when did you fall in love with a-bodies

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I began to like A-bodies when I realized how deceivingly large my '65 Belvedere was and that it would take big power ($) to make it go. Those cars are like 20' long and they're supposed to be mid-sized!

Once I realized how much better the A-body platform was from a performance standpoint, it was like nothing else existed.
 
Seriously, when I was a teenager I was more into bikes ,having grown up doing motorcross and enduro racing I went right into street bikes. I had a Triumph Bonneville 750 in the early 70`s and one day while passing an apple orchard I espied a 69 Dart GT parked at the stand. It had a V/8 ,4spd., and bucket seats and I had $400.00. I was hooked from that moment. If that car could talk? I had countless cars from that point on, A`s, B`s, E`s, and even some Fords and Chevys but I`ve always had a soft spot for Mopar A`s. I have 3 now, a GTS, Formula-S, and a 67 Barracuda convertible and I hope I`ll always have one.
 
in 74 my 1st car was a 67 Barracuda

but in 72 my brother bought a 69 Dart GTS 383 AT 3.91 white/white with red stripe, this was the car I wanted, Dad said no that I would get killed in it so got the 273 cuda

currently have my 67 Dart convertible and a 67 GT hardtop that might be the next project if I get around to it

On my way home from step daughters house tonight, out for a nice ride on the motorcycle, I took the scenic route on some roads I had not been on before and even though it was dark I seen a 67 Barracuda fastback sitting in a yard under a light, had to go back and take a better look. NOW i have to go back when it is light out to get even better look..............................LOL

I like them all, have had A, B, E, F and J, some Fords, Chevy's, Olds, Buicks, would like to have another E convertible but don't think I will ever afford one now.

A 67 cuda fast back is something I have never had. 2 coupes (1 Formula S) & one convertible, just what I need a 67 fastback
 
My first mopar was 54 Dodge with the little hemi that I later transplanted into a 55 Plymouth which was a better body style. That car was great during high school. Later got a 60 Dodge Dart w 318 during college. When graduated college I and new wife got a 70 Duster 340 w 4 spd and 3.91 rear. That car was fantastic, quick, fast and cruised great. Had to trade for a family car.
Back in early 90's started collecting Mopars again and got a 72 Challenger then 70 Cuda both with 340's. The latest is 74 Duster 3 years ago. Just finished restoring it wtih Magnum 408 stroker and 727 auto. Mopar forever.
 
My great grandfather had a Chrysler dealership back in the 50's and ever since then it has been mopar or no car. I first got into F bodies then a (EX) friend wanted a project car so we found a 74 duster. He gave up and sold it but I always liked the duster, so when Tara wanted a project car we started looking at darts and found one. She wanted a gto and I said no so I showed her the swinger and she decided that that would be ok. We now own the '71 dart a '72 scamp and a '74 duster that I bought because it runs and has a 4spd, Not to mention all the other mopars like the aspen and the newport and all the old stuff and my challenger.
 
My dad has a 71 Demon 340 4 speed, now with a six pack that he bought brand new and my brother-in-law has a 69 Dart GTS 340 4 speed now with a six pack as well. So A-bodies just come natural to my family. Now we have my Duster as well as a 71 Scamp, 73 Duster, and 74 Dart in the family as well.
 
back in the late 70's and early 80's I grew up in an area that was all Ford and Chevy. I had several Mach 1's until I switched to Mopar's in the mid 80's. There was a '69 Dart with a 340 that shut everyone down. It was white and and a really beautiful car that stood out in a sea of Mustangs, Camaro's, Chevelles and hot rodded trucks.
 
I knew I liked my 72 Duster with 14 in. wheels and hubcaps ,318 with a .444lift cam and headers. When I took it to the track and dusted a anniversary edition vette and the guy never raced it again that night I was hooked.
 
First time I saw a Playboy centerfold! Oops! Sorry, those are 'double-D' bodies!!! Actually, in November 1969 3 seconds after I bought a very-slightly used '69 340 Swinger, Charger Red with white bumblebee stripe and Cragars - got it for $2500 from a kid going into the Navy. I had just turned 21 and was on top of the world with that car.
 
In 1962 my parents brought a Dodge lancer. My father loved that car. Then in 1970 they brought a Duster. (I was four). When i was about 10, I started working on the Duster.I thought it was the best looking car in the 70's. (i still do) My father drove that car for 250,000 miles. It was my first car to drive. I drove that Duster another 150,000 miles. SLANT SIX BABY!!!!!! It was so rusty it went to the Mopar heaven in the sky. In 1990 i found one in New York that looked the same one i had. Brought it for $900.

the rest is history..........:read2:
 
It was back in 1971. My older brother bought a new 71 Duster 340, which was curious yellow. I thought that was the coolest car. I am now in the process of restoring a 71 Duster 340, which is also curious yellow. It made a lasting impression on me.
 
My dad would allways tell me about how he used to own a 68 dart gts rag top big block and a demon, dart sport which were 340 cars and a 69 dart gts big block. All the darts had white interior with white stripe they were that almost hunter green color I remember him telling me one of the darts was a 4 speed bench seat car. Then he bought a 69 dodge dart swinger with a 340 in it back about 10 years ago and still has it . We also had a # match 68 or 69 dart gts. It could have been restored because it was complete but it needed frame rails. It was a stripe delete car. Wish he would have kept it for me but I was around 12-13 years of age at the time. But I have allways liked the dusters so thats what I own today.
 
It was the first time I ever went to a dragstrip. I was about 10 when my Father took me out to New York National Speedway (long gone now....) and the very first car I saw when we got there was the Hurst Hemi under Glass.

`Nuff said...
 
man what happened to all the dirt cheap dusters or am i just to young... you know in 15 years or so 16 year olds are gunna be drivin these new 300+ hp mustangs chargers challengers and camaros cause thats goin to be the cheap stuff... scary

i wish i had been older while i lived in indiana... we live in a small town but i remember there was a dragstrip there my dad would go watch sometimes at the time i didnt like goin i was probly 4 or 5 i remember goin to a big car show in ohio every year i did enjoy that so maybe i wasnt to weird a kid lol

hey moparkid too bad you moved it woulda been nice havin a mopar guy around i dont know too many course i drive a jeep not a a-body all my buddies round here are honda or chevy guys
 
lol macon was nuthin but rednecks and the 4x4 trucks and a bunch of ricers and a few mean mustangs
theirs not much of a mopar scene their. i miss the hell out of liven their tho

dusters are still out their man i no weres theirs a few in macon still i can tell you about.
 
I fell in love with them back in 1974.......

My first year out of school, and I had just landed my first job in a Body Shop as a gopher........ My Dad left my Mom and I in the lurch, and she was a housewife........no money, and no credit........My car was dying, and I spotted this "thing" in a used car lot in Utica NY........

It was 1972 Dodge Demon, 4 speed if I recall.......It was blue, hbut not sure the code.......Clean, and MEAN in the front end........an actual 340 car.........I'll never forget that "face"...........

Try as I might to get someone in my family to cosign, no such luck........

I kept that car in my mind all those years, until in 2005 I got my chance to buy one for TWICE the amount of the first (doesn't say much....)..........Built it to my own specs, and VOILA' !..............My avatar............

Now I've sold it, and reinvested in another A-Body........Just love the "fit" of a good A-Body..............I have B-Body's too, and drove them in the 70's.......But the A's are just the right size, able to leap tall buildings with the right driveline combinations, and man they are just plain sharp when done up right.

I'll definitely give them an "A+" (pun intended) for all-round Mopar satisfaction.

:toothy10::toothy10::toothy10:
 
lol unfortuatly you are dead on lol them 4x4s are fun tho i drive a jeep right now i just need a street toy
 
I was riding at the local MX Park in Weatherford, Texas-
I saw a wild looking car in the trees behind an old school and ended up buying it the next day. I fell in love with it the moment I started busting off all of the old paint to reveal a nice shade of green.
It was a 1971 Duster Twister (Sassy Grass w/White Stripes) that I will never part with.
 
Had to be high school late 70's. Our school had a kicka@# auto shop, and although I wasn't in it, I always loved the cars that the guys drove. The Mopars were definitely in high proportion compared to the numbers produced.

My first was a 68 Barracuda FB 318 for sale on the highway for $2300. I went to one of those quicky-soak-you-in-the-arse loan places, told them I was looking at a thrifty Dodge Colt, provided the VIN, and told them it needed a window before I could license it and bring it in. About a year later, when they insisted they "see" their collateral, I showed them the cuda I drove, and told them I traded straight up :).

I moved 2000 miles in that car, loaded to the roof, sleeping on the pass. seat. After 9 years of ownership, a split with the ex caused me to cut it up with an air chisel, sell some parts and all I have left is the fish from the hood (hanging on my keychain to this day).

Of course, one is never enough, and I've owned at least twenty, drove at least a dozen, and kept a handful for future work. All A-bods.

Grant
 
1980. Wife totalled her 79 Monte Carlo exactly a week after she paid it off. And yes we worked our butts off to pay for that car in 10 months. Had to buy something with automatic trans quick! Tossed 800.00 at a 67 slant 6 notchback Barracuda. Only extra it had was reverb box for the AM radio. Most dependable car we've ever owned.
 
October 16, 1978.

That's the day I brought home my first 340 Duster. A Rallye Red '70 340 4-speed with factory 3.91 gears. I still have it. Dragged it back to the USA by boat from Okinawa. Over thirty other Dusters, Darts, Swingers, and Barracudas have come and gone but I always kept the first one. Even now with 10 other vehicles out in the garage (just toys - I don't count the daily drivers) everyone that knows me knows which car I'm referring to when I speak of "My Car". It was love at first sight.

Ray
 
Man this brings back the memories.. I was 15 and starting to look for a car.. my 18yr old brother had just sold his 72 roadrunner that he was going to fix up. After one of his trips to his girlfriends house in bradenton fl, he shows me a pic of a maroon metallic 75 duster custom with chrome american racing wheels and says " you gotta buy this!! " I'm drooling over the picture thinking there is no way I can afford this when he says "..and its only $1500".. the next weekend I sent him to bradenton with cash in hand to buy it for me sight unseen....I spent 6 months waiting to get my license with that car sitting in the driveway only to get hit head on 11 days after my 16th birthday.....
The ironic thing is that the one I have now also came from bradenton. I guess it's just fate :) I'm now 33 and have only owned 5 cars.. of the 5, 3 have been Dusters.
 
Summer of '88. I seen a '73 Scamp running arounf town I lived in.
She was a brunette and I had to have her. Plus her car was awesome.
We hooked up, needless to say, the hood got dented. Not long after, I bought a '73 Scamp. A year later I bought a '71 Swinger and met a blonde, I added twin scoops to it and the blonde loved the car so much, the scoops made for excellent for something to hold onto.
I've owned 6 Darts and 2 Scamps since summer of 1989 now.
I'm not going to give out any names or town location, but both ladies know where they are now as well as I. :toothy10:
 
My dad bought a near-new /6 Valiant back in '65 - and then I saw the BARRACUDA. A-body addict ever since. I got my '66 formula S - white with red interior in 2003. I love that car!
 
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