Rare does not always mean valuable. That’s great for people with a small classic car budget, as you can still spend a lot of money fixing up a car, but for a low cost of entry, and it will be worth the same when you decide to sell. Rare in this case means the product of one of the many companies that popped up in the early 1980s to take the place of car manufacturers, who abandoned convertibles due to fears they would be legislated out of the market, and to focus on emissions and safety. Most anything was eligible for conversion, with the main focus on sports cars, sporty coupes, and 2-door sedans. Surprisingly, this industry still exists, and Newport Convertible Engineering has most recently done conversions of the Toyota Prius and Subaru WRX STi (why?). You can find this 1982 Dodge Charger convertible for sale for $2000 in North Hollywood, CA.
This car is said to have been created for a Dodge dealership, along with 2 other red cars (perhaps there were other colors too). The car looks to be straight, though faded, and hopefully hasn’t lived too close to the sea to avoid any rusting. The wheels are said to be hard to find, so in case you want to lock these up for safe-keeping, there’s a set of steel wheels included as well.
It’s said to have only 85,000 miles, so should still run fairly well, but BAR records show the last smog test, which it failed, was in 2004. The car is said to be restorative – perhaps a drive in it with the top down is as relaxing as a massage or mud bath. Or perhaps it’s just a good restoration candidate. The top looks a little home-made, but does seem to have a proper frame, and comes with a vinyl boot to cover it when it’s down.
Don’t you hate when passengers change the temperature and fan speed? Well, Dodge was thinking of you when they moved the controls over on the left side of the steering wheel. Tan interior is a traditional favorite with the red exterior, and helps counteract the bland 1980s-cliche styling. On the upside, the car is said to have recent tires, brakes, clutch, and pressure plate, so hopefully you can at least get it home before anything else needs to be done. Is membership of an exclusive club enough for you to pick up a car like this?
Tags: american, charger, convertible, dodge, Feature
Rusty But Trusty 
July 25, 2014 at 11:38 am |
I like how that door speaker is in the way of the window crank. This is just awful; I’d find a Dodge Shadow or Chrysler Lebaron convertible in much better shape with my 20 bones if I was looking for a cheap, old Mopar convertible.
July 25, 2014 at 2:30 pm |
Who cares if it’s good when it’s rare? And yeah, you have to wonder how they ever raise the window – note it’s still open in the top-up pic.