A two-piece grille insert
A one-piece grille frame holds a two-piece insert (Wikipedia calls it a «split» grille), black on the R/T and silver on the others.16
Class of '71 · Dodge Challenger · 1970–1971 body · first generation
1971Dodge Challenger
The second year: a split grille, a cheaper Coupe with fixed rear side glass, the R/T as a hardtop only, and sales down to 29,883.
The year in brief
Sales fell to 29,883, down by more than 60 percent. The whole pony-car market was shrinking under new safety and emissions rules, after insurance surcharges had already hit high-powered cars in 1970.14
New at the bottom of the range was a coupe with fixed rear side glass and the 198 slant six. Dodge's catalog calls it the Challenger Coupe; Consumer Guide calls it the Deputy.13sources disagree
The R/T was now a hardtop only, with the 383 Magnum four-barrel as standard. Dodge quoted it at 300 hp gross and 250 hp net, and printed both ratings for every engine.13
Compression went down on most engines, by Dodge's 1970 and 1971 catalogs. The four-barrel 383s were retuned to run on regular fuel, the 383 Magnum from 9.5:1 to 8.5:1, while the 340, the 440 Six Pack and the Hemi still called for premium. The Hemi was barely changed, from 10.25:1 to 10.2:1.356
The story of the year
The Indianapolis pace car
Four Dodge dealers supplied Challengers for the 1971 Indianapolis 500. According to a former owner of a replica, quoted by Consumer Guide, 50 Hemi Orange convertibles with white interiors were prepared for the pre-race festivities.1one source
On the parade lap the pace car, full of dignitaries, skidded as it left the track and crashed into a press box, injuring several reporters. Consumer Guide is our only source for the story.1one source
How to spot a 1971
What tells it apart from a 1970.
Backup lights at the sides
The backup lights sit at the left and right of the tail-lamp panel instead of in the middle.6one source
R/T: slots on the rear quarters
The R/T has simulated brake cooling slots on the rear quarters and large R/T lettering in its stripes.1one source
Production1246
29,883 cars, by body.
Every trim line
| Body | Trim | Built |
|---|---|---|
| Coupe and hardtop | Challenger | 23,088 |
| All coupe and hardtops | 23,088 | |
| Convertible | Challenger | 2,165 |
| All convertibles | 2,165 | |
| Hardtop | R/T | 4,630 |
| All hardtops | 4,630 | |
| Total | 29,883 | |
Consumer Guide's table, and Over-Drive's, which shares its rows: 23,088 coupes and hardtops together, 2,165 convertibles and 4,630 R/Ts. Wikipedia's uncited rows give 26,299. See the ruling.
Engines13467
8 engines. The letter is the engine code in the VIN.
Gross and net horsepower from Dodge's 1971 catalog (Canadian edition), which prints both. Wikipedia gives the same figures except for the 440 Six Pack, 340 net against the catalog's 330. Dodge's (Canadian) 1971 catalog lists no 440 Magnum four-barrel, and Over-Drive says the T/A's 340 Six Pack was not offered for 1971.
Price when new128one source
Base retail prices in 1971 dollars, before options.
From Over-Drive's table; J.D. Power gives the same $2,950 for the V8 hardtop and $3,273 for the R/T. Consumer Guide calls $2,727 the price of the standard hardtop, which is Over-Drive's price for the coupe; see the ruling.
Colors4one source
22 factory colors. 5 of the 22 color names are confirmed by a second source34; the swatches are approximate screen colors, not paint matches.
Light GunmetalA4
Light BlueB2
Bright BlueB5
Dark BlueB7
Plum CrazyC7
Bright RedE5
Medium GreenF3
Dark GreenF7
Dark GreenF8
Light GreenJ3
Green GoJ6
Dark Burnt OrangeK5
Dark BronzeK6
ButterscotchL5
TanT2
Hemi OrangeV2
Bright WhiteW3
BlackX9
Bright YellowY1
Citron YellaY3
GoldY8
Dark GoldY9
No source we have gives the number of cars per color, so the counts are left empty. The 22 names and codes are Over-Drive's; its list has two «Dark Green» codes, F7 and F8. Dodge's Canadian 1971 catalog names Plum Crazy, Green Go, Tor-Red, Butter Scotch and Citron Yella as extra-cost colors; Over-Drive's list has no Tor-Red.
Reading the VIN7910
A 1971 VIN has 13 characters. Type one in, and the decoder reads it against the code tables on this page.
JS23N1B1000017910 · An example built from the code tables on this page, not a real car's VIN: R/T, 383 Magnum, 1971, Hamtramck, unit 100001. None of our sources prints a real Challenger VIN.
The code table
| Position | Meaning |
|---|---|
| J | Car line: Dodge Challenger |
| H · L · S | Price class: Coupe, hardtop and convertible (Over-Drive's table) · Coupe and hardtop (Over-Drive's text) · R/T |
| 21 · 23 · 27 | Body: 2-door coupe (fixed rear side glass) · 2-door hardtop · convertible |
| B · C · G · H · L · N · R · V | Engine (see the engine table) |
| 1 | Model year (1971) |
| A · B · C · D · E · F · G · R | Assembly plant (tpocr's table of Dodge's codes) |
| 100001 → | Sequential unit number |
Where to find it: On a plate on the left top of the dash, visible through the windshield.710
Questions about the 1971
How many 1971 Dodge Challengers were made?
29,883 by the count we use: 23,088 coupe and hardtops, 2,165 convertibles, 4,630 hardtops. The sources disagree on the total; the ruling on this page explains which figure we show and why.1246sources disagree
How can you tell a 1971 Challenger from a 1970?
Three signs, each explained under «How to spot» on this page: a two-piece grille insert; backup lights at the sides; R/T: slots on the rear quarters.16
What engines did the 1971 Dodge Challenger have?
Eight engines, from the 198 cu in slant six to the 426 cu in Hemi V8. The engine table on this page gives every code and rating, and the rulings cover the disputed ones.13467
How much did a 1971 Dodge Challenger cost new?
Base retail prices, before options: Coupe, six-cylinder $2,727; Coupe, V8 $2,853; Hardtop, six-cylinder $2,848; Hardtop, V8 $2,950; Convertible, six-cylinder $3,105; Convertible, V8 $3,207; R/T hardtop $3,273.128one source
What colors did the 1971 Dodge Challenger come in?
Over-Drive Magazine lists 22 factory colors.4one source
Where the sources disagree
Every conflict we found for 1971, and how we settled it. All rulings.
Open
1971 Challenger production
Our ruling: Unresolved. We show 29,883 from Consumer Guide's table. Over-Drive's table gives the same rows, but it shares Consumer Guide's rows (in 1970 its R/T hardtop row is Consumer Guide's R/Ts plus its T/As, and both group the 1971 coupe and hardtop as 23,088), so it is not a second witness. Against Wikipedia's uncited 26,299 that is one source against one, as in 1972–74.
What each source says (2)
- 29,883: 23,088 coupes and hardtops, 2,165 convertibles, 4,630 R/Ts12one source
- 26,2996one source
Open
When the Deputy came, and what it was called
Our ruling: Unresolved. Dodge's 1971 catalog calls the cheapest 1971 car the Challenger Coupe and does not use the name Deputy. Wikipedia puts the Deputy in the middle of 1970, Consumer Guide in 1971, and Over-Drive's 1970 table has no coupe row. We describe the 1971 car under the catalog's name.
What each source says (3)
- A mid-1970 coupe, replaced for 1971 by the Challenger Coupe6one source
- New for 1971, $121 below the hardtop1one source
- The 1971 fixed-glass model is the «Challenger Coupe»3one source
Open
Was $2,727 the coupe or the hardtop?
Our ruling: Unresolved, but we show Over-Drive's rows: J.D. Power's $2,950 for the V8 hardtop matches them (its prices follow Over-Drive's table, so it is not a second witness), and Consumer Guide's $2,727, which it calls the standard hardtop's price, is Over-Drive's coupe price.
What each source says (3)
- $2,727 for the six-cylinder coupe, $2,848 for the hardtop2one source
- The Deputy «priced $121 less than the $2,727 standard hardtop»1one source
- $2,950 for the V8 hardtop, as in Over-Drive's table8one source
Open
Was there a 1971 SE?
Our ruling: Unresolved. Consumer Guide calls the SE a package in 1971, limited to base models; Over-Drive says it was dropped as a separate model and its pieces became options; only Wikipedia calls it 1970-only, citing a 1970 brochure. A package gets no row of its own in Consumer Guide's table, so the missing row settles nothing. We list no 1971 SE.
What each source says (3)
- «The SE package was unchanged from 1970, but it was now limited to base models»1one source
- The SE was dropped as a model; its pieces became options4one source
- The SE was a 1970-only model6one source
Settled
Did compression ratios go down for 1971?
Our ruling: Yes, on most engines. Dodge's own catalogs give the 383 Magnum 9.5:1 in 1970 and 8.5:1 in 1971, the two-barrel 383 8.7:1 and 8.5:1, the 318 8.8:1 and 8.6:1, the 440 Six Pack 10.5:1 and 10.3:1, and the Hemi 10.25:1 and 10.2:1, so Consumer Guide's sentence is wrong for the Challenger. The 1970 catalog's figure for the 340 reads 8.8:1, against the 10.5:1 that Over-Drive and Wikipedia give, so the 340 is left out of the comparison.
What each source says (3)
- No: «Chrysler did not drop compression ratios this year like GM»1one source
- Yes, on the performance engines except the 426 and the 440 high performance6one source
- The 1970 and 1971 catalogs: 383 four-barrel 9.5:1 then 8.5:1; 318 8.8:1 then 8.6:135one source
Open
The price-class letter of a 1971 base Challenger
Our ruling: Unresolved: Over-Drive's table and its own text disagree, and we have no other source. The decoder shows both.
What each source says (2)
- H: JH21, JH23, JH272one source
- L: JL21, JL23 (and once JS21 for the coupe)4one source
Open
How many 1971 Challengers had the Hemi
Our ruling: Unresolved. The archived page has lost the table's layout, so it does not show which engine heading has no figures, and we give no 1971 Hemi count.
What each source says (1)
- A 1971 R/T row of six figures under four engine headings: 465, 1,985, 129, 121, 59, 121one source
Settled
Length and width of the 1970–71 Challenger
Our ruling: We use Dodge's own 1971 catalog, which Over-Drive's 1970 figures match: 191.3 by 76.1 inches, 50.9 high. Wikipedia's infobox has no citation, and Consumer Guide's figures describe the car as planned.
What each source says (3)
- 191.3 inches long, 76.1 wide311
- 191.5 long, 76.5 wide, 51 high6one source
- «measuring 191 inches long, 76.5 inches wide, and 51.5 inches high», for the car as planned1one source
Open
The Windsor plant's letter in a 1970–74 VIN
Our ruling: Unresolved, and it does not matter much for the Challenger, which no source we have places in Windsor. We show R, as two of the three tables do.
What each source says (2)
Sources
- 1970-1974 Dodge Challenger HowStuffWorks (Consumer Guide Automotive) · read 2026-10-11
- Dodge Challenger Production, 1970 and 1971 (two tables) Over-Drive Magazine · read 2026-10-11
- 1971 Dodge Challenger sales catalog (Canada) Dodge Division, Chrysler Corporation · read 2026-10-11
- 1971 Dodge Challenger Fact Sheet Over-Drive Magazine · read 2026-10-11
- 1970 Dodge Challenger sales catalog Dodge Division, Chrysler Corporation · read 2026-10-11
- Dodge Challenger (1970) Wikipedia · read 2026-10-11
- 1971 Dodge Vehicle Identification Numbers The Plymouth Owners Club Registry (tpocr.com) · read 2026-10-11
- Dodge Challenger 1970–1974: original MSRP (eleven pages) J.D. Power (NADA Guides) · read 2026-10-11
- Dodge VIN Decoder 1966-2002 Rubber The Right Way · read 2026-10-11
- Mopar VIN Decoding StockMopar · read 2026-10-11
- 1970 Dodge Challenger Fact Sheet Over-Drive Magazine · read 2026-10-11
- 1970 Dodge Vehicle Identification Numbers The Plymouth Owners Club Registry (tpocr.com) · read 2026-10-11
Keep going
Three more years.
1970Dodge ChallengerThe first Challenger: Dodge's E-body pony car, as a hardtop or convertible, with the R/T, the SE and the T/A, nine engines up to the 426 Hemi, and about 83,000 built.83,032 built (disputed)
1972Dodge ChallengerA hardtop only, the R/T replaced by the Rallye, no big-block engines, and the «sad mouth» grille.26,663 built (disputed)
1973Dodge ChallengerFive-mph bumpers, the six-cylinder dropped, the Rallye turned into a package, and sales up to about 32,600.32,596 built (disputed)See the whole first generation.
Dimensions, production year by year and every ruling, 1970–1974.