Opinions, please

by **velozo** » 29 Sep 2004 8:20

My friend bought a top banana yellow w/black vinyl 70 Challenger R/T SE car that he paid too much for. It is a U code car. He has access to the matching number 440 for extra $.

Here are some of the problems with the car. There is no broadcast sheet or fender tags. I believe the previous owner, a guy in Tehachapi, CA who has a large yard of about 75 musclecars including mopars, AMX's, Javelin's, Fords, Pontiacs, Buicks, and etc., took almost all of the parts off of the car, and convinced my friend it was still a good deal. The guy has a few other personal '70 Challengers of his own that are complete and finished.

The car's body is almost completely stripped. Here's what the car has. Floor, roof, quarter panels, gutted doors(no mechanism or glass), SE rear window, decklid, hood, grill, steering column, front disc brakes, 8 3/4, no driveshaft, no side mirrors, quarter glass, tail light panel, front valance, rear valance, and that's basically it...seriously. If I didn't list it, it's because the car is stripped of it. I got a good look at the car today and was speechless.

Anyway, he would like to get some opinions on what to do with the car. Get the #'s matching engine and sell it with the car? Get the #'s matching engine, sell it together with just the VIN tag and part out what little the car has left? Part out the car outright, and cut the losses? eBay the car and engine together, and see what happens?

I have a clean '70 Barracuda slant six car that was sitting in someone's garage since 1979. My friend wants to buy it from me. He needs some help on deciding what to do. Therefore any opinions or suggestions would be welcomed. Because the Challenger needs so many parts and work, IMHO it would need about $75k plus to get it done right.

Anyway, thanks in advance.

Dean

by **dave-r** » 29 Sep 2004 8:38

I personally would not spend any more money on it. Sometimes you have to just cut your losses and get out of it.

If what is left is solid steel and not rust it might be wanted by someone looking to re-body another complete but rusty example.

You could also maybe sell it to someone that wants to build a serious race car that would not use much more than what you have got there anyway.

by **velozo** » 29 Sep 2004 21:15

Parting the car or selling the body was an option he is leaning towards. Do you have any opinions about acquiring the engine and selling it with the matching VIN?
Thanks,
Dean

by **Alaskan_TA** » 30 Sep 2004 0:51

Selling VIN tags is a federal offense, so I would avoid that for sure!

I would make a race car out it if it were mine.

Barry

by **JackT** » 30 Sep 2004 3:12

A couple of years ago I was asked by a guy who bought a "numbers-matching" 440 six-pack R/T Challenger" to check out his purchase and verify the authenticity. It included a JS23V0BXXXXXX VIN still attached to the dash pad which was loose from the car. The block was a 69 440 non-HP and the "original" 4-speed trans was out of a Los Angeles-built car with 0EXXXXXX on it's stamp pad. The cowl number and core support number matched each other but nothing else, so at least two numbers did match. He then threatened the seller with fraud action from the California DMV and got all his money back based on my opinion of the car. If your friend bought this car and any such type of fraud was present in the transaction, maybe he can pull off the same thing, but if he knowingly bought it as the stripped shell you described and the seller is now holding him up for the matching engine on top of the original deal, I think he is sadly out of luck. Best to him!

by **velozo** » 30 Sep 2004 8:04

I'll look into the core support/VIN numbers on his car tomorrow...I keep overlooking those.

by **JackT** » 01 Oct 2004 5:35

Look for the door VIN sticker as well - not that it proves anything if it does not match because doors can be swapped - but it is part of the set of numbers that are supposed to match.

thanks, Dave

thanks, fellas!