Why Mopar?............The Passion....

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My best friend turned me onto them when we were stationed together in Alaska. He talked me into buing a 65 Barracuda w/ /6, 3-speed on the column, 8 1/4 w/ posi, white exterior w/ black interior. After our unit closed, we both got stationed in SC. He bought a 69 Barracuda and sold me the 318 and 904 out of it and I dropped it in my Barracuda.
 
My grandfather worked at the local Chrysler dealer in the late sixties and brought home some hard core stuff to drive, Chrysler was all he and my dad ever drove.I bought a Chev in the early eighties and my dad would not talk to me for weeks, I got my head straightened around and sold it for a Dart... good move.
 
I'm eccentric............:happy7:

I like things that very few others ever have.........:burnout:

...add to that the styling, engineering, and the "feel" of driving the uniqueness that IS vintage Mopar, and you have this fish hook, line & sinker.

:love4::love4::love4:
 
Dad always had b&c bodies- they where fast(when I was by myself). Then when I could afford a car, all I could get was a 60 Galaxy; After installing a 63 Merc drivetrain, and 406 parts, I had fun.
Then, needing a reliable car, I could only afford a 70 Duster, 318, 3 speed, 3.23 open(the 340 4 speed was $300 cheaper, but insurance said no).
Took that, added a 500 Holley 2 BBL, stiffer valve springs, old traction bars; and beat all my buddies in the 1/8 mile.
383 Cuda, 396 350 hp chevelle, 302 mustang.
Parts cost more and are hard to find; but it ain't like a honda bike, chebby, or ford(everyone has one, and they all stink, like an azzhole)
And they look better. And when you whup someones azz with one, their jaw drops.
I still have that 70 Duster, it is in the threads in here. Just got the last factory right bank piston left in the usa, but the sealed power rings have .024 gap.
Installed them, hope for the best(bore miked, no ridge, no wear).
Just installed a used 727 with Turbo Action parts; T/A 3200 converter.
Custom drive shaft. Hope it all works when of the jackstands after22 years.
I love mopars. Just for the kick-azz factor.
 
As a junior in high school in 1971 my best friend bought a used 1968 Dodge Coronet R/T. After my first ride in the stock 440, 375 hp torque monster, I was hooked. Some of my best memories from back in the day were cruisin' and street racing in that car. The mopars just sounded better, ran better and looked better than the GM's and Fords. Other friends had Chevelles, Novas, Camaros, Mustangs, and GTO's but the mopars were just so much sweeter. I still have my unrestored, original 'Cuda 440-6 that I bought when it was just a used car and the Dart that I'm working on now. And by the way, my best friend who turned me on to mopars is still my best friend!
 
Growing up in the 60's you had to be dead to not notice Mopars. They were on almost every magazine cover of the day, or so it seemed. When I was a kid my Dad used to take me out to the long gone N.Y. National Speedway. The very first time I went I saw the Hurst Hemi under Glass. No sooner did my eyes focus on the starting line of a drag strip for the very first time, it took off. Not only was I hooked on Mopars, but that's where my love of the second generation Barracuda's comes from.

And it ruined me for life.... :love7:
 
I Had A 58 Chevy 348 Convertible, A 64 289 Comet, A 66 428 Ford And Then A New 69 340 Formula S Fastback 4 Speed 323 Posi. All Were Good Cars(the 66 Ford Was A Real Dog) But None Could Compare To The Barracuda. I Won A Lot Of Races That No One Thought I Would. It Got 16 Mpg Which Was Good When Sunoco 260 Was 32 Cents Per Gallon. At 115 Mph It Had More Power Than Most Cars Had At 90mph. Top End Was 141 Mph And It Pulled Hard All The Way There. It Was Better Than Most Cars In The Corners. That Is Why I Bought My 67 Fastback Last Spring. I Haven't
Done Any Work On It Yet But I Have Been Buying Lots Of Parts. It Came With A Good Running 273 Ho But I Bought A 360 That I Plan To Use.
 
stan marshall said:
When Sunoco 260 Was 32 Cents Per Gallon.....
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Wow, you just hit the way-back button for me. In the late 70's I had a 383-S Fastback (Green w/ Blk. buckets & 4 spd.) that I used to get about 6 MPG with. When Sunoco 260 hit the unbelievable price of 64 cents a gallon (for 106 octane, IIRC) I traded my Barracuda for a Cadillac and doubled my mileage to 11-12 MPG.

Sunoco 260.... wow. I also wonder what ever happened to that car....
 
The only car my Mom drove for 30 years was 'The Valiant.' A '66 V200 4-door bought new. Consumer Reports said it was the best compact car and it sure was. Then my Dad got a '67 Barracuda 273 Commando notchback. It sounded like no other car.
 
my father had a 1973 dodge challenger 340 ... but sold it before i was born.

i remember his big black ram with a 360 just vaugly ... then he traded to a red 1989 dodge ram with a 318 4 speed 4x4 which eventually i basically learned to drive in and tooled around in having a blast. At the same time i was also driving around in my grandfathers blue 88 ram with a 318 till i hit a tree on a stormy night and thought i had to replace the carnage...
got myself a 92 dakota with a 318
then i got hooked on early hemis

I was trained to only follow mopar. :) and i started to research mopar in college in my board times.
 
My first Mopar was a 64 Plymouth Savoy business coupe ( the old farts will know what a business coupe was ), the cheapest thing produced. 2 door post w/3 on the tree, B-body was 225/6. As a 19 year old kid in 69 we had " street rallies" around the streets and hills of Pittsburgh. With the TB suspension there was not any non Mopar that could keep up. And even before I slightly "built" the /6 I loved blowing off Chevy 283 Powerglides and making sure they knew I had a 6.
 
magnumdart said:
After reading all of this I had to go out and start the Dart, you know, just to hear it rumble a little bit.
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why don't you go back out, start it again and record it for the rest of us???? come on, you know you are looking for an excuse to start it again.......
 
You know I've noticed that Mopar guys tend to stick together more then the Chevy or Ford boys. Also, Mopar enthusiasts tend to be a little on the rougher side. :snakeman:
 
Dad worked at the Chrysler electrical plant. He was one of the 1st 50 hired in 1953

Growing up Mom & Dad owned a 54 chevy, 61 ford wagon, 56 Chevy, 58 edsel, 67 Lincoln, 68 Impala convertible. The 1st new car I really remember much about was the 64 Dodge Polara, white black interior 318 with push button auto. I still like that body style.

My uncle had a blue 67 GTX with a 440 auto, I don;t ever remember riding in it, but I loved that car.

At 14 dad went to look at a 67 Barracuda slant 6, auto, PS, AC. This was a very clean little car. He asked me if he bought it would I keep it clean and when I got my lisence in 2 years he would sell it to me. What a deal,I yes yes I would. I would wash the cars just to get to drive them around the yard to the back so I could wash them.

My brother ended up with a 69 383 GTS Dart. I loved this car too. I wanted it real bad and since my sister told dad she wanted the 67 Barracuda I thought I should be able to get the Dart from my brother when I got my lisence. Dad said no to the Dart.

Time for me to get a car, dad said, "You'll drive a chrysler product" I was OK with that since there were so many that I really liked. I ended up with a 67 Barracuda that was a V8 car. Not as nice as the one my sister got, but at least a V8.

So, not just dad helped make Mopar my car of choice. My uncle, brother and Dad all helped make me a Mopar person.

I have worked for Ford for the last 12 years. I can drive whatever I want and I prefer the Chrysler Products.

My wifes 1st new car was a 68 GTX, so she is a Mopar person too

I like all types and brands of cars. Have owned Chevy's, Fords, Buicks, Olds and a LOT of MOPARS. Even in the new car line I think Chrysler has the best looking vehicles.

Would love to have a new Challenger or Charger. Have been looking at new trucks to possible replace my 95 Ram 2500 and like the new style Dodge better than any other truck out there

It cost more to build a Mopar, but in the long run it is worth it. At least at most shows I go to there are not too many Darts there, especially convertibles. My Prowler is still an attention getter and the Imperial, most people have no clue what it is.
 
I grew up in a childrens home in KY and we were told there was nothing worth driving but chevys so when I got out of the home and out of Nam. I got me a 66 chevelle put a 396, with a 4 speed and thought it was bad, no one at the track could beat me, until one day the coolest looking Plymouth Duster 340 (green like mine is now) pulled up and staged, I said the is no way he beats me, boy was I wrong, I saw nothing but his tail lights. I said some day I am going to have one of them, to make a long story short I could not have a good hobbie in the Army because of the group I was in, when I got out I did not think much about it until my wife said look at this 73 Duster for sale, that is all it took, I will never go back.
 
I did not come by it in the family way. I grew up in a GM family. But my cousins had Mopars. Riding in my first Mopar
helped, a 64 Fury with a 426 wedge. My other cousin gave me
a ride in his 440 GTX, lime green! I was hooked.
My first car was not a Mopar, but GM.
Didn't get my first Mopar till my 3rd car.
The first Sassy Grass green Duster. Haven't looked back sense.
 
Why Mopar? If I gave all of the reasons, I would still be typing in the morning; and you`ll would ban me for overloading the server. But my first love was a 1956 Savoy wagon 6cyl 3 on the tree that my parents bought new and traded in for a 1964 Fury. On the way home from vacation in Texas one summer we ran along with a Grayhound bus from Austin, TX to Shreveport LA doing 95 MPH all the way WHAT A CAR! God bless you`ll. Wayne
 
LJS30 said:
You know I've noticed that Mopar guys tend to stick together more then the Chevy or Ford boys. Also, Mopar enthusiasts tend to be a little on the rougher side. :snakeman:
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Yeah!..................... Wanna make somethin' of it ? :violent1:
 
Dad drive GM, had a couple Dodges that ran forever between his garbage GM junkers.

Dad is a GM man, I learned from his mistakes.
 
The day I turned sixteen, mom handed me the keys to a '70 Plymouth Sportwagon, radial tires, wood-grained vinyl sides, and a 383 4 Barrel.

It is a miracle I'm alive to tell the tale.

Then there was Nick Valiant... Narc Car. A '68 4 door, beige in color. You half expected Jack Webb to hop out and say "Just the facts, ma'am." Got the name Nick, cause some drunk side swiped it at high velocity... Just "nicked" it.

Dad had a '77 New Yorker Brougham. The leather was awesome!

And the beat goes on...
 
My first exposure to Mopar was when my mom traded in our '54 Hudson Hornet for a brand new '59 Plymouth Fury. Of course at 10 years old, that didn't yet fire the Mopar passion for me.
That came later in very late '69 when I bought a very slightly used '69 Dart Swinger 340, 'Charger Red', white stripe, black interior for $2500. I'd admired the Mopars cruising Whittier Blvd. in SoCal for several years and then finally had the opportunity to buy my very own. I had so much fun cruising SoCal and racing that car at both OCIR and Irwindale.
That little Dart lit the Mopar fire that never died. Not even after I sold the car during a difficult financial time in the late-80's. It kept smoldering and finally burst into full flame again a couple of years ago when I just had to have my Mopar back. I found a solid '69 Dart on eBay and, hopefully, it will be done and back out on the street in 2010.
 
Ken, check your mailbox. I sent you a message a few days ago....
 
Pop cut his teeth hot rodding flat heads back in the '50s. His first was a '49 Ford, 3 dueces; 3/4 cam, those of you who are old enough will know the story. Always setting up other's cars to make 'em go faster. Later he went on to own a '55 Pontiac, a '58 Chevy, a '57 Ford, and a bunch of others. When he settled down and became a family man he went to AMC for the Ramblers and Jeep for the family trucksters. Ford trucks for the businesses he owned. I remember him pulling his dozer with a '74 F350 extended wheelbase stake body.
Then my sister gave him the '72 Duster that Jamison now has. The original 318 was blown. Some tech school in Texas did a half-a** rebuild on a 360 that needed the right work to be an engine again. Pop being Pop never did a lot without doing research and he came to the conclusion that Chrysler had the best engineered engines out there. As well as the best engineered suspensions. As well as the best engineered trannies. This was backed up with the fact that after putting bearings and shim stock in the 360 to take into account the idiots didn't bother to put rod bearings in the rebuild, and drove it for another year like that that the Chrysler engines could take a beating and come back for more.
 
wish4hemi said:
Mopar is different. Any idiot can go out and buy a cookie cutter Mustang or Camaro. Takes a real man for a Mopar. Plus.....Hemi.
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This, and my parents owned nothing but MoPar.

Seems like all the Fords that our neighbors had growing up, i am 43, had squeeky front ends too.
 
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