During the late '60s and early '70s, the Dodge Charger was one of the brand's best selling performance models, combining muscular looks and powerful engines with a bit of luxury and class. Of course, the movie Bullitt, the television show The Dukes of Hazard, and Richard Petty switching to Dodge Chargers didn't hurt the popularity of the Charger either. But we think the Charger's success is simply that it's a cool looking car that came with Chrysler's most potent powerplants.
As a fan of the Dodge Charger, Jaime Brown of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, was enjoying fixing up his '73 Rallye model back in 2006, and spending time buying and selling B-Body parts on the internet and at swap meets. Seeing Jaime's parts on the Internet, a gentleman named Jeff called Jaime looking for some parts for his car. After talking a little, Jaime discovered that Jeff also had a '73 Charger Rallye, equipped with a 340 and four-speed transmission. Making the car even rarer was an optional factory installed sunroof, and the fact that this Charger was an export car.
Knowing he'd found a unique Dodge, Jaime had to wait until he finished a deal he was involved with for another Charger in order to have the funds to buy the '73 from Jeff. Eventually, the deal went through, and Jaime had the money to make Jeff a fair offer. Since Jeff and his wife were having a baby, Jeff agreed to sell the Charger to Jaime and they made the necessary arrangements.
Exterior: Dodge sold some...
Exterior: Dodge sold some cool Chargers over the years, and this '73 340 four-speed Rallye model is a good example of mid-'70s Mopar muscle. It's also got some odd options making it extremely rare. Finding an export car with a factory sunroof just makes it rarer. We're not sure of the exact numbers, but this is certainly one rare Mopar.
Interior: This Charger suffers...
Interior: This Charger suffers from some wear and tear, but is largely complete and unmodified and shows only 42,000 original miles. The previous owner had freshened up the engine, but otherwise the car is mechanically the way it left the factory.
Needing to have the car transported since it was coming from out of state, Jaime contacted a trucking company to deliver the car but kept getting the run-around. Eventually, after the first trucking company failed to pick up the Charger several times, Jaime was scared he'd never see his car. Fortunately, calling a different trucking company got better results and the Charger was in Jaime's driveway within a week.
As a 340 four-speed Rallye Charger, this is a pretty rare car by those options alone. Adding to the rarity of this car is the factory installed sunroof and a tag inside the doorjamb indicating that this car was built for export. Additionally, Jamie found an odd pattern of holes drilled into the rear quarter-panels just ahead of the side marker lenses. We haven't seen these before, so if anyone has any ideas, please contact us to let us know.
Jaime plans a full restoration of the Charger, which only shows 42,000 miles, and plans to put it back to factory specifications. We thank him for sharing his Hidden Treasure.
Holes?: Here's something...
Holes?: Here's something we haven't seen before--symmetrical patterns of holes in both rear quarter-panels.
We're not sure when these...
We're not sure when these modifications were made or what they are for, but if you know please contact us and teach us something!
Export With a Sunroof: As...
Export With a Sunroof: As if a factory sunroof isn’t rare enough, this ’73 Dodge Charger was also one of what we assume were very few examples destined for export. With a bulge hood and rallye wheels, these are tough looking Chargers and the last of the real Charger muscle cars.