5 affordable Mopar muscle cars and trucks up for grabs right now

[Hagerty]

Finding any sort of muscle car on a budget is a tall order these days. You need to either be willing to take on a project or be in the right place at the right time. The latest VanDerBrink Auction offers both ... and then some.
https://www.hagerty.com/media/auctions/5-affordable-mopar-muscle-cars-and-trucks-in-vanderbrinks-lat...

[REJ]

C-bodies are the Rodney Dangerfield of classic Mopars...they get no respect! Very little in the way of restoration parts are available. I have two restored B-bodies and a restored A-body. I also have an extremely nice, ultra-low-mileage, original unrestored C-body; a 1967 Sport Fury Hardtop (numbers matching, 325hp 383, Torqueflite, 3.23 Suregrip), which is the nicest driving Mopar I have and valued far less than my other Mopars. It will smoke the tires just as well as Mopars costing 5X as much! For a person on a limited budget who wants to get into a classic Mopar, there are a lot of very nice C-bodies out there for not a lot of money. "Coke Bottle" B-bodies, some A-bodies and any E-body are extremely high priced...

[RG440]

Very well said and nice collection ! There are quite a number of c-bodies that make me drool and will smoke the a,b&e’s. Been there and done that.

[OkJustOneMore]

Agree. I enjoy driving my C body 66 monaco 500. I don't worry about rock chips, door dings, stupid drivers hitting me etc, as compared to when I'm driving my 69 charger. 383 4bbl. In both cars.

[Redbird]

I'll take the Road Runner. Beep! Beep!

[camarogirl57]

Define "affordable".

[BMD4800]

Are you willing to decrease your cash position in trade for a physical asset.

If yes = Affordable.

If no? Easy financing?
If yes = affordable.

If no? Are you cheap?
If yes = please check out our rust ventilated and Oldsmobiles selection.

[Inline8OD]

Wow. Have never seen an article about "muscle" cars in Hagerty before. Hagerty usually wastes space covering novel automotive history from the past 120 years, interesting prewar road and grand touring cars from both sides of the Atlantic and Channel.

So much more interesting to read about egregious mid-sized slam, bam, thank you, ma'am Motown tin of the 1960s with station wagon engines, teenaged suspensions, dopey decals and racing stripes, esp. with automatic transmissions, power steering, power brakes, you know, "muscle" machines your great grandmother could drive. Such cars reek  charm.

   We'd love to read more about "numbers matching" disposable junk from the '60s, especially the "rare" ones (no one really wanted to be caught dead in such moronic fare) fetching hundreds of thousands of dollars,  because, you know, like, um,  who could possibly afford a Pierce Arrow, Auburn 12, prewar Packard, Stutz SV16/DV32, Delahaye, Railton 8, Bristol, big Healey, Aston Martin, prewar Alfa, Lagonda LG6, 1938-39 Overdrive Bentley, 1938-42 Buick Century/Roadmaster, '37-'40 Cad/LaSalle, 1940-41 Chrysler New Yorker/Saratoga, Riley;  any of that boring crap, right?

   Yeah, more "Super Bees."    Because let's face it,  who here reads anything beyond car mags and the junk net?  There's nothing more riveting than thrice-told tales, limited scope,  one trick ponies  good for jerking off at stop lights, impressing kids with no grasp of a century-plus automobilia.

Especially when driven by a fat 50- something.

 We thought the '33 Terraplane 8 the first "muscle" car? 

  What's next, a look at must-have comic books, pop bottles, Davy Crockett coonskin caps, Duncan yo-yos?

[BMD4800]

I named my 1st son after a Hornet (and not because of CARS) and my 2nd, who sadly passed, after those pesky Brothers who built one of the best pre-war cars.
And I’m a GenX kid with a penchant for Muscle cars, big Buicks, and embarrassing Porsches with a midsized garbage malaise sedan.

Tastes can be eclectic.

[FormerCav]

have you priced out a 35 Auburn Boattail speedster lately?
I'd love one, but it is far beyond my means. the kit cars (or more accurately "continuation cars") are about 100K last time I looked.

[mhealy1]

Huh?

[retiredstig25]

So, just what is “affordable”, one might ask? It’s a relative term I guess. GTXs are rare and quite expensive. The Road Runner seems tidy enough to bring decent but not huge money, and Chargers, even worn out ones, seem to effect men of a certain age much the way Raquel Welch used to.

[Buzz]

Okee dokee, Mr. Peek. If those cars were potential deals, they certainly are NOT NOW!🤣
Here’s the truth. That Charger will likely go mid $30k range. It’s clean. There are bare, rusty hulks going for $20k right now. As clean as the Road Runner is, the GTX is the highest return for investment so they’ll likely get about the same dollar at around $45k. Mopars are still hot and as long as there two bidders, nobody’s getting a deal.
If you want the lowdown on less expensive muscle Mopars, look no further than the Sport Satellite, the Coronet 500, the Barracuda Gran Coupe, and the Challenger SE. prior to 1972, all were available with the HP 383 big block, 727TF heavy duty auto or A833 manual transmission with pistol grip shifter (‘70-‘71), and Sure Grip 8.75” rear end. They don’t bring the dollars that the ‘cuda, Challenger R/T, Super Bee or Road Runner bring, but they are essentially the same cars and a way to get in the game for less. If you so desire, you can paint, stripe, and sticker them up as their more desirable sisters and 90% of the people out there either won’t be able to tell or won’t care. 😃

Yer welcome.

[MustangJim]

Would be cool if you can do a follow with the sold prices.

[Rick2]

I like the Power Wagon. Back in the day I called the "mid sized" Dodge and Plymouths boats. They were to big and did not handle well, only good in a straight line. At least I know what the Power Wagon will handle.

[hotshoe17]

The '70 Road Runner. I drove them when they were new. They were really fun to Drive.

[TG]

The 1970 Dodge Charger R/T is more my speed - not perfect and something I might actually drive... I'm not much into garage trophies. It all depends on the definition of 'affordable' being used here though...

[Blade123]

1970 Plymouth GTX Love the look

[DUB6]

I've gotta agree.  Never really been a Mopar guy, but I love the shape of the GTX/Road Runner - did when they came out and still do.  But would I pay "affordable" money for these examples?  Doubt it.

[Ironworker1955]

The best would be any 426 Hemi cars from Mr. Norms Grand Spaulding Dodge in Chicago !🇱🇷

[DUB6]

Ummm, if you find one of those on a list of "affordable muscle cars", alert the press, willya?  😁

[dooscoop32]

The only thing that's fresh in a barn is the horse $H!t.

[BMD4800]

It’s just money. What is and isn’t affordable doesn’t have the same reality that it once did.

My early boomer parents bought a 3 story colonial on a 1.5 acre wooded lot with a view for $40k. When they retired my Mom balked at the price of a new 2000 Buick, rambling some nonsense about it relative to the original price of her house.

If you want an old muscle car with subpar handling, mediocre brakes, a ridiculous amount of torque - go for it! It’s only money and one day you’ll be dead. Or, save it, drive a Tupperware pod, and give it to your zoomer grandkids to lose on Rivian.

Oh, too soon?

Point is, enjoy life. In a MOPAR, a Miata, or a whatever.

[DUB6]

Can't argue with that last sentence!  😊

[Truthworldwide]

That sound you hear is the distant rumble of applause.

[Dad61]

Nice advertisement for the auction. If the auction was under the radar it no longer is.

[DUB6]

How does that go?  You can please all some of the people some of the time.  You can please some of the people all of the time.  You can even please all of the people some of the time.  But it's impossible to please all of the people all of the time.  Something like that, I think.  It must be the Golden Motto of Hagerty Staff Writers!  😋

[PlumCrazyChris]

Not sure why you have an add for an auction on here... Not very interesting. I love Mopars, and I'm sure these are great projects, but this is not an article and should not be posted like this from Hagerty.

[Inline8OD]

Hagerty has long since mastered the ability of running press releases as articles, with a veneer of auto history because they're going for numbers, the mainstream, writing insurance policies on anything out of the Kelley Blue Book by calling everything "classic." Expect more of the above as with today's lead "feature," Chevy vs. Ford. How novel.

Too bad, because Don Sherman and Aaron Robinson have written some stellar pieces.
But it's cheaper for Hagerty to go the above route, and resonates with more suburban "car guys." Hagerty is first an insurance company, not a publisher. Nothing wrong with that.
Just don't expect much stretch beyond talking about money, price, "values," "investment potential."

A shrewd business model, and apparently working.

[DUB6]

Well yeah, they snagged all of us in...

[miata93]

The 1952 Power Wagon might make a great off-road camper.

[Smilodon]

Y'all laugh and snark. I live in North Dakota, and these Oles and Lenas that own multiple generation 10+ square mile farms, some much larger- MUCH larger- accumulate. Dunno why, cuz in my direct personal experience the vehicles these families acquire are very lightly used, then parked with no effort at preservation. Apparently, parking a car in a dirt floored pole barn with 30+ others preserves it forever. Likewise, park it out by the back fence in the line. Sigh. I've been to several VanDerBrink auctions (and wept in public) and seen. Jeezus wept, you want a project, rare and abused by neglect? Attend a VanDerBrink auction. You'll see.

[mhealy1]

Again-what’s worse: accumulated and unpreserved or crushed? Most of these were accumulated at a time when, in the city, they’d have been shredded. At least these cars have a future, either restored or parted out.

[DUB6]

I have a great friend who hails from about 30miles outside Bismark.  Longtime family farmers - dad, brothers, cousins, etc.  He did leave the farm, and went into law enforcement (as did one brother).  A few years ago, when back home for the annual pheasant hunt, he and that brother dragged two T-coupes (one a '27 that we know for sure, not sure about the other).  Neglected?  You bet.  Rusted.  Bullet holes.  Missing pieces. One of them had a tree growing through it.  Borrowed my trailer to haul them home.  Today, one of 'em looks like this:

The guy is retired law enforcement.  He built this in his garage.  I went over a helped a few times and gave some advice and lent some tools.  But basically, this fellow, who never had any mechanical training and is a self-taught welder, built this thing from the cement floor up.  It can be done (even by a Dakotan!).  😊

[BMD4800]

I see you’ve met my Grandparents.  Good folks, just line the old ones up by the barn.  Or in it.  Old Trucks too.  

The best is displacing the family of animals living in the discarded car because the one your parents had disappeared.   
oh we can’t call the police, we’ll just go get one of the LeSabres.   

the battery works in this one.   

such fine decision making skills.   The 3 on the tree one was sweet.  No radio tho.   
My sister split her lip smashing face first into the dash.   Hold on kiddo…  

Fun times.  
OTSS.   Germans and Norwegians.   

[56NomadJohn]

Not sure what your post is about, does anybody else understand it?
Also, the spoilers on 2 of them, stock? Don’t remember them back in the day.

[Groff]

(J81) Go Wing
Mid year 1970 option.

1971 wing didn't angle down on the ends. (looked better)