Parts Or Restore? 1971 Dodge Charger SE
This 1971 Dodge Charger SE has been off the road since 1978 and sitting in a yard in upstate New York, with the seller fully aware that this one’s quite rough. So rough, in fact, that it was originally said to be heading to the crusher before he stepped in and prevented that from happening. At a minimum, this one’s probably got a few good parts, or if you’ve got a strong set of restoration skills there’s always the possibility of getting this one back on the pavement, although that’s going to take lots of effort and resources to accomplish.
On the plus side, this one’s a factory big block B-Body, and under the hood is still the original 383 that the Charger was born with. Mechanically, the good news probably stops here, as the seller indicates that the engine is now seized. Somebody borrowed the intake and carburetor, so hopefully, they got put to good use on another Mopar sometime during the past 46 years or so. The Torque Flite is also still present, but with all these decades of inactivity, it’ll likely need to be rebuilt or replaced.
An impact on the driver’s side is probably what took this one off the road in the late seventies, as the door won’t close and no attempt was ever made to repair it. Sadly, most of the glass is gone too, with the only exceptions being the windshield and passenger side door, which has allowed all of the elements to enter and severely corrode just about everything they’ve come into contact with. A peek under the trunk lid shows just how deep the tin worm can gnaw, given close to five decades plus unfavorable storage conditions.
The interior has been stripped of several components, but as Barn Finds reader Mitchell G. pointed out this one’s a factory A/C car, and this would also be a good time to thank him for sending us the tip on this Charger! The floors have plenty of holes and what metal is remaining down there I’m sure is compromised, so if a future owner decides to restore, this will all need to be removed and new metal installed below.
One other positive is that this one survived the lift test, but from that view, it shows just how far gone this one is from the bottom side. However, if you’re seeing hope here or have your eyes on some needed parts, this 1971 Dodge Charger SE is in Shandaken, New York, and can be found here on eBay. As of this writing, nobody has placed the opening bid of $2,999. Is there any project or parts potential here, or should the seller have just let this one keep traveling onward toward the crusher?
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Comments
You mean to say no one has opened up the bidding at $2,999?? Knock me over with a feather. I’ve seen a VW Samba that was no more but boxes of scrap metal and wood open higher than that.
yikes!!!
Someone took most of the good parts off years ago. I’d be suspect of the condition of the console, that’s typically one of the first things to go unless it’s broken. Even the original 8 3/4 rear end is gone. The seller is probably hoping someone thinks this is as valuable as a 68-70 Charger and decides to “rescue” it.
Steve R
Au contraire, mon frere. Someone might’ve taken what they *thought* were good parts, but beyond the leather front buckets, most of the hard-to-find stuff one needs for a ’71 SE is still there. Hideaway headlamps? Check. Bumper perimeter garnish mouldings? Check. Uncut Rallye cluster with clock and AC controls? Check. The hard-to-find big-block B-body AC system is surprisingly complete, almost unheard of these days. Other than easily-found calipers, the disc-brake stuff’s all there, and the ’71-only bumpers look like good cores. There’s probably close to the opening bid’s worth of parts here. Transport cost makes using it as a parts car a tough proposition at that price, though.
The automatic floor shifter and console aren’t extremely valuable, being shared with ’71-up E-bodies (and all 1973-’74 automatic E-bodies were floor shift). Though the console looks pretty good from what we can see, it’s the wrong one for an early-build car like this. That rear axle is almost certainly the one with which it left Lynch Road since it’s a low-peformance model (383-2V) with an automatic. The 8.25″, definitely-not-a-Dana axle was standard fare on ’71s, not the 8.75″.
The front rail damage behind the steering box and the K-member rot ensure there’s far more damage than what’s visible–love that gas tank!–and a 2-barrel car doesn’t warrant the effort. It doesn’t even warrant a rebody. I’ve been looking for a 383HP or 440 ’71 SE in this color combo for years, so I’d love to have it sitting in my yard if a picked-over car with the right options came along. If I could get it for $3K delivered, I’d buy it just to have what I can see.
What you say about the parts still present on the car is true today, but in the late-70’s when this car was parked, we’re they in demand? When these cars were cycling through junk yards or if buy a parts car for a project I was working on you looked for entirely different set of parts than you would today. Back then I don’t think there would have been many people looking for those parts to do a conversion when cars similarly equipped were still common on the road.
Some of todays most valuable used parts were ignored back in the day and sent to the crusher.
Steve R
This was in a lake!
Probably since it was parked decades ago. Just look at the gas tank and frame YIKES!!
Does the ac blow cold?
Rusty…not just cold, but “ice cold” lol.
Pull the instrument cluster and all of the A/C parts and let the rest go. Nothing [left] to see here, move along now….
The concealed headlights would be a great item to swap to a ’72/’73 model!! :-)
Hideaway headlights were standard the 1972 Charger SE and an option on the other models, but they’re slightly different than the 1971 parts.
It always amazes me how people can let what was probably a nice car get into this condition. You would think if they decided they no longer wanted it they would sell it instead of letting sit ouside and deteriorate. Instead of letting some one enjoy this car because of thier lazzyness they have turned once was proably a reparable project into a bucket of rust. I hope they are proud of them selves.
Because at one time this was a $1,500 used car , then wrecked it became a $100 parts car for someone who took what he wanted and probably pushed it into his back yard or behind a garage in case he ever needed something else, where it just sat because nobody would have wanted it. Before the internet and before muscle cars became rare and desirable 50 year old classics , cars like this were everywhere . Nobody had a clue as to what was rare and what wasn’t ; I’m sure many 1 of 1 cars ended up as $50 beaters before hitting the junkyard. in the early 80s I was in our local junkyard stripping body panels off 68 Roadrunners for my 68 Belvedere ! A buddy of mine was racing a 69 Coronet at a local racetrack, and when it came time to re-skin the car for next year, he went to a junkyard and bought two 68 Superbees which were cut up for parts. This happened all over the country . Shoot, as a kid I used to go to the same track and watch a full field of 2 door tri 5 Chevies race around . who would have thought the prices they could bring in today ?
You are right, for a long time these were just old cars. This particular car was nothing special and still isn’t. It’s not a Super Bee or R/T, just a generic Charger with a few decent, but common options such as the 383, bucket seats and hidden headlights. This would not have drawn any attention until well into the muscle car revival, in its current condition it still doesn’t.
Steve R
$3 grand? What a steal.
Are you sure it hasn’t already gone through the crusher?
I have never seen a gas tank that bad where you can see the sender inside it from the outside in the e-bay pictures. What a waste of pictures. Maybe a few parts can be saved
This car does have a few good features left. The dash has not been cut for a radio and it could be A4 gunmetal paint.
All a shame, and that paint is one of the most beautiful colors Mopars had.
On the road for 7 years, off the road for 46.
What a sad life for ANY car, let alone a sporty car like a Charger.
I know i have made several comments but look at the bellhousing in the ebay pictures. It is rotted at the bottom. Now we should all move on. There are no bids yet Imagine that!!
It ain’t easy being Swiss cheesy!
All it’s good for is a parts car. What a shame.