New from IL

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Dan's 72

Member
Joined
May 29, 2010
Messages
17
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1
Location
Mattoon, IL
Hello,
February 28th, I purchased my 2nd 72 Dodge Dart. The first one I had back in 81-85 and drove it into the ground. The engine was strong (what else would you expect from a 318?), but the rest of the body, interior and exterior was coming apart. About 12-14 months ago, I began looking for another. It had to be a 72, it had to have a 318, it had to have a bench seat with an armrest in the middle of the front seat. I watched on e-bay and another great site, oldride.com. I finally found a California 72 Dart on e-bay. It had all I was looking for - and was going cheap too. It had about 30 minutes to go on the auction, and I checked with my wife if it was ok (really ok) with her that I place a bid, she said "go for it". I placed my bid, and was immediately out bid, I placed 1 more bid about 5 minutes before the end of the auction, and it stuck. I won the auction - all while we were at the theatre watching a movie, I was bidding on by crack-berry. That was only the beginning of my "adventure". Because of my work schedule, I had to wait a month before I could go out there and pick it up. By brother-in-law and I flew out to Orange, Ca to get it on a Thursday night to seal the deal Friday. We got it and headed out on our way home. Living in IL, I grew up near Rt 66 (there is a great old brick section of 66 still drivable south of Springfield, IL, extremely cool), so we went to to Santa Monica Pier to see the end of 66. Then we drove to Valencia to visit a HS friend who worked at Warner Bros and directed a bunch of Tom and Jerry and Scooby Doo cartoons, then headed home. The big question, I-40, the south route or through Las Vegas and up to I-70, the north route. We made the fatal choice, we went to Vegas. The car started getting hot shortly after, it had only been driven 5000 miles in the last year after all. It was getting dark, we were in the desert, and we were beginning to panic. We were blowing steam as we got off the interstate and headed to New York New York to stay the night and come up with "Plan B". I got something to eat, and went to my room, and my brother-in-law had "other plans". I didn't find him until about 12:00P the next day, and he was still drunk. We had about 1,800 miles to go, and I didn't want to damage the car, so I got a U-haul and a trailer, 33 hours and 15 gas stops later, we were home. I drove most of the 33 hours waing on him to sober up. The trip up and over the Continental Divide was treacherous. It got icy, and the chains lights came on, we had no chsins, and weren't goint to stop for anything. But, after having the car here for about 6 weeks now, boy was it worth it. I have a great car, a great adventure, and as far as I know, the bears got my brother-in-law when I ledt him at a deserted rest area in the mountains...just kidding. Changed the thermostat, fixed a small Power Steering leak, and it's a great driver.
 
I have some, trying to figger out how to upload the pics.


Welcome to FABO!

In the message box you'll see a paper clip icon. Click on that to upload pics.

Or scroll down the page once you hit "reply" and you'll see "manage attachments." Either one will get you the upload window.
 
welcome to fabo! I also purchased my '72 on ebay. though it was in no condition to drive home.

great story.
 
Welcome neighbor. Seems as though Cen" IL is getting well represented more and more. Must be the post Blago party mode.
 
you got that right!! November can't get here soon enough!! I'm a member of the "Replace them all from the Ground-Up Party"

I was really hoping that Obama-lama-ding-dong would have been subpoenaed to testify at his trial; that would have been priceless. Both looking and pointing at each other saying "he did it!"
 
OK, here's my 3rd try at uploading pics...
Where is my "URL" supposed ot be????
ain't giving up yet.
 
Well, if I can figger this out, here's some pics...cool, i did it!!

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Awesome story and a wonderful intro! Welcome to the best Mopar site in existence Dan ... it's great to have you here. Cool Dart!

Oops, almost forgot to mention you're close to my old stomping grounds. I was born in Moline.
 
HAHA!

Welcome to FABO.

Always nice to see someone else from Central Illinois.

I had a 72 Dart in the same era. The body on mine completely fell apart in 87. I paid $370 for it in '85 and I thought it was the fastest thing on four wheels.

Recently got a 1971 to replace it. Wish I had a highway adventure like that to report.

Good luck with your dart!

Steve
 
Welcome and enjoy :cheers: That is a very good looking Dart =P~=P~
I lived in a little town called Paw Paw for a short time, I did enjoy bar hopping in Decalb Co.8)
 
LXguy,
dare I assume that you are a Roger Ramjet fan?? If so, I'll have you know, I've been made a Knight of Lompoc. and....(can I add a .wav file?), no...

if you are a Roget Ramjet fan, send me a pm with your e-mail address and I'll send you a wave file you may like.

thanks for the compliments on my Dart. I'm amazed every day I see it. I can't believe that it is in such great shape. It has been babied all it's life, and it will continue to be babied. I may put a 4 bbl on it just for fun, don't know.
 
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