Scott Colmer Posted October 16, 2014 Posted October 16, 2014 This is is an abandoned Challenger that is resting in a ravine behind a friend's housing tract. You can see it from his backyard, but you can't see it from the road at the top of the ravine. We hiked down and shot some pics. To my surprise I still had a vin tag on the door. I found out that it is a 73 Challenger that was built in LA. It came with a 383. 4BBL. How it got in the ravine, I would love to know. Any sleuths out there?
1930fordpickup Posted October 16, 2014 Posted October 16, 2014 No engine or trans? Fell off a trailer going down the road?
chunkypeanutbutter Posted October 16, 2014 Posted October 16, 2014 Stolen, joy ridden, and dumped, most likely. Parts hunters come and take the engine, front clip.... Kids shoot out the windshield... That's what I suppose.
Casey Posted October 16, 2014 Posted October 16, 2014 That's a fairly early 1970 model, the 2388th vehicle produced at that plant in September 1969. Have you posted this previously on the moparts.com forum? I swear I've seen it before...
keyser Posted October 16, 2014 Posted October 16, 2014 It'll be a "barn find" that's minty in 15 months. LOL
Maindrian Pace Posted October 16, 2014 Posted October 16, 2014 Tell the Graveyard Carz guys. They'll fix'er right up.
Scott Colmer Posted October 16, 2014 Author Posted October 16, 2014 (edited) This is the first place I've ever posted it. I did send a pic to Hot Rod for their Scene by Readers section. No response. I wonder if there is someone out there who never found out where their Challenger ended up. Edited October 16, 2014 by Scott Colmer
unclescott58 Posted October 16, 2014 Posted October 16, 2014 (edited) If it was a '73 Challenger it would not have come with a 383. I'm trusty in Casey's reading of the vin tag on this one. Scott Edited October 16, 2014 by unclescott58
ChrisPflug Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 (edited) The VIN is for a 1970 R/T with the base 383 Magnum If the dash VIN and fender tag are missing the car probably "lives on" on a previous 318 equipped base model Edited October 17, 2014 by ChrisPflug
Scott Colmer Posted October 17, 2014 Author Posted October 17, 2014 It might have been a 318. I was going from memory. I tried to find an owner, but the internet wold not give that info up to me.
ChrisPflug Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 Was saying that it may have been used as a parts car then abandoned and the VIN switched to a cleaner but more common base model Challenger Some of the Mopar boards keep track of VINs from known wrecks beyond repair and the occasional VIN plate/fender tag/and title that shows up for sale- on more than one occasion a nicely "restored" car later comes up for sale with that VIN The VIN in the photo is for a Challenger R/T originally equipped with a high performance 383- the standard engine for the R/T model "JS" designates R/T, "JH" would be a base model, "23" a hardtop ("29" would be an SE), "N" for 1970 the 383 4 barrel, "0" the model year, 1970, and "E" the assembly plant The VIN number and scheduled build date were assigned to each vehicle in advance but the door sticker was applied at the end of the assembly line and accurate in determining when a particular vehicle was built. Normal model year changeover was usually around early July with the plant shutting down for a couple weeks for the switch before actual regular production so a September built Challenger would be a fairly early example
1972coronet Posted October 18, 2014 Posted October 18, 2014 The thing which I find *odd* about this car : FJ6 green on a pre-Spring 1970 build , especially from the relatively-obscure Los Angeles (City of Commerce) Plant ! Its sequence number is low ; I wonder what its actual build date was ; where it was sold new ...
ChrisPflug Posted October 18, 2014 Posted October 18, 2014 Looks like FF4 Light Green Metallic originally with the brighter green being a later repaint and almost completely peeled off An original door sticker is the most accurate way to tell the actual build date- the label was printed and attached as the car was being completed in the factory- the scheduled build date as found on the fender tag can often be off quite a bit depending on vehicle and the VIN/ sequence number was assigned before the car was actually started to be built- the cars coming off the line wouldn't necessarily be built in the same order as the numbers assigned
MyBradKeselowski Posted October 18, 2014 Posted October 18, 2014 What I would like to know is how this can be a 73 Challenger when the tag has a production date of 9-1969.. :blink:
Ace-Garageguy Posted October 18, 2014 Posted October 18, 2014 Looks like FF4 Light Green Metallic originally with the brighter green being a later repaint and almost completely peeled off A poorly done color-change is often a sign a car has been "misplaced" somewhere along the line.
ChrisBcritter Posted October 18, 2014 Posted October 18, 2014 Might be a good start for the first-ever LeMons Challenger? Bet it's not even that rusty underneath.
1972coronet Posted October 18, 2014 Posted October 18, 2014 Looks like FF4 Light Green Metallic originally with the brighter green being a later repaint and almost completely peeled off Good eye ! Until I looked at the pics in their larger size , I thought that the colour behind the J6 was just oxidised metal .
FASTBACK340 Posted October 22, 2014 Posted October 22, 2014 Tell the Graveyard Carz guys. They'll fix'er right up. You mean Graveyard B & E Bodies….. I'm a Mopar guy and I can't watch that show. Loving the detective work on the VI# and details.
Scott Colmer Posted October 22, 2014 Author Posted October 22, 2014 You guys did a great job on finding out what it was in it's glory days. What do we need to find out who it belonged to? May be a good story there. Scott
ChrisBcritter Posted October 23, 2014 Posted October 23, 2014 Just ran the VIN JS23N0E102388 through the NICB database and it's not coming up stolen; if you had the license number and last five digits of the VIN you could run it through the CA DMV database, that would give a lot more info re salvage/junk, last registered, etc. (I just found that the low-mileage garage find '78 Subaru 4x4 wagon my boss just got has $619 in back fees... )
mnwildpunk Posted October 23, 2014 Posted October 23, 2014 Ill look up the vin at work and see what I can find
Scott Colmer Posted October 23, 2014 Author Posted October 23, 2014 Now, you're talkn'! Thanks! Not stolen?! That IS a surprise. Can't wait for the next installment, Scott
1972coronet Posted October 25, 2014 Posted October 25, 2014 if you had the license number and last five digits of the VIN you could run it through the CA DMV database, that would give a lot more info re salvage/junk, last registered, etc. Did the Cali DMV update its database ? Last time I checked , their V.I.N. check only recognised the 1981 & up V.I.N.'s , not the thirteen-charater ID's .
ChrisBcritter Posted October 25, 2014 Posted October 25, 2014 (edited) It will give info as long as you have the last five of the VIN and the license number - and the county and zip code - I just did it the other day for that Subaru: https://www.dmv.ca.gov/FeeCalculatorWeb/renewalForm.do If there's a license plate or an old registration with a license number somewhere in that wreck you're good. Edited October 25, 2014 by ChrisBcritter
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now