Bar Finds: A couple of Dodges

Have camera, will travel

You mean barn finds, right? Nope, not this time. The cars for this entry I saw at a couple of local bars. I’m not a bar fly but love to have a couple of beers. I love beer about the same as I love classic cars.

Dodge’s entry into the pony car market

Introduced in the fall of 1969 for the 1970 model year the Challenger was Dodge’s answer to the Mustang and Camaro but was tardy to the party. The Challenger was conceived in the late 1960s as Dodge’s equivalent of the Plymouth Barracuda. A bit of trivia here, the Barracuda was actually the first car in this sporty car segment by a few months ahead of the Mustang but we all know how history played out. So out with the family one night for dinner and it was actually my daughter who spotted this car first. She loves cars too. Good girl.

This Challenger, I believe a ’70, was loaded. It was an R/T version which meant it had all the good stuff,  better suspension, tires, brakes, and more power. More power, I love it. This one was equipped with the 440 Magnum. Not sure which one of the two. One came with a four barrel carb, a bore & stroke of 4.32 x 375, compression ratio 9.7, and 375 HP. The other Magnum came with three carbs, same bore & stroke, compression goes up to 10.5 while horsepower bumps up to 390. The first gen was built from 1970–74 and the 1970 convertibles is rare. Only 2,543 were made which means it commands a decent price on the collector market. According to

Hemming’s recent sales for the low asking price was $32,500, average was $93,700 and highest was $299,900. If you think that’s a lot of cash, check out this. It’s stablemate, a ’71 Barracuda, will make that look like chump change. Going to auction on June 14th at Mecum, it could be crossing the auction block at, get this, 4 million bucks. Back up the Brink’s truck. Yahoo Autos had a story about it. Check it out.

Time to hop into the way back machine

I found this ’59 Dodge Coronet, at you guessed it, another bar not far from my house. Gee, I’m starting to sound like a pickle. The bar’s name is Kranky’s so maybe that’s why I found this bad boy there. The 1959 Coronet used a DeSoto chassis but had less ornate trim.

Power came from the 230 cu in. (3.8 L) or the 325 cu in. (5.3 L) “Red Ram” V8. This actually is where the Challenger name started out as the Silver Challenger. I couldn’t pry the guy away from his beer so not sure what engine was in this. Boy the front end makes it look like it would be good in a bar fight. The production numbers were not big. A check at Haggerty’s and this car is affordable. High was $40,000 for the convertible while the sedans, depending on the engine, could be purchased for around 10 grand. Not too bad for a car that could run through just about any house in the country and keep going.

Hopefully next time, I can get the owners to talk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The average asking price is:	$93,773.39
	The highest asking price is:	$299,900.00
	The lowest asking price is:	$32,500.00