Project - 70 challenger RT

[Cuda Cody]

There is a guy that paid WAY to much for his project and after his friends (I use the word friend loosely) body shop has had their way with the removal and destruction of the car he know thinks he might be in over his head.  I told him what I think it's worth, but really want to make sure I'm not missing anything.  Here's the spec:

1970 383 RT 4 speed (all original motor / trans - needs to be rebuilt) plum crazy RT.  The car drove (barely) when he took it in to the body shop.  The body shop / painter dude has tore it down to the body and all the parts are scattered thought this guys shop.  He's a painter that has painted one to many cars without his mask and it wouldn't surprise me if there are lots of little parts missing.  I didn't see all the nuts and bolts, but I'm sure they're in a coffee can.  Nothing was labeled.  Hood, fenders and doors look ok, but not blasted yet so it's hard to tell what bondo a person might find.

As for the body, it needs...

-both quarters
-both inner and outer wheel wells
-trunk pan
-drivers side fender well
-full floor pan (both front and rear)
-windshield corners replaced
-other little areas need addressing.

Over all the car does not look to rusty, but this "body / painter" guy was getting paid per hour to pull take it apart.  The more he pulled off the more time he could bill and after $4,000 worth of disassembly there wasn't much left to do.  The car sits on saw horses with everything scattered around along with a dozen other projects this painter / body guy has taken apart.  Didn't see one car going back together.... lots of cars sitting.

The seller wants $18,000 for the car... yes, you are reading that right.  $18,000 for the due to all the work he has paid this guy to do and based on what he paid for the car.  Now I told him the car is worth about $8,000 as it sits and maybe if he could prove it was all still there he might get 10K.

How close am I? 

[challengermaniac]

Hey Cody,

I would say least $12k (subject to personal inspection) considering it's an RT, has the drivetrain with a 4 speed and it's a plum crazy car. 

ps: hope to meet up with you sometime--- maybe at the Mopars Unlimited Spring Roundup in June?

[Cooter]

I don't mean to sound hard here, but this is typical of the "I got hosed, so I'm passing the d**k to you" situation. Your buddy didn't do his/her homework on that bodyshop and figured he could get-r-done cheaper by going to this guy, and now he/she is looking to get ALL the money back...Not gonna happen...Sorry. The ONLY reason that car was worth as much as it was worth to your buddy, was the fact it was ALL THERE and NOT MISSING ANYTHING...Now, we can't be so sure based on what your saying...


This happens all to often...NON DIY'ers get in over there heads and the people they take the car to see them coming...$4000.00 worth of teardown??? BS...Shoulda known that was gonna be a disaster when the guy told him/her it was By the hour....Why the hell didn't he just take the thing apart himself/herself? THEN take it to the body shop?...I'm thinking your right on the money for a basket case 383/4-speed R/T...When, O When will the Flippers and the Can't/won't do it folks ever learn....You don't do your homework and find out what your in for if you Can't/won't do the work yourself, you gonna get hosed..Plain and simple....There is no such thing as Overhaulin' in the "Real" world...Sorry for your buddy, but he shoulda thought about it and at least ask YOU before he agreed to $4000.00 worth of time....

[72rtchallenger]

yea your close on the value,,he might get more if he finds everything and he proves it to be numbers matching,,and then can find a real collector willing to spend money,,and the market is down also

[beekppr]

You think it's really around 12k? That seems kinda high considering the rust and missing items.

I just picked up the exact same car for 8k. 70 chally r/t all numbers matching 4 speed in go mango.

My car has a new gas tank, fresh rebuilt engine that has only been fired and tuned. Redone drive line, suspension, and brakes. No missing trim or any other parts.

Mine has front end sheetmetal issues I need to deal with but seller threw in free replacement items. The thing that made me jump on the car was actually the lack of rust. I crawled over every inch and there is nothing. After having to redo the trunk floor, both quarters, etc on my Bee, I swore I'd be more careful on the next buy.

I don't follow prices much but 18k is really high to me and even 12k seems a bit high.

[go-fish]

I am thinking 8K as it sits. It's a mystery as to whether everything is there, and if it is, it's scattered. Then there is the rust. I'm sure it needs complete interior, electric, engine rebuild, .....everything.

Right now it is a 10,000 piece jig saw puzzle and that 8K is real generous. Personally, I wouldn't touch it for 18K like it was before the shop hassle.

[TorOrange]

I think he would be real lucky to get 10k for it IMO its worth 8k.

beekppr nice purchase.

[moparclown]

The truth is that to me that is now a parts car,$$$$ wise I wouldn't pay more than $1200-$1500 for it.

[Katfish]

I gotta agree with the Clown, from what you described, I wouldn't think it's worth more than 3-4k.

Someone is going to walk into a mess that will cost 2-3x what the finished car will be worth.   

[Cuda Cody]

Thanks guys.  Appears I was close.  It does have some neat options and the numbers are all there.  The big question is can we find the rest of the car.

[moparclown]

Cody
Heres why I say what I did-
I bought a 71 Cuda,empty shell with a vin tag,fender tags and title paid $7500(1st pic)
bought most parts to redo and spent over $15000 (2nd pic)
and in the end I had done tons of work which incuded putting in front frame rails,fixing lots of rust etc etc and it left here the other day on a flatbed for the price of $8000.
So to me its only worth what I would pay for it,which aint much.
Doug

[Challenger6pak]

I would say $5,000 max.  It is worth around $2,000 parted out.  Since it has a title and is a R/T it is still worth more as a whole car.  In this market the car may still not be worth doing. 

[mjb765]

I would say $5,000 max.  It is worth around $2,000 parted out.  Since it has a title and is a R/T it is still worth more as a whole car.  In this market the car may still not be worth doing.

I agree...in this market you will put more money into the car than you will get when it's done. Unless this is what you really want and can do most (if not all) of the work yourself. And you plan on keeping it a pretty long time--so hoepfully the  market will come back and you can get back what you put in when you finally decide to sell.

[Cuda Cody]

A few parts alone like the hood, 4 speed / motor, doors, seats, rallye dash and other 70 only parts would bring 2K pretty quick.  The body with title has some value and since a very similar 70 plum crazy non RT (without a motor) got to $8,900 (still did not meet reserve) I thought it should be at least worth that if all the parts are found.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Dodge-Challenger-plum-crazy-fc7-340-challenger-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem2a0c7a40aaQQitemZ180597964970QQptZUSQ5fCarsQ5fTrucks#ht_500wt_1182

Don't get me wrong, at $5,000 I still think it's a losing money project and at 10K it's a bigger loss of money.  But I don't expect to get paid to fish or hunt or any other hobbies I might have and I certainly look at my cars as a hobby.  As most of us on here do, we do this as a hobby and if we make money it's a bonus.  If I looked at this as a job, that would take a lot of the fun out of it.

After doing more research and hearing what others are saying, I think it's a fair car at 7K and anything over that is because someone has to have a complete numbers matching RT, fender tag, 4 speed in original high impact plum crazy white interior with factory bumble bee stripe.

Thanks guys for your help!

[beekppr]

It's only because of this lousy economy that I could afford to get my R/T project. They have been out of reach for me for a very long time. The downside of course is that the stuff I own now has been clobbered. I turned down $35k for my Bee a few years back and now I'd have to look long and hard to find a buyer at 25k. I have been pushing a couple friends to take advantage of this recession and buy their dream cars while they can.

You know there is an advantage of having it apart from a sales stamdpoint. As a buyer, I would appreciate being able to examine it inside and out and know what problems I face. The new buyer might not realize all that is missing or may not make a big deal of it.

I also have a 64 vette convertible that looked solid and complete and was priced right. I have since discovered that the car is a nightmare car. Everything that can be wrong is wrong. I've fixed most everything but I'd have a hard time breaking even on the car. If the car was apart, I would have discovered many of it's problems before purchase. (Not knowing these cars like I know Mopars was a huge disadvantage though I must admit)

BTW, the pics you posted don't look half bad. If I saw that car advertised at 8k, I'd be all over it and would probably offer 6k.