What is your definition of an unmolested car?

[HawkRod]

This is the closest to survivor i believe i ever owned, this was a year after y2k, matching #s, original pant and column shift bench interior, had turn downs instead of side exhaust, hood might off been repaired and im sure a few other things than battery and hoses weren't original.

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Turn downs? Wow, I thought all AAR Cudas had the side exhaust. Was this a California requirement?

As a side note, per my recollection, my 70 Road Runner (CA car) was not available with trumpet exhaust but had to have turn downs as well.

 

[moparedtn]

Turn downs? Wow, I thought all AAR Cudas had the side exhaust. Was this a California requirement?

As a side note, per my recollection, my 70 Road Runner (CA car) was not available with trumpet exhaust but had to have turn downs as well.

There were states back in 1970 that did not allow exhaust to exit the car in front of the rear wheels.
I remember Virginia was one of those...

 

[Matthew Maloney]

Unmolested car
Not anything I own lol

 

[Budnicks]

Turn downs? Wow, I thought all AAR Cudas had the side exhaust. Was this a California requirement?

As a side note, per my recollection, my 70 Road Runner (CA car) was not available with trumpet exhaust but had to have turn downs as well.

Not a Calif. requirement on the AAR or TA's
NOT that I remember
I saw a few of them as a kid new
& knew a few people when older that had them too...

Several in the lil' town of Antioch Ca. when I was young
2 on the street we lived on, Hacienda Way In Loma Vista area
an AAR 'cuda & a Challenger TA
I was like 11-12 y/o, 7th grade
I drooled over them often
but they had the original factory exhaust
in front of the rear tires/side exhaust

The 'no dump before the rear axle' etc.,
not as a Calif. Requirement anyway
I knew plenty of people that had dumps before the rear axles
later in Calif. too, sort of std hotrod day 2 deal back in the day
I had several cars with it myself...
I lived on a street with a bunch of LEO's too...

 

[Matthew Maloney]

Neither car I have had a data plate when I got them. These were long gone by then. No build sheets either. Going to use these instead.

 

[Rainy day auto]

The definition of a unmolested car has to have changed over the years. A 1970 is now 50 years old. Just like people, man made items are made to die someday, nothing on earth lasts forever.

So with that said, there's so many things that need to be replaced on any given car that you wouldn't have had to replace in 1981. It has nothing to do with having been violated, it has everything to do with that its freaking old now.

 

[Matthew Maloney]

Unmolested is a car that hasn't ever been cut up and modified. EX. race car, street rod, street freak etc. Its one that stays true to its flava exactly as it was manufactured, with only repairs made to it that keep it as close to its OEM manufacture as possible

 

[Mark440]

Yes an old post but that term always sounded dumb to me...

Even in the late 80's I looked at unmolested cars,they were beaters,dents etc..Then I looked at some that were original as could be and some were fixed up to be original new paint but factory color,rebuilt engine to stock specs or a cam swap..So,that term never made sense,just like mint condition..One mans mint condition is another mans beater!

Only reason I posted this,I bought a "Unmolested" 71 Charger 500 383 Magnum on the weekend,car is pretty nice stock looking but was repainted in the early 90's and engine rebuilt late 90's but looks stock and runs/drives solid like I remember original perfect 1971-1972 Charger's I owned before...My 68 Charger is molested even though its restored to a 68 RT clone,was a 318 2bbl car,bought it missing drivetrain,interior etc..Now looks as new as could be,restored to o.e.m but a cam swap and heads polished/ported..Its a unmolested restoration lol

 

[chargervert]

Unmolested car
Not anything I own lol

Every car I own has been repeatedly molested hard and sent home wet!

 

[CHARGERSTEVEN]

Every car I own has been repeatedly molested hard and sent home wet!

Can you change hands without missing a stroke lol

 

[chargervert]

I gain a stroke,I have been married a long time! Lol

 

[Detective D]

Stock
Original
Unmolested

These are different things that get blended all the time.
Stock is just that. But maybe parts were replaced. Maybe it was repainted. But it wasn't changed, not in it's specs or color etc.

Original. Is just that. original paint, interior, engine, etc. Original and "good condition" do not have to be the same thing. A car with chalk paint and rotten tires and a blown engine might be an original car. Original survivor generally means condition is at least fair, body isn't a rust pile, etc.

Unmolested.
Well think about the inferred meaning of molested is, if it was not a car. Then apply it to the car. Things were done to that car, that the poor car never wanted or deserved.
I go back to my young man days looking at Mustangs. mid 90's Mustangs. They were new. Then they weren't. Then supercharged cobras came out and made the 96-2002 cars look like absolute trash(they were). Too bad the 94/95 old school 5.0 looked just like them, so they were also considered trash. Which meant they got cheap. So kids bought them. I spent two years looking for an "unmolested" 94/95 5.0 to swap a 351 into a la Saleen style. you can't imagine(well maybe you can) the things done to those cars by the absolute idiot millenial gen when they were 20 years old and fresh off of too fast too furious.
Cut coil springs. Yellow PAINT on interior dash parts. Interiors gutted, and then zero skill to fabricate a "delete kit". INSIDES OF DOORS CUT OUT, you know, the safety bars so you don't instantly die from a 10 mph T bone collision. "Weight reduction" where things that were maybe .1 lbs were unbolted and lost, like the plastic cover plate that goes over the radiator edge when you open the hood. Airbag steering wheels pulled out to put in a cheap foam covered chinese race wheel. "Lowering springs" followed immediatly by "needs alignment".

MOLESTED cars, every one. I finally found an Opal Frost 94 5.0 advertised as not only "stock" but also "original". And IT WAS, even the rims. Only the tires had been changed out.

So "unmolested" is always an important thing, but it shouldn't apply to a car when terms like "stock" and "original" could be used to better effect.

 

[chargervert]

I had a chance to buy a beautiful survivor 70 Charger R/T SE 440 Magnum,automatic car. It was B5 Blue,black vimal top,and interior. The car had 32.000 miles on it and was never driven in salt or snow. The car was garaged its whole life. I didn't have a safe place to keep the car at the time,and would have had to sell off a few other cars to purchase the car. The car was in the survivor tent at the Englishtown Mopar show a few times. It was great to see the car again.

 

[1STMP]

I see an "unmolested car" in the same class as a survivor so as it left the showroom....original everything except service parts a replacements for failed parts.....but all original bodywork and NO paintwork. My own view is that a "survivor" that's had a full respray in its life is NOT a survivor. I know many others will have a My humble

Unmolested means (totally)
untouched. A survivor is
a vehicle that has had
cosmetic updates to try
and maintain the factory
appearance, with minor
mods being made.

 

[Cojohnso1]

Original paint and interior. Engine head(s) and intake/exhaust manifolds have not been removed. All supporting components replacements with factory OEM parts. Batteries and tires get the only pass to newer.

 

[moparedtn]

It's an unmolested restoration lol

From your description - no, it's not....but then, you knew that, eh?

 

[cosgig]

I’m on the fence with mine. It is almost completely original….paint, interior, and drivetrain. However, I had to fix the drivers floorpan, I put electric ignition on it when the Accel dual point (installed by the original owner)went out in it, and replace the gas tank and lines. Oh, and new tires. I guess I molested it by fixing that stuff, but I deliberately left the body, interior, underhood, and drivetrain as is. It had been off the road since 1978, and was the original owners daily driver. Not sure what to call it, but I did a “preservation” to keep it as original as possible.

 

[moparedtn]

I’m on the fence with mine. It is almost completely original….paint, interior, and drivetrain. However, I had to fix the drivers floorpan, I put electric ignition on it when the Accel dual point (installed by the original owner)went out in it, and replace the gas tank and lines. Oh, and new tires. I guess I molested it by fixing that stuff, but I deliberately left the body, interior, underhood, and drivetrain as is. It had been off the road since 1978, and was the original owners daily driver. Not sure what to call it, but I did a “preservation” to keep it as original as possible.

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[Black_Sheep]

Molested = questionable mods or alterations that cannot be easily corrected

 

[68BabyBlue]

My current GTX is possibly a unique example where the term might apply. The car has been re-painted three times, the interior replaced two times in spots, at least once in the other areas. Paint has always been factory R6. Current interior is Legendary in factory color. Fenders, front floor pans, truck floor, quarters, trunk drops, and outer wheel houses were all replaced in 1981, with factory OEM pieces. Welding was better than factory original. All numbers matching drive train. All exterior trim is NOS, or restored OEM. Mirrors are OEM with correct date codes.

Where I think the term "unmolested" might apply, is that in 55 years, the car was never, ever, altered from its original configuration. The one exception was trim ring Magnums, by the third owner, which were period correct, but didn't match the broadcast sheet, or what the original owner ran on the car. No, the car is certainly not a "survivor" carrying its original components, but it seems to fit the concept of never being "messed with."