A cool benefit of owning a Charger that I didn't originally expect

[triple_green]

I have owned my Charger for more than 15 years now. But, one of the side effects of owning a charger that I didn't expect was that all kinds of people stop me and want to look at and talk to me about the Charger. I literally cannot go anywhere with out this happening. And a lot of the people who talk to me prob wouldn't give me the time of day otherwise. I know I'm a weird dude, but I think this is really cool!

Yesterday I go to the store to get chicken and Joe's for my daughter, who is just home from work and starving.

A guy I know a little from the gym, comes over to me as I'm getting in the car and wants to look over that car and talk about it. Shows me pictures of his Mustang from back in the day. 30 minutes later I say. "i'm sorry but I really have to go".

The chicken and Joe's are cold, but my daughter understands  (because it happens all the time)

3X

[lukedukem]

Your right. It's hard to own one of these cars if you are a shy person. I've noticed that the kind of people my car attracts, like bikers. Guys riding Harley's flock to my car. Hard core tattoos and stuff. You have to be prepared for all types of people when owning a charger. Imo

Luke

[HANDM]

While I never minded the CALM person approaching me and the cars, it's always the real excited ones that I avoid as they're usually the ones with a hemi 440 or a 68 6 pack.......

[MoparRocks]

Yeah that's one of the things I am really enjoying. Just bringing it home on the trailer I had at least 5 cars honk at me and give me a thumbs up. This morning on my way to work I stopped at 7-11. Had three people in the parking lot compliment me on her. Then on the freeway I had another couple of cars honk and give me a thumbs up too. These cars get a lot of attention. I think that's what I really love about these old Mopars. You just don't see them as often as the old fords and Chevys and such.

[moparchris]

It's odd that nobody EVER notices or comments when I drive my cars around.  When I drove the Charger 500 from Phoenix to Colorado Springs a couple of years ago I was on the road for 4 days total and not one person said anything to me.  I always hear of people getting leads on cars sitting behind houses because "they look just like your car" but it's never happened to me??
I guess the moral of the story is: "If you want to go unrecognized, drive a hemi Charger 500".

[TPR]

I was filling up the other day when an elderly man and his little old lady went by walking their dog.
They stopped and she said "A work of art". That was it.
We all stood there looking at it. I didn't know what to say, so I said, "yep, that pretty much sums it up" and then they continued on.
Just goes to show that it's not just the hard core motorheads that appreciate such a vehicle.
TPR

[cbrestorations]

when i was hauling a 69 daytona clone body from fresno ca, to las vegas, it was almost like a main attraction at the gas stations with people surrounding the trailer and taking pictures. plus while driving i saw many cell phones aimed at the daytona on the trailer snapping pics and giving thumbs up. the average person would never know the difference between a real one and clone so of course i had to say its a real one lol. of course then theres the annoying attention they bring with car flippers...i finally started leaving them in the back of the house so classic car flippers wouldnt try and force their low ball offers on me. in vegas there are alot of people just driving thru neighborhoods looking for cars to flip.

[c00nhunterjoe]

I was at a show today and a kid, 11 yrs old at best, walks up, looks inside my car, looks under the hood, and simply states "big block 4 speed... nice." Gives me a nod and walks off. I never laughed so hard. That was one of my favorite car show conversations to date.

[ws23rt]

A memory that sticks with me is from the eighties. I was checking the oil on my 68 Hemi RR. The guy said "wow where'd you get those head covers"?
I also have been asked by several folks over time about the plain issue charger I was driving. (my C500) --Asking about how many may be left with fixed headlights. I usually say it was a short run that didn't sell well but I like it.

[67440chrg]

My 67 with the flat black hood and big hood scoop and tires gets a bunch of attention. Its normally toothless freaky types but I still enjoy most of the comments. They seem to never guess the year right. Sometimes there are some not so bad looking females like it so I have to spend a little more time talking.

[myk]

What's a "Joe?"

I'm an attention whore myself, but at this point in my 20 years of ownership I've decided that I'd rather be left alone.  I don't need people filming me while I drive, following me into parking lots to talk, running alongside the car during cruise nights and........ writing down my license plate information??  Yup, if the regular public would see my car as the pile of crap that a lot the car snobs I've encountered think my car is, I think I'd be fine with that...

[reworked]

I personally can not stand the guys that used to own a car and drag out the pictures they have and want you to look at them...its usually not a mopar and owned many years ago....and then the guy that goes on about his friends neighbors car.......I don't mind the occasional "nice car" comments but don't want the long conversations that usually go with it lol.....
so I never do car shows or if I go to cruise nights I usually am not near my car ...But I guess it all comes with owning a classic car so I remain polite and answer all the questions

[1974dodgecharger]

you get used to it  I get filmed a lot on the highway out here in Phoenix....

[XH29N0G]

I was filling up the other day when an elderly man and his little old lady went by walking their dog.
They stopped and she said "A work of art". That was it.
We all stood there looking at it. I didn't know what to say, so I said, "yep, that pretty much sums it up" and then they continued on.
Just goes to show that it's not just the hard core motorheads that appreciate such a vehicle.
TPR

Strange enough, had the "work of art" comment today and thought back to your post.  Took two drives today and I lost count of the positive comments.  All sorts of people appreciate these cars, and I like driving them.   

[Chargen69]

i have been married 20 years and hope to be married 20 more, so I aint looking, but I must say, the women that have made eye contact with me and smiled real big while I am in the charger is VERY COOL

(now, when do they start flashing??   )

[stripedelete]

i have been married 20 years and hope to be married 20 more, so I aint looking, but I must say, the women that have made eye contact with me and smiled real big while I am in the charger is VERY COOL

(now, when do they start flashing??   )

No kidding.  I've owned my Charger over 30 years and it has never ceased to amaze me how it is noticed by women.  Especially women would never notice any other old car.  It has been said it is do to the phallic coke bottle shape.   But, I hesitate to go to such a Freudian level, because after all, where would that leave us ?..............

[RECHRGD]

In the almost twenty years that I've had the charger, I've experienced all of the stuff previously mentioned.  It does get old, but at the same time the attention is something that most of us like at some level.  It's the freaky toothless ones I can really do without.  A couple of years ago I had to gas up in not the best part of town.  Sure enough, within seconds an old van rolls in with two guys in it.  Obviously intoxicated, they went on and on about their old best friend had one just like it.  Of course it was the fastest car on Earth and bla, bla, bla.  After they left and I was about done pumping gas, I heard an incoherent scream from about a half block away.  Another old van is coming down the road with some idiot hanging halfway out of the drivers side window.  He was yelling, OMG, OMG a '68 charger!!!!  He pulled up next to me and jumped out.  Running around the car, he kept ranting and raving about what a great car it was.  He also had some relative that had one 'just like it' that kept getting thrown in jail for speeding.  The then proceeded into the little store associated with the gas pumps and was telling everyone in there about the car and making them look out the windows at it.  I couldn't get out of there fast enough......

[GeneralLee440]

I had got alot of compliments on my Scamp especially when I installed the six pak scoop on my stock hood. But it dont hold a candle to when I got my Charger loaded on the trailer in Oklahoma City and headed toward Southern Illinois! About every car that passed us honked and gave me a thumbs up and at every gas fill up we got overwhelmed with people looking at the Charger on the trailer..."Are you gonna build a General Lee!" I said yes thats the plan. At a gas station outside of Oklahoma City a 20 something year old girl came and talked me and my buddies legs off and when we were leaving we passed in front of her car we waved and she flashed us! I was like Hell yea! Even a couple of cops at a gas station in Missouri asked us are you gonna build a General Lee, I said yes sir. He said are you gonna put the flag on top with all the stuff being said,  i said yea why wouldnt I???

[303 Mopar]

Even a couple of cops at a gas station in Missouri asked us are you gonna build a General Lee, I said yes sir.

A month ago I had a cop follow me for a while, sure he was going to pull me over for not having front plates.  Finally at a light he changed lanes and pulled up next to me saying what cool car it was and asking me all kinds of questions.  Love it!   

[lloyd3]

For lots of years (certainly for most of my young adult life), the '57 Chevy Bellaire was the "iconic" American car in this country. That crowd is/has aged out to the point where it's no-longer as big a figure in the collective automotive consciousness. I would submit that the 2nd generation Charger has replaced it, at-least for the majority of the younger "Baby Boomers" who came of age in the 1970s.

Representing the high-water mark of the American postwar economy (roughly around 1971), as well as being the definition of very fast, very fun, and also fairly affordable, the 2nd Generation cars are now very different from what one sees on a daily basis (tiny plastic econoboxes, minivans, crossovers & SUVs).  This makes them really "stand out" from the crowd. With a clearly shrinking middle-class, these cars are a tangible vestige of what many of these people see as being a much better time in this country.  

I certainly prefer the milder interactions with others at the gas-pumps and the grocery store, but if you're driving one of these units, you have to be prepared for a little bit of everything. The legal term for an item that receives this type of attention is "an attractive nuisance".   It's the same legal theory that mandates a fence around even a "private" swimming pool.

[70 sublime]

We have been doing a kitchen renovation for the last week and the garage has been full of kitchen stuff so my car has been outside
We live outside of town on a road that is just between here and there kind of road
Twice now I have seen someone stop to take a picture of my car
First guy was just using a cell phone and the second was using a fancy flash camera (do not know how many I did not see stop for a picture)

We went out for a Sunday brunch yesterday and there were a couple of new Corvettes in the parking lot sitting together getting ready to leave
All I could think was I bet no one stops to take your picture 

[HeavyFuel]

It's odd that nobody EVER notices or comments when I drive my cars around.  When I drove the Charger 500 from Phoenix to Colorado Springs a couple of years ago I was on the road for 4 days total and not one person said anything to me.  I always hear of people getting leads on cars sitting behind houses because "they look just like your car" but it's never happened to me??
I guess the moral of the story is: "If you want to go unrecognized, drive a hemi Charger 500".

Your experience is what it's like it in my neck of the woods.   I go to gas pumps all the time.....no one says shit to me. 


An occasional thumbs up (mostly bikers), and a wave here and there from other classics cars guys that are tooling around.


I like it that way...the less attention, the better.   More people tail gate me in the R/t than when I'm in my 10 year old minivan.      It's almost like they  go out of there way to show me that they don't think my car's special and deserves extra room.   

[toocheaptosmoke]

I've been driving the car to work almost everyday for the last 3-4 weeks, could count all the waves or comments with one hand during that time.  Pretty much invisible.  Then, on labor day it's like I can't go anywhere without someone wanting to check out the car!   Seems to always go like that, weeks with no comments then you go out on a weekend and it's like getting mobbed. 

[ws23rt]

I've been driving the car to work almost everyday for the last 3-4 weeks, could count all the waves or comments with one hand during that time.  Pretty much invisible.  Then, on labor day it's like I can't go anywhere without someone wanting to check out the car!   Seems to always go like that, weeks with no comments then you go out on a weekend and it's like getting mobbed. 

This is much like what I run into.  It does make sense though that a weekday morning is more likely to get a road full of commuters that are still waking up and are only looking at the time of day and the car ahead.

[bull]

Seeing the reactions people have is half the fun of driving a Charger. One of my favorites is the ninja fan who pulls up behind you at a light. He shows zero reaction but (with my sunglasses on) I keep and eye on him and sure enough, his cell phone rises slowly above the steering wheel and he shoots a couple of pics. Then the phone slowly goes back down and he turns and looks off into the distance.

I always enjoy the crazy people too, the ones who freak out and tell you how awesome the car is. It's all about the car. They wish they could talk to the Charger but since I'm sitting in it I'm the next best thing. They have to say something to somebody or their head will explode. I just say thanks when people compliment it or wave at the people doing the thumbs up. I never really know how to respond to wisea$$ offers to trade it for their Kia but most people are pretty respectful and genuine. The slow learners (as I call them) are funny too - the ones who see the Charger in traffic and gradually figure out that it's not a '98 Buick or a '12 Cadillac and rubber neck with a deadpan expression just trying to figure out what they're seeing. I think just driving around in everyday traffic is more fun than the shows. People expect to see the cool stuff at shows but catching them off guard on their way to the dentist or grocery store is when it's really fun.