Triple Delight in the Desert: Dodges, SRT® Demons and Dollars!
7 years ago
Events
In its eleventh year, the Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas collector car auction, held September 27-29 at Mandalay Bay Convention Center generated more than $32.9 million in sales, a significant percentage of which were Dodge vehicles, vintage and new. In fact, one of the Top Ten most expensive vehicles sold during the event was a Dodge, a 2018 Challenger SRT® Demon number 42, which hammered for $198,000.
If you didn’t get a chance to watch the televised auction action on Discovery Channel and Velocity Channel, you missed plenty of excitement. As always, there were celebrities. Wayne Newton and Richard Petty made the scene, and $1,094,500 was raised for charity via the sale of some choice machinery.
Let’s take a peek at a cross section of the Dodge offerings and examine the details. Note, we use the term “hammered” when describing the sale amount. This reflects the dollar amount bid when the hammer dropped. The hammer price does not include the 8 percent seller’s premium or 10 percent buyer’s commission.
This 1965 Dodge Coronet Slant Six sedan (Lot #5) been a 2-door would have brought at least $15,000. But as a 4-door, it hammered for a mere $4,070. Perhaps the best deal of the show, this Arizona beauty is completely rust-free.
No HEMI® here. The 225 Slant Six and 904 TorqueFlite automatic transmission were base level equipment. This car’s likely fate involves conversion into a 2-door A990 HEMI clone. The scarcity of original 2-door sedan bodies has triggered many 4-door-to-2-door conversions.
One of only 14,254 made, this 1970 Dodge Super Bee hammered for a very respectable $51,700. Choice details included a (new for 1970) Hurst Pistol Grip shifter and the ultra-desirable N96 Ramcharger ram air system.
The fiberglass N96 Ramcharger duct unit was molded in orange on Dodge applications, black for Plymouths, which called it the Air Grabber. Also, when power brakes were specified, a different driver-side duct extension – with a screw-in recess for master cylinder clearance – was specified. These are just some of the myriad details to look after when doing a proper restoration.
Looking like Grandpa’s frugal six-cylinder ride from the outside, this sharp 1956 Dodge Coronet hardtop (Lot 400) packs the optional D-500-1 HEMI with dual quads. Built over a decade before Dodge’s first “self aware” muscle machine, the 1967 Coronet R/T, this sleeper hammered for $31,900.
The 315-cubic-inch D-500 packed 295 horsepower when fed by dual Carter four-barrel carburetors. Dodge’s HEMI V8 engine family debuted in 1953 at 241 cubic inches, growing to 270 cubes in 1955, 315 in 1956 and finally 325 cubes in 1957. This 1956 D-500-1 represents Dodge’s first V8 equipped with two four-barrel carburetors.
Injecting some life and fun into its emissions-choked offerings of the late seventies, the Dodge Truck division released its line of “Adult Toys”. Included were the Little Red Truck, Warlock, Street Van and this Macho Edition Power Wagon pickup of 1977 (Lot 181), which hammered for $28,500.
Though originally built with a 360 two-barrel (engine code F in the fifth spot of the VIN), a 440 Six Pack swap adds extra muscle to this Macho. Trucks are gaining popularity on the collector scene.
Another truck that got huge attention was this 1964 Fargo (Lot 104.1). A what? A multi-national company almost from the start, Dodge used the name Fargo in Canada, Mexico and Europe. This 4×4 was flawlessly restored and hammered for $27,500.
Just as Dodge pickup trucks featured a steel tailgate embossed with the Dodge name, so did Fargo. 1964 marked the final year for the small, round tail lights. 1965 brought tall, narrow lenses that nearly filled the vertical surfaces on each side of the tailgate.
No fewer than four 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demons crossed the lock. Lined up here, the White Knuckle 5-seater (Lot 675) is SRT Demon #138 with 17 miles showing. It hammered for $148,500. The Octane Red 5-seater (Lot 768) is SRT Demon #42 and shows 13 miles. It’s low sequence number really struck a chord and led to a $198,000 hammer price. The Plum Crazy 5-seater (Lot 706) is SRT Demon #2535. With just 5 miles showing, it hammered for $143,000. Not shown is Lot 738, a Black 5-seater with 9 miles and sequence number 968, which hammered for $159,500.
