Challenger No. 1 SOLD for...

[Kelly]

Call me Jaded, but I think some of the prices these people are paying are absurd. Maybe I am just stuck in the late nineties when a hemi road runner could be had for 40-50,000. I think it is wonderful that musclecars are booming, despite our ever softening economy. It is also aggravating to see the BJ "ideology" trickle down, to billy bob and his '74 Valiant sedan.
"I saw one of dem dere ol' Dodges on TV, this car gonna be worth more cuz of it". Before you fire anything off, yes, I know a Valiant is a Plymouth, but it applies to pretty much anything with chrome bumpers.
Being in the Y-generation, and cashing out of Mopardom in mid-2005 (when Mopars seemed to inflate wildly), this is especially frustrating. I see myself and my contemporaries who had the Chevelles, Camaros, Shinoda Mustangs, and the Mopars in high school shifting over to something that seems a better bargain-European Imports! Our loud, primered hotrods are now garage queens, trading for absurd prices. It is nice to see that these cars are returned to thier former glory, but this was only ten years ago that our high school parking lot and county back roads were ruled by these octane swilling beasts. It just really saddens me to see that my beloved cars that I faithfully read fender tags on have old men in folding chairs sitting in front of them. Again, I don't remember the first boom in musclecar prices, but I know someone here has to remember THESE CARS RULING WOODWARD. I guess I will just keep romancing the past when I go to tune a set of downdraft Webers, and pray for the day when these cars are again affordable for the average joe, or hope my income will reflect the purchasing ability to persue my automotive dreams!
My rant for the day. I will see you guys on two wheels!
KFD

[Cuda340]

Originally Posted by Rallye72

In some ways these new cars couldn't be arriving at a worse time. If things don't pick up economically the enthusiasts will burn thru the early 09 sales and the rest of the production may fizzle out especially if the new car isn't priced competetively with the Mustang across the board.

I agree 100%. Because of this, the Challenger may be in for a short 3-year run. I will wait for some of the excitement and demand to subside and order mine this time next year.

[Kelsey73]

I will say price wise The SRT going to be a steal compared to the mustang. I just bought my Shelby GT for 36K with the window sticker at 41K. Thats only got 319hp, but it has new suspension, exhaust, intake and tune compared to a regular GT. The GT500 has a sticker of 47K and they handle like garbage. If this SRT is anything like my old one it'll be good for the price.

[firstmethod]

Whoever faulted the stock market as the reason for lackluster turnout at BJ is right on the money. You can't spend on bling when your portfolio has been decimated (and its only just starting).

[Rallye72]

Originally Posted by Kelly

Call me Jaded, but I think some of the prices these people are paying are absurd. Maybe I am just stuck in the late nineties when a hemi road runner could be had for 40-50,000. I think it is wonderful that musclecars are booming, despite our ever softening economy. It is also aggravating to see the BJ "ideology" trickle down, to billy bob and his '74 Valiant sedan.
"I saw one of dem dere ol' Dodges on TV, this car gonna be worth more cuz of it". Before you fire anything off, yes, I know a Valiant is a Plymouth, but it applies to pretty much anything with chrome bumpers.
Being in the Y-generation, and cashing out of Mopardom in mid-2005 (when Mopars seemed to inflate wildly), this is especially frustrating. I see myself and my contemporaries who had the Chevelles, Camaros, Shinoda Mustangs, and the Mopars in high school shifting over to something that seems a better bargain-European Imports! Our loud, primered hotrods are now garage queens, trading for absurd prices. It is nice to see that these cars are returned to thier former glory, but this was only ten years ago that our high school parking lot and county back roads were ruled by these octane swilling beasts. It just really saddens me to see that my beloved cars that I faithfully read fender tags on have old men in folding chairs sitting in front of them. Again, I don't remember the first boom in musclecar prices, but I know someone here has to remember THESE CARS RULING WOODWARD. I guess I will just keep romancing the past when I go to tune a set of downdraft Webers, and pray for the day when these cars are again affordable for the average joe, or hope my income will reflect the purchasing ability to persue my automotive dreams!
My rant for the day. I will see you guys on two wheels!
KFD

I think you're going to be a disappointed puppy. Those "old men" are the people who have the cash to actually do these cars right. They want a profit on their investment. The low production hemi and 440 six pack cars are gone, they're investments now, not toys for kids. I dreamed and struggled as a youngster for the time I could actually have a really nice old car. It wasn't till my late 30's early 40's before the disposable income was actually available.

I bought my Charger 13 years ago. The prices then were already out of sight. It costs to restore a car correctly and I'm not about to take mine and go tear it up like I did with the ones I owned in high school and college.

There are plenty of plain jane Mopars out there to be had that can be hopped up and played with but anything that is an original R/T, RR, what have you with a numbers matching engine/tranny etc is an investment. That's just how it is. For those with more bucks than brains, sure, they can wreck anything and fix it or buy a new one but that's not how it works for most people.

My instinct says that this muscle car wave will run its course much sooner than many other "waves". I suspect the new Challenger, Camaro etc will push the "dabblers" out of the market because they want something that they can actually drive and they are tired of the restoration costs associated with the older cars. The nostalgia factor wears thin on the pocketbook. The hemis and 440 six pack cars will remain high buck investment items that trade around constantly as part of investment portfolios. You'll know it's over when all the reproduction parts places start to fold shop or switch to other cars/projects.

[Cuda340]

Dodge must have been at a different auction. Here is an excerpt of its description of the Challenger bidding:

"Bidding opened up at $200,000 and steadily climbed from there. The excitement was phenomenal and the place was electric…the auctioneer rattling off numbers faster than the guy on those old shipping commercials… the bustling crowd craning their necks to see the car- the bidders- the auctioneer, the TV cameras and on air talent running around the car with their cameras and teens from the notMYkid group. jumping and cheering when the bid reached each new milestone. Crazy fun."

To read the complete posting, see:

http://www.redletterdodge.com/2008/0...-fan/#more-402

[Kelly]

Originally Posted by Rallye72

Those "old men" are the people who have the cash to actually do these cars right. They want a profit on their investment. The low production hemi and 440 six pack cars are gone, they're investments now, not toys for kids.

Originally Posted by Rallye72

I bought my Charger 13 years ago. The prices then were already out of sight. It costs to restore a car correctly and I'm not about to take mine and go tear it up like I did with the ones I owned in high school and college.

Originally Posted by Rallye72

There are plenty of plain jane Mopars out there to be had that can be hopped up and played with but anything that is an original R/T, RR, what have you with a numbers matching engine/tranny etc is an investment.

Originally Posted by DartSportDude

I think people need to get over their class snobery and appreciate all Mopars. As someone who grew up during the peak of the muscle car era, I'm very sorry to see how this hobby is deteroriating thanks to the nonsense of Barrett-Jackson and big buck collectors.

HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD!!!!!

I do agree that these cars are more than "kids toys", it is great that there is an abundance of aftermarket/repro parts available (XV motorsports comes to mind), but again, thirteen years the Charger you purchased was more a more realistic price than today.
The largest part of my grief is due to the fact that these cars that at one time were actually driven. I am not an anyway advocating tearing these cars up, but used as originally intended. I am just getting more and more bored of seeing totally restored garage queens at car shows. I miss seeing the "drivers cars", the ones that might be a little (or VERY) rough around the edges. These cars are maintained and upgraded by a shade tree mechanic, and usually about as much as their tiny disposable income allows. This to me, is the essence of hot-rodding! I miss seeing those cars.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against restoring a rare and valuable machine. I go nuts for paint splotches, fender tags, and other interesting nuances made by (for the most part) underpaid union workers --Insert Rock's signature, joints underneath the carpet of an 8,000 mile Challenger, the Belvedere that had "I will not work on Sat" written in seam sealer. When I had the Skylark, and on my Coronet, I replicated details like that (well maybe not the joints underneath the carpet!).
When a hobby becomes an investment, and I see less and less hot-rods at car shows, I get disillusioned. Again, maybe I am stuck in the past, but I remember my Dad's '71 Challenger. It was a 318 Challenger and nothing more. What I do remember about that car was it had mismatched seats, primer and it was FAST! Well, to a child bearly able to see above the dashboard, it ignited a fire that is still alive today. Again, I am not saying that every car should be beaten. I am just posing the (rhetorical) question of what the hell happened to our hobby? The smell of Premium on your hands after synching a set of Holleys, burnt rubber permeating your nostrils-That to me is what I think of. Maybe because all I see is Scottsdale (I live in Tempe, maybe because of all the amazing cars at Pavilions on Saturday night, and the arrogant upper echelon who doesn't have the time to talk to me about their cars), and not my own memories of Dad's Challenger, (which was restored by Greg Bulinger in the mid nineties, and current whereabouts unknown), or my high school memories of beating around in my '71 Skylark, or the fun I had in my '58 Coronet in College. I am in my late twenties now, and starting the rest of my life. I found out my parents didn't get rid of my Skylark, so it is now coming to Arizona to get the restoration it deserves-not a toy, but a sharp looking driver's car. Yeah, its not a mopar, but its MINE. Mopars are my first love, and always will be. It just aggravates me to no end when I see these investors who a.) don't want to talk to a "dumb kid" when he asks them about their car, and B.)have no clue who Rock is, or what the code E74 means, or could care less!
Okay, I will get off my soapbox, and I apologise for the threadjack, back to that Challenger prototype....
KFD

[Dodgedude]

Even Bo's 69' Charger sold for more...

http://www.barrett-jackson.com/appli...ist_print.aspx

1979DODGELIL RED EXPRESSPICKUP19000.00
1966DODGECORONET 5002 DOOR HARDTOP1900
1978DODGE D15 LIL RED EXPRESS PICKUP19000.00
1969DODGECORONET R/T2 DOOR HARDTOP CUSTOM30000.00
1968DODGECHARGERCUSTOM 2 DOOR HARDTOP24000.00
1970DODGEHEMI CHALLENGER2 DOOR HARDTOP RE-CREATION68000.00
1979DODGELIL RED EXPRESSCUSTOM PICKUP15000.00
1970DODGECHALLENGER R/TCONVERTIBLE RE-CREATION42000.00
2005DODGEMAGNUM RTCUSTOM 4 DOOR HARDTOP33000.00
1956DODGEROYAL4 DOOR SEDAN17000.00
1996DODGEVIPER GTSCOUPE50000.00
1969DODGESUPER BEE2 DOOR HARDTOP118000.00
2005DODGEMAGNUMCUSTOM "TRAIN CAR"13500.00
1970DODGEHEMI CHALLENGERCONVERTIBLE RE-CREATION145000.00
1969DODGECHARGERCOUPE "BO'S GENERAL LEE"450000.00
1962DODGEPOLARA 5002 DOOR HARDTOP20000.00
1969DODGECHARGER R/TCUSTOM 2 DOOR HARDTOP36000.00
2007DODGECHARGER R/TCUSTOM NITRO FUNNY CAR130000.00
1971DODGECHALLENGER R/TCOUPE RE-CREATION45000.00
1969DODGEHEMI CHARGER R/THARDTOP RE-CREATION72000.00
1970DODGECHALLENGER R/T2 DOOR COUPE90000.00
1970DODGEHEMI CHALLENGERCONVERTIBLE RE-CREATION87500.00
1967DODGECORONET R/T2 DOOR HARDTOP32000.00
1970DODGECHARGER R/T2 DOOR HARDTOP42000.00
1960DODGEPOLARA2 DOOR HARDTOP115000.00
1923DODGE CUSTOM HOT ROD ROADSTER26000.00
1970DODGEHEMI CHARGER R/TCOUPE117000.00
1956DODGE 2 DOOR WAGON48000.00
1958DODGEREGAL LANCER2 DOOR HARDTOP70000.00
1973DODGECHALLENGER2 DOOR HARDTOP40000.00
1957DODGECUSTOM ROYAL LANCERCONVERTIBLE75000.00
1957DODGED-100PICKUP23000.00
1970DODGECHALLENGER R/TCONVERTIBLE120000.00
1970DODGECORONET R/T2 DOOR HARDTOP80000.00
1969DODGEHEMI CHARGER 5002 DOOR HARDTOP165000.00
1970DODGECHALLENGER R/T2 DOOR HARDTOP78000.00
1970DODGEDART2 DOOR HARDTOP CUSTOM51000.00
1979DODGELIL RED EXPRESSPICKUP20000.00
1917DODGE ROADSTER PICKUP CUSTOM15000.00
1970DODGECHALLENGER R/T2 DOOR HARDTOP91000.00
2008DODGECHALLENGER SRT82 DOOR COUPE BADGE #01400000.00
1971DODGEHEMI CHALLENGER R/THARDTOP RE-CREATION72000.00
1969DODGEHEMI CHARGER 5002 DOOR HARDTOP110000.00
1969PLYMOUTHROAD RUNNER38000.00
1970PLYMOUTH'CUDA AAR2 DOOR HARDTOP90000.00
1971PLYMOUTH'CUDA2 DOOR HARDTOP50000.00
1969PLYMOUTHROAD RUNNER2 DOOR HARDTOP58000.00
1968PLYMOUTHBARRACUDAFASTBACK70000.00
1970PLYMOUTHHEMI 'CUDACONVERTIBLE RE-CREATION91000.00
1965PLYMOUTHBELVEDERE2 DOOR HARDTOP70000.00
1972PLYMOUTH'CUDA2 DOOR HARDTOP33000.00
1968PLYMOUTHBARRACUDACONVERTIBLE27500.00
1968PLYMOUTHROAD RUNNER2 DOOR HARDTOP115000.00
1965PLYMOUTHSATELLITECONVERTIBLE24000.00
1964PLYMOUTHSPORT FURY2 DOOR HARDTOP69000.00
1968PLYMOUTHGTX2 DOOR HARDTOP56000.00
1970PLYMOUTHROAD RUNNERCONVERTIBLE45000.00
1970PLYMOUTH'CUDA AAR2 DOOR HARDTOP78000.00
1970PLYMOUTHROAD RUNNER2 DOOR HARDTOP65000.00
1970PLYMOUTH'CUDA AAR2 DOOR HARDTOP100000.00
1969PLYMOUTHGTX2 DOOR COUPE70000.00
1970PLYMOUTHSUPERBIRD2 DOOR HARDTOP165000.00
1970PLYMOUTHHEMI 'CUDA2 DOOR HARDTOP245000.00
1970PLYMOUTH'CUDA2 DOOR HARDTOP125000.00
2008PLYMOUTH'CUDACONCEPT CAR145000.00
1971PLYMOUTH'CUDA2 DOOR75000.00
1970PLYMOUTHSUPERBIRD2 DOOR HARDTOP200000.00
1970PLYMOUTH'CUDA2 DOOR HARDTOP69000.00
1970PLYMOUTHSUPERBIRD2 DOOR HARDTOP135000.00
1972PLYMOUTHHEMI 'CUDARE-CREATION75000.00
1959PLYMOUTHFURY2 DOOR HARDTOP40000.00
1971PLYMOUTHHEMI 'CUDACONVERTIBLE RE-CREATION85000.00
1970PLYMOUTH'CUDA AAR2 DOOR HARDTOP92000.00
1971PLYMOUTHROAD RUNNER2 DOOR HARDTOP32000.00
1970PLYMOUTHROAD RUNNER2 DOOR HARDTOP39000.00
1967PLYMOUTHGTX2 DOOR23500.00
1956PLYMOUTHBELVEDERE2 DOOR32000.00
1968PLYMOUTHROAD RUNNER2 DOOR HARDTOP27000.00
1970PLYMOUTH'CUDACONVERTIBLE100000.00
1972PLYMOUTHBARRACUDA2 DOOR COUPE40000.00
1961PLYMOUTHFURY2 DOOR HARDTOP30000.00
1970PLYMOUTHHEMI 'CUDA2 DOOR HARDTOP155000.00
1970PLYMOUTHSUPERBIRD2 DOOR HARDTOP195000.00
1971PLYMOUTH'CUDACONVERTIBLE93000.00
1970PLYMOUTH'CUDA2 DOOR HARDTOP87500.00
1969PLYMOUTHROAD RUNNER2 DOOR HARDTOP42000.00
1970PLYMOUTHBARRACUDA2 DOOR GRAND COUPE42000.00
1970PLYMOUTHROAD RUNNER2 DOOR HARDTOP72000.00
1970PLYMOUTH'CUDA AAR2 DOOR91000.00
1960PLYMOUTHFURYCONVERTIBLE70000.00
1967PLYMOUTHHEMI GTX2 DOOR HARDTOP77000.00
1970PLYMOUTH'CUDACUSTOM 2 DOOR100000.00
1966PLYMOUTHHEMI BELVEDERE II2 DOOR HARDTOP75000.00
1964PLYMOUTHSAVOYDRAG CAR62000.00
1970PLYMOUTHHEMI 'CUDA2 DOOR HARDTOP150000.00

[Rallye72]

I'm a little confused by what some of you may have expected. It seems to me the underlying assumption in here is that this car is a guaranteed high buck collector item.

I don't share that view, certainly not anytime in the near future. I think the #1 car did pretty well, after all 400k IS a lot of money. In about a year from now these things will be running around all over the place and not too long after that they'll be on used car lots, guaranteed. The car didn't draw that much of a crowd on Saturday, at least not while I was there. The General Lee was obviously the favorite and it was parked very close to the Challenger concept.

I have no idea how much of a tax write off, if any, Mr Jackson will be able to take for his "charitable donation" but he did a good thing by helping out. I'm pretty sure he'll recoup his investment at some point. Who knows, maybe next year it'll cross the block again for a million bucks. Guess we'll see.

[Kelsey73]

Everything after MSRP is a write off. I do agree that the car did well, but I think it would have broght more a year ago. The market just wasn't there this year. The first GT500 brought 600K and the same with the 1st Shelby GT last year. I don't look at this car as a high collectors item at all. I really would like to see Mr. Jackson drive it like he stole it! I think it's what we should all do with these current gerneration muscle cars, limited quantites or not. These cars are ment to be driven not preserved. Keep that classic for the weekend and have fun with that new one!