Plum Crazy Project? 1969 Dodge Charger
UPDATE 5/8/2020 – This Charger didn’t meet reserve when we featured it last year. The same seller has relisted it and this time it’s bid up to $10,100! We aren’t sure what’s changed this go around, but it appears there’s more interest this time. You can find it here on eBay.
FROM 5/23/2019 – We’ve seen some pretty sad and sorry sights when it comes to potential project cars here at Barn Finds, but this 1969 Dodge Charger must be right up there with the best, or worst, of them. Time and the elements have done the car no favors, and now the owner has decided to part with it. It is located in Fort Pierce, Florida, and is listed for sale here on eBay. Bidding on the Charger has already hit $5,100, although the reserve hasn’t been met.
The dreaded tin-worm has certainly gotten a good hold on the Charger, and nothing has been spared. The floors are all gone, as are the frame rails. There really isn’t much in the way of good steel left in this poor car. On the plus side, the grille looks like it is in good condition, as does the glass. There are a few decent external trim pieces, but that’s really about it for the outside of the vehicle.
Nestling in the engine bay of the Charger when it was new was a 383ci V8. That has now gone, but the news isn’t all bad. What is now there is a 440 Magnum, and the owner says that it runs well and that the oil is clean. The same characteristics are shared with the 727 transmission, while the rear end is a Sure Grip, which the owner believes is a 3.23 ratio. The car also features power steering, power disc brakes, and factory air conditioning. I guess that with all of the gloom and doom associated with the Charger’s body, there really needed to be some good news somewhere.
Inside the Charger there is both good news and bad. The gauge cluster looks to be complete, in pretty reasonable condition, and should be able to be restored. It does feature the desirable Tic-Toc-Tach, which is a bonus. The center console also looks like it is in good, restorable condition, while the wood-grained wheel looks like it might be able to be saved. The rest of the interior trim is present, and while some of it could be used, the rest is either going to need some work or be relegated to the nearest rubbish skip.
I look at this Charger and it’s a pretty sad sight. I can imagine that it was a pretty stunning car back in its glory days, but those days are a long way back into the past. Even dragging it up onto a trailer today would be fraught with danger, as the car really looks to be that fragile. However, there are 9 people who can see something worthwhile in the Charger, and they have pushed the price to its current level with a total of 37 bids. It just shows that you should never write off any car, no matter how bad it looks.
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Comments
It’s Plum Crazy what some people do (or don’t do) to their cars-but then, that four wheeled garbage can Super Bee Charger POS ((pictured above, featured earlier this week) brought $3310, and that rust ball held together by paint in Georgia (SS396) is up to $5900!!
Seriously, does anyone on this forum know of any cars, bikes or trucks being bought in a condition similar to these and made to run again? If so, I’d honestly like to know their story.
Nice play with the Plum Crazy 😉
Oddly, just a few readers including yourself caught that..
😆
I caught it. An answer to your question got to YouTube and watch junkerup *Chris birdsong. He is quite fascinating with what he does.
@Nevadahalfrack ~ The closest example I could find is a 1970 Super Bee project known as Project ZomBEE, which is taking place at a company called All Classics Restoration in Statesville, North Carolina.
Its story can be found here:
https://moparconnectionmagazine.com/project-zombee-update-dave-chamberlain-classic-muscle-metal-amd-to-the-rescue/
Up to $25k now! His auction is toast. No one is going to honor their bid. Ever.
I’m really curious when this was last on the road. With antique plates, I wonder when in Florida they were issued. Seems like this went downhill fast if it was someone’s pride and joy at some point. Scary to see it rot out so bad so quick.
The biggest thing is location. Look on the map, where Ft. Pierce is located at. Right on the Atlantic Ocean! Salt water! That’s what did this car in, not so much time, but location. People think Florida cars are all rust free, they’re so, sooo wrong! It all depends on where the car spent it’s time.
Collector plates are ripe for abuse in some states. Many use them to not pay regular license fees. They are meant to give us guys with hobbyist cars a break because they are not our daily drivers, but many cheat on that. Google it, many examples.
Wow 😮
Pull the plug 🔌 it’s dead 💀.
Not worth scrap but the vin tag may make a 318 existing car do the shuffle to 3 8 (1+2). 😵
Then bring over a tach and a/c dash .
Geese future buyer you need psychological help and a money management class too..
Right you are, TCOPPS- as a parts hound I see some useable parts, maybe. Parts car with a clean Fla title. IMHO guy has a huge set of stones to put a reserve on this tetanus heap. Up to 5100 and it hasn’t hit reserve yet. I’m wondering how many of these rust buckets aren’t sold due to scammers and gold chainers with buyers remorse. If the can use them, Mo power to ’em. Shame to see a desirable Charger in this condition. Good luck!!
Cheers
GPC
Funniest line is that “…the owner says that it (a 440 Magnum) runs well and that the oil is clean.” In this POS, looking that rough, how would you know it would START much less run.
Put it back on the end of the chain so the boat don’t drift away…
Yes, I bet it has sat in those weeds for years. If it runs, it barely does. People should be ashamed to offer junk like this, and even more ashamed to buy.
Looks like it’s being eaten by maggots. So strange to leave it in the yard 25 feet from the garage where you should have stored it. R/Ts have been worth money forever, at what point did he look at it and decide, “Oh, yeah, guess I better sell this then.”
“H” in the VIN is for the 383 so it’s not an R/T. If it was an original R/T it would have had a factory 440, not the 383.
Not a real R/T. 69 never offered plum crazy purple. There is no tic toc tac in this car as the article states but it is an a/c car. That’s about the only thing this car has going for it.
I love the closeup shot of the doorframe rust, in some sort of effort toward transparency. How do you even pick ONE area on this mess to call out?
If it’s a real R/T, it would have had a base 440 Magnum, or possibly King HEMI. The steering wheel is R/T, as is the tic-toc.
Maybe he realized that it was the only spot identifiable on the car, as all the rust elsewhere on it just blends in to one big ball of iron oxide with a coat of purple paint around it?
This is like something I imagine Hercules said when he walked into the Aegean Stables-“What a pile of….!”
or something like that.
And BTW, by saying “runs good” means it used to, as looking at it now, it sure doesn’t.
I want some of what the owner has been smoking !
I would run good and far away from this tetanus pile. nothing good to see move on.
I think this one is past Vanishing Point. Been vanishing for some time.
Vanishing Point? It’s well on the way to vanishing.
If someone restored this car it would be a labor of love for sure.
Looks like a new distributor cap and accel wires…uhh the tail end has like fallen off may take 2 or 3 rollbacks to get it all moved
Leave in silly paddocks, get silly results. R/T = Rust and Tetanus ? Tic Toc Too late. 😑
Last owned by the Dukes of Rust Hazard.
Let’s all say a prayer…ashes to ashes, rust to rust…
I see some good valuable parts worth picking….. the rest is surely useless.
Hey Adam…. as an ex-pat Brit I appreciate the reference to the “rubbish skip”
Is it just me… or does it look like the seller cleaned the grill? It almost look like it came off a different car!
Looks like a nightmare restore… I guess if you have more money than sense …
Did the price of iron oxide just go up?
$5100 for what!? There’s an illness with some people and old muscle cars that are disintegrated. Truly Baffling.
It has rusted frame rails and even the glass is delaminating… What exactly are they buying for $5250 (current bid)? A 440 that allegedly has ‘clean oil’, a 727 trans, and an 8 3/4 rear – and a VIN tag. That plus a dash, tach, steering wheel, and a few interior parts.
If/when someone gets this on the road, they deserve a cover story in a Mopar magazine!
I’ll rule out any value in the VIN#. It’s an original 383 car. If it’s a factory magnum 440 it’s $600-800 in my area. Weird man, just too weird.
Literally separating at the seams. When you look at ALL the photos on eBay you see even the roof seam, area around the gas filler, cowl, hood and trunk lid are simply holding on with what’s left of the rust molecules. This car must’ve been something when it was new. There is another MOPAR in the garage in primer, and it obviously beat this Charger out of a prime spot many, many decades ago.
If you look at the E-bay Photos that is just a regular clock not the a Tic Toc Tac.
OK and Again looking at the photos how does it “run well” with no distributor? Sure the cap is there but the housing is missing.
first poster was right. Plum Crazy!
I usually don’t comment on the obvious but this MF’r is a hot mess of rust, the iron moths have been working overtime here and have sent for reinforcements, the seller has added information stating it does not have the tic-toc tach, only a clock, but it does have at least a 440″ because
i can see the raised block where those numbers are stamped adjacent to the distributor. So all you mopar gurus, what exactly does the fender tag tell us, is it a genuine R/T because as I remember it 440″s were the base engine for an R/T, which has been previously stated.
A thought comes to my mind that if someone can afford 5G for this wreck , why would he even bother with the tired , worn , pitted , etc “salvageable” parts ? He obviously could afford better stuff if he can throw that kind of money at this. If it was going to be restored or the parts going on another restored car , wouldn’t you want better parts than the stuff thats been left to the elements for decades ?
The only good I can say about this Charger is that someone put a nice paint job on it at one time ; the only area I see where the light green paint is showing is by the wiper motor. Many times when a Mopar gets a new paint job the engine bay gets painted black as does the trunk area ,but it looks like this car may have been stripped down before it was painted . Too bad it sat forgotten for so long
Florida being a peninsula is surrounded by salt water the same curse the north east has dumped on the road hear in the ice coast!! I’ve rebuilt the whole ass ends of cars and I don’t think it’s one I would tackle!! Not only is it one of the biggest quarter panels ever but without a jig it would be a monster task to get straight again!!! Good luck but if you can part it for one in better shape I think you’d be better off!!!
I remember a Mopar Action Magazine story about a company called Legendary Motor Car Company in Ontario using a jig to build a Viper-powered 1971 Plymouth Cuda, so that wouldn’t be out of line for a Mopar in this condition, especially since AMD already makes all the sheetmetal parts for Chargers.
Is it just me or does anyone else feel this shouldn’t even have been posted on BF? Can’t believe someone is trying to sell this not to mention people bidding on it!
I would not touch this with a 10 ft pole I won’t even haul it away if it was given to me! BUT with that said I reluctantly give the seller some credit in the fact that he is getting over 5k for something that is worth less than nothing!
To think I parted out 2 rust free 69 Charger RT’s in mid 70’s. A 4 speed and other an auto trans. Both were 440 serial # cars. Drove home. 4 speed was $160. Auto was $200.
Too late to cry now. They helped save 3 1969 Charger 500’s I also had. Wat 2 do. Film at 11
Loading now for a Tucson show Saturday, tomorrow. See ya there?
This is scrap.
The bidders will not honour their bids.
Big joke. Quite a few this week
Woops, that is Willcox, Arizona, not Tucson. Rustfree zone.
So with 2 days left in the auction some a$$clown just bid the price up to $6k for this miserable heap of dilapidation. SMH
This looks like something that Mark Worman and his Graveyard Carz associates would be interested in tackling. Assuming it isn’t too fragile to transport, AMD sheetmetal would come in handy since they make all the necessary parts. In which case, the new Hellephant crate engine would be at home here.
…THIS is a perfect example of all that is wrong with classic mopar/chryslers.
A stone cold crusty POS
like this will undoubtedly fetch BIG dollars from so called “collector” types (or wannabes) just on supposed investment potential alone. They’ll haul it to some resto shop, sign a bunch of checks, and when the car is finished drive it atop a trailer and that’s how it moves for the rest of it’s life. They’ll do the car show circuit to collect shiney, meaningless trophies.The car itself will never see the road again; except to back down the trailer and into a garage..until the next show. If ya see one over restored Charger, Roadrunner or Challenger – ya seen them all. I say let this heap donate it’s still viable parts (whatever that might be) at let the rest die in peace.
Speaking for myself, if I had a hot rod shop of my own and built this car back up, I’d prefer to drive it in an autocross event, especially if it had the Hellephant engine.
Even though my “name” says Landyacht, I’m a second gen Charger guy. Had a pair of 1970 Chargers, wish I never sold them in the late 1980’s, but I did. But trying to get back into one, this is a reason why I cant afford to. 10K+ for this absolute pile, it’s probably hasn’t moved because once you try to move it it will shred like making pulled pork from a boston butt. I’d pay $1000 for the parts but that’s it.
I’m floored that is going for north of 10K, you can get that 72 Hornet and the 65 Bel Air for the same price as this and still have some scratch left for new tires.
It’s why I’m looking for a Land Yacht!!
No Plum Crazy til 1970. Total heap of dog turd. Not a real RT. Only a fool would buy this.
What’s changed is that the seller got his buddies to make fake bids in an effort to trick some poor fool into thinking this heap is worth $10,000+.
WOW alot of haters , If I were building a pristine one of these surely this car even tho rusty would represent a real treasure chest of what maybe incredibly hard to purchase parts, and looks a complete car,probably original so parts per its exact specific model ,a title to it ,a complete set of running gear should its new owner want a complete drive train to potentially build to hotrod or drag specs, these cars are rapidly becoming hard to get a hold of so in accordance are climbing in price-I think the price stated as reserve simply represents intelligence atwork,the owner obviously wants asmuch as they can get n good on them if ya post sales too low of price ya cannot raise it,but if too high you can adjust dwn later. In my lifetime Ive witnessd many various vehicles that 20 or 30 years ago I may pay 4 or $500 dollars for now fetching 20-000 plus in really pretty poor shape,its crazy, but as with this hey if the owners can raise that price good on them, I know dwn here in New Zealand ya dont see these going up for sale less than approx $80-000 but maybe stateside you guys still see alot of these??
Luke, we DO see a lot of these here in the states…from lowly slant 6s in the engine bay to full blown hemi. Lots of basketcase Chargers have shown up on BF over the past few years. Lots in this shape with entire sections of the underbelly missing, no motor or transmission, glass missing, interior shot, owner dreaming of winning the lottery with their precious rotting tin in the backyard or woods.
CCFisher I was thinking the same thing. Trouble when u want to cash out. SMH.
Good luck and stay safe.
Cheers
GPC
The seller is the only one plum Crazy. Oh wait that is anyone that pays to remove the pos. Bring.a broom and shovel .
“Hey Ma, ya think I ought ta sell that Charger?”, “Naw grampa, let it rot for another ten years, then we’ll sell it”
This could be a bad idea to buy this one… lol
The Valve Cover has Rust holes in them ..
The frame has to be gone
Wholly sweet merciful lord!!!! It’s bid to over $25,000 right now. What is going on here?
If it was a Hemi car I could see the interest, but for this???? Wow . Wish I had a yard full of them right now if they’re going for this kind of coin
25K? I wonder if the bidder actual pays this…would sure like to know.
Rustbucket! Junkyard! Nothing more to say!
It was junk when it went through the auction before and it’s still junk now!!! It was bid up last time to over $10,000 and didn’t meet reserve!!! The owner should have taken the money and ran!!!!
The shill is strong with this one!
Nothing to see here folks move along move along. Let the tin worn finish its job.
Seriously though I’d Like to see a pic of this car in ten years with it sitting right where it is.
Now bid over $25K by 3 contenders with 0 buyer history. Nothing suspicious about it at all.
Fake bidders all the way. Report it to Ebay and fix this guys ass.
I personal know this car. It is a pile of nothing but rust. That car has sat there for over 15 years. There is not one good frame rail or any piece of sheet metal. Dash is ruined as water has completely ruined the complete interior. If they try to move this car it will crumble where it’s at. Someone has lost there mind at $25K.
I can’t believe that the bidding is up over $25K for this hunk of junk. These bidders must be plum crazy themselves!
Ald me buddies are heppin dem bidders bwing da moni uppa hier fo mo moni
I’m not lichen this one bit.
Complete scam bid process. No one with any feedback. Just all an outright lie. Sad.
Good lord. The turd collapsed under its own weight. The only way the “buyer” will move that thing is with a garbage can and a shovel.
But this makes it official. The hobby has lost its effing mind.
hmmmmm
Agree that the bid of $25700 on this POS is probably fake. Or maybe the bidders thought they were bidding in lira or pesos.