demort71

I can help you (again) with some of your questions regarding your 71. First tan or saddle was one of the interior option colors for vinyl bucket seats according to the 1971 Challenger Illustrated Facts and Features Manual, which was published by Dodge for its dealers to explain and show pictures of options to potential buyers. You might find a reproduction of this booklet on eBay. Tan is was a pretty unusual color choice, but earth tone colors were coming into vogue then. I can't be for sure what the interior trim color code was, but it was something like this H56T...Someone else give him some help here, I can't find a complete listing of the complete codes in my reference materials. Leather was only available in black on 71 Chall. models. The vinyl used in 71 was a real high quality vinyl and the inserts felt like leather, but weren't.

In 1970 and 1971 there was a chocolate brown paint color available on Dodge and Plym. ABCE bodies. I owned a brown 70 Duster this color in 1974. I don't know that there was such a color shown as being available on either the 70 or 71 Challenger or Cuda. Also I don't remember ever seeing a chocolate brown E-body. However, that doesn't mean that someone didn't special order one in this color and trust me, Chrysler would have painted it that color. Heck, if you wanted a Hugger Orange Challenger instead of a Hemi Orange one, they would have painted it that color too! It may be another color too.

I saw a 70 Chall. convertible painted a wierd, brownish-burgundy color at the 08 Nats. I have a picture of it I could send to you via email. I don't how to download it via the forum.

A lot of people replace 383s with 440s. You get more bang for the buck with the extra cubes. The 383 is a good engine and plenty of fun. It's a little more economical in stock form than a 440, if you have 3:23 gears. Instead of getting 10 mpg on a good day with a 440, you could get as high as 14 with a 383! We are talking 1970 economy here. I guess this isn't your daily driver though!

I have a nicely restored 71 R/T 383 Challenger that I could share pics with you. There are several pictures of it in the May '06 issue of Mopar Collector's Guide too, if you subscribe to that mag and keep the magazine for future reference. Without the fender tags or broadcast sheet, you're kinda SOL for any other info about how the car was originally ordered! You will just have to do detective work as you take it apart. I suggest you take photos of the car as you disassemble it to document what you find.

BTW, if the VIN starts out JS23N1, you have a 71 Chall. R/T. The N denotes 383-4bbl. Magnum, the standard engine in a 70-71 Chall. R/T. The next digit is the plant code, which might be "B" for Hamtramck. The last six digits are the sequential number, which is unique to each Mopar of that era and identifies each car.