Car that hooked you on Mopar

[jaimus]

My earliest memory was ridin w/Dad in 60 Belvidere, "HUGE FINS", Gold, White Top, Pushbutton trans, poly 318,...He was comparing gas prices on Jefferson Av in New London, Ct,...It was hot, and It was before the 66 Fury,...So that makes me 3 years old at the time. I remember askin him later how come the motor in the 69 Barracuda was so different form the Belvidere if it was the same size, By then I was 7 and thats when It all started,...Mopar models, Hot wheels,Posters,...and how many of you folks remember the drag racing bubble gum cards???

 

[goldfish65]

'66 Valiant 200 4 door, 225, 904, beige, the only time my Dad bought a new car, it was for my Mom to have reliable transportation, she drove it for 30 years, I drove it a lot too.

 

[FISHYPETE]

Dad always had Mopar, took drivers test in his 66 Barracuda when I turned 16, 11 months later I bought my 66 Formula S

 

[memike]

I was 14 years young and my uncle bought a 1968 Monaco 383 2 door Blue buckets and a cool Vacuum gage on the center console :blob:
He knew I worked like a man and every year we would stop and stay with him for a few weeks between crops
He sold me that cool car on time and it was so hard to leave it there in Illinois till I came back the next year to pay it off, he was like my father and he said to me, Mike! now I might have to use it now and then but it will be in the barn safe and out of the weather :coffee2:
He was proud to see me in my own car as I drove his mom (My Grandmother) to town and back the first year, then the following year I showed up and he handed me the keys knowing I could not wait to go see my friends (girls) in town after a long Strawwberry and Apple season. That car was my shot in the arm and was fast as they get back in the day :burnout:
Thank you uncle You sure made life allot of fun, Me and that 2 door was together for 4 years driving me and my Mom, Grandmother and two younger brothers to Michigan and down to Florida.. Two fuel filters and one tune up one muffler in 3 1/2 years
I am still a 383 fan :glasses7:

 

[Oldmanmopar]

I had two . 2, 1969 Coronet R/T's and a 1962 Polara 500 conv. One R/T was a 440 Magnum 4 spd. The other was A dealer installed 440 six pac 4spd. I still have the Title for the later. It was stolen in 1974 along with my 1970 340 swinger which I got back in 2005 and sold it at Carlisle along with a 1972 Demon. The Polara had a 440 six pac installed and went to Canada in 2007. I still have pictures of the Polara. But only pics of the 69 R/T Conv. Which I was never to fond of. It . I thought it was ugly compare to my Hard tops. I also had a bunch of 70 R.R's. One red that survived I saw at Carlisle. It was Auto changed to 4 spd. which I restored . That and my conv. R/T went to D&S auto in Harrisburg pa.

Since then I have had several R/Ts GTX's and R.R."s and Chargers, But in 1983 I bought a 1971 GSS Demon. Its has been A-bodies ever since. I have had alot of b-bodies but there was always something about A-bodies that got my blood flowing. Especially 68 's and 71's My next build after my 71 duster I amd restoring will be a Hemi ,4sd ,Dana Demon Black with white stripes and interior. Unless I can find a nice 68 Dart I like.

I also owned GT 500's, Firebird 400's , Corvett's , GTO's and Camaros. But always had a Mopar. I which I would have kept the Gt 500's.

 

[Bulldozer]

my dad bought a brand new, 1968 B5 blue,426 hemi, 4 speed, white interior, bucket seat,console,coronet R/T.the very next year, he bought a 440 4 speed ,bucket seat,console, light yellow 69 charger R/T stripe delete, white top,white interior, when i was 2 years old. tragically, they were lost in a house fire. we have owned nothing but mopars our entire life.he got out of it many years ago. after a few years out of the hobby, i picked it back up a couple years ago. i bleed mopars.

 

[d5667]

40 Plymouth business coupe-first car

 

[J-MacsMopars]

The car that got me started was a Sublime 70 Super Bee. Seen one when I was about five or six and loved them ever since.

 

[John Morrow]

I had a 73 Dart Sport for my second car,, first Mopar back in 1980, drove the car into the ground, sold it, got married and bought a 73 Duster, traded that for a 1976 Nova 350 4 speed Sold that and never really cared what I had .....kids came along, different jobs, I just needed something reliable..... got into old trucks for a while after the kids got older......BUT ONE DAY ... I was invited to go to Monster Mopar in St. Louis by a friend and That's when I got the Mopar bug, A yellow 68 Super Bee ( in the parking lot of all places ) I couldn't get over it, I guess THAT would be THE car....:glasses7:. my friend who's uncle invited us to MMW had a 68 GTX 440 4 speed at home and when we got back he took me for one wild ride ......... Been Mopar ever since. everything I own. :cheers:

 

[ocdart]

My Mopar exposure got started at a young age but in kind of a roundabout way. My dad would only drive Hudsons (later became part of AMC which later became part of Mopar) and they're my very first memory of a family car. I remember laying down on the package tray on road trips from SoCal to Las Vegas staring up at the stars during nighttime drives. I also remember sitting on his lap and steering the car while he worked the gas and brake pedals. Try and get away with that today!
He died way too young at 44 years old and my mom continued to drive our last Hudson until 1959 when she bought a '59 Fury 2-door hardtop, coral with white top and those fins! That was the first "real" Mopar I remember.
It later got traded in, after she remarried, for a '61 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 and the family stayed GM.
Shortly after I got married, my then-wife got in an accident that almost totalled our only car ('64 Olds F85). We decided we needed a 2nd car and bought a 2-month old '69 340 Swinger, Charger red with black interior and white butt stripe. That 340 Dart was all it took to get me hooked for life.

 

[jamesdaytona]

Bought a pair of Dodges for $100 . A 71 Satellite and a 73 Charger . Planned on demo derbying both . Drove the Charger ( 318 ) around the block , smoking the hides all over , and found out it was faster than my 62 Galaxie 500 XL . 390 - 4 4 speed . Derbied the Sat , kept the Charger . 50 Chagers later , 4 Darts later , 2 Super Bees later , a Daytona , and I'm here for life !

 

[Kevin D.]

Its 1969 and the summer between my junior and senior year in high school.I work every shift I can at a restaurant washing dishes. At the end of summer I open penny saver paper and there it is 1965 Plymouth Satellite 426 street wedge 4 spd. buckets.$700.00 I didnt have enough money but struck a deal with older man selling the car for son who had moved off.3 weeks later I am driving that bad boy to school can still remember looking down long red hood and seeing that 426 emblem.I was in mopar heaven,Thanks Kevin.

 

[Oldmanmopar]

some pics I found of these cars mentioned above some are still out there. If somebody recognizes theres. I probably heve more pics. 12 70 RR's alone,

 

[hemichuck]

My Dad always drove Dodges (though he swears he has no alligence)The first car I remember was a 1960 Dart Phoenix that my mom drove till around 68 when a dump truck ran into us at a stop light.We went to the dealership and my Dad bought a 1968 Dodge Monaco wagon,Black with woodgrain sides,green interior with bucket seats in the front,and a 383 HiPo motor with 3.23 Posi. We still had that car when my 16th birthday came around.My cousin had bought a 1966 Charger brand new and I always loved that car. I had been saving money for a long time to buy myself a car so I found a 1966 Charger that someone had installed a 400 4 barrel in and I bought it for $600(1975) I had the car one month and was drag racing a Camaro up the road and a young drunk lady in a ChevyII ran a red light and pulled out in front of me at about 90mph. So I ended up with the Monaco wagon until I saved enough cash to get another car. When I was 17 I found a Plymouth Roadrunner listed in a local paper so I went to check it out. It was a 1969 1/2-440 6 pack car with lift off hood and 4.88 Dana. The guy who had it said he wouldnt let me drive it but I could bring my Dad back to test drive it. It was an original 4 speed car and the guy had changed it to automatic with a 3500 stall and reverse valve body. So I went home and begged my Dad into going over there with me and driving it,and so started the greatest sales job I ever pulled off. After going for a very short ride in the car we went home and my Dad gave me a million reasons why a teenager didnt need a car like that(and boy was he right) but I countered all of his arguments with my own twisted logic and somehow talked him into saying I could buy it. I bought the car for $1000 cash and it had 18000 original miles which I found out later was all drag strip miles. A guy named Mason Gary had bought the car new and he only drove it out to Cedar Creek dragstrip and a couple of other strips and raced it.I drove that car about 4 years and eventually moved on to numerous other rides. I still have the window stickers and the owners manual and warranty book from the Roadrunner and the car is still in Ky.with less than 50000 miles on it today

 

[CUDACOX]

For me it was my Brothers
1968 Formula "S" Cuda. He was a party animal in his late teens and early 20"s. When I was 14 and my Brother was 19.. back in 1980... Sat morning he would be passed out from a good time friday night.I would sneak down to his room and grab the keys to his Cuda. Down the street for a few heart pounding burnouts and park it back in the driveway,put the key's back and he never knew! I now own a 68 fast back,not an "s" car but I love it!

 

[Divenut]

Well there were two Mopars that gave me a rude awakening when I was just getting into muscle cars. I had just picked up a 72 Nova, auto stock 350 SB. My buddy and I were cruising around looking to see what she could do. Roll up on a "Old Guy" 65-66 Belvedere, brown paint, totally plain jane, little hub caps, steel rims etc. We hit in from a stop and I got a good 2 + car length jump on him off the line. At about 60 mph he walks by me like I was in reverse. My buddy was laughing so hard I thought he was gonna puke. :eye: Never found out what he had in it, but never assumed "plain" looking cars were slow again. Learned the meaning of Sleeper"...the hard way LOL!

The second encounter was against a 70 340 Duster 4 spd. Was late/early, 1:00 AM and was just cruising around looking for a few races. Pulled up to this orange Duster at a light, shooting the poop with him while we waiting for the light. I say, "want to give it a go?" He smiles, says "sure". He pulls on me right off the line and I never gained on him. Turns out, a few months later we ended up working nights at the same place and became good friends. I eventually got built the Nova to the point where I would get him, but always loved his car.

I never forgot those early races, and learned to respect the few Mopars that I encountered on the street back then. It took me 30 plus years of building & driving Chevy/GM cars before finally taking the plunge on a Mopar last year. Wishing I did it years ago!
:burnout:

Pat

 

[kazooom]

My sisters friend had a green 69 Swinger 340. He and I were on our way to a corn roast in the early 70's. We past a copper doing well over 100mph. We arrive at the country home, sat on a bail of hay and started eating corn. The cruiser rolled in, the officer got out and started feeling hoods. Who owns this green one he booms, I want to see whats under the hood. I have wanted one of those 340's ever since.

 

[hemichuck]

I used to ide around with my friend in his 289-3 speed Mustang that we had thrown a Shelby intake and holley 600 4 barrel on. He thought it was bad a** so he went to pass this Pink Rambler American one night and it took off and ate him alive. He never got over getting beat by the Rambler. I found out later it had a 427 Chevy motor in it,I never told him.

 

[mopardude318]

when i turned 16 back in 2002, i was looking for a 66-67 chevy nova for my first car....my dads friend gary led me to a 1970 dodge dart, once the original owners garage door opened, i immediately fell in love with it and bought it. paid 2000 for it. all original, slant 6, 10 in. drum brakes, and factory 8 3/4 rear....i was hooked ever since....still have the car and you can see it in my "70 dart build" i also own a 68 barracuda fastback. picked that up in feb. 2009...

i am now a "mopardude"

 

[hpmopar]

Growing up Mopar,
Remembering dad's 70 Duster 340 / 4 speed and the changes he did to it

 

[hpmopar]

Then coming home from school when I was in 2nd grade and seeing this on the side of the house :shock:

 

[hpmopar]

And I can't forget the dad's old 66 Coronet Station Wagon he ordered with
383 big block and a 4speed!
(Yes he made a few changes to the Family Hauler too :burnout: )

 

[hpmopar]

Remembering dad's 70 Duster 340 / 4 speed and the changes he did to it. Then coming home from school when I was in 2nd grade and seeing this on the side of the house :shock:

I still have the original window sticker, build sheet and purchase order for the Duster. I believe the car went to Ohio back in 1977 or 1978?
If you know where the car is, contact me

 

[65dartcharger]

Back in 1979 I saw a movie with Dean Martin driving a gold metallic 1965 Dart GT convertible. That's were Mopar came into my life.

 

[sad1969]

Then coming home from school when I was in 2nd grade and seeing this on the side of the house :shock:

ouch, baby you make me cry