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Would You Rather, The Two Grand Edition: Would You Go For The Firebird Or The Charger R/T?


Would You Rather, The Two Grand Edition: Would You Go For The Firebird Or The Charger R/T?

Let’s scale the Rough Start budget down to around two thousand dollars for a minute. What can that buy you? 1980s beater nobody cares about…a ragged-out Fox Mustang…beat-up truck…a “Roadrunner” Plymouth Satellite with no engine, no floors, barely any rear framerails and the promise of a high return at Barrett-Jackson…or one of these two late-model wonders. Honestly, for the buck, either car is an interesting selection and even by parts standards, are worth the asking price. But which one would be coming home with you if you had the cash burning a hole in your pocket? We dug around the Akron, Ohio-area Craigslist and turned up these two potential candidates for your consideration:

1. 2006 Dodge Charger R/T

charger-1

Ah, the one-photo wonder. 112,000 miles, leather, plenty of new suspension parts (we will bank on tie rod ends and torsion struts, if Angry Grandpa is any sort of barometer) on a 5.7L R/T model. The $2,000 price tag is the biggest question mark of the whole deal…insurance wrecks are going for more than that if the Hemi runs and the automatic shifts. What’s the deal here? We can see missing lug nuts and a possibly askew front bumper, but here is where risk could reap a reward: even if the Charger is beyond gone, so long as you’re getting a running engine in the deal, you’ll come out on top, and chances are good that this is just a beater Mopar that needs some (knowledgable) attention. You might get lucky enough to replace a ticking injector, swap on some brakes that aren’t as ridged as potato chips and have a late-model more-door bomber.

2. 1997 Pontiac Firebird

firebird1No, it’s not a Formula, which means one thing: this ‘Bird is a six-popper. That isn’t a bad thing…for 1997, the six was the Series II 3800. What that mill lacks in sexy exhaust noise it more than makes up for in durability and the ability to be boosted. Take your pick: you can go full on Grand National and turbocharge it, or you can go junkyard raiding for a supercharged Grand Prix or Regal GS and score the Eaton M90 off of one of those front-wheel-drive tubs. The LT-1 or LS1 announce their presence with trumpets and fanfare. A moaning 3800 doesn’t really draw attention…right up until the supercharger decides that it needs to scream out loud and the Firebird manages to stretch out it’s taillights as it gaps you. That exhaust note sucks, but there is nothing bad about the way a boosted 3800 goes into Warp Drive.

There’s your options, now make your selection: six-popper Pontiac or questionable Charger?


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5 thoughts on “Would You Rather, The Two Grand Edition: Would You Go For The Firebird Or The Charger R/T?

  1. anon

    The charger is a typical craigslist scammer unortunately. Abnormially low price, one picture, basic description that is usually wrong or states things like “rear emergency brake”. It’s been getting bad lately.

    The Firebird is pretty cool. A turbo 3800 series II motor would be rad. They definitely are able to handle the boost. Impressive milage for the year too. Good price if the car is as clean in person.

  2. Bill Greenwood

    Charger’s obviously a scam. How many palm trees in Ohio? We get that kind of stuff on Kijiji.com up here. A car for sale in Edmonton will have Wyoming or Utah-type hills in the background, or a Saskatoon truck will have shrubbery beside the driveway that doesn’t grow north of Cincinnati.

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