridge family bus 🚌 and do drugs later in life.

    Danny you still DJ in Chi?

    Good to see your putting your rage and color of the old bus into muscle cars versus punching out street walkers 😂😂

    Like 0
    • Rspcharger Rspcharger
      Mar 11, 2018 at 9:13am

      Danny is alive & well as a DJ in Seattle for the morning drive on KZOK, the home of classic rock. He’s clean & sober now.

      Like 0
  33. Bill T
    Mar 11, 2018 at 8:48am

    I was 9 in 1971 and when I saw a car like this (and the mentors in my life made sure I did) it made a lifetime impact. When we went shopping I was old enough to be left in the toy section, and spend most of my time looking at models, hot wheels and such. I was told to look, and not touch unless I was going to buy it, and when I was ready I could start delivering papers, mowing lawns, odd jobs to make money. When I turned 10 that is what I did, except I saved more than I spent, so I could have it for my first car.
    When I turned 14 my dad and I bought that first car. As I have mentioned before, we were a Corvair family, so of course my first car was a Corvair. My dad made it clear we could do what ever I wanted with it, (as long as it wasn’t a structural change as the donor car was in great shape) and my Dad was very good with a set of tools and a paint gun and had built up many Vairs before mine. We spent two years “building” my first car, and I let my mid 70’s imagination run wild (on a limited amount of money). Somewhere along the way another “donor” car came into the fold and we decided it would be the “evil twin” to what we were building. It was a 6000 mile “rust free” car so it was built up to be a show car (on a little bit more… but still a limited amount of money). My Dad put a few hours every day into those cars (while also working full time, and on other peoples Corvairs) and “every other weekend” I was right there by his side doing what ever he told me. When I turned 16 (1978) I got my learners permit, and scheduled my road test (I had been driving field Vairs for years) Two weeks later I took my road test and the first of the twins hit the road. I had two part time jobs, one at night (working papers) so I could drive “after 9 as long as it was to and from work only” (hahahahahah yeah ok) I funneled as much money as I could into the “evil twin” and it was done in 1980, and has been my one of my prize possessions ever since. So… what is the point of this post? I attached a photo (have posted this before) and a lot or people say how much they don’t like what we did to these cars. But… I bet they didn’t know the story behind them, and now you do. As some have said, to each their own. Beauty is the eye of the beholder. Be young, be free, have fun. I can tell you first hand that every single car show we went to both cars got just as much attention as the rest, if not more, and…. I never ever had a problem having a hot girl to ride along with me ;) (In the Evil twin of course)

    Like 0
  34. Rspcharger Rspcharger
    Mar 11, 2018 at 9:13am

    Not like this paint job stands out any more than Panther Pink, Sublime or Plum Crazy.

    Like 0
  35. Fiete T.
    Mar 11, 2018 at 9:34am

    Pretty sure my HOA would fine me for everyday I drove it…

    Like 0
  36. Michael thomas
    Mar 11, 2018 at 12:38pm

    love it . Would keep it just the way it is , Maybe add a little haha.I painted back in those days and did my fair share of nice jobs. Bring back the style. I still have my bell bottoms.

    Like 0
  37. gto4ever
    Mar 11, 2018 at 7:59pm

    Looks like it came to life from the artwork of a 70’s Ballys or Williams pinball machine and drove off!! (You have to be old to know Ballys or Williams, sorry youngsters lol) Very Cool. And you ‘ll only see it at BARN FINDS!!

    Like 0
  38. cidevco
    Mar 12, 2018 at 10:00pm

    I get It!!!

    Like 0

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