This 340-Swapped 1973 Dodge Challenger R/T Tribute Is Drawing Bids on Hagerty Marketplace

A yellow 1973 Dodge Challenger built up in Rallye and R/T-style trim is currently drawing bids on Hagerty Marketplace, where the no-reserve auction has climbed to $22,500 across 16 bids with a few days still left on the clock. Photos and listing details come courtesy of Hagerty Marketplace, and the Ocala, Florida car offers a good look at how far a humble 1973 coupe can be pushed away from its factory-spec 318 roots.

Dodge trimmed the Challenger lineup down to a single trim level for 1973, folding the old R/T's swagger into the Rallye option package rather than offering it as a standalone model. Buyers who wanted the aggressive look could check a box for the twin-scoop hood, blacked-out grille, faux fender scoops and side stripe that once belonged to the R/T, while the drivetrain lineup leaned on a 150-horsepower 318 as the standard engine, with a 240-horsepower 340 available for a modest upcharge. Dodge also promoted an engineering push that year built around rubber body isolators meant to quiet the unibody ride, an approach borrowed from the brand's full-size cars.

This particular coupe wears a refreshed respray in yellow with black striping, and its dress-up items borrow straight from the Rallye playbook: a twin-scoop hood, blacked-out grille, fender scoops, a black deck stripe, and a Rallye-style dial cluster inside the black cabin. The seller reports the car was gone over prior to the current listing, and it now rides on 17-inch chrome Torq-Thrust wheels over front disc and rear drum brakes, with the factory-style air conditioning still blowing cold. Under the hood, the original 318 has given way to a 340-cubic-inch V8 dressed with a four-barrel carburetor, an aluminum intake, a chrome air cleaner and Mopar Performance valve covers, then routed through headers, dual exhaust and an X-pipe before reaching a TorqueFlite three-speed automatic. The listing shows just 8,800 miles on the odometer since the refresh, a clean Florida title, and only minor paint chips on the nose as a noted imperfection.

Gauging what a modified survivor like this is worth takes more nuance than reading a single price-guide number, but Hagerty's Valuation Tools still offer useful footing. A numbers-matching, base 318-powered 1973 Challenger in number-3, or Good, condition currently prices out at roughly $21,900, while the rarer factory 340-equipped version of the same year and condition tier is valued closer to $23,600. Hagerty's broader tracking of 1973 Challenger sales over the past three years shows results as low as $3,638 for rough, heavily deviated cars and as high as $242,000 for the best-documented examples, with the most recent public sale landing at $31,000 this past July. A car like this one, built with a later-life engine swap and R/T-style dress-up rather than born with a factory 340 and Rallye package, tends to trade on the quality of its fabrication and how well the look was executed rather than on strict originality, a dynamic Motorious explored in depth in its recent look at what tribute muscle cars are really worth. Bidding at $22,500 already sits well within the range Hagerty's data suggests for a nicely finished, driver-quality 1973 Challenger, even before factoring in the fresh engine and brake work.

Readers curious how a numbers-matching Mopar compares with a dressed-up tribute can look back at Motorious' coverage of a cache of Cudas, Challengers, Roadrunners and Chargers found stashed inside a shuttered Chevrolet dealership, while fans of the modern Challenger may want to see how a low-mile R/T Scat Pack T/A Widebody finished in rare Gold Rush paint is faring on the market. For a wider view of why some muscle cars have pulled away from the pack in value while others have stalled, Motorious' recent market breakdown is worth a look as well.

Bidding on this 1973 Dodge Challenger remains open on Hagerty Marketplace through Thursday, August 27 at 2:00 p.m. EDT, giving interested buyers a few more days to weigh in before the gavel falls.