1971 R/T - Help with identification

[mcknigse]

Hi mopar guru's. Apologies, I'm new here and I think I posed this question in the wrong section before. 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? Before I start asking the owner questions I was hoping to be sure it's not advertised incorrectly or maybe I'm out to lunch.

 

[70chall440]

You are right that the VIN says RT but the car seems to be lacking all of the other RT stuff (taillights, headlights and doors) so my guess is that it was probably wrecked at some point and rebuilt non-RT stuff or it was a parts car at some point and all of the RT stuff was removed but then someone wanted to rebuild the car.

Depending on the price it looks to be a decent project car but to replace all of the RT stuff is going to be VERY expensive. Taillights are running $1200 per side these days, doors have sold for over $2K per door and the grille (hideaway headlights) are north of $1500 or more. It is a 440 car so you have that going for you.

It would make a great hot rod but probably not a good candidate for restoration unless you have some emotional connection to it and want to keep it forever. In other words, this is not going to be a money maker if thats what you are thinking about.

 

[RemCharger]

Bumblebee stripe= check!
On wrong end of car= uncheck.

Looks like it has some roof funkiness.. sunroof implant gone bad?

 

[mcknigse]

You are right that the VIN says RT but the car seems to be lacking all of the other RT stuff (taillights, headlights and doors) so my guess is that it was probably wrecked at some point and rebuilt non-RT stuff or it was a parts car at some point and all of the RT stuff was removed but then someone wanted to rebuild the car.

Depending on the price it looks to be a decent project car but to replace all of the RT stuff is going to be VERY expensive. Taillights are running $1200 per side these days, doors have sold for over $2K per door and the grille (hideaway headlights) are north of $1500 or more. It is a 440 car so you have that going for you.

It would make a great hot rod but probably not a good candidate for restoration unless you have some emotional connection to it and want to keep it forever. In other words, this is not going to be a money maker if thats what you are thinking about.

Well interestingly enough I want to make a 71 super bee clone, and this is a decently priced 71 in the area... but it looked a little off to me to be an R/T, and also I'd be a little guilty modifying a true RT too much.
Other thing that maybe could have happened is the dash could have been pulled from another car, I could check the radiator support stamp and see if the digits match the vin tag. Anyway, thank you for verifying my concerns!

 

[mcknigse]

Bumblebee stripe= check!
On wrong end of car= uncheck.

Looks like it has some roof funkiness.. sunroof implant gone bad?

Yeah I noticed the roof too. Car is about 4 hours away, not close enough to check on it really quickly. I'm going to ask for more photos, and a bit of history on the car if the owner knows anything as it has no real RT value IMO

 

[whyjay]

Looks like a R/T dash in non R/T 1971 charger. Lots of funkiness going on there. Hard pass.

 

[Nxcoupe]

If it is cheap enough, your plan for it would work out really well. Verify the door sticker matcges the dash, pretty sure it's not going to. Does it have a fender tag? See which of the VINs on the door or dash matches the core support. I personally dgaf if it is 100% proper. If it has a title and I can get plates, it's game on.

 

[mcknigse]

Thanks all. I don't really care whether or not it's a real RT, truthfully I'd prefer it wasn't, but wanted to be prepared before I approach the guy. I don't want to pay RT money for a non RT. As long as I can register it as you said Nxcoupe.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

I would check the body stampings to see if the match the VIN... I believe those have a cowl stamping & a radiator support stamp like an E body.. You might prefer a non-R/T but whatever you buy, the VIN has to match or registering it may be a nightmare...

 

[Runcharger]

I seen that last year. Lots of signs that it is an R/T dash swapped into a 318 whatever Charger.

 

[mbc0724]

Most if not all of the Charger RTs in 1971 came with a performance hood of some kind, too (louvred, air grabber--Ramcharger--raised power bulge, etc.). I don't think I have ever seen a 71 RT with a flat hood. Maybe. But not likely.

 

[70chall440]

If I had thought before I typed I would have added that someone could have put a RT dash frame into a non RT (as has been said) which when you think about it probably makes a lot more sense. Maybe had a fire back in the day and it was easier just to pull the entire dash and put it in.

This makes way more sense than what I wrote initially... lol

That said (and has been said several times already), check the stampings and the title, I suspect all will become clear pretty quickly at that point.

Good luck, I can definitely get behind the Superbee clone, I am doing one myself (kind of).

 

[Nacho-RT74]

It seems somebody made a custom vinyl top job on it too.

 

[71gtx471]

A true U code R/T should also have a K frame with a skid plate,it could have been swapped over but doubtful.