values on 73-74 Challengers/Cudas

[shadango]

Hi all...

New to the forum....have been hangin garound on the a body forum for a little bit now, thought I would register here too....

I am looking for an ole' Mopar......I have always dreamed of a Challenegr or Cuda but because the prices seem to be so high on them, even in poor shape, I had written them off and started looking at A bodies, which I also really like.

But I have recently found a couple 73/74 e bodies that seem to be reasonable in cost.....in the $7-8k range. One car has no engine but looks real nice...the other is supposed to be a 318 that runs.

So, does this sound reasonable? When I first started looking, I was seeing $15k and up for Challengers and Cudas....doesnt $7/8k seem awefully low?

The budget I set for myself to get "something" is $5-7k.....which is why I was writing off the E bodies as ouit of my range. But these two cars are making me wonder if I wrote them off too soon.

Can one still get a decent-shape e-body in my range?



Thanks for the advice folks.

 

[burntorange70]

Welcome to FEBO!


If there in nice shape and not needing paint or body work I would say they are geting to be priced more reasonable than they were a year or two. Now is a good time to buy. There are some good deals out there to be had.


Good luck. Hope you find the car you are looking for.

 

[AlleyoopMgv]

Welcome to FEBO!

It's a buyers market right now, I think you would be able to find something halfway decent in your price range.
Good luck with the search!

 

[shadango]

Thanks guys.

I am looking every day.

I guess I have to have some patience. LOL

 

[toolmanmike]

Get ready for a "back in the day" story. Back in about '76 I bought a
'73 Challenger. It was powder blue(I don't know the paint code but it wasn't Petty Blue) It was a Rally car with black vinyl top and black strobe stripes. For about 4 years I street raced the wheels off that thing and collected a few wins at the local drag strip in trophy class. It was the most fun, and by far the most dependable Mopar I have ever owned. I worked at a auto supply store that was noted for speed parts. I did try headers but went back to stock exhaust.(Walker) The Thermoquad went bad so I replaced it with a Holley replacement. I tried all sorts of wheel/tire combos and thought Keystone Classics looked the best. I only have a couple of photos of the car but I haven't located the photo negatives yet. If I ever find the photos I'll have to post it to this thread.
I wish I had kept that car. It was the best!! toolmanmike

 

[shadango]

Cool story......I guess we all have those "if only I had....." stories...LOL

The cliche "they just dont make em like that anymore" sure holds true.......although the new challenger is sweet.....

 

[burntorange70]

How is your search going? Find any thing nice yet? Let me know if you find any thing good in socal. I would love to own an E body! If only I would of went to college and got a good paying job..... If only. LOL

 

[shadango]

How is your search going? Find any thing nice yet? Let me know if you find any thing good in socal. I would love to own an E body! If only I would of went to college and got a good paying job..... If only. LOL

Still looking.

I saw acouple listed on craigslist for $5-8k.....got pics and they were waaaaaay more work than I would contemplate.....

IO am looking at Dusters too.....a little easier to find, but haventfound the right one yet I dont think.

I guess I will know when I do. LOL

 

[shadango]

Well, I came across a 73 that keeps drawing me to it....although I think it may have more issues that I want to deal with..or maybe not?

It looks like the car has been repaired and maybe painted once before...quarters etc at least...and they need repaired again......the inner fenders need work as where the hood hinges mount, its basically air it looks like....Would that just mean pulling thefront fenders arnd repairing (if I didnt want to replace the whole innerfender for now I mean)?The body work it needs may not be a big deal....for this car I could deal with having primer spots till I could afford to get a paint job......LOL......but if the inner fenders have those holes? Wouldnt that seem to mean that there are other major issues lurking?

The guy sent me tons of photos so he isnt trying to hide anything.....

Here is the description he gave:
This Challenger was a daily driver til about 6 years ago. Have owned this car for the past 22 years. The original 318 runs great. Had a valve job, timing chain and gears shortly before it was taken off the road, however I believe it does need freeze plugs. The 904 transmission was replaced with a rebuilt 727 transmission, however the pressures need adjusting in the new transmission. The original 904 and driveshaft comes with this auction. I quit driving the car on the road due to the brake lines look very rusted, however the brakes do still work. The car does have plenty of rust in all the usual places, but not as bad as many that I have seen. The dash is in very good condition except for a tiny 1 -2 inch split near the screw hole for the speaker. Hard to see unless looking for it. I also hit a couple of deer so the fiberglass parts in the front are cracked, but I do have an extra fiberglass piece. Hood is a little tweaked. I will include an extra hood with the car.

Here is a link to the photos he sent me (I put them up on my own photobucket site).......you cant zoom in on the photos on photobucket I dont think....the ones he sent me are very high rez so I could zoom in etc.....

http://s349.photobucket.com/albums/q391/shadango_bucket/yellow%20challenger/?albumview=slideshow

What red flags do you guys see? He is asking $6k.....I would go look in person but its almost 5 hrs away, so trying to do some recognisance (sp?). He has been trying to sell since late december, and price has dropped since then to the current price....

Am I crazy for considering this one??

Do you think its worth the $6k?

 

[AlleyoopMgv]

Just my opinion, but I think you could get one in a little better shape for $6k. But your the one thats been looking, not me. Just my two cents.

 

[res1vw21]

well it's defiantly got some rust. Looks like the floors might be getting thin and might warrant replacement. Hard to tell without actually seeing them. The car its self looks like a decent starting point for someone who has a bit of $ and time. Still going to be a lot of work though.

 

[wagone]

Where did your car go? I live in Mn. and know someone who has a powder blue (its actually a ford color) that was put on there when the car was close to new. Its a black stripped and bevieve a white top. He has had it for many years and he's not really even into mopars. Drives it once in a while in summer but thats it. Sean 612-594-1535

 

[pagilman]

I will not pull your chain, your talkin 18-20 thou for a nice one. If you buy junk you will have 18 in it before you are happy

 

[shadango]

WOW!!! This is an OLD thread!

I posted the original question back in '09

I have a 72 fish, bought in march of 09......guess I should update this thread....

LOVE it! Its the car in my sig pic.

Bought it for $9500, fresh paint and body, but not running....318 engine in it was supposedly low miles on a rebuild...truns out it runs strong and has a big cam in it along with an eddy 4 bbl and j heads....

No tranny, driveshaft or engine wiring, not even a battery tray at the time...LOL ...had a tranny built and added a Breakaway convertor, dual exhaust with x pipe and dougs headers.

Interior was complete but nasty....so I cleaned and redyed the 80's velour upgrade someone did and have been driving that way since. Over time I have rebuilt the front end, added a 1.25" tubar sway bar and 1" t bars up front, add-a-leafs in the rear, converted to disks in the front, swapped in a firm feel steering box, and a crap load of other things.

Yeah, my guess would be $18-20 at this point all said....dont tell my wife...LOL

I absolutely LOVE this car!

 

[PlumCrazy340]

Congrats on the cuda! I am having the same problem you had. I am searching for a turn key ebody I can buy and drive and Im willing to spend up to 15 yet all I can find are projects even at that price...

 

[74 challenger]

it took me a long time to find a challenger,many road trips bringing nothing back.I think $8000 is about the price for a decent car.You will have work to do but alot of the guys here will help with parts.Just remember you want a solid car and go from there.A engine would be nice buy a solid car is better.You can always buy a motor its a pain if you have to deal with trunks,quarters ect. Good luck and take your time.

 

[sheetmetaldan]

I know it`s an old thread but to toss in my 2 cents. I picked up a running/driving 72 Barracuda with a 318,solid body in primer with a decent interior and solid original floors and trunk. All it basically needed was an exhaust system,rims and tires,radiator,fuel tank,front end rebuild,brakes in the front and master cylinder and a lot of cleaning up. I picked it up for $7 thousand in september of 2010. Got it on the road now just need to do a few more things,save some cash and get it painted, and like a lot of you I LOVE MY CAR!

 

[Cudatx9]

I have a good "should have" story. In 73 I bought a 340 Cuda and traded it in late 75 after getting married for a Ford Granada, LOL. Two years ago I found the car and bought it again. It is now in the "under construction" stage.

 

[Bill]

Dont know if you know about www.searchtempest.com. You can search craigslist in the whole country with one search. I turned 50 this year and I just purchased my life long dream of owning a E Body. I purchased a 1973 Challenger Rallye with the Hurst " pistol grip". I paid $6,200 for the car back in July sitting on it's suspension with the body, hood and doors all finished and primed and new fenders. The car, the engine and tranny are almost all there but it needed quite a bit of work done under the car. I built a rotisserie, got all of the undercoating off the underside of the car, sandblasted the underside of the car and I am about ready to start to build it up again. I keep goin over my budget and I keep coming up with about $15,000+ that I will need to complete the car including paint, total boared and stroked engine rebuild, seats redone, new leaf springs, $450 cost to build rotisserie, new or used stereo, new leaf springs, suspension bushing kit, fuel lines, brake lines, exhaust (with cutouts of corse!), ISIS Power wiring system. It brings the car up to what I could buy one for all done but this one will be cone the way I want it. I just landed a 1974 Challenger with a 340 a few weeks ago that is all there project car. Traded straight up for a snowmobile that was worth about $3,500. Now I have two of everything. It looks like Noha's ark in the atic of my barn. Two starters, two sets of fenders, two alternators...... I hope to have one of them on the road this time next year.
If it was this time next year I would be interested in selling the 74 I just traded for the snowmobile.
Good luck

 

[moparleo]

Like everybody says right now is the time to buy ! If you have some extra coin and are thinking of your future in this economy,, BUY GOLD and SILVER, Prices are lower than normal right now and ready to go up with the falling dollar. Silver is your best bet and very reasonable to buy right now. E--bodies are more realistic in price than they have been for years. Just do your shopping and you can do well right now.