1971 Charger 500, “My tangible soul”

The car was an anniversary gift from my mother to my father. My brother sister and I were driven to and from school in it more than 20 years ago. After an accident that left the left quarter panel damaged my dad had attempted to fix it using copious amounts of body filler. While he was at it he rebuild a 318 out of a 77 New Yorker and replaced the worn out 318 that was in the car. After all that work, it sat. And sat. And sat .
Now 20 years later the car is mine and, in preparation for my wedding in august, the work has begun.
So far In the past 6 months I’ve patched and painted the floors, painted the trunk, rebuilt the Carb, rebuilt the fuel system, rebuilt the brake system, installed a console and shifter, and nearly finished the passenger body work, timed and tuned the still “new” motor. And made 1 hell of a mess in my garage.
The plan is to hang the new drivers quarter skin in the coming month or so and have the car painted in the spring. The car is an heirloom. It’s not numbers matching, and therefore resale is not even a thought. It will go to my child should I have one and if not it will go to my brothers. The factory color seems to have been butterscotch (my least favorite) so the plan thus far is to paint it go green (my absolute favorite) I’ll add updates and more pictures as I progress, but with winter in full swing in Michigan I’m limited until I solve some heating issues in my block constructed garage.

that is awesome !

Great memories I'm sure. You can't buy that. Good luck with your project!

I like the car just fine but your STORY has me hooked! What a great history this car has!
It's obvious you're the right steward for the car, so congrats!

Get some heat and go! That's awesome!

Glad to see you repairing/rebuilding the car and not letting it get parted out or rot away further. I recently bought a 71 Charger, not because I was a huge fan but because it was a deal and I wanted a "Charger" in my stable. Back in the day I had one that I was not a fan of but after getting this one I have really warmed up to them; I am going to be putting a 5.7 with a 4 speed into mine. I was always an E body guy and owned a lot of those (still have 2) and I loved the 70 RR (have one of those) but the 71+ B bodies just really didn't excite me all that much but then after relooking at them when I got this one I came to the realization that they are really culminations of the 70 line; interiors are very much E body with the body size and things like the air grabber distinctly B body.

Good luck and remember to have fun.

70chall440 said:

Glad to see you repairing/rebuilding the car and not letting it get parted out or rot away further. I recently bought a 71 Charger, not because I was a huge fan but because it was a deal and I wanted a "Charger" in my stable. Back in the day I had one that I was not a fan of but after getting this one I have really warmed up to them; I am going to be putting a 5.7 with a 4 speed into mine. I was always an E body guy and owned a lot of those (still have 2) and I loved the 70 RR (have one of those) but the 71+ B bodies just really didn't excite me all that much but then after relooking at them when I got this one I came to the realization that they are really culminations of the 70 line; interiors are very much E body with the body size and things like the air grabber distinctly B body.

Good luck and remember to have fun.

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move found that a lot of folks don’t have any love for the 71s though I don’t understand it to each their own. I love mine and plan to put an un godly amount of miles on it soon.

My parents bought this 70 Charger R/T SE new,it was cool having a Charger for our family car.

chargervert said:

My parents bought this 70 Charger R/T SE new,it was cool having a Charger for our family car.View attachment 1042185

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That is awesome! I don’t have any pics of the car when my dad had it but he’s had 4 of them. When he’s take my brother and I to school in it (early 2000’s) we’d all hop out in leather jackets with our hair slicked back Lots of good times in it. As a matter of fact, some years ago I found my old pacifier under the passenger seat when I patched the floor

I got my first Charger,and leather jacket in 1980. I still have my 70 Charger R/T SE from my high school days. My parents sold their Charger to a friend of mine in 1982. They refused to sell it to me,so I bought my own. My mom said,well if you kill yourself in that one,atleast I won't have to live with the fact that I gave it to you! Right now I have 13 Chargers,it's a sickness,you can't have just one!