1971 Dodge Charger R/T 440 Six Pack, Auto, Mr. Norms Grand Spaulding Dodge

1971 Dodge Charger R/T Additional Info:

V.I.N.

WS23V1G112643

W: Charger

S: Special (R/T)

23: 2-door hard top

V: 440 Six Pack

1: 1971

G: St. Louis build plant

112643: Build sequence

Fender Tag

Engine: E87 (440 Six Pack)

Transmission: (D32 Heavy Duty Torqueflight)

Scheduled Production Date: 9-11 (1970)

Vehicle Order Number: 038731

Body Paint: EV2

Top Paint: V1X (Vinyl roof)

Interior Trim: D6X9

Upper Door Frame Paint: TX9

U -- Build to USA Specifications

A09 -- Concealed Headlamp

A34 –- Super Track Pack (4.10 Dana 60 w/HD cooling)

A45 -- Frt./Rear Spoiler Pack

B41 -- Disc Brakes

C16 -- Console

C55 -- Bucket Seats

D58 -- 4.10 Axle Ratio Dana 60

G36 -- LH/RH colored race mirror

J45 -- Hood tie-down pins

J52 -- Inside hood release

J78 -- Front spoiler

G37 -- LH/RH chrome race mirror

CTD -- Continued On Next Tag

M21 -- Roof drip moldings

B51 -- Power Assist Disc Brakes

N41 -- Dual Exhaust

N96 -- Ramcharger fresh air hood system

R11 -- AM Radio

V21 -- Performance Hood Paint

V6X -- Black Longitude stripe

26 -- (Unk.)

END -- End of options

[Repeat VIN]

440 Engine Pad

"S440" -- Special 440 (Service block. i.e. no VIN stamped on the pad near the oil pan. It’s blank, but with the proper machine tool markings.)

"4" (difficult to read) "3 2" -- Block assembly date: April 3, 1972

"TW" – (WT) Water tested block

INTRODUCTION

Offered for auction is my 1971 Dodge Charger R/T 440 Six Pack with automatic transmission. It came down the assembly line on September 11, 1970, as one of the first Six Pack models to be produced. (Note the lack of round Charger emblems on the upper door panels and 1970 version console.) Of the 178 Six Pack Charger R/T's produced for ’71, 98 were equipped with an automatic transmission. Further production breakdown is listed on the ’71 Charger R/T registry and can be found here: 71chargerrtregistry (com) (see chart). Per their website, there were only two Hemi Orange (EV2) 440 Six Pack with the automatic transmission built. This Charger is an original Mr. Norms car: mrnorms (.com), with FULL documentation from the dealership. (Mr. Norm himself signed the Six Pack air cleaner lid and owner’s manual.)

OWNERSHIP HISTORY

I am the third owner of this Charger. The following information was obtained by speaking with the 2 previous owners of the car. Yes, I tracked down and spoke, at length, with the original owner of this Charger. His name is visible on all documentation, most notably, at the top of the original window sticker, “6257 D. [David] Schwartz”. David and I are still in contact to this day and he will speak to the new owner. Per David, back in 1970 he had a ‘69 Chevelle SS with 4.10 gears. Trouble was, it didn’t ‘wind up’ (RPM) fast enough, so he got rid of it. Be bought a ’70 Impala and drove it for a little over a year. What David really wanted was a Hemi car. Unfortunately, Hemi engines were past the current model year production. It was September of ‘71 and the ’72 model year cars were already out. He wanted to try anyway, before it was definitely too late to find one. (Hemi’s were no longer produced for ’72.) Undaunted, David and his wife, who lived in Aurora, IL at the time, drove to Mr. Norms Grand Spaulding Dodge to look for a Hemi car. When they arrived, they were helped by Phil or Mike- (David couldn’t remember which one). Bad news though- there werenoHemi cars in stock, and it was way too late to order one. There were ample muscle cars available though. Mr. Norm’s Grand Spaulding Dodge, was known to be the largest dealer of Dodge muscle cars at the time, even coming up with a few of their own models/engine combinations (re: 440 Q- Dart).

Because of the size of inventory maintained by Mr. Norm, a number of the cars were parked in a separate parking lot a few blocks from the actual dealership. The group walked the few blocks where David picked out this '71 440 Six Pack Charger R/T. David said the car was supposed to be Hemi Orange, but it had been sitting so long, it looked black all covered in dirt. On September 9, 1971, David put $30 down to hold the Charger. Two days later, on September 11, 1971, (one year exactly from the Charger’s actual production date) David returned to Mr. Norm's Grand Spaulding Dodge and paid $650 via personal check to drive the Charger off the lot. After owning the Charger for several months, David painted the rims black and added the beauty rings. (Cars produced prior to March(?) of 1971 had the rims painted the body color. After March of 1971, all rims were painted black.) David drove the Charger to a lot near where he lived and took a few pictures. **The attached pictures are the original, un-retouched, (i.e. NOT ‘Photo-shopped’) David took. Yes, there are discrepancies! More on that later.

The following spring, David and his wife decided to take a road trip to go see family. Being from north-west Missouri, David and his wife set out on a road trip. David was driving on US 80 and was only on the road an hour or two when he thought he heard a ‘tick’ coming from the engine. With only about 1,000 miles on the Charger, and the fact his wife didn’t hear the ‘tick’, they kept going. A short time later though the ‘tick’ got worse. So much so, David’s wife now agreed she could hear it. The trip was canceled and they turned for home. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t make it. The ‘tick’ got so bad David stopped the Charger at a pay phone (remember those) and called a small local dealership in Clinton, Iowa. The dealer told David to keep driving the car and bring it directly to the dealership. David tried to limp the Charger back to the Clinton Iowa dealership using side roads. But before they could get there, the Charger’s Six Pack engine quit altogether. David coasted and stopped “kinda sideways” into an alley where he left the Charger for the dealer to come pick up with a tow truck. When the tow truck arrived, and the front of the Charger was lifted, antifreeze was seen running from one of the slotted exhaust tips. Clearly the engine severely damaged. Once at the dealership, the Six Pack set-up and then the valley pan were removed and a damaged valve was visible. David and his wife left the Charger at the Clinton Iowa dealership to be repaired under warranty as they returned home to Aurora. After about 1 – 1½ weeks later, David received a call from the dealership saying the Charger had been repaired and was ready to be picked up. David got on a bus and headed for the Clinton Iowa. He didn’t want to take his old truck for fear of having mechanical problems with it on the way. After picking up the Charger, David headed for home. He would not make it,again! After a short drive, there was another engine problem!! David said the 440 Six Pack spun a rod bearing this time, [probably a byproduct of having anti freeze finding its way into the exhaust system]. David turned around again, and returned the Charger to the dealership in Clinton Iowa. After about a week this time, David got the call from the dealership. The Charger was ready- this time with a brand new engine block. What the dealership had done was install a “service (short) block” to replace the damaged original block and used all the other peripheral parts from the original engine. David and his wife took his old truck this time to go back to Clinton Iowa to pick up the Charger. With the service block installed, the repairs were solid. David and his wife continued to drive the Charger as their grocery-getter until mid to late 1976. With another baby on the way, and high gas prices, they decided to sell the Charger. Instead of trading in the Charger, David sold it himself.

THE SALE

David didn’t remember how he advertised the Charger, but back then, it was probably in the newspaper. A man and his son came to look at the Charger. They were in the market for a car for his son. That man was Mr. J. Stocks, the same person I bought the Charger from a few years later. (I had a conversation with Mr. Stocks’ son shortly before making the purchase who said the Charger was bought for him to drive to school; the very same high school I attended.) [His son would have been a senior and I would have been a freshman at that time. The Charger was probably at the school when I was there, but as a freshman, I would have been too scared to notice.] The entire time he owned the Charger, David kept it stock until the day he sold it to Mr. Stocks for his son to drive. David said he loved the Charger, as did his wife and child. They regretted having to let it go, but it was for a good cause. Mr. Stocks allowed his son to drive the car for a couple years. When his son went off to college, Mr. Stocks took the car back. In July of 1984, I lived Hinsdale, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. I was in the market for a muscle car. I already owned a ’69 Super Bee, but it was severely rotted. I had looked far-and-wide for a car to purchase. What I really wanted was a ’70 Road Runner. I just loved the Six Pack (“6 BBL”) engine and Air Grabber hood. I wasn’t having much luck though. One day a friend of mine said he happened up “Mopar heaven” in a guy’s back yard right in, of all places, our very own town. In the end, my friend was right. The guy, Mr. J. Stocks, had a barn full of wing cars, with a few Hemi’s sprinkled in for good measure. Mr. Stocks was using the Charger as his daily driver. The Charger had everything I wanted, the Six Pack engine and the Ramcharger (“Air Grabber”) hood. With only 28,000 original miles on the odometer, Mr. Stocks would not budge on the price, but I knew the Charger was worth it, so I overpaid for the car- at the time. It was mid-July, 1984.

PERSONAL HISTORY WITH THE CHARGER

After purchasing the Charger, I used it for what it was built for; stoplight to stoplight fun. I remember praying for every traffic light to be red. Just over a year later, I moved to Fresno, California (read: HOT and DRY), where the Charger has resided ever since. In 1995, with about 54,000 mile on the odometer, I got tired of the engine ‘blow by’ and decided to rebuild the engine. That engine rebuild turned into a paint and body job- which turned into freshen up the interior. In the end, the Charger was mildly restored and finished in time for Mopars at the Strip in Las Vegas. It took first place. Since then, the Charger has been used primarily used for show and cruise nights. (the reason for two different sets of rims in the pics.) The odometer currently reads about 69,000 miles. Given the years since its mild restoration, it is now a 3+/2- quality car.

PRODUCTION ANOMALIES

When I initially purchased the Charger, there werenospoilers on the car.My current pictures show a rear Gull Wing spoiler mounted to the deck lid, but no front spoiler. Shortly after purchasing the Charger, I found1 of the 2 production/broadcast sheets where I noticed the option code A45 on line 6. A45 indicates front & rear spoiler package. Trying to be correct, I only mounted the rear spoiler due to the simple fact a front spoiler would hit my trailer ramps when loading. In about 1997, I saw an ad in the back of a Mopar magazine advertising the original sales packets from Mr. Norm's Grand Spaulding Dodge dealership had been located. After calling “Larry” I was pleased to find out my sales packet was available- and it was quite complete. Upon receiving the entire packet, I now had all the original paperwork from the Charger David purchased new back in September of 1971. The A45 F&R spoiler package was listed on several other sales documents as well, to include the original window sticker. Upon receiving the pictures of the Charger when new, I was amazed to see how the Charger was builtwithoutany spoilers. Looks like Mr. Norm owes David $59.40, as he didn’t get what he paid for. Another anomaly is whoever was tasked with ordering GSD dealership inventory screwed up. The order form lists color bumper group, but that is not available with concealed (hide-away) headlamps. Also noted is the “W23” Road wheel with chrome trim ring. Somehow the EV2 color-keyed wheels made it onto the Charger as it came down the production line. Both are noted in pencil on the Charger Order Form as “Not on S.O.” Also noted was the lack of the circular Charger emblems on the upper door panels. I have been told two possible reasons for this. One, the Charger was such early production, the St. Louis assembly plant didn't have any of the propert R/T upper panels yet so they used Super Bee parts which didn't have the emblem. The second reason was similar to the first in that, as the Charger came down the assembly line, the worker mistakenly grabbed the wrong set of upper door panels. This being an early production model, it is equipped with the 1970 version console (Seat belt buckle holders towards the rear instead of an ashtray.)

CURRENT CONDITION

With the original sales packet, and the ability to speak to the Charger's original owner, this is the most well-documented car on the market today. I completed a partial restoration of the Charger in 1997. Since then, the paint has suffered a few minor chips here and there. Being a mid-west car, the right side of the trunk floor was replaced and the trunk-floor extensions have considerable rust. The remainder of the sheet metal is in excellent condition! The chrome and stainless trim are in very good to excellent condition. The hide-away grill and doors have minor pitting. The tail lamp bezels have been repainted exactly as original. The 440 Six Pack starts and runs excellently but the rear main seal drips a little while running. I copied as many of the original factory markings on the engine as possible during restoration. The HD 727 Torqueflight is completely original. The shifts are very crisp and will easily 'chirp' the tires and second. The interior is mostly original. The back seat is original. The front seats were reupholstered with similar seat material but are not perfect as it wasn't available at the time of restoration.

ADDITIONAL ITEMS

Once the Reserve is met, the Charger will come with theoriginal (Hemi Orange)set of rims/tires and all memorabilia to include a new Mr. Norms neon sign.

INTERNATIONAL SALES

Once the reserve is met, I will prep the Charger for overseas container shipping. I will transport the Charger to either the shipping port in Long Beach or Oakland California. Any other shipping arrangements will be the buyer’s responsibility. I will not sell/ship the Charger to any Arab State other than the United Arab Emirates (Port of Dubai) or Qatar (Port of Doha).

LEGAL

The Charger is sold as-is with no warranty or service agreement. The Charger has a clear title and will come with a bill of sale, (among all the other documentation pictured). Further questions or requests for additional photographs are welcome, but please don’t ask what the Reserve amount is. I won’t divulge it. Seller reserves the right to end the auction at any time. Good hunting!!

**39 Additional pictures are now available via e-mail upon request.**