68 Pro Touring charger found - opinions/wiw???

[bzabodyn]

So after building a list of parts that I was going to start purchasing for my 68 pro touring project, I come across the car in NY - if anyone knows anything about it in general, that would be great. Here's the description followed by pics:


Dodge Charger 1968
Fuel Injected HEMI
1968 Dodge Charger Restored/Modified (Pro touring Style)
Modern performance combined with the best looking muscle car.
Ivy Green/Black Bumble Bee Stripe, Black Interior
Drive anywhere, anytime, no overheating no rough running, no issues period!
Current Mileage on reconstruction: 2,100
Engine:
5.7 liter fuel injection modern HEMI
390 Horse Power/ 410 ft. lbs. Torque
Custom fabricated oil pan
Exhaust System:
Custom tubular ceramic coated headers, dual H pipe exhaust, flow master mufflers, Chrome tips.
Cooling system:
Custom aluminum radiator with dual electric fans.
Transmission:
Automatic. "Lokar" Shifter and linkage
Rear Differential: 8.75" MoPar rear with 3.55:1 sure grip
Front Suspension:
Alterkation complete front including PromoStar double adjustable coil over front shock/springs, tubular upper and lower control arms. Front HD sway bar. Power rack and pinion steering.
Rear Suspension:
RMS Quad link coil over rear, with PromoStar double adjustable coil over shocks. Rear HD sway bar.
Brake System: Power disc brakes
Front- Willwood 6 piston calipers and 13" vented/cross drilled rotors.
Rear- Willwood 4 piston calipers and 13" rotors
Wheels/Tires:
Front- American Racing chrome Torque Thrust, Nitto NT40 225/50/17
Rear- American Racing chrome Torque Thrust, Nitto NT40 255/50/17
Interior: Complete reconditioned interior including Custom front bucket seats with retractable Lap/Shoulder seat belts. "Flaming River" Tilt steering column. "Vintage Air" Modern AC/ Heating system.
Electrical system: Fully integrated engine management control system, gauge cluster and all wiring replaced and/or upgraded. Quarts clock upgrade, Battery relocated to the trunk with cut off switch. HID head light system. Vacuum operated head light doors work perfectly.
$57,000.00 or reasonable offer. Cannot build it for this Price!!!!

The only thing initially I'll do are a few cosmetic things and new wheels/tires and tune in the suspension. Then I'll move into a larger G3 HEMI swap, new trans, etc. here's pics:

[Baldwinvette77]

The colours not bad, but its not what i would paint my car, its hard to say what a custom car is worth, there may be alot of expensive parts on it, but by comparison, reproduction and used original parts are just as expensive if not more  it's defiantly been used based on the underside pictures, i would see someone paying 45-50k for it  its no high-end show car

[1974dodgecharger]

that guy has been saying this car will sell fast for the last year now on craigslist.....its so fast in selling he has to keep relisting it.

[RIDELIKEHELL]

That has been forsale for a while now.

[Baldwinvette77]

you know if you intend on changing things like the wheels, powertrain, etc. it might be best to find a "restored" or well maintained 318 car, otherwise it would be money wasted on this car  perhaps you should keep looking 

[moparstuart]

Looks like he went pretty nice on the suspension and brake upgrades but then cheaped out and went only a 5.7 , Automatic tranny  ,  8 3/4 rear  ??

  30k - to maybe 35k tops and thats if its super nice in person  

  my  

[bzabodyn]

Yeah, I figured its been for sale for a while and I was never interested in buying a car that was this "complete/finished" already. Will be just as expensive to make it my own (esp motor/tranny). But I do like the color and with black wheels/blacked out trim/chin spoiler/etc it could look real mean.

I was just wondering what the number was if I could buy it right? I'm thinking $40k max

BZ

[73rallye440magnum]

It really isn't a wild build. Whoever built the car used some great middle of the road susension and braking upgrades (admittedly, nice additions).
Something to consider- You don't even want that engine. What will it fetch resale?
I assume you'd like to use the steering column and HVAC.

Pay close attention to how the car is wired. One can spend insane $$$$ chasing electrical gremilins on a modern engine in an old car.

"Cannot build it for this price"... Yeah ya could. I wonder what his receipts total. You couldnt have it built for that price.

It doesn't have power windows. I'm not particularly fond of the seats or steering wheel. Exhaust is mild for my liking. (But nice)

The body and wheel and tire combo looks great in my opinion. I wonder if the body was a solid foundation.

I bet it handles well. I'd love to have it in my garage. Just not for that kind of coin. I think Stuart nailed it.

[Cooter]

IMO, seller is crazy trying to sell in this economy at all. Everybody is gonna try and pick apart this build. No, one prolly can't build it for that if they paid someone to install all that crap, but trying to get the labor costs out of a build like this is a losing battle and seller is finding that out the hard way.


Everybody WANTS a car of this magnatude, but isn't willing to spend the coin on a "done" car, yet will spend almost if not more than that on one they themselves will Build and try to sell.

Of course, all this goes out the window if this is in fact a flipper who only bought it for $30K and trying to make a killing off it.

[Troy]

Geez, some people are never happy! I had planned at one point to build my car nearly identical to this one. It appeals to me because:
It should be a great driver.
It will handle and brake way better than factory.
It will start and run in cold or hot weather and at altitude.
It has a tilt wheel and A/C which you may not notice until you don't have it and you're in a dark colored car with a black vinyl interior.

Normal people don't need any more power for a nice cruiser than what this thing is putting out. You don't need a Dana at this power level - especially with tires designed to turn instead of drag slicks. The 3.55 gears are perfect for a cruiser and fun enough to play with. I can't tell what transmission it has but if it's an OD that's a big bonus (and $$$). Depending on who did the work and where the parts came from, the Hemi wiring harness is about $2k. The A/C over $1k, the brakes about $2k (guessing as I wasn't looking at exactly the same kit). If it's a crate motor and not a "take out" it's about $5-7k I believe. The exhaust, wheels and tires were also not exactly cheap. Throw in the suspension and you're well over $20k without even touching the body, paint, trim, or interior. Have you paid to have gauges rebuilt recently? How about chroming the bumpers and finding decent trim? It's not the big things that empty your wallet but all the small details that really set a car apart. As mentioned, to have a shop do all this it would cost a LOT of money. If you have the skill to do it at home and you bought used or take out parts you *could* (maybe) build it cheaper - but it will take a lot of time when you could just buy a finished one and drive it all summer.

I think it's priced high for this market - but if you could get it reasonably I wouldn't touch it. Just drive!

Troy

[JB400]

I'd have to agree with Troy on this one.  The car looks well done.  The electrical would be the only thing I'd really be worried about.  I'd prefer the car based 5.7, but that's just for appearance reasons.  Both make 400hp.  I'm not much for the color, but that isn't a  deal breaker.  Front seats, steering wheel, and the correct console lid would be a few things I'd change.

Being that it's a custom build with not too many original parts, $25k would be my limit.

[surmanajaja]

30-35k if its nice in person and the body was solid to begin with.

if you want a modern drivetrain, I would prefer the kind of car that was sale in here some time ago, a 2006 charger wrapped in a 68 body. I think that was 45k? it would handle better, be more reliable and you could take it to a dealership for maintenance.

[Cooter]

That 68 Body on a later body in the MM mag. ad said the guy would do conversions for $200K....I doubt it would go for $45K.

Plus, the car looked stupid afterwards IMO. Too much rocker panel hanging down under it.

[Baldwinvette77]

I dont think its that bad of an idea, if you find a car with bad rails and a junk floor, i see nothing wrong with chopping it all out and jamming in a late model charger underneath it... but im assuming they do this to nice cars...     ... oh wait he said he started with just a body.... Well atleast he saved one 

[WHITE AND RED 69]

It's a nice car but not for 57 grand. I'd say low 40's, the paint looks very nice and has some great aftermarket parts. But if you are going to swap out motors, wheels, wiring, and other things then I would go with a cheaper older restoration or a project with all the bodywork done.

XV Motorsports has been trying to sell this one for a few months. Real R/T and looks nicer. I think they were asking like 39 grand.

http://www.xvmotorsports.com/media/68_CHARGER_RT440BLUE.pdf

[moparstuart]

Geez, some people are never happy! I had planned at one point to build my car nearly identical to this one. It appeals to me because:
It should be a great driver.
It will handle and brake way better than factory.
It will start and run in cold or hot weather and at altitude.
It has a tilt wheel and A/C which you may not notice until you don't have it and you're in a dark colored car with a black vinyl interior.

Normal people don't need any more power for a nice cruiser than what this thing is putting out. You don't need a Dana at this power level - especially with tires designed to turn instead of drag slicks. The 3.55 gears are perfect for a cruiser and fun enough to play with. I can't tell what transmission it has but if it's an OD that's a big bonus (and $$$). Depending on who did the work and where the parts came from, the Hemi wiring harness is about $2k. The A/C over $1k, the brakes about $2k (guessing as I wasn't looking at exactly the same kit). If it's a crate motor and not a "take out" it's about $5-7k I believe. The exhaust, wheels and tires were also not exactly cheap. Throw in the suspension and you're well over $20k without even touching the body, paint, trim, or interior. Have you paid to have gauges rebuilt recently? How about chroming the bumpers and finding decent trim? It's not the big things that empty your wallet but all the small details that really set a car apart. As mentioned, to have a shop do all this it would cost a LOT of money. If you have the skill to do it at home and you bought used or take out parts you *could* (maybe) build it cheaper - but it will take a lot of time when you could just buy a finished one and drive it all summer.

I think it's priced high for this market - but if you could get it reasonably I wouldn't touch it. Just drive!

Troy

Didnt say all those things werent cool but just not 57k cool ,  at 57 k  I would want the 6.1 or the 6.4  hemi a manual tranny and a modern strange / moser  60 rear end or 4 link  . 

[bzabodyn]

Had a long talk with Burt - the gentleman trying to sell the car for the owner. The car hopped around a couple different shops before it got into his hands. Dad was building this for his son as 16th birthday present - family loaded with $$$ - the dad has over 100k in it total and money is no object hence the high selling price - doesn't need the money. So, I basically told him it'll continue to sit then. After we talked about the car it does seem like its a quality car but just too rich in this market and falls into "no-man's land" - not nice enough to compete with the high-end builds but not a project car either. Said he's had 3-4 solid offers in the $40-45k range in the last several months and the seller turned them all down. He even told me for what I'm wanting to do I'd be better off starting from scratch with a solid body car and building it on my own. So, I will!!!

BZ

[Baldwinvette77]

Sweet! 

[1974dodgecharger]

its overpriced only to the fact we dont like the specific parts on it for its price.  LIke most have said they would want a 6.1 hemi or bigger with manual among other other goodies.  Its more of a FRANKENSTEIN setup that he has that has been polished to make him look nicer.......YOu could say its the VIN Diesal of the daytona he has in the new movie....

[Rolling_Thunder]

That's about what it would cost to build...    but they could have at least painted the engine bay body color ---  I'm building something similar but with factory K member suspension, 5-speed manual, and a 6.1L ---     These cars are expensive to build but that one is a pull out truck engine / trans system...   no custom wiring or PCM programming needed.

[Patronus]

May be a mute point since the OP aint buying.. yet the car is still for sale and for discussions sake.. Stu it does have a 4 link. It also has an RMS rack which adds another $4.5K. Even with an OEM 5.7 that car would drop 80% of your cars around the track, probably more. If it were red or black it would've been gone a long time ago. Even at $57K, thats absolutely nothing to some people... orange it would be half way over a creek by now..

[Kern Dog]

The trans isn't a 727. The trans pan looks like the 5 speed auto I have in my 2007 Ram.

[dads_69]

Meh..If it were mine. I'd yank that 5.7. & trani...put a real combo in it, take those seats to the dump, give it some real mopar love...gees, what a pile. 10 grand top's. And that's starting over with what the guy has for sale already. A rust free body..rest is junk.
P.S. the wheel/tire combo 

[BrianShaughnessy]

Nice toy... but not $57K worth.   

Everybody has their preferences for this or that...   for me it's off by 1 year

[surmanajaja]

That 68 Body on a later body in the MM mag. ad said the guy would do conversions for $200K....I doubt it would go for $45K.

Plus, the car looked stupid afterwards IMO. Too much rocker panel hanging down under it.

what I talked about was this one, and it took time to sell at 45k:

http://www.pro-touring.com/showthread.php?74642-New-guy-1968-Charger

there is a guy on moparts doing conversion on a 70 runner, he quotes little over 30k for the job if u bring ur car/clean body to him:

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=Projects&Number=7354411&page=0&fpart=2