71Chally RT new to FEBO

[Xcudame]

I like the "restofied" (restored and modified) look myself, built my way with mostly factory parts!

 

[mrmopar340]

If it was an SE didn't they have a hard headliner without bows in them? I think they were similar to what the Cordobas had in them dimensional wise.

 

[318 Stroker]

Welcome to FEBO from the desert! That's a nice looking 71! Since you don't have the fender tag to verify A78 Formal roof package, does it have the overhead consolette? That would definitely indicate a 71 "SE" package.

The easy tell is if it has the A78 pkg, it would have the smaller rear window, like the 70 SE's. The vinyl roof was std with A78, and had to have it to cover the smaller rear window insert plug. The wide front moldings were also part of A78. Do you have the smaller rear window?

 

[71ChallyRT]

The easy tell is if it has the A78 pkg, it would have the smaller rear window, like the 70 SE's. The vinyl roof was std with A78, and had to have it to cover the smaller rear window insert plug. The wide front moldings were also part of A78. Do you have the smaller rear window?

I don't but the car had a vinyl roof at one point!

 

[318 Stroker]

Without the small rear window, your car did not have the A78 formal roof pkg. Unless someone removed it, which is possible. The vinyl roof was std with A78, but it was also a stand-alone option, and many cars had it.
The A78 pkg was the only "SE" pkg available in 71, unlike 70, where the SE model had its own VIN digit, a 9 as the 4th digit in the VIN. None of the options you mentioned that your car has would have been part of any "SE" pkg. The vinyl roof, luggage rack, chrome racing mirrors, and wide chrome moldings on the front were all
stand-alone options.
Have you verified that it is an R/T by the first 2 digits of the VIN? An R/T is JS, and a base model is JH.
One reason I ask is that the fender mounted turn signal indicators were not available on an R/T. The only reason that I've heard, and it seems to make sense, is that the passenger side indicator was not visible to the driver because of the R/T hood with the raised center. As you know, many modifications were made to these years over the years to suit the owner's personal taste.
You said you don't have a fender tag. Have you taken a deep dive into the interior to see if you have a broadcast sheet? That would answer all of your unknowns on you car.
Your Challenger is beautiful, and I love the luggage rack. I think they look great on E-Bodies. Years ago I put one on my 73 Challenger, but when I restored it 20 years ago I opted for a 71 gullwing. With Mopar guys the rack is a love or hate thing.

 

[71ChallyRT]

Without the small rear window, your car did not have the A78 formal roof pkg. Unless someone removed it, which is possible. The vinyl roof was std with A78, but it was also a stand-alone option, and many cars had it.
The A78 pkg was the only "SE" pkg available in 71, unlike 70, where the SE model had its own VIN digit, a 9 as the 4th digit in the VIN. None of the options you mentioned that your car has would have been part of any "SE" pkg. The vinyl roof, luggage rack, chrome racing mirrors, and wide chrome moldings on the front were all
stand-alone options.
Have you verified that it is an R/T by the first 2 digits of the VIN? An R/T is JS, and a base model is JH.
One reason I ask is that the fender mounted turn signal indicators were not available on an R/T. The only reason that I've heard, and it seems to make sense, is that the passenger side indicator was not visible to the driver because of the R/T hood with the raised center. As you know, many modifications were made to these years over the years to suit the owner's personal taste.
You said you don't have a fender tag. Have you taken a deep dive into the interior to see if you have a broadcast sheet? That would answer all of your unknowns on you car.
Your Challenger is beautiful, and I love the luggage rack. I think they look great on E-Bodies. Years ago I put one on my 73 Challenger, but when I restored it 20 years ago I opted for a 71 gullwing. With Mopar guys the rack is a love or hate thing.

Thanks for the detail! I bought the car in 1988, and there are many questions that I have with it. the VIN does show it being an R/T. JS23N1B1 are the first 8. Not sure about the indicators... I think you could get the rallye hood without being an R/T??

 

[318 Stroker]

The rallye hood came std on the R/T. To the best of my knowledge you could not order it on a non-R/T. It is not listed on my factory coding guide. The guide is dated July of 70, which is early and pre-production. The coding guides did get updated periodically throughout the model year, so it's possible that at a later date you could order it on a non-R/T. Someone with knowledge of that may chime in here.

 

[MoparCarGuy]

For 1970, the Challenger R/T hood, also known as the Sport Hood or the Rallye Hood, could be ordered on a non-R/T Challenger (JH-code base model) by ordering the code A66 340 package. See the 1970 brochure's Accessory Groups page below.
A66 - Challenger 340 Performance Package = 340 4 Barrel, 11″ Heavy Duty Drum Brakes, Sport Hood, Rallye Suspension, Transverse Paint Stripe (may be deleted), Scat Pack Decal on Quarter Window and 26″ Radiator.

For 1971, the Sport Hood became available on 340 four-barrel and 383 four-barrel JH-code base/custom coupes and convertibles.
Beginning in 1972, the Sport Hood became available on 318 model Challengers with no engine callouts on the "bulge". The 1972 and 1973 340 cars got the 340 FOUR BARREL emblems on the hood. The 1974 360 cars got the 360 FOUR BARREL emblems on the hood.