this could be interesting

[mikesbbody]

forgive my warped imagination but lets say there was a company that could replicate your favourite mopar (anything hemi charger, challenger, daytona,) whatever you wanted just like a brand new factory car but made today not 1970 or 71 etc and lets say it was very affordable (i dont know, 20-30k?) would you buy it? remember this wouldnt be even a clone car but a brand new 60's or 70's mopar muscle car.
I ask this because i went to year one and was given a tour out the back. They had a 69? camaro (something forgettable) whatever it was and i was told it was completely new every panel on the car.
So, does it have to be the "real deal" or if it looks the same, drives the same is that good enough? Oh, one more thing what if this company was outside the usa? would that make a difference? maybe you woudl be better off with a new challenger? id will be interesting to hear what you guys think and once again i apologise for my imagination gone wild!   

[TruckDriver]

It's not crazy. I just watch the Sema show on Speed, and they showed the Camero bodys and the new '67 Mustang tub, front to rear stub that is now made all new. I say Mopar should be soon too. The only problem is you will see places like Halpg and just regular people doing the 'ol vin # swaps. Then selling the cars as originals. They are going to have some way to prevent falsification on these new body shells.

[72chargerSE]

Good question...

I would be afraid to drive a brand new 60's - 70's car everyday simply for safety reasons... we take for granted airbags, anti-lock brakes, crush zones, side impact beams, energy asborbing bumpers, etc, etc, etc..

Lets not forget our everday creature comforts... My 7 year old daughter actually thinks it's neat that she has to ROLL UP the window with a crank, not an electrical button in my Charger!!, and the radio has a little "red dial thing", and the front belts have the shoulder harnesses tucked up by the headliner....

Man, when I was a kid....... LOL!

It would have to be built in the UNITED STATES of AMERICA!! I CAN'T SHOUT THAT LOUD ENOUGH!

GOD bless the USA!

[mikesbbody]

I agree with 72chargerse it would seem kinda weird driving the perfect mopar muscle car and knowing its not made it the usa after all thats where it all started. but if it came down to not finding any repacement fenders for my charger and there were perfect aftermarket ones made in china what to do? but i have heard its already happening with fords and chevy's so we could be next.

[ChargerSG]

I hope they never will make any Mopars bodys, like Da' ChargerGuy said wrong people will make profit of that...

[Mean 318]

They are  makin whole fiberglass body's for 69 RRs so I think it will only be a matter of time

[41husk]

It's not crazy. I just watch the Sema show on Speed, and they showed the Camero bodys and the new '67 Mustang tub, front to rear stub that is now made all new. I say Mopar should be soon too. The only problem is you will see places like Halpg and just regular people doing the 'ol vin # swaps. Then selling the cars as originals. They are going to have some way to prevent falsification on these new body shells.

[41husk]

sorry, to early, I meant to ad text to the above.  Anyway, I think the biggest ethical question is when is a vin no longer valid.  I have a 73 U code rallye Charger the 440 is not numbers matching and the body had a lot of mud on it.  So I bought a 74 SE and am using the fenders at least one door and probably the deck lid.  It also has a 72 air grabber hood.  So more than 1/2 the body pannels and all of the drive train did not start life with this car, as well as many other components, A/C, carpet, radio, fuel sending unit, and electrical.  So is this a 73 U code car?  If it were a 69 R/T SE that had a 318 car used for a doner in the restoration, at what point would it stop being the car on the VIN?  and if it is ok to use a doner car what would be wrong with using new sheet metal? 

[Chatt69chgr]

Whether a Mopar unibody would be produced or not will boil down to a simple matter of economics.  Just think how many Camaro's and Mustangs were built.  Now compare that to how many say 68-69 Chargers or 70-71 Cudas were built.  Because of the volume of Camaro's and Mustangs, a huge aftermarket parts business evolved.  Every nut, bolt, and screw is availble for these cars.  Every obscure grill item....!  Lots of these cars are available to get parts off of too.  There are many, many items for the Mopars that have not been reproduced.  We can't even get front fenders for 2nd gen Chargers.  No telling if they will ever be available. And very few cars to get parts off of.  So if you could buy the unibody, where would you get all the parts to build the car?  Granted that some folks need a new unibody that already have a car and could transfer parts to the new unibody.  But how many of these folks exist?  Now factor in the fact that Chrysler is getting ready to sell you a new Challenger for probably under $30k with a hemi and a 5 (maybe 6) speed manual transmission that you can get into, turn the key, and drive anywhere without worrying about the car breaking down that has all the modern safety features in it.  Are you going to spend $50k for a car to take to cruise-ins or $30-$40k for a car that you can drive all the time?  Just my 2 cents worth.

[Charger_Fan]

I'll be happy when the day comes (if ever ) that they make factory correct complete 1/4's & rear valance corners for 2nd gen Chargers. I don't care if they make a complete car body.

[Argos_Chargers]

What would be weird about driving a '60s or '70s vintage ca?.  My daily drivers are '78 nd '79 Magnums.  I take the '70 Charger out every chance I get.  There is nothing like being behind the whell of my '70.  I would have no fear of driving the remade muxcle car.  The problem is that this car would never pass emissions or current safety codes.  They could not sell a car without airbags, could they?  How badly would they have to bastardize a REAL 440 to make it pass emissions?  Even if you buy only a body, in most areas the emissions control standards are based on the year the car was produced, and you are not supposed to (yea, right) put an angine ina car that was produced prior to the car itself.

Argo

[Brock Samson]

 yeah great idea!

something like this?..



http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.carolinarodshop.com/current_proj/smc_pu/smc_288.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.carolinarodshop.com/current_proj/html_files/smc_home_pg.html&h=449&w=784&sz=172&hl=en&start=2&tbnid=d4XDVK7OQLhZpM:&tbnh=82&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsouthern%2Bmotor%2Bcompany%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG

[Lostsheep_01]

A lot of the fun and draw of our vehicles is doing it yourself, not having it handed to you. IMHO

[mikesbbody]

I do agree with you it would be nice to have more repo sheetmetal at the very least dont you think?

[69 rt]

41husk
That is a great question. What is a numbers matching car and what if donor car fenders or other body parts are used for the restoration? are doors and fenders numbered? Or does it consist of engine tranny rearend? When you think about it even the lights could come in to play. Just a thought.