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When did 2nd Gen Charger prices explode?

I bought my 69 Charger in 2002 (maybe 03) for $2800. It was a 318/auto car with some typical quarter panel rust in the passenger rear wheel well. I was 15 at the time. The Charger was sitting behind a body shop and the owner kept telling me that if I couldn't get the money he'd "through a blown 440 in it and sell it for eight grand".

From what I can remember, the Dukes movie (2005) spurred interest in Chargers more than Fast and Furious (2001). Most of the retards I hung with thought "the black car at the end" was a Chevelle. :rolleyes: I specifically remember watching a news story about the increasing value due to the new Dukes movie, too. After 2005, I couldn't leave it parked in the driveway or in front of the house without people trying buy it off me. Must have been that fresh coat of flat black rattle-can enamel.


Here's an interesting article from that time frame:
https://money.cnn.com/2005/07/29/Autos/funonwheels/charger_prices/
Interesting, forgot about dukes movie, maybe that was the final straw?
 
SO where is the safe money - If you could only have one do you buy a 68-70 Charger or a 70-71 Cuda? Which one is going to appreciate the most - anyone out there with a crystal ball?
Cuda. You can find rust buckets, half missing, 6 cylinders for 10 to 15 thousand. What's that tell you. No disrespect to the charger, I have much love for them. My thought is future value. Just my opinion. If we can't get the next generation to follow, all bets off.
 
Cuda. You can find rust buckets, half missing, 6 cylinders for 10 to 15 thousand. What's that tell you. No disrespect to the charger, I have much love for them. My thought is future value. Just my opinion. If we can't get the next generation to follow, all bets off.
Cant agree and like at the same time Ulli, but ...sadly this generation can't drive a 3 pedal car, even less with a carburetor, mechanical steering and manual drums, not complaining but that's the way it is today, luckily the 2nd gen b bodies, specially the 2 doors draw too much attention, like Dick says timeless beautys, I always get poked by my nephews about who's gonna get the coronet when is finished, my answer: to the first who gets an university degree, time will tell.
 
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Cant go wrong with either! Picked this up in 1985. Paid $3800 for it at Carlisle. That was a lot back then, but I wanted a clean body with original interior. Beaters/drivers, back then were $500-700. Still have it!

gregs68.jpg
 
For future value.....
Sell them now, while there is still a good bit of interest in them.

At the risk of sounding cliche, this musclecar thing is a sinking ship. You better be into this stuff because you are passionate about it with little regard to futures. If you bought your car / cars years ago, you will generally be safe for the foreseeable future. If you bought in the last 10 years or so, you better be prepared to sell for less than you have invested.

As for the original question, I’d say 2nd gen chargers have always pulled a premium, but in the last 5 years it seems to have become a wider margin.
 
2 gen Chargers have that timeless design that 50 years later still stir up the juices... probably why most everyone wants these babies today
OIP.Y6yr8Qsm7aB-gcTg3i7E1AHaEo?w=279&h=173&c=7&o=5&pid=1.jpg
 
I post once exactly the same phrase "everybody wants a charger" and other member nag me telling me that he don't he loves his Gtx and that's it :lol:
LOL...nobody's perfect. In reality these cars differences are only skin deep... Pretty much get their parts from the same parts bin....just sayin..KD :lol:
 
Trying to answer the OP question, I think it was a progression over time. They didn't just get pricey over night.
When I was a kid in the 70's I knew what a Charger was. But the General Lee is what made me want one. It rejuvenated interest in the 2nd generation. And of course the movies they were in over the years just kept building on this.
 
I don't even remember seeing a 68-70 Charger before the Dukes of Hazzard came on TV. I was 13 when the show aired in late January 1979.
 
Trying to answer the OP question, I think it was a progression over time. They didn't just get pricey over night.
When I was a kid in the 70's I knew what a Charger was. But the General Lee is what made me want one. It rejuvenated interest in the 2nd generation. And of course the movies they were in over the years just kept building on this.
This is what I'm thinking,

Tho, based on this thread, it seems the combo or the 2006 auction, and dukes movie seemed to REALLY catapult it. Makes sense. The guys who grew up with dukes, saw the movie, and could buy. The boomers with the cars, saw the movie AND auction, asking premium. That's my assessment anyway
 
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IMO it was the mid-late 90's when they started to really climb
(out here anyway)
prior to that I bought them/then for $500-$1500 to $3500 drivers easily
& clean examples of R/T's semi-restos for $10,000 or less frequently

2nd gen is an absolute great looking body style,
it was bound to happen
& IMHFO the 68 is by far the best, both in the front & rear designs

still my favorite & always will be

I like the 69 & 70 too, but just not as much

my 1st good car,
was a 68 Charger R/T I bought for $350, 1974 @ 15 y/o
off a hot divorcee lady that lived down the street from me...
It only needed a little trans work, about $150 later....
I drove it in various states, for a good part of 2 decades,
before I sold it, to my cousin Joe, who totaled it, shortly after...
I've had 13 of the gen 2's in total, most were 68's (8)
& a few 69's (4) over the years (1) 70, most were all R/T's too
a couple were R/T-SE's too

Now, I'm not sure I will ever own another...

same deal with 68-69 RR's, about the same time late 90's - early 2000
but they haven't gone thru the roof like the Chargers have
 
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The second generation Charger has always been an iconic car,the get a way car of choice for the silver screen, and television. The movies Bullitt, and Dirty Mary and Crazy Larry, did it for the old timers,the Dukes of Hazzard did it for my generation, and the Fast and Furious films have done it for the current generation. Being iconic right out of the box when new,and remaining iconic for 52 years is a big deal. Hot Rod magazine named the General Lee the most iconic car ever a few years ago,before all the PC crap started about the flag. It is truly a design that has stood the test of time,and that has surely driven up the values of them.
 
2 of the absolute best buys I ever made;

Circa 1979/80 I bought a 68 RT Charger in Bismarck ND; 440 AT (on the floor) red with black top and black interior. A stoner had it and had spun it into a curb and pole and mangled the LCA and door on the drivers side. I paid $150 for that car; got some parts off of a 69 parts car I had sold to a friend. That car was bone stock but was a beast; I street raced it all summer and never lost a race with it. When fall came I sold it to another friend bc he wanted the drive train for his 68 GTX. I sold it for $300 so I doubled my money.

Circa 1983/4 I bought a 70 GTX in Fayetteville NC 440 4spd console, bronze with brown interior from a guy for $700. The car was all there, ran and drove (pretty well actually). I drove that car for about a year and then sold it to an Army buddy who got T boned at an intersection completely destroying the right side of the car. I think I sold it for $1000 if I remember right.
 
It's funny how rediculously cheap these cars were back then. In 1980 I paid $250 for a running 69 Charger 318 car.in 1981,I paid $350 for the 70 Charger R / T SE 440 Magnum 4 speed car, that I still own,in 1982,I paid $550 for a Charger R/T SE, also in 82 I paid $75 for a 68 318 car with a blown engine. I paid $300 for a 68 Charger R / T, in 1983,I paid 80 for a running driving 68 Charger 318 car that I drove for 5 years. I bought a 69 Charger 318 car that I saw on the highway the day before, out of a junkyard for $75. I used to buy every one I could find, and they were dirt cheap. I never paid more than a grand for one until the 1990s!
 
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