Rarity?

[69_500]

Oh now come on you left wing liberal. JK


Don't call it a political thread, because on the old site all the political threads were locked.

[bull]

I know some people are willing to shell out more money due to Galen giving his okay to a car, however I'm just not one of them personally.
I don't own one of his white books, and don't ever intend to own one. I have looked one over before, and didn't see a whole lot that would be worth purchasing one for.
All of his stats, are of "known cars" as in cars that are regsiterd with him. If you have a 1 of 5 according to him, that is of known cars, not actually 1 of the 5 ever built, but 1 of 5 registered with him.

I don't own the books either. I'm not a frequent Charger shopper and a lot of that resource stuff can be had online anyway. But if I were one of these guys who buys and sells classic Mopars all the time I'd probably get the books just to have an easy reference to take along. If I decided to buy a Challenger or Cuda I'd probably get one too because I don't know much about those cars. Not enough to figure out if they are numbers matching anyway. I don't plan on selling my car but if I did I seriously doubt I would pay for Galen's service. If it means that much to a buyer he or she can pay for it or pass on buying my car.

[69_500]

As far as telling if a Cuda or a Challenger is numbers matching its the same as with a charger. Decoding a fender tag is the same, these cars all use the same codes. Now there are some that are specific to different cars, such as A11, A12, and such. But not too many that don't go from one body style, to another.

[bull]

Are the stampings in the same locations? The good thing about Cudas and Challengers is that they are post '70, which means a lot of that information is easier to find. My very early '68 Charger does not have the sequence stamping on the rear top of the engine and yet they were supposed to start doing that in January 1968. My car left the factory on Jan. 8, 1968 so did the stamper guy miss the memo? The block has a proper casting date and yet no stamp other than the one at the distributor base.

[69_500]

The stampings on the motor are in the same location. Tranny is the same way. All cars fender tags are on the driver's inner fender , unless your talking about a car that is prior to 1960 and then its in the door jam.
The 69-74 cars to me are a little easier to decode as far as fender tags go. I pretty much have the list of options memorized, except for a few that I have to continue to look up. But those are pretty rare options that you don't see every day.

[Ghoste]

I had stayed out of this for the most part because I am very much NOT a Galen fan.  But I see Bull's point now.  To us, he is trading on a reputation that he perhaps blows out of proportion.  But to someone who is a neophyte to all this, they hear Galen, Galen, Galen and they are willing to spend the money on his say so.
FWIW, Galen has been doing this since the late 70's.  He was writing a decoding column for the newsletter of the Mopar Muscle Club way back then.  And begging us for any information on cars we could provide.  You didn't have to get out your wallet to be in his exalted presence back then.

[69_500]

I remember his writing some adds in various club newsletters requesting information back in the early 80's but nothing as far back as the 70's. Then again I wasn't alive but for 2 years of the 70's, but I do have quite a few old newsletters from the late 70's to current time.

He does his part for the hobby, but I just wanted to make a note to some newbies that might be reading here that there are other people who can give you information just as good. And for a lot lower of a price, more than likely for free.

[Drache]

My father's Charger was a 1970 R/T 440 Magnum, 6-pack, 4-speed, 8 track player, black vinyl top, and who knows what else... oh yeah it started it's life Plum Crazy purple! How rare would that be? 

[Lowprofile]

I don't know about you guys, but I didn't get into this hobby because of matching numbers, special production codes, 1 of a kind, etc,etc......... I just like cool cars. I wouldn't care if my Charger was a 318/ Auto or a Daytona Hemi 4 Speed, I would DRIVE it as much as possible, and enjoy every minute of it. I really don't care about the investment side of this hobby, unless of course you're talking about the investment of time, which in most cases, translates to love of your hobby/car. Now, I'm not saying you guys don't Love your cars/Hobby, I just don't get the whole obsessive/compulsive attitude about numbers correct cars &the outrageous prices people are willing to spend for them. Maybe its just me, but I've never looked at my cars as a investment.

OK, I'm done.

[hemihead]

I agree with 69_500 Galen is not THE mopar authority.He does not register every Mopar out there nor does he want to.Go to his website to check out the list of cars he wants to know about.Only the high dollar models.I know guys who know as much about Mopars as he does and maybe more , and the won't charge
you a dime for their info.As far as the 70 500 Hemi goes,i don't believe without documentation to back it up.Too many people out there trying anything they can to get rich quick.

[hemigeno]

Are the stampings in the same locations?   My very early '68 Charger does not have the sequence stamping on the rear top of the engine and yet they were supposed to start doing that in January 1968. My car left the factory on Jan. 8, 1968 so did the stamper guy miss the memo? The block has a proper casting date and yet no stamp other than the one at the distributor base.

Bull,

If you're talking about your 383/2v car and its stampings, IIRC only the HP motors got the stampings.   I dunno if that meant 383/4v, 440 & 426, or just the 440/426 cars.

Just a foggy recollection here - somebody else probably knows their '68 stuff a lot better than me.

As far as the Galen issue goes, he's the default guru (my term, not meant as derogatory) until someone else displaces him.   That doesn't make him perfect or infallible.   I agree w/ Danny that on specific categories of cars, there are sources that far outshine GG in what they know or can look up.   Since I know where some of those sources are, I wouldn't ever contact Galen about one of them.   However, the average Mopar enthusiast probably doesn't know about their alternatives and goes to Galen because of his unarguable name recognition.   In that case, their ignorance is bliss and they assume they've tapped into the best resource for historical info.   It is not likely that Barry W.,   Dave B., Dave P. or any of the other treasure-troves of info will approach Galen's name recognition status simply because of their narrow field of (extreme) expertise.   Someone is going to have to try and be the Jack-Of-All-Trades that Galen has tried to be in order to compete w/ him.   When that happens, the opportunity for mistakes to be made increases greatly IMHO.   Back where we are with Galen then.

The worst observations I have of Galen revolve around his attempt to take credit for the research/discoveries others have made (the recent Moparts.com thread as the golden example), and his general inapproachability unless the meter is running.      

Incidentally, I do own a couple of his white books.   I hit the '69 Parts Manual first if I'm looking something up, but I do find the books handy - even though I don't consider them as gospel.   Just another resource...

[Ghoste]

Exactly.  Just another resource.

[dart3404]

We have the twin to badbobs car except ours is an automatic and it wasn't free.

69 SE sunroof car one of 260

[bull]

Are the stampings in the same locations?   My very early '68 Charger does not have the sequence stamping on the rear top of the engine and yet they were supposed to start doing that in January 1968. My car left the factory on Jan. 8, 1968 so did the stamper guy miss the memo? The block has a proper casting date and yet no stamp other than the one at the distributor base.

Bull,

If you're talking about your 383/2v car and its stampings, IIRC only the HP motors got the stampings.   I dunno if that meant 383/4v, 440 & 426, or just the 440/426 cars.

Just a foggy recollection here - somebody else probably knows their '68 stuff a lot better than me.

Really? I had no idea that was the case. I wonder why only the HP stuff got the stampings?

As far as the Galen issue goes, he's the default guru (my term, not meant as derogatory) until someone else displaces him.   That doesn't make him perfect or infallible.   I agree w/ Danny that on specific categories of cars, there are sources that far outshine GG in what they know or can look up.   Since I know where some of those sources are, I wouldn't ever contact Galen about one of them.   However, the average Mopar enthusiast probably doesn't know about their alternatives and goes to Galen because of his unarguable name recognition.   In that case, their ignorance is bliss and they assume they've tapped into the best resource for historical info.   It is not likely that Barry W.,   Dave B., Dave P. or any of the other treasure-troves of info will approach Galen's name recognition status simply because of their narrow field of (extreme) expertise.   Someone is going to have to try and be the Jack-Of-All-Trades that Galen has tried to be in order to compete w/ him.   When that happens, the opportunity for mistakes to be made increases greatly IMHO.   Back where we are with Galen then.

[hemigeno]

Are the stampings in the same locations?   My very early '68 Charger does not have the sequence stamping on the rear top of the engine and yet they were supposed to start doing that in January 1968. My car left the factory on Jan. 8, 1968 so did the stamper guy miss the memo? The block has a proper casting date and yet no stamp other than the one at the distributor base.

Bull,

If you're talking about your 383/2v car and its stampings, IIRC only the HP motors got the stampings.   I dunno if that meant 383/4v, 440 & 426, or just the 440/426 cars.

Just a foggy recollection here - somebody else probably knows their '68 stuff a lot better than me.

Really? I had no idea that was the case. I wonder why only the HP stuff got the stampings?

There were basically two reasons Chrysler stamped anything: Theft prevention/fraud; and for warranty purposes (this last one is why so many things have a date code).   Since the blocks still had a casting date, it would have been possible to identify if an older blown/broken motor was swapped into a newer car to try and scam the warranty.   Almost certainly, the engine/tranny stamping was done to be able to identify an HP drivetrain if it was stolen and showed up for sale somewhere.   I suppose the non-HP motors weren't as subject to theft as much.   Starting '69 though, I think they all got stamped.

[69_500]

Your right on the stampings on the engines and parts there Geno. I talked to some people at a show not too long ago who were in charger of Qaulity control at Chrysler in 1969. Now I told that they did a piss poor job on some of the cars, and they just laughed. Said hey, it was 1969, and quality control meant the car started and drove off the assembly line, and was sold at a dealership.

The parts numbers for everything came about for quality control reasons too. If a part went bad, they knew where that part was made, and by the date codes on parts they knew what other parts to recall if necessary.

[Chad L. Magee]

Bull-   How many 68 383-2bbls. are in your registry now?   I don't know if the KC guy has registered his car yet, but I am no longer on speaking terms with him (car deal went sour).   Anyways, Wayne registered my 68 as well as my black 68 383-2bbl, auto in DCR.

I got to thinking about another rare charger that I have and have yet to see another quite like it:

1970 Charger RT, 440-4bbl., 4-speed, dana-60, triple black (exterior, top and interior), stripe delete, hood call out in white (based on previous sightings of the car in the past-fender tag long gone)

[69_500]

I would think that any triple black Charger R/T would be a rare find. That to me is the ideal color combination. However I don't really want a triple black, just a black HEMI 500 and a black HEMI Daytona. I know I'm not picky or anything am I.

[Chad L. Magee]

I would think that any triple black Charger R/T would be a rare find. That to me is the ideal color combination. However I don't really want a triple black, just a black HEMI 500 and a black HEMI Daytona. I know I'm not picky or anything am I.

Naw, your not picky.  I just want the 70 /6 500 SE.............

[69_500]

Being a little more realistic I would just like a Daytona and 500 that match, both with same color interior, exterior, and stripe color. However I want the Daytona to be a 4 speed, and the 500 to be an auto.

[Chad L. Magee]

Well, good luck finding those.  The best I can do with my collection is that both of my 68 383-2bbls. have matching interiors: white with red inserts.  Unfortunately, both need the interiors redone also.......

[bull]

Bull-   How many 68 383-2bbls. are in your registry now?   I don't know if the KC guy has registered his car yet, but I am no longer on speaking terms with him (car deal went sour).   Anyways, Wayne registered my 68 as well as my black 68 383-2bbl, auto in DCR.

I still have the same number. I sort of backed off when this site started: http://www.1968dodgechargerregistry.com/ I would like to see subcategories on that site at some point but I'm happy for what it is at the moment. I think it would be so cool if we could get the info on all 74 of the 2bbl/383/4spd cars, wouldn't it?

[Chad L. Magee]

Bull-   How many 68 383-2bbls. are in your registry now?   I don't know if the KC guy has registered his car yet, but I am no longer on speaking terms with him (car deal went sour).   Anyways, Wayne registered my 68 as well as my black 68 383-2bbl, auto in DCR.

I still have the same number. I sort of backed off when this site started: http://www.1968dodgechargerregistry.com/ I would like to see subcategories on that site at some point but I'm happy for what it is at the moment. I think it would be so cool if we could get the info on all 74 of the 2bbl/383/4spd cars, wouldn't it?

Yeah, it would be really cool to see what each one had for options......

[Charger Steve]

The 6 cyl slant six was not an option untill 1969. There were no 68's made with the slant six.

[694spdRT]

The 6 cyl slant six was not an option untill 1969. There were no 68's made with the slant six.

They actually did offer the slant six in 1968 and 920 were built. Here is a link to one in a recent Ebay auction.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Dodge-Charger-Dodge-Charger-1968-Low-Production-Factory-Slant-Six_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6199QQitemZ4604582077QQrdZ1