Joe Dirt's Charger sells for $425,000
At the recent Barrett-jackson collector car auction in Palm Beach, a very specific 1969 Dodge Charger rolled across the block and hammered away for the dirty sum of US$300,000 plus ten per cent buyer's premium ( just under $425,000 Canadian loonies).
The car's seemingly haggard appearance may have confused anyone not familiar with actor David Spade — but it was all part of its Hollywood provenance.
Advertised as a Joe Dirt Daytona, the machine is said to have been one of the vehicles used in the 2001 movie starring Spade, built on the base of a restored Xp29-era Charger and dressed up (or down, as the case may be) for filming duty.
The coupe was modified back in the day to look like a real highwing Daytona, then painted and modified to appear rusty for the movie.
While one of its headlights was perpetually open in the movie, this car's auction listing asserts that both peepers work as intended. Other recent repairs included new suspension gear and consumables like lines and hoses.
Under the hood is said to be a 440 cubic-inch V8- mated to a threespeed automatic transmission. In other words, it ain't no numbers-matching Daytona.
But the buyer is unlikely to care much about that detail, given the car retains classic cues from the Joe Dirt movie such as the footprint accelerator pedal and that chain-link steering wheel.
All this certainly padded the selling price; this exact movie car is said to have traded hands for less than $20,000 in 2002.