The bad news is,there was not ever a 71 challenger T/A as mopar pulled out of Trans-am racing,by then(nice pic though)!....The good news is,being it came from Allpar as the source,...then maybe all the "so called info" on our new hemi challenger is wrong also(one engine option and all),..as I for one believe that they are wrong!
.........Anywho,here is some real facts that I have regarding the challenger T/A as well as the ever elusive so called 71 challenger T/A mystery!
...First off, on the rumored 71 T/A:....
Although dealer brochures for the '71 Dodge Scat Pack and advertisements in Hot Rod Magazine proclaimed a '71 Challenger T/A, depicted in the advertisement was a picture from the '70 Challenger T/A advertisements with a '71 Challenger grille airbrushed in and the 340 Six Pack fender decals airbrushed out.
Due to heavy financial losses in both the racing program and in the production of the assembly line cars, the Trans Am models were dropped as quickly as they were introduced. Not enough cars could ever be sold in order to break even on the cost of research and engineering the project, let alone make the hassles on the assembly line worthwhile. It seems that shaker hoods on other E-bodies caused many a confusing situation on the line, but the Trans Am cars really caused major chaos since the configuration of a Trans Am car was greatly different than a standard E-body. Some cars were partially constructed before it was realized that it was a Trans Am car being built. This caused some cars to be missing some of their Trans Am features. Along with poor fit and finish on many parts, the AAR 'Cuda reviewed by Car and Driver magazine had the radio antenna mounted on the right front fender instead of the right rear quarter panel.
Further information supplied by Chrysler indicates a volume of 2800 AAR 'Cudas and 2500 Challenger T/As that were to be built for SCCA Trans Am homolagation. 2724 AAR 'Cudas and 2399 Challenger T/As were actually built. Base price for the AAR 'Cuda was $3966 and the Challenger T/A was $3818.