The Mopar that slipped away

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MoparMuscleGuy

MoparMuscleGuy

Still plays with cars.
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
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Location
Cocoa, Fl
Have you ever regretted not buying a certain car. Tell us about that car. I'll start by saying I should have bought this 1970 Coronet convertible about two years ago when it went through ebay. It was a 440 car/automatic and in beautiful shape. It just didn't work out at the time but I still think of that car. The actual photo of the car is below. Someone here at FABO might have owned this car.

47be_3.jpg
 
1970 Cuda' 440+6 body with enduro front bumper, back in the early 80's, I was like 14, what did I know?? The guy had it half took apart to make a hemi drag car out of it...

$150.00

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS......

I still have nightmares about that one...
 
No comment.........................Too painful to tell the story.
Hint 70 Superbird 440 6pk.....................in 74, $700.00, didn't have the money......DAMN !
 
we think about the ones that got away everyday. does it have to be a Mopar? 1). a 1930 Ford running - complete for $2000, about 10 years ago before the rat rod craze took ahold. 2). a 1972 Buick convertible complete - running for $2500 - this one still drives me nuts to this day. and missed out on it twice. the guy that sold it locally, that guy put it up on ebay just a month after buying it. What about the ones you let go? 1). a 1968 Firebird in 1978 with 488 gears, could shread the tires on the streets with that one. 2). a 1969 Plymouth Satellite 4 door, it was a nice car only paid $2000 for it about 5 years ago and sold it on ebay 6 months later. Kick me hard in the nuts for that one... lol
 
Pop and I had a shot at a '67 Hemi Coronet 4 speed for a grand.

Three '66 and '67 Chargers, one burned out under the hood, but with a good interior, the other a 383 car but a rotted body, the other a good, stripped rolling shell. All three cars could have been used to make one good one. All three for $300. We didn't have a pot to piss in.

a '78 Magnum GT E58, loaded, T-Tops. A "friend" of Pop's was selling it for another friend. Before Pop could get it, the "friend" bought it to flip it.

A '38 Chrysler, that if I hadn't just lost my job the week before would be sitting in my driveway now. I had the money for it, but with no job couldn't justify spending it. Kicking myself on that, as the wife wants a car to hot rod.
 
greenhornet said:
1970 Cuda' 440+6 body with enduro front bumper, back in the early 80's, I was like 14, what did I know?? The guy had it half took apart to make a hemi drag car out of it...

$150.00

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS......

I still have nightmares about that one...
Click to expand...

Mods, just go ahead and close this thread. We have a winner.

I had a chance to get a '70 4 door slant Dart a few years ago. 700 bucks. Runnin and drivin and solid as a rock. I would have had to go into debt to get it. Lookin back, I shouldda done it. :angry7:
 
Early 1980s. This guy in the neighborhood had 3 mopars. My brother bought his 71 barracuda,gill fenders,383 4 speed for $600. My friend bought his 69 roadrunner. 440 4 speed. $600 I passed on the superbird because it had a little bondo under the rear window. He was asking $800. 440 automatic.I really wanted a 4 speed. 2nd car. An old man at a local convenience store had a 66 dart. Nice old dude . I was talking to him one day and the conversation turned to his dart.He said he wanted to sell the car.I asked how much,he said $100. I checked the car out,kinda ratty but I noticed a 4 speed with console.I asked him if I could take it for a spin,he says sure. I took that car for 5 or 6 spins with no intention of buying it.It was real strong with a 273 and these weird looking exhaust manifolds.Guy kept telling me,this cars special ,its not a dodge dart,its a dodge D-dart.I noticed the D-dart emblems but it didnt mean anything to me. I offered the guy $50 bux and walked away. Some old memories will never fade.
 
In 1970, when I bought my new 70 Duster 340/4speed B5 blue, the salesman tried to sell me a Superbird Hemi/ 4speed for the same price, $2600 out the door. At 19, I was into small, light weight, high performance cars. What did I want that huge monstrosity for? Little did I know.
Not Mopars but still painful.A couple of weeks after I bought my new 340 Duster, my aunt told me she wanted to sell her car and if I wanted to buy it. I told her if she would have been a couple of weeks earlier I would have jumped at it. It was a 68 Shelby GT500, with optional dual quad 427 side oiler, 4speed. She wanted $1800.
I now kick myself for letting both of those get away.
In 1975, just after getting out of the Army, I found a 69 Corvette, L88 427, 4speed, factory sidepipes, white leather, all options with 21k miles for $2400 and passed it up. Another one I let get away.
 
The list is very long, and the list of ones that I sold, that I wish hadn't, is even longer.

Ones I wish I would have bought:
1) Early 80s, 71 Cuda Vert, lavender, not Moulon Rouge, white Billboard 383 stripe, white top and interior. Dave Johnson, the car dealer, wanted crazy money for it. $3000

2) same time period, All white, inside and out, 340 shaker 70 Cuda, with all the options, rubber bumpers, chin spoilers etc. Found it up around Neodeshea, Kansas, and I screwed up by lowballing them on it. It ticked them off, and they wouldn't sell it after that.

3) I actually did own this car for a little while, but just flipped it, to make a quick $500 since I didn't have the $$$ to keep it. At the time, it was the only way I could afford to be competitive with my drag car.
B5 70 GTX, pistol grip four speed

4) wrecked 70 440-6 Challenger, it was Mopar green inside and out, but I could have had it for about $1500

The list of cars I wish I hadn't sold is close to 50.
 
70 Super Bee 440 6 pack, auto, functional ram air hood all there except motor or trans almost no rust, kind of a burnt copper color white bumble bee stripe, black (kinda alligator) type vinyl top, Had a broken driver side 1/4 window....... $600( in 1984) I tried to give the guy $40 down payment and he says $100(seemed funny) so I say I will come back tomorrow with it all... the next day it's in his neighbors driveway#-o..... that guy proceeded to trash it(put in a smog big block and yes drive around with the exhaust unhooked AT THE MANIFOLDS bouncing the front end), I heard he rolled it but never confirmed it.

70 cuda 440 6 pack 4spd colored bumpers, rear wing & louvers, road lamps, rocker mouldings with the vent(thingy's) in them... it was ordered by an exec so it had a ton of options original lemon twist yellow but was painted a greasy black........ had original motor and trans and came with a spare motor... $2500(in 1985) my friend(thought he was anyway) told someone else about it even though he knew I was looking for a car at the time.... I still haven't forgave him yet! I kept in contact with the guy that did buy it for a while and when prices started to skyrocket in the 90's he was talking about parting it out because he could make more money:angry7:

69 383 convertible dart auto dark green with a black top and a white interior(if I remember right) the guy wanted to trade me for my 340 duster with a rusty frame and he was a body man so he could fix it, the dart needed a pretty serious resto so I chickened out.
 
I have 2 screw-ups. Just out of the army April, 1972, tending bar part time, a buddy was looking a roadrunner at a Plymouth dealer in Pittsburgh, the salesman said he had another one inside upstairs, we go to look at it, in the corner are 3 Superbirds, all yellow, black vinyl tops, 440, autos. Salesman says "we can't get rid of those, only kids want them and they can't get insurance. These we all brand new, untitled sitting since 1970. He says "Take your pick, $3500". Nice, no job, I don't think I $35 to my name.

2nd screw-up 2 years later, just bought a 74 Scamp, 318 3 spd on the floor 2 weeks earlier. Crusing around we spot a 70 Cuda in a little used car lot, just wanted to see what it was, salesman says "Look at this!", pops the hood, HEMI, car was yellow, black interior, automatic. Rich kid lost his license, his dad made him sell it. Don't remember the mileage but the stereo was ripped out in a hurry, hole in the dash and 2 speaker holes in the doors. This one was $3000. Still ride by the used car lot everyday and shake my head.
 
red skunk said:
I have 2 screw-ups. Just out of the army April, 1972, tending bar part time, a buddy was looking a roadrunner at a Plymouth dealer in Pittsburgh, the salesman said he had another one inside upstairs, we go to look at it, in the corner are 3 Superbirds, all yellow, black vinyl tops, 440, autos. Salesman says "we can't get rid of those, only kids want them and they can't get insurance. These we all brand new, untitled sitting since 1970. He says "Take your pick, $3500". Nice, no job, I don't think I $35 to my name.

This is the same basic problem I saw in Maryland in 1972: numerous brand new, never titled 1970 Superbirds sitting on dealer lots unsold. The price on these cars was too high in 1970, and the gawdy looking rear spoiler was a deal breaker for many. These cars were goofy looking when driven on the street!

There was nothing understated about a Superbird!
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All 3 at the same time in 1977:
1. 59 Corvette 3000.00
2. 63 Avanti 3000.00
3. 59 T-bird 3000.00
I did buy a white 65 Formula S. for 1800.00
I wished then & still do that I'd had more cash at the time.
 
70 Duster 340 Panther Pink in Richmond, BC, painted yellow.. asking price 2400 in 1990? Went with cash in pocket, only to find owner talking to a fellow. I looked at the car, and saw the FM3 tag and dug out 24 C-notes. Other buyer's jaw dropped and I found out he had given the owner a $50 deposit to hold it until he sold his car. Seller was a standup guy and declined my offer, and I ended up befriending the new owner. Last time I saw him, he had painted it orange. Waaah.

69 Cuda 340-S 4-spd notch - white with blue interior in Langley. He had owned car from new having traded a 67 Barracuda for it. It was tight and drove like a dream. Unfortunately he had a red 69 'cuda 340 in the garage that made the notchie seem a little too plain, and I wanted that one lol..

69 Roadrunner 383 4spd. Painted orange (vit C?) - 2700 in Winnipeg. Think I saw it years later for sale in a shopping centre parking lot.

And (OK its my favorite blue oval) a 70 Boss 302 orange, striped and louvred - $4000 back in 85. Pretty sure it is the one I still see around. Ended up buying a 68 Barracuda, and the sickness hit :)

Grant
 
StrokerScamp said:
Mods, just go ahead and close this thread. We have a winner.

I had a chance to get a '70 4 door slant Dart a few years ago. 700 bucks. Runnin and drivin and solid as a rock. I would have had to go into debt to get it. Lookin back, I shouldda done it. :angry7:
Click to expand...

Needless to say the next time I went by to see the guy the Cuda' was long gone.. How we found it was we got some info the guy used to race a hemi duster, so me and my cousin who had never seen a hemi in real life we decided to hunt the guy down, he tells us all about the days of racing the duster, would carry the wheels in 4th gear, tunnel ram, dominator carbs, said his buddy got pissed at him and dropped a bunch of screws in the intake and it blew the hemi, he had a shed full of hemi blocks, heads, cranks, you name it.. Then he showed us the Cuda'.. I need to go back to that guys house and see he still has that hemi stuff still...
 
4spdragtop said:
Yeah about 3 of them every day from this site!!
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Man, ain't that the truth.

Since I seem to be caught in a cycle of perpetually scraping the bottom of the bank account, there have been dozens- but the one that still pisses me off was summer '97, I was working for a friend of a friend (I thought he was a jerk, and I was right) dismantling barns. After work one day, I saw a '73 Satellite Custom sedan for sale. Dull, ugly beige paint, matching weasel-nest vinyl interior, but solid body- if you don't count the front floorpans and trunk as "body", anyway. Slant 6 auto (with pretty much no exhaust), ran, drove, & stopped, 450 bucks. Could've just barely swung it (though the wife woulda been annoyed, no doubt) but the guy I was working for flaked outta town still owing me two paychecks- about 500 dollars, as it happens.
 
In the 80's classic muscle cars were mostly just 20+ year old beaters and a dime a dozen.

What WAS to be my first car was a 70 hemi-challenger hard top in used but still good condition. I was this -> <- close to landing it for $1600 when my father vetoed the whole sale. (insert hour-long rant here).

-LY
 
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