How much is a '62 392 Hemi worth?

Actually happened to me, or something very much like it. For decades, I had heard a story about a local guy who had a low mileage '67 hemi GTX with a spun main, and another car, bunch of parts, ect. He had blown up the motor when the car was practically new, was so pissed he'd just parked it in the barn and left it, bla, bla, bla, all the earmarks of the typical cruise night bullshit, elephant graveyard story. Heard it a couple times, just laughed it off.
Decades later, I'm at a Mopar show, 40 miles away and get into a conversation with this guy. So I tell him I'm from Maple Ridge, and he says "oh wow, small world, last year I bought two hemi cars from a guy in East Maple Ridge, a low mileage GTX with a spun main bearing, and a Coronet R/T with no motor." Starts hauling out photos and the whole nine yards. I just about shit a brick. Since then, no matter how cockamamie the story is, I go check it out. Boy, have I ever looked at a lot of 318 Chargers since then...

 

this thread has piqued my interest.

 

tick tock tick tock tick tock , ...... what will it be ? hope it is a hemi , atleast it will be a good story , no matter what it is

 

IF it's a '62 I'll betcha a dollar to a dough-nut it's a 413!! My years on the parts counter, a lot of people didn't know the difference between a hub cap, or a distributor cap or a snow cap!! LOL!!

 

Cant agree more Captainjunk#2

 

One of the few on the hamb who can spell "piqued."

 

Welp - I went - I saw - and I promptly left. Possibility #2 was the correct answer.

The car had what was left of its original 413 in it - partially torn down, half of it missing and a nice large animal nest of some sort right on top of the intake. The engine looked like a fossil really. The car did have a lot of neat parts left on it, however I'm not interested in it at all. In retrospect, I really don't think the current "owner" has ever even looked under the hood of this car. The guy that owns it now is a recent "new" owner of the car. The car has been sitting right where its at for many, many years. You can actually see it on google earth.

Here's the craigslist ad if anyone else is interested - it's in Rosenthal, TX.

 

Edit: I see the "owner" has now updated the craigslist ad to indicate the correct year model and engine size. Originally it was listed as a '58-'60 with a hemi engine in it. lol

 

Here's the car on Google maps, it's in the upper left portion of the photo:



A panned out view:

 

Hmm...for whatever reason...that first photo will not display. I have fiddled with it and can't figure out why.


Fixed it - guess the file names were too close for photobucket.

 

Can undertsand that it sucked driving there and seeing that 413 under the hood. Was still a great thread, thanks for sharing it...

 

Well shit .

 

Ok... Un-subscribed!

 

Yeee haaaaw

That's not a bad deal if a guy needed a parts car.
Front clip would make a neat desk

 

Still a decent car. If you only wanted the hemi, I can see why you passed on it.

 

You could part it out there are Mopar guys out there needing parts or would take the whole four door car and resto mod it.

The motor would be worth keeping it if wasnt a cracked block or anything. You could build a Max Wedge motor out of it and those where good motors.

Good story.

My dad lost a 66 426 Hemi Charger that a friend had. The guy told my dad he could have it and before they could do the paper work on the car the guy passed away. The family would have given it to my dad because they were that close but my dad had no heart in the car after losing his friend.

The car sat with low miles due to a wiring problem. The family sold it at auction I think for 2K they didnt know what they had and my dad tried to tell them it was worth more then that.

 

As a former (twice) Imperial owner I can tell you that would be a very good parts car. What year was on that license plate? Too rusty to tell from the CL photo. I'll post the listing to the 24 Hours of Lemons forum - would rather see its last thrill on a racetrack than a demo derby arena...

 

Hey , that was fun ...kinda like a scavenger hunt ......too bad it couldn't have had a happier ending , like the farmer had a hot daughter or two .

T

 

HAHAHA!!! "With a LITTLE time and money" clearly option 2 in a BIG way.

 

A good rebuildable 392 is worth at least $2500.

 

When my friend from our little home town of Logan passed on, I knew what a WONDERFULLY impossible collection of great runners (Ford, GM and MoPar) that he'd collected since he was a boy in the '40s. I won't go into great detail here, as lots of guys would just say BULLSHIT.

So, since I have MoPar leanings, I'll just say that he did have a 392 Firepower (out of the car) and a 413 with the rare cross-ram manifold (awesome runner). I could not even bring myself to offer his wife (a close friend of me and my wife) money -- though I surely wanted both the "92" and the 413 runner. I might have had them for little more than asking, but I left it alone, as I'd just rather have had my friend back.

He was not only an untiring worker, he was a TRAD car guy, a trophy winner AND a guy with amazing visions for exciting projects. (When he died, I knew the '40 Ford retractible coupe he'd planned would never happen. And, he HAD all the tools, lifts, metal wizardry, welders, carb know-how, etc.) When I asked his wife much later about the collection, she just said it was "all gone." And I didn't even want to know how much she moved it all out for. This was over 25 years ago now.

I guess, my point is, if guys TODAY have the opportunity to get rare stuff in decent rehabable shape for a decent price -- from a stranger, not someone who felt like a brother to you -- then, try and swing the deal. They don't make the originals anymore.

But for me, if I'd weedled a deal for the 92 and the 413, I'd have felt like a cheap opportunist. Wherever all his collection went, I know that his spirit is present in every nut, bolt, car, block, manifold and tranny.

I sleep well at night, but I miss him just like I miss my own late brother. (But, yeah! I can't help thinking now and then about the 392 and the 413 Crossram runner.)

 

Ya know, I didn't even notice. I was so bummed after opening the hood that I almost didn't even give the rest of the car a second look. I did look inside though, it was intact. The dash looked pretty good and it did have the square steering wheel still in place. I'm sure someone will snatch it up. Be advised though, it's been sitting there on its belly for a LONG time. Unless you have a rollback, it is going to take a few calories to get it loaded on a car trailer. I doubt any of the hubs will turn. Probably the best bet would be to put bare rims on it with no tires and skid it onto a trailer. I have done that with pretty good success in the past.

 

It cost a few bucks and time but you got a trip out and about plus a great story.
A bad day looking at a car is still better than a day spent punching a clock.

 

"The Chase" is one of the reasons why I love old cars, atleast you tried.

 

I'll drink to that!

 

I DID NOT SEE THAT COMIMG!!! LMFAO But thanks for being honest, you could have told us it WAS a 426.

BTW, I drove an hour and a half to buy a 401 Nailhead and it turned out to be a little aluminum Buick. But it was a fun road trip and sometimes the hunt is half the fun. I did score a running y-block for $100 some time later!

 

Well...I considered it...but then I woulda had to produce pictures and ain't nobody got time for dat!

 

I had a Hemi alert a few years back. One of the service techs at work was telling me at the office at the end of the shift that he did a service call for some widow and that there was a Hemi on an engine stand in the garage!
Now he's a non car guy but knows I'm all about cars. So I ask him, how do you know it's a Hemi!!?? He says there was a valve cover hanging on the wall that said Chrysler Fire Power on it but has a huge dent in it. Says he asks her about the engine. She tells him her Son got all of Dad's tools when he passed and the engine is leftover from a "hobby project" he had. That's all she-and my buddy know.
I pick his mind and he says yeah, the engine is a big ol thing and together on the stand minus the valve cover.
I haul ass over there on the way home from work. Visions of a Hemi dancing in my head. I'm wondering why the big dent in the valve cover? Did it come out of a rolled car? Did someone drop the engine off the stand? Maybe the engine is unrebuildable. Maybe the engine is rebuilt and just needs final assembly! Adrenaline surge.
I get there, check it out and it turns out to be a boat anchor 390 Ford on the stand. The old man apparently picked up the Hemi valve cover in a wrecking yard or somewhere years ago and used it for garage art!!!

 

lol....good story.

 

If I drop over dead tomorrow my wife will be a widow with no idea just how much money I've invested in all those Hemi parts sitting in the garage......