My friend's 1971 Charger R/T

[Magnumcharger]

I was recently contacted by a friend. I usually see him around once a year at the occasional cruise night in town. Back when he was 18, he ordered a 1971 Charger R/T, in Plum Crazy Purple.
He drove it for 5 years or so before selling it to his cousin. The cousin had it for around five years as well, doing a bit of damage to the K-frame by running it into a concrete lane divider in winter.
My friend bought it back in 1981, and put it into his garage to slumber for the next 30 years or so. He pulled it out once, just to move it to his daughter's garage when he sold the family homestead.
Now the daughter is moving across the country as her husband has found work out west. So the Charger lost it's storage.

This is when my friend called me asking for advice as to what should be done with the Charger? I said "restore it!"
He asked me to come over to his daughter's house to get a look at it, so I did.
What I saw was a Charger partially disassembled, with rust throughout, but in better shape than most other 1971 cars from this area! (Maritimes).
I told him I thought the car was worth restoring, but it was going to be expensive. On the upside, there is no better time to restore one of these cars, as AMD makes almost everything this car needs.
He told me a guy had been hounding him to buy the Air Grabber hood off of it for years. In fact, he'd offered $3000 for the hood alone. I told him "by no means, do not part this car out! You're the original owner!"
He said he'd think about it. I told him if he needed storage right away, he could put it in my shop until spring, then decide what to do.
The next day he sent me an email: "I'd like to sell the hood for $3000. If you choose to buy it, I'll give you the car for free".
So, I bought the hood!
I drove over to his house that night with my truck and trailer and brought it home.
Now it's slumbering safe and sound in my shop...on the list of cars "to do"!

[polywideblock]

wow    that's one good friend     your a very lucky guy

[Ghoste]

Great car, great story and great score!  

[crj1968]

So instead of parting it out (namely the hood) he sold you the whole car for $3K?


Oh nevermind.... I missed a line in there. Nice!   Cool car !

[Magnumcharger]

Another thread, another R/T, but the same owner back in the day.
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,66876.0.html

[archie360]

Great story! All we need is a pic of that $3,000 hood 

[Daytona R/T SE]

The purple car  

I want it !

[F8-4life]

Dude you got a hell of a deal.

[EccentricMagpies]

 

Great score

[RallyeMike]

Very cool. Congrats!

[Magnumcharger]

Great story! All we need is a pic of that $3,000 hood  

Well, it's purple, has R/T stripes on it and it has an Air Grabber (Ramcharger) hood!
I might have a shot of it somewhere...will post it when I get off work.

[moparchris]

Very cool.  It looks like a White interior.  Is it a 4 speed?

[Magnumcharger]

Very cool.  It looks like a White interior.  Is it a 4 speed?

Black vinyl top, white interior, automatic.
Here's a couple of shots I took of it back in 1982...and a couple the other day!

[rt green]

nice. I thought you said it was rusty.

[1970Moparmann]

Cool story! 

[73rallye440magnum]

What a bargain! And what a great friend. Neat story.

[TUFCAT]

What a bargain! And what a great friend. Neat story.

X2! 

[Magnumcharger]

nice. I thought you said it was rusty.

Yes, its rusty! But I can fix it. AMD to the rescue!
Total 1971 Charger R/T production: 3118 units
Total 440 4 BBL w/Automatic: 2172 units
Total FC7 (Plum Crazy Purple): 203 (Via Galen Govier)
Total N96 units: ?

Figure 1/10th of production went to Canada, based on population ratio US/Canada.

[hemi68charger]

That is a VERY cool story and it is great the car's found it's way to a place that may restore it....... What a combination; purple, ramcharger and white interior.. Very nice........ I see you have the rimblow too....   

[Magnumcharger]

I put the rim blow steering wheel on it. I had a cheesy aftermarket wheel installed by the second owner. Of course that had to go!
Strangely enough, I found the rim blow on a 1971 Curious yellow Dart, back in the woods on an abandoned property while out hunting one fall.
I had it restored by Doug Lepak (The Steering Wheel Guy) about ten years ago - for no other reason than I thought it deserved to be done.
How fortuitous that I was ahead of my own acquiring curve!
Anyhow, after getting the Charger tucked away in my shop for winter hibernation, my friend contacted me and said we should get together and round up the remainder of the parts for the car, which were scattered in various locations.
We took my truck and headed out to his old rural property.
There was a small outbuilding at the edge of a field at the tree line. The roof was starting to cave in a bit and the door had rotted off it's hinges. But - inside was both front fenders, a complete hideaway headlight/bumper assembly, the original front bumper and grille assembly, another complete set of R/T tail lights, the original (damaged) trunk lid and the front valance.
All of this untouched by anybody in over thirty years, yet open to anybody who might have been curious!

[Magnumcharger]

The Rim Blow in question, post restoration.

[Magnumcharger]

One fender had been replaced at some point in the car's life between 1971 and 1981. The inside was devoid of undercoating.
The other fender was original, and full of body filler. This car had a rough decade of use!
The front valance was still in it's "post crash" deformation.
The Original front bumper sported a cracked grille on one side. The other perfect side came in the trunk when I picked the car up.
The hideaway headlamp setup is nearly perfect, one small crack that I could see.

[Magnumcharger]

Luckily, the original owner had taken the time (and money!) to purchase a few items for the car, in anticipation of it's eventual restoration. The exhaust tips and wheel opening moldings were both bought directly from the Chrysler parts counter of the selling dealership.

And he hung onto the Ramcharger Air cleaner too!

[charge69]

You scored, big time !! Those parts are highly sought after and expensive when found !!

[polywideblock]

   

                      that's a nice haul you've got there , love the nos exhaust  tips   

[Magnumcharger]

Also came with another 15" x 7" Rallye wheel! So now I have a pair!
The original dealership decal on the trunk lid, which was damaged in a parking lot by an errant driver. The very rusty trunk lid on the Charger right now came off of a 1971 Charger 500. This car also donated it's driver's side door, which had the R/T louvers transplanted into it.

[polywideblock]

have you registered with the 71 charger RT registry ?   

                                        http://www.71chargerrtregistry.com/

[FJ6N96]

Excellent story!  Keep us up to date with it's progress.   

[Magnumcharger]

Yes,  I did! But for whatever reason I haven't seen my information appear on the website?!

[polywideblock]

it took a while when I did mine , Johnnybee does the super bee registry as well