Car of the Week: 1972 Dodge Challenger

[dodgechargerfan]

When you pony up for a bidder’s pass at a collector car auction, you never know what kind of “accidental” surprises might unfold.

That was certainly the case for Mustang guy Dan Nicewander, who showed up at an auction in 2013 looking for garage decorations and wound up having a 1972 Dodge Challenger follow him home. The Shakopee, Minn., resident wouldn’t have been overly shocked if he had stumbled onto anther Mustang that he decided he had to have, but a Challenger was certainly not in the plans.

“We went to an auction to buy a neon light, and the guy with the neon lights didn’t show up, but there were a half dozen or so cars there. I was not looking for another car, but the guy with this one was very talkative,” laughs Nicewander. Even though he was impressed with the low-mileage Dodge, Nicewander still didn’t have any plans to buy it.

But then he made the mistake of giving his bidder’s card to his daughter and letting her sit ringside during the auction proceedings.

Read more.

 

[restoman]

I've heard of people losing their minds at auctions, but this is the first I've ever heard of anyone actually coming to their senses at one... buying a Mopar instead of another dumb-ass Mustang or a neon light.

Nice car, though the cast-coloured hood hinges and black underside of the hood don't work for me...

 

[Dr.Jass]

Nor does the '73/'74 emblem placement or the "everything bolted to the engine is original" comment work for me. That air cleaner is a '71 part ('72 used an orange single-snorkel base with an internal vacuum flapper door), and the Mr. Gasket chrome water neck is just plain out of place. The '72 had the side "Challenger" emblems on the front fender (I've seen them above and below the body line), and they were deleted on Rallye models. '73-'74 had them in the location shown, be it base or Rallye. Also, contrary to the article, there were no woodgrain wheels available in '72. It was standard in '70-'71 with the Rim Blow optional; in '72-'74 you either got that awful thing seen in this car, or the Tuff Wheel. The Tuff Wheel was N/A with manual steering. The heater control panel on the car's been modified, as there's a filler plugs in place for the rear-seat speaker fader and some other, apparently added hole. It's an early-build car, with the '71 style hardback seats, but not early enough to have the 8,000RPM tach. I always like seeing '72s because they were a changeover year, and a lot of stuff happened at different times (seats, tach, visors, etc.). I can't see if it's got the clip-in sunvisors with their attendant rearview mirror or the later style "free end" visors, though.

The manual steering and brakes are sexy, and it not being a Rallye is even sexier. I do like this car, don't get me wrong, but if the guy thinks he's got a restoration or nice original, that's just not the case. It's a great driver with some hot rod and/or incorrect stuff on it which is how it should be. :dance: