Farm shed find

You

can still find genuine low-mileage muscle cars in barns – well, farm sheds – if you know where to look. Dumbleyung in this case. That’s about 250 kilometres south-east of Perth in the middle of the WA wheatbelt.

AMC reader Brian MacLennan spotted this amazing R/T Charger listed for sale in WA’s Farm Weekly newspaper. We’re ashamed to admit this is not a publication we regularly read.

The Charger was the first item in a long list of second-hand farm equipment, part of a deceased estate being sold by Landmark through the local shire council on April 10.

The description was brief and to the point… “1971 Valiant R/T Charger 7802 miles on the clock.” Those nine words were enough to start up the bush telegraph.

“Yes, we’ve had lots on enquiries,” said the agent in charge of the sale. Around 40, and that was a week before the sale.

This VH Charger came off the assembly line at Tonsley Park in September 1971. We’re not sure how long it has been sitting in the barn but it looks like several species of wildlife have spent some time inside.

Bidding started at $15,000 and despite the large number of pre-sale enquiries only two dedicated Charger fans went after it. After a bidding war it sold for $29,500 plus GST, plus the cost of removing it from the barn and getting it home.

The cost of restoration would be considerable but well worth it for a very rare time-warp R/T.