The second I spied this 1966 Dodge Charger, I thought to myself, “Looks like L.A.” and sure enough it is. I’ve spent a bit of time, over the last ten years, in southern California and there are lots of interesting, old cars squirreled away in narrow backyards and alleys. It really is a mecca for such finds as the climate is perfect for body preservation and emission inspection rules don’t apply to ’75 and older models. Today’s find, a first-year, first-gen Dodge Charger isn’t exactly all together but it is an interesting study regardless. Tag along and I’ll show you what’s here.

The Charger was big news in ’66 and sold well with 37K copies. The virtually identical ’67, however, with sales of less than half of the inaugural year, was a big disappointment for Dodge. No worries, the uber-successful, and collectible, ’68-’70 edition more than made up for ’67’s shortcomings. The seller tells us that his car has, “No rust on body” but there is photographic evidence of surface rust here and there. The body is a bit banged up and with the trunk lid raised, you can see what was probably the original “Dodge Silver Poly” hue that has since been refinished in what is now a faded red. Other observations are the disconnected hood, broken taillight lens, and rust penetrated, bent rear bumper. Unfortunately, there are no listing images of this Charger’s front or passenger side.

There’s no mention of what originally powered this Charger and the VIN isn’t provided so that will remain an unknown. But…there is a Hemi engine on board, in this case, a 2008 Dodge Charger powerplant so it’s likely to be either a 5.7 or 6.1-liter variety. The listing mentions that the engine is “not connected” so it’s a non-runner. The transmission type is not stated.

The interior’s gray upholstery shows surprisingly well and the seller refers to it as “original leather” but I imagine it’s vinyl. The notable aspect of the interior is the full-length, front-to-back center console that separates the front and rear bucket seats. The dash and instrument panel seem to be complete and intact but the LA sun has done a number on the rear shelf.

While not holding the market value of the second-gen Charger, a first-gen example such as this ’66 edition is a worthwhile discovery. The circumstances with the engine, however, are troubling. I generally eschew these types of projects and prefer to focus on cars that still possess their correct engines, running or not – there’s no telling what you’ll end up with as far as this modern Hemi engine goes. As previously stated, the seller states that it’s “not connected”, if it ever were, and that could be a substantial undertaking – assuming that the engine is worth connecting. You can review more, here on eBay where this Dodge fastback is available for a BIN price of $4,800, OBO. Tell me, what would you do with this Dodge?