1st Generation Charger at Mecum Auction High Bid $100k, car not sold

[chargerperson]

I realize there are more 2nd generation owners here... but for the first generation owners/fans...
Believe this is the highest price offered (car not sold as apparently reserve not hit) for a first generation Dodge Charger.  Car at below link just went across the block at Mecum auction.  Bidding hit $100k but car did not sell which is the highest I have ever seen by a decent margin.  Tim Wellborn collection had one auctioned n the 60s (62K?) for a very good original hemi see car here https://www.mecum.com/lot-detail/FL0115-204119/10197/1967-Dodge-Hemi-Charger-Show-Car/Automatic/ .  This car only had 1,955 miles and was a 66 Hemi with some racing history and is very original

Believe the last four or five cars did not hit reserve, all generally big money, so auction does not seem to be going well.  Too bad would be nice to have regular auction in northeast.

https://www.mecum.com/lot-detail/PA0715-217185/0/1966-Dodge-Hemi-Charger/Automatic/Lot S117 //  Harrisburg 2015   // July 30-1 LOG IN TO

LISTING INFORMATION APPEARS BELOW

1966 Dodge Hemi Charger
426 CI, Unrestored with 1,955 Miles

'Boss Hoss' is how Dodge referred to its new Hemi Charger in their 1966 advertising, and for good reason. The engine that had taken the nation's racetracks by storm since 1964 was now going to be placed in production street models, and no Chrysler was more exciting in 1966 than the brand-new Charger. Based on an auto show prototype, the new car was stylishly created with a full-length console, a luminescent turbine-pod dash cluster, and fastback roofline. It gave Dodge its first design-specific entry into the musclecar marketplace. The car offered here shows a documented 1955 actual miles on the odometer, has a very limited ownership history and was formerly a race car. It has 'the right stuff.'

For one, it is unrestored, painted in a rich Dark Green Metallic with complimenting black interior. Like all Chargers of this era, the interior features front and rear bucket seats. On the outside, it features covered headlamps, 426 Hemi callouts, and the special CHARGER taillight lens, unique to these first-generation examples. Even more unique is the optional NASCAR three-piece deck spoiler, a factory add-on that helped make circle-track history. With a build date of June 2, 1966 at the Lynch Road plant, this car was very likely among the first batch assembled with this spoiler for NASCAR rule homologation. As a result, Dodge won the 1966 NASCAR Grand National crown thanks to driver David Pearson.

This car was just one-family owned for its first 31 years; special ordered and sold new at Berks County Dodge in Reading, Pennsylvania, the first owner lovingly cared for it until his death in 1990. His widow kept it until 1997. Since then, its only other owner and current caretaker has shown it occasionally at select events, trailered and garage-kept otherwise.
Of course, under the hood is the A102 426/425 HP Street Hemi engine. It is backed by a floor-shifted A727 TorqueFlite transmission and Sure Grip rear differential. As with all Chrysler Hemi cars, this Charger came with the factory heavy-duty suspension. The only visible upgrade is to a set of matched five spoke aluminum wheels for a mild day-two appearance. An unrestored boulevard legend with brawn would be enough, but there is one more important fact about this car.

It went to the 1970 NHRA U.S. Nationals, not as a pleasure cruiser or highway star, but as an actual competitor in SS/EA, which had been reindexed that year. Very few 1966-1967 Chargers ever raced at this annual drag racing event, even when new. Included in the sale will be photographs of the car in action in front of tens of thousands and a copy of the 1970 NHRA event entry list. The car still has some of those competition parts, among them headers into the full exhaust, real Atlas Plycron tires, and performance gearing. Additional provenance on this car's history include the original Hemi owner's manual that came only in cars equipped with this engine, the Certicard, and Chrysler Registry documents.

The legacy of the Street Hemi lives on even to this day. This Charger and its sisters is how Chrysler got that engine into the headlines, but few of the handful that survive can equal this car's unique racing and preservation heritage.

HIGHLIGHTS

- Unrestored
- 1955 actual miles
- Left the Lynch Road Assembly Plant on June 2, 1966
- Sold new at Berks County Dodge in Reading, Pennsylvania
- One family owned until 1997
- Two family owned since new
- Original owner retained car until 1990
- 426 CI Hemi engine
- Participated at 1970 Indianapolis Nationals
- Documented with photos and official race entry list
- Garage kept and trailered to races and shows
- Original Hemi owner's manual
- Certicard
- Chrysler Registry documents 

[A383Wing]

spoiler was not offered as 3 piece set until 1967, plus the one on the car is mounted wrong. There were 8 Hemi cars in 66 that had the center section of the spoiler only, no end pieces. Has 67 parking brake light, also pedal dress up trim was not offered on these cars....

[chargerperson]

Given those imperfections and the high price, I wonder if seller should have taken the $100K.  Seems like they should have.  To each his own but that is the highest price I have seen for a first generation

[Barfyspitz]

You know at some point you would think that people would start to realize that these cars are worth as much as they're trying to get out of them and the prices would start coming down to reasonable rates.

[bakerhillpins]

Believe the last four or five cars did not hit reserve, all generally big money, so auction does not seem to be going well.  Too bad would be nice to have regular auction in northeast.

That auction seemed packed (at least to me) compared to some of the previous ones I was watching. I think that Harrisburg will remain on their schedule purely because there are no auctions in the Northeast. Plus, they make money either way. They just make more when it sells. I think the Wellborn prices we saw a few months back got some folks thinking that their "special" cars were worth a ton and they are fishing. Personally, I think the consignor should have sold it and ran to the hills but it's not a car I would lust after anyhow. I didn't even think the Wellborn cars were worth what folks paid for them so so what do I know. 

With the shrinking incomes of the majority of the working class I am watching the classic car market with great interest to see what is going to happen over the next 10 yrs. Because we all know what happens when the demand falters. The housing market is up, really up right now and the market around here is flooded. If the fed raises rates this fall I think things are going to slow down dramatically and what we are seeing is everyone trying to get in now before the door closes.

[tan top]

 

[tan top]

 

[wingcar]

Someday in the future the First-Generation Chargers will become popular, but they will never be as popular as the Second-Generation Chargers have become.  But when all the Second Generation Charger and the Third Generation for that matter are all taken....THEN the Fastback will have a larger following...maybe.  The fastback look is an acquired taste that some like and others not so much.  It has much to offer but so far most are to busy looking for that special '68 or '69 Charger to park in their garage. 

Perhaps someday they will get the respect they deserve.....maybe what they need is their own TV show.....I wonder how far they can jump.....

[chargerperson]

Tan Top
Thank you for adding the pictures.

They help illustrate (to me anyway) the point I was trying to make - the green one at $100k was receiving a very fair price certainly relative to the Wellborn one (white car pictured here). 

[Ghoste]

If it was a no sale there is no way to know if it actually bid to that.  If he put a ridiculous reserve on it the auction company can run it up to a that makes great press but where they know the guy won't cut it loose. 

[Daytona Enthusiast]

 

[Ghoste]

I think I had that issue of PHR.

[wingcar]

I to have that issue of Popular Hot Rodding. 

I also now know where "Showcars" the sometimes questionable body parts supplier from Canada got one of his pictures to incorporate into his parts catalog.....LOL