Unrestored Bronze 1969 Charger coming up for auction in Jan.

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

Wow! Gorgeous!    Wonder what it'll bring?

https://www.mecum.com/lots/FL0119-359652/1969-dodge-charger/

Guesses?  

Engine
383/330 HP
Trans
Automatic
Color
Bronze
Interior
Brown
HIGHLIGHTS
Unrestored
2018 AACA Spring meet badge for Preservation of Original Features
27,000 original miles
Original broadcast sheet included
Code H 383/330 HP V-8 engine
D32 A727 Torqueflite automatic transmission
T7 Dark Bronze Metallic color
A01 light package
C5S bucket seats
D53 3.23 rear axle
CIG console with bucket seats
G15 tint windshield
H51 air conditioning with heater
L72 headlamp warning
M21 roof drip rail moldings
M26 wheel lip moldings
S13 Rallye suspension with sway bar
V1 vinyl roof
W21 14 inch chrome styled wheels
Three original Good Year Polyglas tires and the original spare
Original unrestored cars continue to garner major attention on today's marketplace, and even more so when they feature classic muscle-car styling and a big-block engine for power. This 1969 Dodge Charger shows 27,000 miles, is unrestored and was the recipient of a 2018 AACA meet badge for Preservation of Original Features. Documented by its original broadcast sheet, second-generation Chargers from the 1968-1970 era are in serious demand in any condition, and 1969 models are especially prized for their popular inset-grille styling, flying-buttress rear glass design and fame thanks to Hollywood productions like "The Dukes of Hazzard." Beneath the hood of this unrestored Mopar is the H-code 383/330 HP V-8 engine, the venerable V-8 big-block that was so important to Chrysler's powertrain legacy. Here it is backed by the D32 A727 TorqueFlite automatic transmission and D53 3.23 rear axle for excellent highway manners. The carefully-chosen paint is T7 Dark Bronze Metallic, accented by the M21 and M26 roof drip-rail moldings and wheel-lip moldings, flip-top gas lid and Charger-script emblems. Underneath it all came the Charger's standard S13 Rallye suspension with sway bar. The V1 vinyl roof in black beautifully complements the light tan interior, which is filled with deluxe components like the A01 light package, C55 bucket seats, C16 console with floor shifter, G15 tint windshield, H51 air conditioning with heater, L72 headlamp warning indicator and Chrysler AM solid-state radio. One final attractive touch was the W21 14-inch chrome styled Magnum 500 road wheels, three of them which still wear the original Goodyear Polyglas white-stripe tires, and the original spare is in the trunk. Many buyers opted for this body design without needing eyeball-searing performance, and the 383 was an excellent choice. That this car has arrived at this time 50 years later in such amazing condition speaks volumes about its desirability.

[69 OUR/TEA]

Wow is right !!!!  Almost looks to good to be original , not saying it isn't but I def would want to see this one in person to see paint/interior with an eye , not a photo . This car has never surfaced or been known about to any of us here ??

[69 OUR/TEA]

Oh , and my guess is $55-70k .Alittle more if it were triple green !!!!!

[F8-4life]

If only it was a 4 speed, but then it would be trashed.

[hemi-hampton]

Nice, Reminds me of my old car. only this one much nicer. LEON.

[Challenger340]

Really nice car  
I will be watching this one closely as should we all, because it will probably a good barometer of the market away from Vanguard prices.

Curiously though,
I see absolutely NO mention of "original" paint ? nor therein the descriptive "Survivor" typically attached to the original paint Cars in such condition ? 

And later,
when I researched "2018 AACA meet badge for Preservation of Original Features", my understanding was the award is strictly for that preservation of original features, with ambiguous references to what can or can NOT be done to bring the Car back to original ?
Not knocking the Car, just say'in.... I wonder about NO specific mention of "original" paint ? (ie: "survivor") beyond being implied by the 27,000 original miles ?

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

At first though, I thought it might have been this car cleaned up, but it's not an R/T 

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,74322.0.html

This 69 R/T is so clean it looks like all you need to do is wash it off and drive, check it out. I can't remember seeing many original chargers this nice.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1969-Dodge-Charger-R-T-all-original-survivor-/320601144619?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item4aa5513d2b

I was there when they rolled it of a flat bed, neat car and they have done nothing to it. It looks just like the older pics.

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

Really nice car  
I will be watching this one closely as should we all, because it will probably a good barometer of the market away from Vanguard prices.

Curiously though,
I see absolutely NO mention of "original" paint ? nor therein the descriptive "Survivor" typically attached to the original paint Cars in such condition ? 

And later,
when I researched "2018 AACA meet badge for Preservation of Original Features", my understanding was the award is strictly for that preservation of original features, with ambiguous references to what can or can NOT be done to bring the Car back to original ?
Not knocking the Car, just say'in.... I wonder about NO specific mention of "original" paint ? (ie: "survivor") beyond being implied by the 27,000 original miles ?

Looking on the old thread on Survivor Terms, I wrote this:

Survivor is such an overused word - I can see why David Burroughs sought to copyright the term    
Here is some interesting reading on whether to restore - or NOT  

http://www.bloomingtongold.com/inc.php?link=Restoreitornot

Restore it? Or Not!
By David Burroughs
The question "when to restore a Collector Car versus leaving it alone" elicits different answers from people with different missions.  Here are 3 points of view:

1.  Bloomington Gold's mission is to preserve the historic accuracy of factory production cars.  Therefore, we recognize and inspire collectors to preserve cars in or restore them to typical factory production...no better, no worse, no different. But make no mistake, our first goal is to preserve whenever possible.  We suggest restoration only if the car is already restored (altered) or has deteriorated to a point where finishes such as paint, fabrics, or plating are no longer useful as references.  In short, our philosophy is the same as the Smithsonian Institute: Do no harm to historically accurate artifacts.  Period.

2.  In contrast, a Restoration Shop's mission is (generally) to restore things.  Otherwise they'd be called Preservation Shops.  In their defense, they don't make money until someone wants something restored.  Not only that, many restoration shops simply lack the knowledge or motive to advise a novice owner or collector when to "leave it alone."  So, their answer when to restore is normally far less conservative than Bloomington Gold's.

3. Finally, the Car Owner's mission is usually to receive recognition.  Historically, that equates to making it "shiny and perfect," because neighbors and fans at the local car show normally don't ooh and aah over dulled paint and a slight tear in a seat cover.  Even if it's on low mileage SURVIVOR® or BENCHMARK® cars.  It is tragic how many wonderfully preserved (and valuable) cars' DNAs have been "destroyed" by cosmetic  restorations in order to win a $25 trophy or the praise of an oblivious next door neighbor.

Like it or not, there will always be these last two segments of the collector car industry exerting pressure away from historic perfection and toward cosmetic perfection. It's just human nature.

All that said, Bloomington Gold has been remarkably successful inspiring more and more people to appreciate the value and rarity of authentic unrestored originals...and it appears to be gaining some ground.  First, notice the difference between cars restored in 1978 vs. 2008.  Although most restorations today are "over the top," they are still far more accurate than they were 30 years ago when Bloomington Gold began moving the industry in this direction.   Second, notice the broad use of the term "survivor" by people trying to add value to the cars they are marketing.  Until Bloomington Gold introduced the world to SURVIVOR® in 1990, no one described cars that way.  Today, people are becoming proud of it.  A few character marks and patina have become badges of honor and certainly help document a car's authenticity compared to a restored one. Bloomington Gold's vision has come true in large part and people are following it.
In fact, a collector just paid a cool $1.65 million for a 1911 Oldsmobile that doesn't quite yet meet SURVIVOR Standards (because it can't pass the road test part of SURVIVOR Certification).  Why pay so much for a car that doesn't run?  The owner was wise enough to understand its significance and rarity as is.  Although it may be a long time before the majority of collectors figure this out, a rapidly growing segment of the collector car market is beginning to realize the benefits, rarity, and prestige of owning these type cars.  Once restored, there is one less.
Run a want ad looking for a beautifully restored Corvette, Ferrari, Mopar, or some other highly sought after collector car. Responses will come out of the woodwork.  Good ones, too.  Then run an identical want ad except change the wording from beautifully restored to "nearly show room new unrestored original."  Then wait.  Then wait some more.  Then think about what this means.  It means that highly unrestored original cars are by definition much more rare than restored ones.  Therefore, Bloomington Gold is confident that more and more people will become increasingly aware of the key ingredients that drive up the desirability and value of most collectibles:                  
• Rarity                  
• Desirability                  
• Paperwork / Documentation                  
• Excellent unrestored original condition
Likewise, we urge owners/collectors to consider the following facts and to think twice before moving toward cosmetic restorations on really good original unrestored cars.

Fact #1:
In the collector world (other than cars), restoration and refinishing drives value down.Within the great collections of antiques, toys, firearms, timepieces, furniture, paintings, coins, and other historic pieces or fine art, the unrestored item is the most desirable and prestigious to collect.  In fact, some would argue that refinishing or restoring a fine original piece is equivalent to an act of vandalism.  In the long run, why will car collecting be any different?

Fact #2:
Like vandalism, restorations can be repaired; however, they can never be reversed.

Fact #3:
Simply refinishing (or repainting) is equivalent to restoration in termsof irreversibility.

What's wrong with this picture?

We are aware of several owners who purchased BENCHMARK Certified Corvettes and restored them to make them cosmetically perfect.  Ironically, they ended up "stealing defeat from the jaws of victory."  They started with a car that had already achieved the most prestigious award; then spent over $100,000 more to make it cosmetically perfect, and ended up rendering the car capable of only attaining a Gold Certificate and never again being able to qualify for the much more prestigious BENCHMARK.  How's that for going backwards?  And paying for it to boot!

In conclusion, here is our advice to our friends in the collector car industry:
Decide which type perfection is best to pursue; cosmetic perfection or historic perfection?
Do not act on advice from restoration shops alone.  Get outside opinions from noted / respected judges, writers, collectors, or others with no vested interest.  Then decide.
Realize the true rarity of SURVIVOR® and BENCHMARK® level cars in comparison to similar cars that have been restored.
Realize the premium that many collectors, organizations, and dealers place on cosmetic perfection versus historic perfection and authenticity demonstrated by lack of restoration.
Realize the premium the Smithsonian and other fine art museums place on "originals."
If you want something cosmetically perfect, there are thousands of restoration candidates available for that purpose without needing to use good unrestored originals:
                 • Ones that have already been restored.
                 • Others that have deteriorated clearly past the point of preservation.
                 • Still others that are historically important but are in pieces.
For more information about:
                 • Becoming SURVIVOR® or BENCHMARK® Certified
                 • Becoming a Certified SURVIVOR® Judge
                 • How SURVIVOR and BENCHMARK trademarks help the industry
                 • Criteria for SURVIVOR and BENCHMARK
                 • The important differences between being unrestored and Certified
                 • Preservation Techniques
                 • How to determine what you have
 

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

And more on the subject:

More about the term, Survivor:

As read here:

http://www.survivorcollectorcar.com/?link=trademark

Importance of the Trademark:

Background
Before 1990, ads in Hemmings or other magazines described unrestored cars in many ways (original, unrestored, authentic, genuine, stock, preserved, etc.) but the term "Survivor" cars was never used.  Then things began to change. David Burroughs, who created Gold Certification in 1978, created the standards and process for judging original unrestored Corvettes in 1989. Bloomington Gold then immediately registered SURVIVOR® (and BENCHMARK®) with the United States Patent and Trademark Office as the brand names for Authenticating Certain Collectible Automobiles.


Like an explosion over the past five years, Survivor has been used by people all over the world as a descriptive icon like "hot rod" or "muscle car."  However, unlike hot rod or muscle car, Survivor® is a brand name.  Unlike hot rods and muscle cars which are vague in definition (and were never trademarked), Survivor has a very clear and distinct definition, set of standards, and process which must be met in order to be properly used. So, a more parallel comparison is that Survivor is often used more along the lines of Xerox, Kleenex, Scotch tape, and Vise Grips.  People are so familiar and comfortable with these trademarked brand names that they don't think twice about using them as generic descriptions of these different product categories.  But it is misuse, nonetheless.

Nearly 20 years after it was coined by Bloomington Gold, some enthusiasts have the mistaken impression that Bloomington Gold was trying to hijack the term Survivor from the car collector community. Just the opposite was true. Bloomington Gold has made significant effort to protect the integrity of the brand it created nearly 20 years ago.  We have communicated through articles, websites, and personal conversations with leaders and the media to educate the community why it is important to object to its improper usage.  It is damaging because it dilutes the "value" in having a clear and set standard—symbolized by the SURVIVOR mark—to assess vehicles in terms of their unrestored condition.  This value is not so much to Bloomington Gold as it is to the people who obtain SURVIVOR Certification for their cars.

In other words, the Bloomington Gold SURVIVOR process adds value to the vehicle and the owner can then communicate that value to potential buyers (in ads, at auction, etc.) by use of the SURVIVOR mark.  With one single word, the buying public then understands much more fully the nature and quality of the vehicle being promoted or sold.  That is an important "short hand" communication technique that is real and meaningful.  If it wasn't, why would so many people be so emotional about wanting to use it?  However, when others misuse the mark and refer to anything and everything as a "Survivor", the collector that has the real SURVIVOR certification has lost real value--in terms of real dollars--because of such misuse.  Without our efforts to protect, educate and provide true SURVIVOR Certification to all marques, the mark will become so diluted as to be meaningless.  That would be a great loss.

Thus, not only will Bloomington Gold lose a valuable trademark, but the interested public will no longer be able to rely upon that trademark as a set "standard" with a set "value".  Everyone in the collector car community loses in such a scenario.

Course of Action:
Rather than chasing people away from our brand name through lawsuits, Bloomington Gold believes it is important for the greater good of the entire collector car community, to pull them closer through education, inspiration, and inclusion into our process.  In short, we need to offer our Survivor Certification process to any other marque whose judges are willing and able to meet the same high standards Bloomington Gold requires for its Corvette judges.  Certified SURVIVOR judges may then award SURVIVOR Certification to the cars within the marque for which they themselves have been trained, tested, and certified by Bloomington Gold.  Permanent records including photo documentation, signed inspection forms, and any important notes would then be kept in master files at Bloomington Gold headquarters for future reference and authentication.  This way the entire collector car community (far beyond Bloomington Gold) contributes to the preservation of not only these wonderful automobiles but also the integrity of the long standing SURVIVOR standards.

To this end, Bloomington Gold is embarking upon a three-year plan to put this industry-wide process into place.

Once a marque has bona fide Certified SURVIVOR Judges, that judging team has the authority to sign off SURVIVOR Certified cars for which they are qualified and the owners have the right to use the SURVIVOR trademark in ads, displays, descriptions, etc. etc. as long as it is associated with the car to which it was awarded.

[tan top]

,

At first though, I thought it might have been this car cleaned up, but it's not an R/T 

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,74322.0.html

This 69 R/T is so clean it looks like all you need to do is wash it off and drive, check it out. I can't remember seeing many original chargers this nice.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1969-Dodge-Charger-R-T-all-original-survivor-/320601144619?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item4aa5513d2b

I was there when they rolled it of a flat bed, neat car and they have done nothing to it. It looks just like the older pics.

that was my first thought too  , !  then realised it was not an R/T,  from memory there has been a couple of green  XP 383 69s that were / are unrestored  on ebay over the last couple of years ...

[tan top]

 

[tan top]

 

[INTMD8]

Beautiful car, I love the colors. 

[VegasCharger]

Nice car! 

What's up with the battery? Stripped labels?

And no battery hold down bracket.

But a stunning looking Charger, too bad it's not a '68.

[69 OUR/TEA]

As said , it is not implied that it is orig paint , hence why I commented about seeing it in person . If it is orig paint , Wow what a nice car .If it is a repaint it cannot be deemed a survivor and eng compartment is orig and interior , then that is why they are saying unrestored . Still a real nice car either way .

[ACUDANUT]

Wow is right !!!!  Almost looks to good to be original , not saying it isn't but I def would want to see this one in person to see paint/interior with an eye , not a photo . This car has never surfaced or been known about to any of us here ??

Neither has my 70 Charger.   

[hemi-hampton]

As said , it is not implied that it is orig paint , hence why I commented about seeing it in person . If it is orig paint , Wow what a nice car .If it is a repaint it cannot be deemed a survivor and eng compartment is orig and interior , then that is why they are saying unrestored . Still a real nice car either way .

If a car has original paint most people are sure to mention that important fact. If it does not they won't mention the paint or if asked they try to evade that question but talk about how nice or original everything else is. LEON.

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

I have a differing opinion. By their proclamation of "UNRESTORED", it implies it's original paint. They need to state with clarity, either way. It's too vague. 

[Challenger340]

I have a differing opinion. By their proclamation of "UNRESTORED", it implies it's original paint. They need to state with clarity, either way. It's too vague. 

I agree !

GREAT Car !    Not knocking it..... but IMO, seems vague specifically around the exterior paint ?

Just say'in,
with a toothbrush detailing regime on the interior/underhood, I know of more than a few otherwise UNrestored solid originals with exterior only repaints that would present similarly impressive/documents/tags/etc. etc. otherwise unmolested?

[bigdsul]

What a damn fine car!

[JB400]

Nice car for sure.  I'm surprised the lower part of the doors aren't painted.

[paironines]

The dash pads appear to be dyed or painted to me. I have almost this exact car and original tan interior pieces had a mismatched appearance from pad to pad. Ill have to check on my lower doors to see if they are T7 or interior saddle color, that will tell alot.

[6bblgt]

a 1969 Charger (or SE) with C6T (or CRT) tan interior would have T3 Upper Door Frame (UDF) paint

T3 = "light bronze metallic"
T5 = "copper metallic"
T7 = "dark bronze metallic"

[Challenger340]

a 1969 Charger (or SE) with C6T (or CRT) tan interior would have T3 Upper Door Frame (UDF) paint

T3 = "light bronze metallic"
T5 = "copper metallic"
T7 = "dark bronze metallic"

Now I am a bit confused.
Are you saying the T7 exterior color, on the bottom of the door interior is wrong or right for the CRT ?

[6bblgt]

all of the '69 Chargers with tan interiors C6T & CRT should have the Upper Door Frames (inside of the door weather-strip) painted T3 - "light bronze metallic" regardless of exterior color

yes, it appears to be incorrectly painted on the subject Charger