Let’s cut straight to the point: I don’t care that the car is associated with Playboy, or that it was built not as a killer street machine, but more as an art piece back in 2013. I can appreciate that artist Richard Phillips used the derelict 1972 Dodge Charger that Playboy had originally used in a controversial art/advertising monument called “Playboy Marfa” in Texas…then, the car was a shell shot flat black, parked on a concrete plinth with a monster rabbit head next to it in the middle of Texas. Now…it’s a beast. So stuff the art deal, and honestly, if there are no Bunnies coming with the car, stuff the Playboy part as well.
But as for the car itself? Oh…that was done to the proper level of wicked. The B-body retains the shape made most famous by Richard Petty, who drove Chargers like this in NASCAR all the way up until the age-out limit was reached on the shell. Sticking with that heritage is a NASCAR Dodge R5P7 that is good for 790 horsepower on a “conservative tune” with E85 being pumped in courtesy of an Aeromotive system with fuel return into a FAST EFI system. This is a V8 that will be happy to spin up to 9,800 RPM. It’s also the only known R5-powered street car with functioning air conditioning attached! Backing it is a very modified T-5 manual trans, a custom driveshaft, and a 9-inch based rear axle sporting Strange axles. Porsche GT3 seats take care of the driver and passenger, and after that…it’s all driver skill.
With a claimed $300,000 or so invested, the starting bid of a tick under $100,000 seems like a bargain. We don’t have to remind you that nobody gets the cost of building a car back…just because a few of the Gentleman Rabbit logos are spread out over the car doesn’t mean that the value stands. It’s aspirational in price, but it’s also one hell of a package, and if that R5 is running right, it’ll give you a thrill that even a Playmate might not be able to compete with.
eBay Link: 1972 Dodge Charger
Decent enough. I’d bring it home and lose every bit of the Playboy crap and enjoy the hell out of it!
dear santa unfubar the car
Ditch the rabbit heads and put the fuel tank back under the car. I’d probably leave the valve covers just four laughs.