Hi all.

I just joined yesterday and find this forum a great one indeed.
I have recently purchased a 1971 Challenger Convirtible (383 Magnum, manual trans) and need to know more about this car.
Can anyone tell me where to find production figures, and parts vendors. The car is in great condition, but needs some cosmetics, as I want it to look as original as possible.

Here is a recent photo of it.

Thanks

 

VERY nice car!!
i love the challengers, you can search google and type in mopar vin codes and you should find out some history, teeWjay426? correct me if im wrong, seems to know a hell of alot about his mopars, he could be a great help!

ps. a nice set of rallys would like killer on it!

 

The best place for getting production numbers, VIN and fender tag details and your cars history is probably here: http://www.gvgovier.com/ You can also check out http://www.allpar.com, they have lots of good info for you as well.

 

Thank you guys for the information. I will check them out.

383 roadrunner, you mentioned "teeWjay426" in your reply. Is this the sign of one of the members? If yes, how can I contact him.

Thanks

 

Hey, Challenger_7, just saw this post.... was out of town for the past week, and am getting caught up here. You've got a real gold mine there, if that's an original 383 4-speed car. Total '71 Challenger convertible production breaks down as follows:

Total convertibles- 2,165
US shipments- 1,793
383 'verts- 167
383 'verts w/4 speed- 41

In '71, the 383 was as good as you could get in a Challenger convertible. Unlike the 'Cuda, which you could still get all the drivetrains in the ragtop version, Dodge for some reason discontinued the R/T convertible version of the Challenger. If it's an original, the VIN would start out JH27N1B, and the fender tag will have E65 for the engine code, and D21 for the transmission code. They should be the first two codes you will see when looking at the bottom left corner of the fender tag. If you'd like, PM me with the whole fender tag and I can decode it for you. As you can see from the production numbers, that's a very low production car and worth a fair amount of $$$, especially if all the numbers match, and you have the build sheet as well.

As far as parts sources, pick up yourself a copy of MCG and Hemmings, and check out the many vendors advertising in them. Depending on where you live, hit some of the Mopar shows this summer- Carlisle and the Nats are the two biggest, and they attract a lot of parts vendors. Should be able to find pretty much anything you need at either show.

 

Hi Tee Jay, and welcome back.

Man, your reply has surely lightened my heart. You should have seen the smile on my face.
I own quite a few classic cars, mostly European, but this is the only real muscle car that I have recently acquired (3 weeks ago) and a '71 Trans Am 455 HO manual gear which I found and bought 10 days ago.

I have seen these production figures quoted by someone trying to sell his car on ebay, but did not quite believe them. Is there any real proof?

Ok, going back to the details you have kindly offered, first of all the vin numbers are matching indeed, and same goes for the engine. However, I am not quite sure what other tags are on the car, and I will check the numbers out. I do not have the build sheet. Is there anyway I can get a copy of it.
Also where should I look for numbers to see if the engine and transmission do conform to the expected numbers.

Sorry, I am a bit new to American cars and just beginning my learning cycle, and obviously with a well experienced person

I will PM you with more details as soon as I get them (and copy you with this), but please advise me on the above issue of numbers.

Thanks