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1971 B bodies were supposed to be 1970? #2458662
02/28/18 12:45 AM
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demon Offline OP
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Many years ago I recall reading somewhere that the 1971 B bodies were intended to be introduced for 1970, but were put back a year because of a labour strike. As I recall, they had to revamp the 69's for 70 year instead of Introducing the all new B body because there wasn't time to get the new car developed in time.
Does anyone have any information about this?

Re: 1971 B bodies were supposed to be 1970? [Re: demon] #2458673
02/28/18 01:11 AM
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Originally Posted By demon
Many years ago I recall reading somewhere that the 1971 B bodies were intended to be introduced for 1970, but were put back a year because of a labour strike. As I recall, they had to revamp the 69's for 70 year instead of Introducing the all new B body because there wasn't time to get the new car developed in time.
Does anyone have any information about this?



I recall hearing/reading something like this many years ago...if true?, 1970 was the best model year for B bodies in terms of options, styling, etc, esp the 70 Charger, because 71 was a big let down styling wise for the Dodge B body camp

Re: 1971 B bodies were supposed to be 1970? [Re: demon] #2458678
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addict:to devote or surrender (oneself) to something habitually or obsessively ....hmmmm
Re: 1971 B bodies were supposed to be 1970? [Re: demon] #2458756
02/28/18 11:11 AM
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Hmm. Interesting article written by someone with a preference for the 71 body style. Needless to say, the sales of the day and the popularity today say otherwise. 68-70 Chargers are way more popular and valuable than 71-74.

Re: 1971 B bodies were supposed to be 1970? [Re: fastmark] #2458778
02/28/18 12:08 PM
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I am glad they held off. Somehow, I wound up with now owning (4) 1970 cars over the years & have owned many more. My favorite year for most all Mopar & even most brand X musclecars also


1963 Belvedere 440 Max Wedge Tribute
1970 Charger R/T S.E. 440 Six Pack
1970 Challenger R/T, 528 Hemi
1970 Charger 500 S.E. 440 4 BBL
1970 Plymouth Road Runner 383
1974 Chrysler New Yorker 440
1996 2500 RAM 488 V-10 4X4
2004 3500 Dually Cummins 4x4
2012 Challenger R/T Classic.
Re: 1971 B bodies were supposed to be 1970? [Re: demon] #2458790
02/28/18 12:32 PM
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You can see the soon-to-be 71 influences in the RR/GTX grill. It has the same basic outline as the 71's front bumper. And then you have the one-year-only pistol grip shifters.


Master, again and still
Re: 1971 B bodies were supposed to be 1970? [Re: DAYCLONA] #2458857
02/28/18 02:04 PM
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Originally Posted By DAYCLONA
Originally Posted By demon
Many years ago I recall reading somewhere that the 1971 B bodies were intended to be introduced for 1970, but were put back a year because of a labour strike. As I recall, they had to revamp the 69's for 70 year instead of Introducing the all new B body because there wasn't time to get the new car developed in time.
Does anyone have any information about this?



I recall hearing/reading something like this many years ago...if true?, 1970 was the best model year for B bodies in terms of options, styling, etc, esp the 70 Charger, because 71 was a big let down styling wise for the Dodge B body camp


Considering the 71 Charger out sold the 70 Charger by a wide margin, I'm not sure this is real accurate. While I agree that 1970 was a fantastic year for all Mopar styling, at the time, buyers wanted the brand new styling of the 71's

Re: 1971 B bodies were supposed to be 1970? [Re: fastmark] #2458862
02/28/18 02:09 PM
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Originally Posted By fastmark
Hmm. Interesting article written by someone with a preference for the 71 body style. Needless to say, the sales of the day and the popularity today say otherwise. 68-70 Chargers are way more popular and valuable than 71-74.


71 Chargers out sold the 70 Chargers, and the 73 Chargers were a huge sales success. ever look at the production figures for Cordobas? Massive. Sales then, don't reflect values and desirability now.

Personally, I love the 70 Chargers and 71 Chargers equally. Both awesome cars, with totally different styling. The pinnacle of the two series.

Re: 1971 B bodies were supposed to be 1970? [Re: demon] #2458906
02/28/18 02:59 PM
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Pinnacle???

Pinnacle, you say???

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Re: 1971 B bodies were supposed to be 1970? [Re: demon] #2458929
02/28/18 03:53 PM
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True the 71 were supposed to be the 70 models My friends dad was a regional zone manager and told me that when asked

Re: 1971 B bodies were supposed to be 1970? [Re: demon] #2458970
02/28/18 05:22 PM
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IMO 70 year b-bodys where a let down from the 68-69 models, Charger was ok, Plymouth, ugg and Dodge was hideous. Trying to spruce up an already great look and failing. 71 and up just went the wrong way too, took a few years to grow on you. Working at the Dodge dealership I was able to see these cars before they came out each September, most all my car buddy's and salesman felt the same way, they felt they had really push to sell them whereas the 68-69 sold themselves. After 72 when the engines went away, just got worse each year, sticker and decal time.

Re: 1971 B bodies were supposed to be 1970? [Re: demon] #2458990
02/28/18 05:59 PM
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I always thought the 70 chargers were a big gaudy. The chrome mouth bumper and the door scoops on the r/t only served to clutter up a nice car. The 70 plymouths are my favorite. The cat eye coronets are a bit of a mixed bag too. All-in-all still better looking than the 71+ stuff.

Re: 1971 B bodies were supposed to be 1970? [Re: DaytonaTurbo] #2459016
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Originally Posted By DaytonaTurbo
All-in-all still better looking than the 71+ stuff.



That is certainly debatable...



'71 styling cues FAR ahead of its time...

Still present today...

26217824011_95533407d1_o.jpg
Re: 1971 B bodies were supposed to be 1970? [Re: DaveRS23] #2459064
02/28/18 09:00 PM
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Originally Posted By DaveRS23
You can see the soon-to-be 71 influences in the RR/GTX grill. It has the same basic outline as the 71's front bumper. And then you have the one-year-only pistol grip shifters.

Sorry, but what years and trim was the pistol grip available in the b body?


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Re: 1971 B bodies were supposed to be 1970? [Re: dfsmopars] #2459071
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The pistol grip arrived for the 1970 model year in the performance B bodies. The pistol grips for '70 were a one year only style.

For '71, the bucket seat B Body performance cars got the same handle that the E bodies had. Plus, they got a unique handle for the bench seat B body cars.

I am not sure what the last year of the pistol grip was. The B body as we know it ended in 1975. Did the pistol grip make it that far?

If any of this is inaccurate or incomplete, I am sure it will be corrected.
drive


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Re: 1971 B bodies were supposed to be 1970? [Re: DaveRS23] #2459165
02/28/18 11:56 PM
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Originally Posted By DaveRS23
The pistol grip arrived for the 1970 model year in the performance B bodies. The pistol grips for '70 were a one year only style.

For '71, the bucket seat B Body performance cars got the same handle that the E bodies had. Plus, they got a unique handle for the bench seat B body cars.

I am not sure what the last year of the pistol grip was. The B body as we know it ended in 1975. Did the pistol grip make it that far?

If any of this is inaccurate or incomplete, I am sure it will be corrected.
drive


Yep - pistol grips 70-74. B&E bodies.


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Re: 1971 B bodies were supposed to be 1970? [Re: Sunroofcuda] #2459224
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71's are my favorite. I am glad they delayed them and if you're ever driven a 71-72 you know how solid they feel, quiet they are and how well they handle. I think the extra year made them a much better car than the rushed to market 70 E-bodies.
This way we got the 70 B-bodies with the long in the tooth body style but with the cool goodies like 15X7's and pistol grips and then we got the 71's as well. Sort of a bonus gift as it were.
I was there in the fall of 70 and the 71 B-bodies were huge news at the time, people were very excited about them.


Sheldon
Re: 1971 B bodies were supposed to be 1970? [Re: RSNOMO] #2459240
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Originally Posted By RS23U1G
Pinnacle???

Pinnacle, you say???

Pretty hard to top that! Gorgeous

Re: 1971 B bodies were supposed to be 1970? [Re: demon] #2459247
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while it had a "performance" image, the pistol grip shifter was STANDARD (or included) in every 1970-1974 B & E-body with the D21 - 4-speed manual transmission 318 2bbl to HEMI (2 door - 4 door - convertible - station wagon).
drive

Re: 1971 B bodies were supposed to be 1970? [Re: demon] #2459325
03/01/18 11:55 AM
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I guess I miss spoke about the sales figures new. The circumstances of the buying public back then were complicated. Look at the Thunderbirds. 55-57 were not very good sales for Ford. The sales took off with the 58 up. Now look at what years sell and which ones goes to the scrapper.
Looking on the Charger board want adds, there are 56 adds wanting 69-70 Chargers and 1 wanting a 71. Not one add is for 72-74. Sales figures don’t mean much 40 years later.

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