Help! Rear tail light panel color

by **Denalm** » 20 Jul 2004 17:57

Does anyone know the stock color of a 74 ralley in B5 blue? I am being told medium argent silver, flat black , and metallic silver. Can anyone verify this for me? It has the 360 motor, 4 spd and ralley package.

by **dave-r** » 20 Jul 2004 19:37

I don't know 100% but I think it is flat black with silver in the light recesses.

Anyone else have an opinion?

by **Christer** » 25 Jul 2004 20:18

Is this pic to any help?

The car is Graham´s survivor
(See: http://challenger.mpoli.fi/phpbb/viewto ... =8146#8146 )

by **Christer** » 25 Jul 2004 20:31

´72 Facts and feature manual says medium Astrotone.
I don´t know if that helps?

by **dave-r** » 25 Jul 2004 20:35

There are several things about graham's car that are not usual for 1974 Challengers.

Edit. Nothing wrong with Grahams car at all. It is a great example of a late '74 Challenger. However there ARE differences between this and most 1973 Challengers.

I have seen restored examples with the panel black but I am unsure which is correct.

I am sure we have discussed this before you know?

by **Christer** » 25 Jul 2004 20:43

dave-r wrote:I don't know 100% but I think it is flat black with silver in the light recesses.

Anyone else have an opinion?

If I understand the ´72 and ´74 Facts an Feature manuals correct, the base Challenger and the rallye Challenger used different colours (on the tail panel) only in 1972 and in 1973.

On the other hand, in ´74, both the base challenger and the rallye used the same colour on the tail panel.

Don´t know if that is correct or not....? :roll:

(....but that is how I interpret the Facts and feature manuals)

by **Denalm** » 26 Jul 2004 21:08

I did read in the barracuda and challenger resto book that the rear panel should be painted like the 72 specs with a rally having the black rear panel. I just haven't seen many 73 or 74 rallys with anything but medium silver. I guess in less I am trying to earn points on originality I should go with the most common seen which is the silver. Thanks all.

by **insuranceguy** » 26 Jul 2004 23:52

Jim Schild's resto guide say's the rear deck lower panel should be all argent silver. The photo they provide happens to be a 74 chally in b-5 blue.

by **Christer** » 27 Jul 2004 8:11

I thought I would show three scans so that you all can draw your own conclusions.

by **dave-r** » 27 Jul 2004 9:17

That seems pretty conclusive.

So what is the bottom line here? Are we all agreeing the tail panel on the Rallye was black in 1972-73 and silver in 1974? Barring the usual odd factory hiccup that turns out cars that break the rules of course. :roll:

by **insuranceguy** » 27 Jul 2004 15:41

All I can is the rear has to be perfect, to give the best view possible as you pull away

by **transman** » 27 Jul 2004 17:02

The correct colour for the rear panel is textured ARGENT SILVER, as the photo of my car shows. It is a rough finish, that upon closer inspection actually has black spots in it. The only place I know the paint is available from is Totally Auto.
Graham

by **Kowal** » 03 Oct 2004 22:29

I have a 73 B5 Challenger Rallye, the rear panel is the silver argent with the black in the light areas.

Pictures of the car going back to when it was new, also during restoration, show the silver to be the original finish.

When I have asked people about this question (black or silver) the answer I was told was the the cars were produced with either or, pretty much dependant on which color the overall car was...though I have never found guidelines (if they ever existed) that identified which car was to be equiped with which finish. In short...I have been hearing this debate for the four years I have had the car now.

Here are two pictures of the car from this summer.

David K

by **dave-r** » 04 Oct 2004 7:29

Sweet!

by **Kowal** » 04 Oct 2004 11:15

Not sure the pictures posted correctly since they don't seem to be available as I checked today, thought I would try again.

Another thought on the rear panel. In 1972 the Rallye Challenger was a defined model, in 1973 and 1974 the Rallye was an optional decor package. It is possible that this explains the better consistency of the black in '72 versus the all over the place '73 and '74.

DK

by **Kevin** » 24 Oct 2004 14:46

The guy in this picture looks like he's having the same dilemma.....can't figure if that tail panel is right or not. :lol:

(Sorry, I know this didn't contribute anything construction to the thread....but it struck me as funny)

Thanks for the help.

Rear Panel color