new body shells going into production

[GOTWING]

A buddy of mine at work is restoring a 69 Roadrunner 383 car, the car is loaded with new AMD metal now, he is very happy with the quality and fit and finish of all the pieces, anyhow we got talking about all the pieces for the cars we all love,  (and I know this is not a E body sight )  but we were looking through a yearone catalog and the 70 Challenger full body shells are going into production! It may be old news to you guys but I thought that was the coolest thing ! The question I have is when is the 69 Charger body shell going to be made? You would think it has to be made right? ! I could see 70 RR/GTX and even A body Dusters going into production for the bracket racer.

[myk]

10 years ago I would've said it couldn't happen, but looks like it finally is.  I think it's a great thing-at some point people are going to want to start building these things from the ground up...

[jaak]

I don't know if Dynacorn or anyone will ever make a new Charger shell... But with all the AMD parts available, I wonder if a company will ever make a new one out of available aftermarket parts. There is a company (can't remember the name) in Florida that makes new tri-five Chevy bodies using all new aftermarket parts (floors, quarters, etc.) They got jigs made up to align everything then the weld it all up together...presto! new body.

Thing about these new bodies though... they are priced so high that usually a project can be bought, and needed metal replaced, and still be cheaper than what a new shell would cost.

Jason

[Cooter]

sure, new body shells may very well be made in a 69 charger, but for the $16,000 they want for that challenger body, I can't see the guys on here screaming about a $4,000 Roach of a 68 or 69 charger original body buying one of those.

only the rich can afford a brand new body.

[ACUDANUT]

True Cooter, who would pay 16k For a shell. ?

[Homerr]

True Cooter, who would pay 16k For a shell. ?

Someone with $16k of rust on their original Charger.

[Charger-Bodie]

I don't know if Dynacorn or anyone will ever make a new Charger shell... But with all the AMD parts available, I wonder if a company will ever make a new one out of available aftermarket parts. There is a company (can't remember the name) in Florida that makes new tri-five Chevy bodies using all new aftermarket parts (floors, quarters, etc.) They got jigs made up to align everything then the weld it all up together...presto! new body.

Thing about these new bodies though... they are priced so high that usually a project can be bought, and needed metal replaced, and still be cheaper than what a new shell would cost.

Jason

Real deal steel.

[Daytona R/T SE]

I can do a  W - H - O - L - E  lot o' fixin' for $16K. 

[rt green]

I can hear it now.    nice charger, is it a real one?

[Cooter]

That's not to even mention the rebody aspects....

[JB400]

I say that they won't make just a Charger body.  I say what they'll do is make a b body unibody and sell it instead.  Leave it up to the buyer to decide on whether it's a Charger, Road Runner, or Coronet body style.  It would make the most sense and would probably put the cost at around $9k.  That is well within project car territory.  I say there might be a builder's option in which they'll add the body panels for additional costs, but I see just building the unibody alone as a more profitable option.

[Mopar Nut]

I say that they won't make just a Charger body.  I say what they'll do is make a b body unibody and sell it instead.  Leave it up to the buyer to decide on whether it's a Charger, Road Runner, or Coronet body style.  It would make the most sense and would probably put the cost at around $9k.  That is well within project car territory.  I say there might be a builder's option in which they'll add the body panels for additional costs, but I see just building the unibody alone as a more profitable option.

[Mike DC]

    
Every time a guy pays $16,000 for a new body, it means he won't be using his huge wallet to bid against you for a good used body. 

[greenpigs]

sure, new body shells may very well be made in a 69 charger, but for the $16,000 they want for that challenger body, I can't see the guys on here screaming about a $4,000 Roach of a 68 or 69 charger original body buying one of those.

only the rich can afford a brand new body.

If it wasn't for the rich, do you think they would make a new Challenger body?

[myk]

Well, whether it's reproduction grilles or Charger shells, despite the cost there'll be someone that'll buy into it...

[70 sublime]

   
Every time a guy pays $16,000 for a new body, it means he won't be using his huge wallet to bid against you for a good used body. 

Yes but will they not be bidding against you to get the rot box parts car to get the VIN tags

[Cooter]

sure, new body shells may very well be made in a 69 charger, but for the $16,000 they want for that challenger body, I can't see the guys on here screaming about a $4,000 Roach of a 68 or 69 charger original body buying one of those.

only the rich can afford a brand new body.

If it wasn't for the rich, do you think they would make a new Challenger body?

Nope. Only the rich and very upper middle class. I would have to kick my own ass if I bought a shell for $16K...No VIN, Fender Tag, Pedigree, Hemi engine, Dana 60 rear, NOTHING but a brand new shell. And missing the front clip at that???

I see rebodies [Flippers] and rich people making these last for a little while. But, then again, I refuse to pay $16K for an older car even with all that sh*t on it.

[Baldwinvette77]

slightly off topic, but even in the last fast and furious movie with a budget of ... ALOT they chose to use 9 real 69/70 mustangs for the movie instead of building clones with dynacorn shells because it was more "practical" 

[billfury]

You could do a original body for $16.000 from US tools.I think they call it body in white. If you do get a new body,will it have a new vin from them?How do you tag it?

[Mytur Binsdirti]

When I was AMD down in GA last spring, I asked them if they were going to make complete shells & I was told that because of potential accident related liability issues, they were not entertaining that thought.

[wingcar]

I can see it now:   You are at a car show with your totally restored Charger and a guy will walk up and ask....."Is that a real one or a reproduction?" 
At that moment you finally realize how the owner of an original Cobra feels.      

[Homerr]

Just imagine how this would cut down on down on one of the most expensive parts of restoration - time in a body/paint shop paying someone else a premium rate to work on your car.   (For those that can't do it all themselves, of course.) 

The body could be delivered to the shop, they do any minor repair, block it, and paint it in, what, a couple of weeks?

Then take your rust bucket's parts and start swapping them over at home in your own garage with them side-by-side.  No need to bag and label everything - take a part off and put it back on the new body.  Downtime could be as little as a month if one has decent mechanicals, interior, trim, etc!  Then recycle that rusty body for others to use any good bits left.*




*Assumes that VIN issues are moot.

[tan top]

   
Every time a guy pays $16,000 for a new body, it means he won't be using his huge wallet to bid against you for a good used body. 

Yes but will they not be bidding against you to get the rot box parts car to get the VIN tags

yeah any of the  rotted  out  R/T s  hemis  &  rare optioned chargers , still unrestored ,   will be bought up by these guys , prolly end up being almost as many New reshelled  cloned original  chargers as originals  ,

When I was AMD down in GA last spring, I asked them if they were going to make complete shells & I was told that because of potential accident related liability issues, they were not entertaining that thought.

yeah that's something to think about 

[GOTWING]

that's just it, say you have a super rotted hemi car, you swap over to a shell with your fender tag, dash tag etc, weld in your body numbers, well then what do you have? is it considered fraud? is it still a real hemi car? if you do not weld in body numbers but use your old dash vin is that ok and accepted?? 

                                                 

[myk]

that's just it, say you have a super rotted hemi car, you swap over to a shell with your fender tag, dash tag etc, weld in your body numbers, well then what do you have? is it considered fraud? is it still a real hemi car? if you do not weld in body numbers but use your old dash vin is that ok and accepted??  

                                                 

Anyone who does that just merely has to be candid and forthcoming about the car:

Myk: "Hey cool car man!  Does it have a Hee-mi?  Is it an original body with original factory air in the tires?!?!"
Jay Leno: "yes, it has a Hemi, no, it is a re-body with air from a Harbor Freight compressor."  
Myk: "Thanks a lot Jay, you're the best, and Letterman SUCKS!"

See?

[GOTWING]

 

[Old Moparz]

New body shells to start in April of 2008.   

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,27055.0/all.html

[Mike DC]

slightly off topic, but even in the last fast and furious movie with a budget of ... ALOT they chose to use 9 real 69/70 mustangs for the movie instead of building clones with dynacorn shells because it was more "practical"

$16k for a body shell does not get them the whole car, whereas $16k for a rustbucket does.  Just the time & effort alone of trying to round up all the stuff you don't get with a bare unibody . . . they would have ended up buying a fleet of complete-car rustbuckets to finish the repro body shells anyway. 

The only thing really wrong with a rustbucket is the apperance and possibly the structural integrity.  As long as they avoid buying cars that are bending in half with rust they are okay.  (And most of their cars are sourced from the Los Angeles area.) 

Even structural integrity is becoming less crucial for the raw material cars.  The rollcages are growing steadily more elaborate in the cars being driven (not just purposely wrecked) by people.  Bars extending out to the shock towers, going under the driver seat, etc.

[greenpigs]

sure, new body shells may very well be made in a 69 charger, but for the $16,000 they want for that challenger body, I can't see the guys on here screaming about a $4,000 Roach of a 68 or 69 charger original body buying one of those.

only the rich can afford a brand new body.

If it wasn't for the rich, do you think they would make a new Challenger body?

Nope. Only the rich and very upper middle class. I would have to kick my own ass if I bought a shell for $16K...No VIN, Fender Tag, Pedigree, Hemi engine, Dana 60 rear, NOTHING but a brand new shell. And missing the front clip at that???

I see rebodies [Flippers] and rich people making these last for a little while. But, then again, I refuse to pay $16K for an older car even with all that sh*t on it.

I still don't understand the dislike because you can't afford to do it, and no neither can I. If someone has the money to throw around, good for them as it leaves an original for the rest of us that can't play at that level.

[Cooter]

Dislike?  far from it.   I think its great. Just making an observation about the price as many here did with Bobfist's repro grilles.
I have an E body and have owned more than I thought I ever would at three, so it dont make no nevermind to me.

[Mike DC]

  
Sell people a whole unibody in individual pieces, and you're a hero for helping save the originals.  


Sell people those same unibody pieces already welded together, and now all of a sudden you're destroying the value of the originals.  

   

It's the nature of the beast.  We're talking about a hobby that places more value on a car's serial number than the condition of the entire thing. 

[greenpigs]

Dislike?  far from it.   I think its great. Just making an observation about the price as many here did with Bobfist's repro grilles.
I have an E body and have owned more than I thought I ever would at three, so it dont make no nevermind to me.

Your 3 up on me.

I doubt I ever get an E body, but a 70 or 71 Challenger is what I would want.

[6spd68]

True Cooter, who would pay 16k For a shell. ?

That's what I got mine for...  Only it was a complete car that had been through a rotisserie...  Still need an interior though

[GOTWING]

what are the chances they will ever make a 73 charger shell??   

[Dino]

what are the chances they will ever make a 73 charger shell??   

About a hair more than a '74.   

[472 R/T SE]

True Cooter, who would pay 16k For a shell. ?

I would say the same collectors who paid crazy money for this car. 

[472 R/T SE]

$16k & there's no front clip?

Pretty sure AMD reproduces the 'cuda fenders, what about the Dodge though?

[charger_fan_4ever]

 
Sell people a whole unibody in individual pieces, and you're a hero for helping save the originals.  


Sell people those same unibody pieces already welded together, and now all of a sudden you're destroying the value of the originals.  

   

It's the nature of the beast.  We're talking about a hobby that places more value on a car's serial number than the condition of the entire thing. 

Three very good points. 

[myk]

 
Sell people a whole unibody in individual pieces, and you're a hero for helping save the originals.  


Sell people those same unibody pieces already welded together, and now all of a sudden you're destroying the value of the originals.  

   

It's the nature of the beast.  We're talking about a hobby that places more value on a car's serial number than the condition of the entire thing. 

Three very good points. 
[/quote

Lol, best post in the thread...

[HPP]

I had to double check the dates on this thread because I could have sworn we had beaten this horse previously.

Last I heard, and this was last year, Dynacorn swore up and down they were not going to be making Charger bodies. They were done making the bodies they were going to make. Now, will AMD get into it. I doubt it. If Dynacorn wasn't interested, and they already make a whole bunch of repop bodies, I doubt AMD would follow suite despite the popularity of the 2nd gen Charger.

The whole real vs fake deal, again, I thought we had beat that one up too and the Feds have already weighed in on the subject in regard to the Dynacorn bodies, so again, moot point.

[Mike DC]

 
Dynacorn didn't tool up all those panels for their shells themselves, did they?  I've always assumed they were utilizing the existing reproduction tooling.  It's a long way from every single piece they would need but it's still a big chunk of the expense of a body shell.   


My point being that if every major piece of a body shell has gotten repro'd, then sooner or later somebody is gonna start welding them together.  If it's not the panel maker or Dynacorn then eventually somebody else will.  The industry doesn't have every major piece of a B-body reproduced yet but they are closing in on it.   



When the repro body shell industry was forming a decade ago, I'm sure they swore up & down that they would never make new '70 Challengers either. 

[HPP]

Probably not, but I bet they  weren't thinkng about remakng first generation Bronocs either, and those have beaten Chargers to the repo body availability.

I bet the introduction of a two door Challenger by Dodge suddenly meant there was corporate interest in blessing the manufacturer of old bodies was in place. While the Chrager exists in name, I don't know how well it transaltes to repoped versions.