Affordable Muscle: 1973 Dodge Charger SE
The conventional wisdom is that if you want to drive a classic late 60s/early 70s American muscle car, then you need to drop a big pile of money into your heap of choice. But that isn’t exactly true. Because there are some good classic Muscle cars that you can buy for less than the price of a new economy car and this next thing is a perfect example. Find this 1973 Dodge Charger SE offered for $16,500 in Eunice, LA via craigslist. Tip from Ramjet.
From the seller:
1973 Dodge Charger
cylinders: 8 cylinders
fuel: gas
odometer: 61058
title status: clean
transmission: automatic
1973 Dodge Charger SE rebuilt 360 V8 with comp cam, rebuilt 747 torqueflite automatic transmission, new vinyl top, new carpet, new dash pad, etc… Runs and drives, almost ready for daily driving. Located in Eunice, LA $16,500
See a better way to drive something cool and old, but not expensive? tips@dailyturismo.com
I am completely out of it. To me, 16,500 is a pile of money.
Yeah, me too. I remember $3000 Ferraris in the back of Road and Track 50 years ago. A new Miura for $14,000. And my dad telling me of a chance to buy a Duesenberg for $100 during the Depression. $16,000 is the new $5000.
Yeah you are. I’ve seen a lot worse for that money. It does need some help but it’s way better than most and the sheet-metal looks kosher and the car as a whole seems original. Skidrow is so far out in left field he can’t even see home plate. Base price on a Muira was $20,000 in 1970 ($139,716.32 today) and almost every motor city shit box had better build quality.
Wow, how right you are! How stupid of me to try to remember reading a 50+ year old Road&Track article from when I was 14 instead of confirming it on Wikipedia.
Is my face red.
Plus bonus points for comparing it to a motor city shitbox.
That dash cap looks worse than Andy Warhol’s wig.
No lie: I learned how to drive in a 1973 Dodge Charger with opera windows, exactly like this one.
Drove it to high school, and later, during college summers.
Wanted to buy it off my dad (because he was too cheap to give it to me). He said no.
So I bought I 1972 Buick LeSabre with 42,000 miles on it (in 1980… that’s saying something). Rust was the only thing holding that Buick together.
A year or so later, my dad sold the Charger for 400 bucks. To some stranger.
I loved that car.
-Stan (…yeah…*that* Stan…)
f there ever was a malaise mobile that deserved to rust in hell its this pretendee Chaarger. And its a slushbox! Come on people.reach deep! On the plus side its in Eunice Louisiana ….catch Rosie Ledet or Lil Band O Gold down from Lafayette and git yer Fais Do Do on…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-xTiIbAzKM
https://vimeo.com/117437381
It’s not a Prius, so it’s got that going for it. It could get a stick swap. I suppose a Prius could get an engine + stick swap, but it would still be a Prius.