Challenger Elastomeric Bumpers M73 M71 A21 A22 M72

[6bblgt]

the original list includes FE5 "bright red" & FJ6 "green-go"    but they are not on the part # list or the 9/14/70 memo - DO THEY EXIST?

the '71 e-bodies officially went on public sale 10/6/70

[cataclysm80]

the original list includes FE5 "bright red" & FJ6 "green-go"    but they are not on the part # list or the 9/14/70 memo - DO THEY EXIST?

the '71 e-bodies officially went on public sale 10/6/70

I wondered that same thing.
The July 6th 1970 Ordering Guide says that rear bumpers wouldn't be available in those colors until the end of August, and the September announcement doesn't list them as being available at all anymore.
I'm guessing there's no rear bumpers in red or green.
The Ordering Guide doesn't mention any color availability problems for front bumpers though.  If front bumpers existed in those colors, what happened to them?  Maybe repainted, or sent to the warehouse for over the counter repair sales?  The September announcement says that M71 became available about the same time those colors were discontinued, so it would have been pretty difficult to order one, but maybe they could have ended up on a sales bank car?  They'd be ridiculously rare, and even if someone found a car with them, it probably wouldn't have the broadcast sheet required to document it.

It seems like there's definitely more bumpers floating around than documentation. 

I don't think it's very unusual to have them missing from the parts book.  There's no point in servicing those colors since they were discontinued so early.  Some parts just aren't available over the counter.  They wouldn't want to dedicate warehouse space to stocking a part that no one is going to order, and if anybody does need one, they can paint to match.   The Plymouth elastomeric bumper jack hook isn't in the parts book.  The early satin black aluminum trim panels for 70 Challenger tail panels aren't in the parts book either.  I'm sure there's other stuff that wasn't available over the counter.

[6bblgt]

per the '71 Challenger OPTION & ACCESSORY reports it looks like elastomeric bumpers are "rarer" than a SHAKER hood 

of 29,883 total Dodge Challengers & Challenger R/Ts:
~200 Dodge E-bodies TOTAL with "Front" or "Front & Rear" elastomeric bumpers
~10 Dodge Challengers (JH) with "Front" or "Front & Rear" elastomeric bumpers
~12 Dodge E-bodies with "Front" ONLY elastomeric bumper

4 available colors and availability for a few months resulted in some rare combinations

[cataclysm80]

ORDER FORMS:
dated: 6-70 * M73 R/T ONLY limited colors
dated: 9-70 * M71 - M73 R/T & A21 - A22 non-R/T
dated: 1-71 * G O N E

Wow, Thanks!
I updated the top post with the additional order form info.

I don't have any specific M71 car's info

YYZ mentioned an M71 car earlier in this thread.   Maybe he has some info.

[cataclysm80]

~10 Dodge Challengers (JH) with "Front" or "Front & Rear" elastomeric bumpers

WOW, They DO exist !!

[6bblgt]

I've heard rumor of a '71 Challenger A93 coupe with Front & Rear elastomeric bumpers  but have seen NO PROOF

[YYZ]

YYZ...good to see you here now and then, hope all is well.
There must have been two FJ6 440-6 Challengers in your area back then, unless the one pictured that you almost bought is the one that J Gilbert bought and loaded up with options.
He bought his at a Spring Carlisle back then, pretty much a stripped shell, after it was towed there from a yard and put for sale there.
I looked it over but he had just bought it and I helped him load it on his trailer.

Hi mccannix, likewise.  I do have to make it back out your way once this pandemic thing settles down.

There were indeed two FJ6 '71 440-6 cars around at the time, though they were both not actually complete or on the road at the same time.

The one pictured earlier was the one brought back from Carlisle -- rough, original drivetrain missing, and had allegedly been raced with a Hemi & automatic in the area.  I believe that my contact bought it from Gilbert, and had at least started on the bodywork.  When I first saw it, it was in grey primer, and with the trunk and jambs cut in.   It had a gorgeous set of rust-free FM3 doors hanging on it -- clean, clean, clean.

After trading the LRT and '74, my buddy who bought it was the one who finished the FJ6 paint job and got the car running and back on the road.  You indirectly provided the shaker trim ring for it back in '94, as I bought one from our mutual friend with the beard and it was still in packaging from your place (stud repair IIRC).

The other FJ6 440-6 was an automatic car.  There was lots of hearsay as to how it came together, but when I first saw in in '92, the brothers had already started to disassemble it.  It was wearing a JS23V1B tag, FJ6, green bucket seat interior, PW, and even had a sunroof -- apparently the roof section was removed from a '70 and brazed onto the '71. 

When I first saw that car, the front clip had already been removed, and AFAIK it was stripped back down for parts.  The shell, with the sunroof cassette, was for sale at Moparfest about 10 years ago.

Sixpack number 5 was a B5/white '70 Road Runner, buckets, column auto and not much else.  It was put back together and campaigned with a Hemi at St. Thomas for much of the mid-1990s.

[anlauto]

First of all....extremely informative thread

Second...I love when you Ontario guys get together with your old stories....such a trip down memory lane for me....In my early days, late 80's I bought Road Lamps for my convertible off of John Gilbert....could not believe my eyes when I got in there barn...71 440+6 Cuda, butterscotch with a gator grain roof, FJ6 sunroof V code 71 Challenger, B7 blue/blue interior AAR, and others that just blew my mind....I learned YEARS later that the cars were "questionable"    I missed buying the B7 AAR by about a week....I had no idea how rare the colour was at the time...

[mccannix]

YYZ..Your memory of those good ol days is very vivid.
Now it comes back to me about seeing the FJ6  'sunroof' Challenger at the 'brothers' place as you describe it, when I went for a tour there.
I recall once counting 21 rimblow wheels there and they were not eager to sell any.
Looking forward to this again YYZ

And now back to our regular scheduled programing regarding elastomeric Challenger bumper cars.
Then there is this Hemi Challenger , formerly owned by Marcus from Switzerland, now in Canada with current owner.
I believe this was said to be an original rubber bumper car but not sure.

[YYZ]

With hindsight being 20/20, the B7 AAR would have been one to pick up. As I recall, the body was in good shape, blue interior, console auto, rim-blow.  Might have even been able to freshen the car up and drive it as it had a nice patina.

First of all....extremely informative thread

Second...I love when you Ontario guys get together with your old stories....such a trip down memory lane for me....In my early days, late 80's I bought Road Lamps for my convertible off of John Gilbert....could not believe my eyes when I got in there barn...71 440+6 Cuda, butterscotch with a gator grain roof, FJ6 sunroof V code 71 Challenger, B7 blue/blue interior AAR, and others that just blew my mind....I learned YEARS later that the cars were "questionable"    I missed buying the B7 AAR by about a week....I had no idea how rare the colour was at the time...

[YYZ]

Forgot to mention that the Citron Yella '71 Hemi Challenger pictured appears to be Vic Selvaggi's car, which had a lot of magazine coverage back in the day.  Legit elastomeric bumper car according to all of the reports.

There was an FE5 '71 R/T for sale in Indiana (I think) on eBay 2 or 3 years ago and it too came with elastomerics as confirmed by the build sheet.  I did not save the auction.

[sdweatherman]

The other FJ6 440-6 was an automatic car.  There was lots of hearsay as to how it came together, but when I first saw in in '92, the brothers had already started to disassemble it.  It was wearing a JS23V1B tag, FJ6, green bucket seat interior, PW, and even had a sunroof -- apparently the roof section was removed from a '70 and brazed onto the '71. 

When I first saw that car, the front clip had already been removed, and AFAIK it was stripped back down for parts.  The shell, with the sunroof cassette, was for sale at Moparfest about 10 years ago.

Possible picture of the 440-6 sunroof FJ6 1971 Challenger for sale at Mopar Fest around 2000.....

[YYZ]

Indeed, that is the one.

The other FJ6 440-6 was an automatic car.  There was lots of hearsay as to how it came together, but when I first saw in in '92, the brothers had already started to disassemble it.  It was wearing a JS23V1B tag, FJ6, green bucket seat interior, PW, and even had a sunroof -- apparently the roof section was removed from a '70 and brazed onto the '71. 

When I first saw that car, the front clip had already been removed, and AFAIK it was stripped back down for parts.  The shell, with the sunroof cassette, was for sale at Moparfest about 10 years ago.

Possible picture of the 440-6 sunroof FJ6 1971 Challenger for sale at Mopar Fest around 2000.....

[benlavigne]

YYZ..Your memory of those good ol days is very vivid.
Now it comes back to me about seeing the FJ6  'sunroof' Challenger at the 'brothers' place as you describe it, when I went for a tour there.
I recall once counting 21 rimblow wheels there and they were not eager to sell any.
Looking forward to this again YYZ

And now back to our regular scheduled programing regarding elastomeric Challenger bumper cars.
Then there is this Hemi Challenger , formerly owned by Marcus from Switzerland, now in Canada with current owner.
I believe this was said to be an original rubber bumper car but not sure.

The story I heard from the current owner is that the car was ordered with both elastomeric bumpers, but that they were misssing when it arrived at the selling dealer, so they ordered replacements and installed them. Not sure if they do appear on BS, no M73 on fender tags.

Ben

[swisshemi]

The M73 code is not on the BS.

The original owner and his wife at the time confirmed that the Challenger had the elastomerics installed when they picked it up from the dealer in February 1971.

Markus from Switzerland