The Last Street Hemi
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Dylan Galvin
Active Member
That article calls it a 71 Challenger... lol
C-Sick
Member
That article calls it both a Challenger, and then a Charger. Kinda cool and rare, but I'm not really a fan of that body style, hemi or not. 71 Challenger on the other hand...
fc7_plumcrazy
Old Man with a Hat
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Tim Wellborn owns probably the last one buillt.
Which isn't the white one shown here.
Big fancy articles are not always right.
Here is an article about Tims car and the white one
Mystery Solved: Is This Charger The Very Last Hemi Car? - Mopar Connection Magazine | A comprehensive daily resource for Mopar enthusiast news, features and the latest Mopar techMopar Connection Magazine | A comprehensive daily resource for Mopar enthusiast news, features and the latest Mopar tech
There is no way in hell to determine the last produced Hemi car. Wellborn doesn't know and can't know his was the last car built. Its no different than us trying to figure out the last C-body produced. Even Chrysler doesn't know what the last C-Body or Hemi car was produced. I know because I enquired with Chrysler Historical numerous times in the last decade and I get the same answer......Chrysler just doesn't know.
I do know that Wellborn did own the most optioned Hemi Charger that he auctioned off I believe at B-J. But he definitely can't claim he has or had the last one produced. There just isn't no way to tell without a doubt.
I do know that Wellborn did own the most optioned Hemi Charger that he auctioned off I believe at B-J. But he definitely can't claim he has or had the last one produced. There just isn't no way to tell without a doubt.
There are two cars that both have arguments about being the Last Hemi car built. One has a later SPD but the other is *thought* to have been built after the later SPD. Neither are the aforementioned white car above. And yes, Tim did own one of them.
Xenon
Senior Member
Here is the article:
So every Mopar nut worth their salt knows that the last Hemi cars were produced for model year 1971. That knowledge may
beg the question of what was the last Hemi car produced. Was it a swoopy E-body or a “large and in charge” B-body? Querying
Google will provide you with what may seem to be an ironclad answer: a certain white 1971 Charger R/T, which has been touted
as “The Last Hemi Car” for a few years now. Reading the stories that surround the car it would seem the VIN on this particular
Charger puts it at the last days of production for 1971.
Now those of you with a skeptical mind and a thirst for the truth may want to look past all the hype that surrounds this car that
was found in less than perfect condition and brought back to life in a very public and extensive restoration. One such “seeker”
put his money where his mouth was and set about to prove or disprove the claims around this car.
Why? Because he believes that he owns the last Hemi car – also a 1971 Dodge Charger R/T. This man is Tim Wellborn and if
anybody knows ’71 Chargers, it’s him. Tim owns a dozen or two of the coke-bottle shaped, fuselage-bodied beauties, most
of them of the Hemi-powered variety, including the Butterscotch ’71 Hemi Charger Super Bee (yes the options were combined
for 1971) that was tested by Motor Trend when it was brand spanking new. It’s an impressive fleet.
Mr. Wellborn employed an outfit called “Prove It,” a private detective firm for collector cars with a high rate of success in researching
these old dinosaurs and their pre-historic stories. What Tim and Prove-It dug up is eye-opening: First of all, their research revealed
that due to the number of plants producing Hemi cars in 1971 (4) and the fact that assembly lines had a habit of not building cars
on the dates they were assigned to be built, there is no way to definitively identify the last Hemi-powered Chrysler car built.
However, the circumstantial evidence for Mr. Wellborn’s car being the actual “last” Hemi car is considerable. To wit: Mr. Wellborn’s
Charger has a scheduled production date (SPD) of June 11 – it’s stamped into the fender tag. But the window sticker shows a date
of July 30. That’s six weeks apart, a tad more than the customary 2-10 days from assembly to shipping that happened with most
cars. His car was built extremely late – July 30th is the last day of production for Chrysler cars in 1971. The report goes on to
indicate that there is no way the very public “Last Hemi Car” white Charger could possibly hold that title, which you can read about
here. Last or not, I wouldn’t kick either of these machines out of the garage.
So every Mopar nut worth their salt knows that the last Hemi cars were produced for model year 1971. That knowledge may
beg the question of what was the last Hemi car produced. Was it a swoopy E-body or a “large and in charge” B-body? Querying
Google will provide you with what may seem to be an ironclad answer: a certain white 1971 Charger R/T, which has been touted
as “The Last Hemi Car” for a few years now. Reading the stories that surround the car it would seem the VIN on this particular
Charger puts it at the last days of production for 1971.
Now those of you with a skeptical mind and a thirst for the truth may want to look past all the hype that surrounds this car that
was found in less than perfect condition and brought back to life in a very public and extensive restoration. One such “seeker”
put his money where his mouth was and set about to prove or disprove the claims around this car.
Why? Because he believes that he owns the last Hemi car – also a 1971 Dodge Charger R/T. This man is Tim Wellborn and if
anybody knows ’71 Chargers, it’s him. Tim owns a dozen or two of the coke-bottle shaped, fuselage-bodied beauties, most
of them of the Hemi-powered variety, including the Butterscotch ’71 Hemi Charger Super Bee (yes the options were combined
for 1971) that was tested by Motor Trend when it was brand spanking new. It’s an impressive fleet.
Mr. Wellborn employed an outfit called “Prove It,” a private detective firm for collector cars with a high rate of success in researching
these old dinosaurs and their pre-historic stories. What Tim and Prove-It dug up is eye-opening: First of all, their research revealed
that due to the number of plants producing Hemi cars in 1971 (4) and the fact that assembly lines had a habit of not building cars
on the dates they were assigned to be built, there is no way to definitively identify the last Hemi-powered Chrysler car built.
However, the circumstantial evidence for Mr. Wellborn’s car being the actual “last” Hemi car is considerable. To wit: Mr. Wellborn’s
Charger has a scheduled production date (SPD) of June 11 – it’s stamped into the fender tag. But the window sticker shows a date
of July 30. That’s six weeks apart, a tad more than the customary 2-10 days from assembly to shipping that happened with most
cars. His car was built extremely late – July 30th is the last day of production for Chrysler cars in 1971. The report goes on to
indicate that there is no way the very public “Last Hemi Car” white Charger could possibly hold that title, which you can read about
here. Last or not, I wouldn’t kick either of these machines out of the garage.
70bigblockdodge
Old Man with a Hat
They didn't succumb to gas shortages and fuel efficiency. Expensive, expensive insurance and Chrysler did not want to detune it as they were looking to get out of selling this expensive option.
On the racing side of it. It was homologated for everything it needed to run. It was taking over as the top fuel engine thanks to aftermarket companies (Hemi's lend themselves to supercharging extremely well due to opposite valve placement, this is currently being exploited in new hellcat/demon/widebody cars.)
The compression drop in 71-72 and looming emissions also helped get it dropped from production.
The author is about 5 years off.
On the racing side of it. It was homologated for everything it needed to run. It was taking over as the top fuel engine thanks to aftermarket companies (Hemi's lend themselves to supercharging extremely well due to opposite valve placement, this is currently being exploited in new hellcat/demon/widebody cars.)
The compression drop in 71-72 and looming emissions also helped get it dropped from production.
The author is about 5 years off.
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