So Disscouraged.... (My story)

[wordslikebullets]

So I know I'm not alone but its like I lost a friend.  It all started 12 years ago when I walked into an auction.  I like most of you that are lurking on this site don't really have 45k to drop on a charger let alone 5k.  Life happens and Wife happens and the next thing you know time passes you by.  12 years ago my dad asked me to go with him to an auction and I only had $300 to my name.  We all know that $300 does not get you much in this life.  

When we arrived I walked around with him looking at junky late 80s to mid 90s cars all the while scarfing down a dirty hotdog and a coke.  This is when I stopped dead in my tracks and my eyes got a little wider.  I stopped chewing and all the noise from all the people faded, the birds stopped singing, the heavens opened up and a light shown down on this hulking, rusty mess of a primer gray 1974 Dodge Charger.  Now to many of you this is where you get off the train because I said 1974 and we all know that any charger after 1970 is really no charger at all right?  Well to some of us with only $300 in our pocket it is as if we hit the jackpot...YOU MEAN THIS HAS A V8!!!!? (oh...its just a 318 )

I looked the car over really good.  I said to myself it has good bone's.  I got so excited and worried that it would go for more than I had but really I had to ask myself what did I really want with this hunk of rust anyways?  It s to restore you dummy...that's is what I said to myself in my head then I heard my dad laugh a little and say what do you want with that out hunk of rust?  Again I said I have always wanted a charger but could never afford one.  So I watched and waited and not one person besides myself looked and the rough old beauty.  Yes, it was rough, yes the interior was kind of a mess, yes nobody even looked at it, but I wanted it because it was my chance to own and build a charger.  It was getting close to the time it was going to hit the block.  The man with all the keys walked up and put the keys in .  It fired with hardly any effort and didn't even smoke.  That same guy put it in gear and I was totally expecting a clunk or a grrrrr or something but no, it shifted right in and ran like a kitten. I was thinking this is too good to be true and with all of these things it will go for about a grand which was no where near the $300 I had in my pocket.  

It was time the 1974 Dodge Charger pulled up to the block and the auctioneer started to chuckle then said this car has seen better days.  Just then the crowd erupted into laughter and I saw people moving to the bathroom for a break or jumping in line to get a hotdog.  The auctioneer could not get one bid.  He started at $1000 and worked his way down to $400 and then made a face and said "get it out of here off to the crusher it goes" My heart sunk and it seemed that time stopped "NNNnnnnnooooooooo!!!!!!!!!"  I shouted...in my mind that is.  The driver started up the car and put it into gear the hulk started to move and I could not hold back any more...I shouted I will give you $100 for it.  I felt like the place when quiet and all eyes were on me as if I was bidding on a one of one Hemi Daytona Charger at Barret Jackson.  But I wasn't at Barret Jackson, the people didn't stop they acutely snickered, and the auctioneer looked at me and said  "what do you want with that hunk of rust?  Oh who care give me $200 and its yours."  What just happened...did he say I just bought a 1974 Dodge Charger... Am I dreaming?  Do I need to clean out my shorts?  I own a Charger...I OWN A CHARGER!...How did this happen.  I was so excited I was bursting at the seems.  I ran over to where you pay and waited till they had the keys and then I had the keys and then I had all of the paper work that said I was the owner of a 1974 Dodge Charger.  

This is the beginning of a beautiful relationship and a whole bunch of money.  Over the next ten years I would spend about $1000 on parts or upgrading and man did that car get looks when I took it out.  Even when it was in rough shape I always had the imports wanting to race me and people saying cool car mister.  It was so much fun.  Then I got married to an amazing girl that has changed my life in so many good ways.  We worked that first year and did our taxes at the end of the year.  Uncle Sam wanted to look a little deeper...  Uncle Sam said you own me a bunch of money and I was bummed.  Sam said you can make payments but that would have been too much for our monthly budget so I decided to sell my car....WHAT did I just say!!!!!! I still have a hard time when I think about it.  A Father and son came looked it over and we struck a deal.  I could not believe I was selling my car and my wife felt really bad but we had no choice.  After they loaded it up on a trailer and drove off I sat on my back porch and cried...a grown man crying over a car...some would say its just a 318 1974 charger its not worth much...and they might be right to some but not to me.  It represented all that I had and all that I could afford at the time.  

I thought that this would never happen again.  I thought I was over this.  6 Months later my brother said did you see that charger that was listed on that one website that will remain a secret so that one day I might again find another one.  I said what are you talking about he said "just go look"  so I did.  Sure enough there it was a 1970 Dodge Charger 500... Again someone would say oh its not a 69 and it only has a 383 its nothing special...but to me...to me it is a Charger one of the badest cars ever made.  and it was only $700 buck at the time I looked at the auction...I nearly fell over!  Its true.  Sure it didn't have a motor and the interior was beat to oblivion and the body needed lots of work but it was a 1970 dodge charger.  I was stoked so I put my top offer in and was sure I would not get it because I had see worse go for 5k or 6k all day long.  Sure enough I won it for $1400 bucks so I sold a bunch of stuff I had laying around and went to pick it up.  I was amazed...I was the owner of a 1970 Dodge Charger 500.  I had moved up.  

This was September and guess what was right around the corner.  That's right Tax season.  It couldn't happen two years in a row could it... Well it did and guess what I had to sell it and this time I was not quite as bummed that I had to sell this car but it was the fact that I would not have a project in my Garage and again I was sad.  Acutely, I was angry... so much so that last year I didn't go to any car shows and I was not no here much.  But I think I have the fever again.  I think it is starting to come back.  The desire to rebuild another hulk.  So who knows when or where I might pick one up but it was your site and some of the non snobby guys and girls that have inspired me to not give up.  Maybe you have had a similar story or maybe you have never really had the money.  Don't give up hope.  Don't let some jerk tell you its just a 318.  Get out there love and build or collect hotwheels but keep this hobby alive.   Stay strong Charger Fans Stay Strong.

[tan top]

  thanks for sharing your story !!  that's a bummer having to sell twice !!  nothing wrong with third generation chargers !! look how long the King , Richard Petty raced one for , & said it was his all time favourite race car !! 
 

[ACUDANUT]

Wow. what a book to read.

[Daytona R/T SE]

So...

The moral of this story is...

Pay your taxes BEFORE you buy a Charger 

[b5blue]

  Don't be discouraged be determined. Through thick and thin I've hung on to mine for 19 years. Divorce, raising my 3 kids alone, broken engines and trannys. Heck the day I bought it a guy told me it would NEVER be on the road again. Within a month I drove 1,000 miles away, stayed there a year and drove back. Used it as my work truck, trunk full of tools another 6 years before the engine gave out.  Again another told me that was it, never run again, well the 440 and 727 are purring and my 1/2 assed paint job don't look to bad.
 Paying taxes is what we do! My 20 year old just wrote a check for over 7 grand a few weeks ago. You start telling yourself not "if" but "when" and you'll end up with a "keeper" like I did!  

[hawkeye]

I had been wanting a charger since 1972 and got it in 2013. Still a year or 2 before it will be completed.  Don't give up! 

[DAY CLONA]

So...

The moral of this story is...

Pay your taxes BEFORE you buy a Charger 

The real moral is.....consult a tax adviser so your not in a pickle every year!

[bill440rt]

So...

The moral of this story is...

Pay your taxes BEFORE you buy a Charger 

The real moral is.....consult a tax adviser so your not in a pickle every year!

Or, budget during the year just in case you owe.
Or, raise the amount of dependants you are claiming. 

[TUFCAT]

Well hopefully there's a silver cloud in your story....did you make any money on the cars you sold?

[wordslikebullets]

I did make money on both chargers so that was nice.  The tax thing was as a result of getting married.  I had heard that when you got married you saved money on taxes but that is not the case. Also the wife had a bit of a spending problem that has been delt with but at the expence of some of my toys.

I will not get up and maybe it was missed but im saying that I actually had to get out of the hobby because I was tired of getting my heart broke but when I started snooping around I came back to this forum because you are good people and you really have a passion for chargers.  Just reading some of your posts have encouraged me to get back in and dream a bit.

You all are right that if I really want one and keep looking I will find one and I will keep looking.  Like that guy that bought the shell and is building it from nothing was really what this hobby is all about.  Do what you love or can afford.

P.s.  I was out and about a few weeks ago in farm country and low and behold guess what I found... about 50 mopars in a feild out behind this farm.  Talked to the guy and he said to.come back in late may and I can look around and maybe buy one...maybe third time is a charm.

[Corey Dean]

Nothing wrong with 3rd gens. I like them just as much as 2nd gens. However, I will admit I don't like opera windows, hood ornaments, or vinyl tops. Less is more in making a 3rd gen look good. Otherwise, it can look kinda grandmotherly.

[crj1968]

I didnt read anything past 1974.  

Like many people on here I can relate, I have owned some pretty nice mopars (some even 318's   )

I used to buy them, fall in love working on them, and hit a tight spot, or want something different and sell them. I think you just need to get one and  just keep it off the table when you hit a rough spot. or like others say...plan for taxes! Gotta get your wife on board. My wife used to not care at all about cars, but now after 18 years of marriage she sees that my car is important to me and even though its just a material toy, it keeps my mind off the worse things in life.....and there are things much worse than selling a car.  

Good luck!

[1974dodgecharger]

You gotta do what you gotta do bro to survive a car can be had over and over with patience.  Just wait for the right one to pop up and it will you might have a friend who will sell you a charger who knows...

[myk]

Now that's out of the way, here's the best response to your thread 'OP:

You gotta do what you gotta do bro to survive a car can be had over and over with patience.  Just wait for the right one to pop up and it will you might have a friend who will sell you a charger who knows...

Any person can do what they want to do, but it takes a real man to do what must be done.  Taking care of family is paramount, anything else is a luxury and is not a priority. 

  You did the right thing; with a little hope, some luck and a little money you can get your dream going again.  Hang in there...

[Mytur Binsdirti]

I couldn't make it through the first couple of lines. Cliff notes anyone?

[1974dodgecharger]

I couldn't make it through the first couple of lines. Cliff notes anyone?

he dedicated his life to get a charger then sold it and hates life right now.

We been telling him its just a car he will get another charger 66 to 74 era...

[Mytur Binsdirti]

Could be worse..................

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gejSEOnaYek

[68pplcharger]

Cool Story thanks for sharing. You should write for a living your pretty good at it. Take some advice from a guy that has been building and selling cars since I was eight years old. Haha yes I was turning wrenches at eight helping my older brother build his cars until I was old enough to build my own. DON'T GET RID OF THEM JUST BECAUSE YOUR TIGHT ON MONEYI've dreamed of having a cool car since I was seven years old. I've had more than a dozen nice cars and never enjoyed one of them more than a couple of months. Now i'm older and still don't have one because I kept selling them every time I had financial trouble. This time I have a sweet 68 and it's so close to being done. I just lost my job and it's tempting to sell. I will not do it this time. The thing to keep in mind is these aren't piggy bank's. That's the mistake I've made treating them like they are a piggy bank. Car doesn't cost any money to sit there. I've put my foot down this time and I'll get through this without selling this one. As far as I know I don't have that 68...   Just my  

[EccentricMagpies]

Well, I'm glad it's free to read.  Whew!

Fun story!
You have some good positives here you should be looking at.  You made money on both cars!!  There are a lot of cars out there especially 3rd gens.... jump on the next good deal

[wingcar]

Thanks for sharing your story, and no the story wasn't too long for those of us that share a love of Chargers.  Your story just proves that while it may be hard to let go, even then you know it's for the best thing to do at that moment in your life....other opportunities will open up down the road.  Just keep your eyes open, and don't worry about buying outside the 66-70 time frame....you may find that your money will go farther and you will have something different from all the other Chargers at your local car show....... 

[wordslikebullets]

First off thanks for all the encouraging words.  That is why I love this Forum.

Second, Sorry the story ran together I wrote it on my phone so I got into the office and made paragraphs...it should be a little easier to read.

Third,  I needed to write that because car show season is upon us and I'm going to get out there to get ideas, talk to other car guys, and enjoy the weather.  I will for sure keep you updated on the progress.  I have a bunch of leads that I will be checking out this summer.  If nothing else I will tell more stories and get some pics.

Fourth, I want to encourage all of the dreamers and car lovers out there.  Also to remind all of the owners of these beautiful beasts just how blessed you are.   

[nh_mopar_fan]

Good luck with the car.

[myk]

Cool Story thanks for sharing. You should write for a living your pretty good at it. Take some advice from a guy that has been building and selling cars since I was eight years old. Haha yes I was turning wrenches at eight helping my older brother build his cars until I was old enough to build my own. DON'T GET RID OF THEM JUST BECAUSE YOUR TIGHT ON MONEYI've dreamed of having a cool car since I was seven years old. I've had more than a dozen nice cars and never enjoyed one of them more than a couple of months. Now i'm older and still don't have one because I kept selling them every time I had financial trouble. This time I have a sweet 68 and it's so close to being done. I just lost my job and it's tempting to sell. I will not do it this time. The thing to keep in mind is these aren't piggy bank's. That's the mistake I've made treating them like they are a piggy bank. Car doesn't cost any money to sit there. I've put my foot down this time and I'll get through this without selling this one. As far as I know I don't have that 68...   Just my  

I admire your courage.  Personally, I feel the same way; I'd live in my Charger before I'd give it up, but again, I don't have anyone to take care of other than myself so I can take such an extreme stance...

[ACUDANUT]

Don't invest in a 73/74 charger. You will never make a buck there.

[1973rallye]

Don't invest in a 73/74 charger. You will never make a buck there.

And thank you for those words of encouragement Mr. Positive. Just maybe those who have them love them and don't really care to buy them to flip. After all, we all can't afford to overpay for rusting 2nd generation cars. My two cents.