1971 Charger R/T identification

[mcknigse]

Hi mopar guru's. There is a car advertised near (ish) to me that the owner says is a 71 R/T. I'm interested, but some of the pictures have me a little suspicious. I have no doubt it is a 71, but I don't know that it is an RT. As far as I can tell the VIN is an RT, but the tail lamps are (from what I understand) base model or super bee style and there are no door louvers. Did all 71 rt's come with door louvers? And also am I correct that all rt's came with the other style rear tail lamps?

 

[#41]

The VIN starts with "WS" and it has a 440 "U" code, so it should be an RT based on just the VIN. Yes, every RT should have louvered doors, bulge hood, and the upgrade taillights. Can the owner explain what happened to them?

 

[WileERobby]

From my foggy memory: Roof and taillamps appear ok, but hood and doors NOT.

 

[Charger72]

This is my 72 with 71 R/T tail lights, the 72 Rallye also had these tail lights. The ones shown in your picture are standard.

71 R/T tail lights

 

[QuickBpBp]

I would look at that car very close. Check the body stampings as it could be a 71 318 Charger with a dash frame from a wrecked or rotted out 71 R/T.

 

[1968rt]

Hood, doors and tail lights $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[71dodgechargerrt]

VIN is ok but maybe dash swap.

 

[chargervert]

If the car is a real R/T it's missing 10 grand plus worth of R/T specific parts!

 

[WileERobby]

Thanks for that poster with the taillamp info. I can tell you this, from fixing these cars back in the 70's, some people paying out-of-pocket just wanted the cheapest cost to fix. So, if it meant getting a plain standard hood, or door, or whatever, if it was cheapest, that's what went on the car. Question here is: is this an R/T car with std parts on it, or, a standard car with an R/T dash/vin plate ?

 

[WileERobby]

This is my 72 with 71 R/T tail lights, the 72 Rallye also had these tail lights. The ones shown in your picture are standard.

71 R/T tail lights

View attachment 1608115

Damn, that's a work of art beauty. How 'bout a couple mo' pics, not just showin' us yo fine *** !

 

[chargervert]

All 71 Charger R/T cars had torque boxes and a skid plate on the K frame'

 

[1 Wild R/T]

All 71 Charger R/T cars had torque boxes and a skid plate on the K frame'

Good point! and just so the O/P knows what to look for I've pointed green arrows at the torque boxes... And red arrows where there are no torque boxes...

And a K member first without a skid plate

And with a skid plate..

 

[mcknigse]

Thanks all for the replies. I think I posted this in the wrong place, I posted this later in the specific third gen section. I was pretty suspicious and now am for sure. Chatted with the guy last night over messenger, and he says it was rolled way back in the day and the owner repaired it with standard parts... so not sure what to think. I am looking for a 71 I can make a 'super bee clone' type of car. So it fits the bill, just seems a bit suspicious with the RT vin but no RT parts. If I go look I'll see if the rad support and vin match (if it's still legible) and go from there.

 

[Runcharger]

Yes: It is 4 or 5 hours from me as well. I wasn't feeling confident enough about it last year to spend the time and gas to go check it over.

 

[chargervert]

Thanks all for the replies. I think I posted this in the wrong place, I posted this later in the specific third gen section. I was pretty suspicious and now am for sure. Chatted with the guy last night over messenger, and he says it was rolled way back in the day and the owner repaired it with standard parts... so not sure what to think. I am looking for a 71 I can make a 'super bee clone' type of car. So it fits the bill, just seems a bit suspicious with the RT vin but no RT parts. If I go look I'll see if the rad support and vin match (if it's still legible) and go from there.

If the car is a legitimate R/T it should still have the torque boxes and skid plate k frame, and the VIN stamping on the back side of the radiator support and top of the cowl should match the last eight digits of the VIN numbers. It should also have a 440 Magnum engine.