SCM Analysis
Detailing
Vehicle: | 1963 Dodge Dart Altered |
Years Produced: | 1963/2008 |
Number Produced: | One |
Original List Price: | N/A |
SCM Valuation: | $23,975 |
Chassis Number Location: | Left front door post |
Engine Number Location: | Right front corner of engine block |
Club Info: | NHRA, Goodguys |
Website: | http://www.nhra.com |
Alternatives: | Any vintage-spec Funny Car, specifically with altered wheelbase |
Investment Grade: | C |
This car, Lot 63, sold for $21,450, including buyer’s premium, at Barrett-Jackson’s Northeast sale at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT, on June 23, 2017.
The endgame for the overwhelming majority of write-ups we do here at ACC is to justify whether or not we believe a particular automobile sold for a market-appropriate price. Profiles of Cobras and ’Cudas and low-mileage Corvettes are relevant because the sales of those cars act as a market barometer, providing insight into the fluctuations of the collector car market as a whole and, to some extent, the American economy.
Oddball sales like this one, however, always pose a bit of a challenge.
From an historical standpoint, the altered-wheelbase cars had a massive influence on the evolution of drag racing, and are generally credited with the origin of the “Funny Car” moniker. The brainchild of a handful of Chrysler engineers working to maximize the influence of the new Hemi, six Dodge Coronets and five Plymouth Belvederes had their wheelbases shortened and their front and rear axles dramatically shoved forward under their bodies in what was a radical move intended to take advantage of the NHRA’s
A/FX class rules.
The resulting weight redistribution, which piled more than 50% of the vehicle’s total weight directly on top of the rear tires, threw the drag-racing world, and the NHRA, into a tizzy. The sanctioning body quickly responded with a “No, thank you very much,” and rewrote the class rules for 1965 to limit wheelbase alterations, thus effectively banning the altered-wheelbase cars from the class for which they were created. Luckily for us, the AHRA welcomed the cars with open arms, and a sensation was born.
Crazy enough to work — for a time
Although incredibly effective, the altered-wheelbase cars are certainly not the most handsome vehicles to ever grace a racetrack, and their competitive relevance was very short-lived despite the magnitude of their initial impact. Within three years of their debut, the altered-wheelbase cars were retired from the cutting edge.
When it comes to market relevance, the altered-wheelbase cars have very little, at least in terms of quantity. Only a handful of the original Chrysler-backed cars exist today, with the most recent public showing a no-sale at $410k at Mecum’s Kissimmee auction in January and then again (same car) at Indy for $400k. That car was Lee Smith’s “Haulin’ Hemi” Plymouth Belvedere, one of only two Plymouths believed to still exist.
With the handful of original Chryslers at the peak of the money mountain, there is a steep drop to any survivor altereds, and then a precipitous fall to the re-creations and tribute cars. Most of the auction sales of the past few years saw nicely built examples changing hands somewhere in the $20k–$50k range, but the sales themselves are few and far between.
Although altered-wheelbase racers are still a fairly common sight in the pits at nostalgic drag races across the country, I believe it takes a different type of person to truly appreciate these cars, and an even more dedicated person to buy one. Hot-rodders and drag racers are a strange breed to begin with, but the altered-wheelbase guys seem to be equal parts historians, engineers and fume-addled cowboys.
A legit build
For example, take a look at the work of Rampage’s builder and former owner — Steve Magnante. Steve is an author, automotive historian and altered-wheelbase junkie. He was a staffer at Hot Rod magazine back in the late ’90s to early 2000s and was largely responsible for the “Wilshire Shaker” Nova that graced those pages. I’m rarely gifted the opportunity to contact buyers or sellers, so I jumped at the chance to reach out to Steve to hear his take on the car, the selling process, and, of course, the end result.
In conversation, it quickly became clear that Steve is not only very knowledgeable about the altered-wheelbase cars, but he’s also very passionate about them as well. This old Dart is far from a haphazardly assembled tribute car, and Steve even wrote and published a book, How to Build Altered Wheelbase Cars, documenting each step along the way.
As Steve walked me through the history of the car and his decade or so of ownership, he mentioned that although many people had taken great interest in his efforts, “they didn’t want to buy it, but they did want to build it.” That pretty much sums up the central dilemma in trying to analyze a hot rod or highly modified classic’s value.
Value and the win
Stock and restored cars are easy to compare and nitpick because they all have a template to which they can be related. Once a car has been modified, particularly to the degree in which Rampage has, the car begins to take on the personality and quirks of its owner/builder, which is precisely the point. The price paid for individuality, however, is often hammered home when hot rods cross the block for fractions of their original build costs.
What makes the hot-rod world so unique in the second-hand marketplace is that owners know, or should know, that selling a hot rod or heavily modified classic or racer is almost always a losing game. The winning is in the ownership.
Steve revealed to me that he didn’t make money on this sale, but he didn’t necessarily lose much, either. Considering the bidding started slowly and without fanfare at $5,000, his first no-reserve sale concluded fairly enough for everyone involved, at least from his vantage point. As Steve told me, “Some guys make money on cars, but I don’t know how they do that.” Spoken like a true hot-rodder. Well bought, fairly sold.
(Introductory description courtesy of Barrett-Jackson.)