Why a Charger?

[b5blue]

   How did you come to Charger? It was a fluke for me 28 years ago. Looking for something I could buy cheap and maintain myself for a 2nd car. I actually went to look at a Challenger for my brother but someone got the name wrong. I knew back then this was my only chance to own a Charger so did what I had to to buy and keep it.  This site was the game changer steering me into much better repairs and parts resources so THANKS!

[GreatOne34]

Grew up in the back seat of 1968 dark blue Charger that my father traded in the year before my 16th birthday. No amount of trying convinced him to keep it for me
Fast forward to today, Dad got himself the after he survived a long cancer treatment bout. Since growing older and older, and driving it less and less, this one was passed into my most grateful hands It gets out at least every weekend now.

MK

[CDN72SE]

Bought my '72 30 years ago, as a kid I saw the Gold 72 on The Mod Squad tv show and Richard Petty's #43 solidified it for me. Influences around me, we were a Dodge/Plymouth/Chrysler family.

[timmycharger]

Because my Uncles owned this 69.  First it was my oldest Uncle who bought it new, then it got stolen and recovered and left in a garage for a few years. It was originally B3 blue but re painted dark blue in the late 1970's when my other Uncle owned it.

Lots of memories of this car. But if the dealership on the corner of their street sold Chevys then I would probably have a Chevelle or something lol.

[Back N Black]

The first time I ever saw a Charger I was 12 years old my Neighbour's kid came home on leave from the army driving a 68 charger, F8 green,383 auto. I was hooked, 20 years later I bought a 69 charger. 68 is still my favorite.

[metallicareload99]

Well, to be blunt, look at it. I found my car from an ad on the old site

[70 sublime]

Way back when dad bought a new 70 Charger for the family car and I was 6 years old  did not mean anything to me
Later that car got traded in on a 73 Charger still did not mean anything to me
By the time I was in high school and got the bug to get my own car to tinker on I started looking at all of the different cars out there
Our town was close to a big GM factory so a lot of people worked there and most of the cars in the high school parking lot were GM
At that point I had decided to not be like everyone else and wanted a mopar just to be different
Mopar were very much the under dog around here

So the very first car I went out and bought on my own was a 68 Charger back in 1981
It was the hardest thing I had ever done on my own
I kept bugging dad to call or go with me to look at it but he said if you want it you have to go on your own
Well I bought it and it was the rustiest pile of crap you could have gotten ...
Still have the ownership sitting here on my desk and come to find out later it was a 6 cylinder car originally

I ended up buying a better second one after learning what to look for on the first one and built my first driver 1968 Charger out of the two

I have had more than a dozen Chargers since then with a good assortment of Firebird Camaro Mustang 56 Chev Coronet Sattelite  .....

But now I am all mopar with a good pile of spare parts to work from

[Dano 1]

I love all the stories from people who actually grew up when these were just normal cars. For me it was...drumroll please...Dukes of Hazzard. I grew up in the 90's when the re-runs were still on TV and saw my first episode when I was probably 7 or 8. Ever since seeing that big orange car fly and slide across the screen the '69 Charger has been 'The One'. Unfortunately I didn't buy one when I was growing up but I like to think Karma paid me back when I found mine in 2018 for a ludicrous price. 

[duckmanreno]

I love all the stories from people who actually grew up when these were just normal cars. For me it was...drumroll please...Dukes of Hazzard. I grew up in the 90's when the re-runs were still on TV and saw my first episode when I was probably 7 or 8. Ever since seeing that big orange car fly and slide across the screen the '69 Charger has been 'The One'. Unfortunately I didn't buy one when I was growing up but I like to think Karma paid me back when I found mine in 2018 for a ludicrous price. 


I second the Dukes of Hazzard.
I am old enough to remember Chargers in the 70's just being a regular car. But I didn't really want one until the show came on. It was on when I was in high school. Bought mine in 83 or 84. At that time you were able to look in the newspaper ads and find one. They were just older cars .

[Kern Dog]

I love all the stories from people who actually grew up when these were just normal cars. For me it was...drumroll please...Dukes of Hazzard. I grew up in the 90's when the re-runs were still on TV and saw my first episode when I was probably 7 or 8. Ever since seeing that big orange car fly and slide across the screen the '69 Charger has been 'The One'. Unfortunately I didn't buy one when I was growing up but I like to think Karma paid me back when I found mine in 2018 for a ludicrous price. 

Similar story here.
I was around when the show originally aired. I was 13 in 1979.
I didn't recall seeing a Charger before the show but afterwards, I started noticing them. I wanted one but the ones that came up for sale were either nice originals that were priced WAY out of my reach or roached out POS turds that were affordable but needed too much work for my limited skill level.
I went Chevy until around 1999 but suddenly came upon a thought...I finally had the money to buy a nice, finished 68-70 model but instead of that, I bought a worn but mostly original 318 car to build the way that I wanted.

[tan top]

was about 5 or 6 years old , late 70s saw  dirty mary crazy larry & then bullet on television  , or it might have been bullet first  , was along time ago   , then one day my dad said  you got to watch this tv show that going to start tonight  or words to that effect & that was you guessed it  dukes of hazzard ! started making  general lee models  drawing pictures etc then as i got older started attempting to find out as much as i could about a charger the Hemi , daytonas  superbirds  etc etc funny cars top fuel  realising  they all used a 426 hemi aftermarket block etc  tried to find out as much as i could about the aero mopars , remember this was along long before the internet ,  use to buy hot rod , car craft , muscle car classics , hemmings  & take them to school & read ,    buy  or ask for as many mopar books for preasants birthdays / christmas time etc   , then  when left school started as a mechanic started buying the three mopar mags mopar action , mopar muscle , high performance mopar ,   started saving ,  bought my charger  april 1989   , & had to be an original Y2 black top & interior 69 R/T , little did i know that it was an A47 too & a  original  V1T tan vinyl top , because it was black when i went to look at it & did not know all the  fender tag codes back then, only knew it had to be XS29L9  &  Y2 paint code   ,  since then never heard or seen another one   with the same color combination so thats the reason for my screen name   prolly why ive not seen another tan vinyl toped yellow  charger with black interior ! doubt its many peoples favorite color combination   only color  combination to have for me is Y2 & black    had my charger  33 years 5 months  so far  
as to Why second generation Charger ! it obvious  the best looking / shaped car that has or will ever be built, racing history & the 88 & 71 daytonas along with the superbirds &  others  the shape of a second generation charger with the curves  body lines ,   nothing else comes close ,.....only  coming second to a womans body ,           maybe .......

[armor64]

I was 12 when the Fast and the Furious came out, fell in love with the 70. being a sheltered northern canadian kid, i hadent seen anything like it in person. then heard about the dukes, saw a few pictures of the 69, loved the front end even more. then bullitt, and loved the revolver like taillights.  the rest was history, never thought i would get one, on a day i was going to look at a 69 cutlass project, got wind of a 68 charger possibly existing, and couldnt go to the cutty until i knew.

[cdr]

it was late 1967, I was 5 ,outside playing, & I see my next door neighbor pulling in their driveway , it was a BRAND SPANKIN NEW 1968 Charger & it was love at 1st sight , in 1976ish I had the chance to buy that same car, BUT I was to young to drive & my brother needed a car so my mom took my brothers side with the deal that he would sell it to me later on, a year passed and HE abandoned the Charger on the side of the road & DID NOT let me know GRRRRRRRRR, in 1977ish I traded my 10 speed bike that I built out of junk people threw away for my 1st car, it did not run, Black on black no vinyl roof 383 H code 1968 Charger, I rebuilt the carb & got it running, the right torsion bar was broken & I did not know how to fix it so I sold the Charger. through the years I had many different cars, GTS383 68 Dart, 70 Roadrunner, SS Chevelle ECT.....ECT , never another Charger, in 2011 I was diagnosed with Kidney cancer & Multiple Sclerosis, could not ride motorcycles anymore & had to close down my Hot Rod motorcycle shop down & sell my Hardly Ableson  [Harley Davidson] & decided to get me a project 68 Charger, found one in North Texas, & brought it home, as it turns out it was an Identical twin to the neighbors Charger that I was supposed to buy from my brother, JJ1 gold, ac, console, black gut, buying this car & building it has saved my life, I was unemployable, Multiple Sclerosis was & is still KICKIN my ass, it gave me a purpose to keep living, it takes me a long time to get things done on it, but an hour or two a day some days more & some I could not even walk into the shop ,it has ALMOST become my dream car, it will always be a work in progress, I did everything on this build myself, from porting the heads, building the engine, complete R 1/4 panel to a shitty matt black paint job, it's a high 10 sec 1/4 mile REAL street car that is a blast !!!!! This forum REALY saved my ass & I am forever grateful for the knowledge shared here @ Dodge Charger .com !!!!!! Thanks guys    

[Slowpoke]

Got mine in 1980, was the fastest thing around my area and was for sale. Didn't even like the green color then but it grew on me over the years.
paid a whopping $900.oo for it. 

[XH29N0G]

Mine came home when I was a kid and we stopped driving it when the gas crisis hit.  When I started to drive, I had a nice pontiac, but the charger sat in the garage until my dad and I got it running again. He sold it to me when I graduated high school for $1K.  I have had it ever since.

[Kern Dog]

it was late 1967, I was 5 ,outside playing, & I see my next door neighbor pulling in their driveway , it was a BRAND SPANKIN NEW 1968 Charger & it was love at 1st sight , in 1976ish I had the chance to buy that same car, BUT I was to young to drive & my brother needed a car so my mom took my brothers side with the deal that he would sell it to me later on, a year passed and HE abandoned the Charger on the side of the road & DID NOT let me know GRRRRRRRRR, in 1977ish I traded my 10 speed bike that I built out of junk people threw away for my 1st car, it did not run, Black on black no vinyl roof 383 H code 1968 Charger, I rebuilt the carb & got it running, the right torsion bar was broken & I did not know how to fix it so I sold the Charger. through the years I had many different cars, GTS383 68 Dart, 70 Roadrunner, SS Chevelle ECT.....ECT , never another Charger, in 2011 I was diagnosed with Kidney cancer & Multiple Sclerosis, could not ride motorcycles anymore & had to close down my Hot Rod motorcycle shop down & sell my Hardly Ableson  [Harley Davidson] & decided to get me a project 68 Charger, found one in North Texas, & brought it home, as it turns out it was an Identical twin to the neighbors Charger that I was supposed to buy from my brother, JJ1 gold, ac, console, black gut, buying this car & building it has saved my life, I was unemployable, Multiple Sclerosis was & is still KICKIN my ass, it gave me a purpose to keep living, it takes me a long time to get things done on it, but an hour or two a day some days more & some I could not even walk into the shop ,it has ALMOST become my dream car, it will always be a work in progress, I did everything on this build myself, from porting the heads, building the engine, complete R 1/4 panel to a shitty matt black paint job, it's a high 10 sec 1/4 mile REAL street car that is a blast !!!!! This forum REALY saved my ass & I am forever grateful for the knowledge shared here @ Dodge Charger .com !!!!!! Thanks guys    

Well, dang....Who is going to be able to top Charlie's post??
Nobody!
Great story, friend. You have some spirit!

[69 OUR/TEA]

For me it was DMCL or Cannonball mid 70's ( can't remember which saw first ) , but knew I loved that body style . Then of course when the DOH was announced , I was planted in front of the TV that Friday night at 8pm !! Got my first 69 , F8 /green vinyl / white int / 383 / power windows / PDB somewhere around 1990 . Never restored it , sold it ( a member here had it in Canada ? ) . But because of Cannonball and / or Bullitt , I knew a triple black  was my dream Charger , but a 69  !!!
1998 got my B5 R/T / white vinyl / B7 int / PDB , did the restore and just as I was finishing my ultimate dream Charger popped up , the 3X9 R/T SE I have now . Sold the B5 to a friend .

[JimShine]

Dukes of Hazzard. I started watching it the night it debuted. My uncles were white trash grease monkeys. There were always Chevelle's, Trans Am's, GTO's, etc around. Trade a case of beer and/or a little weed for one on Tuesday, tune them up, blow them up or wreck them by the weekend. But they never had a Charger. I would keep my eyes open for them in my city, and every once in a while I would see one, and it would be a very big deal.

I recall going to the junkyard so my father could buy a replacement turn signal lens and a freshly junked, 100% complete, not wrecked B5 blue 1969 with black top was sitting there. It was the first time I could really study one inside and out. I really appreciated the taillights. The recess of the tailpanel, the angle on the bottom of the lens.

Things haven't changed. Seeing one out in the wild evokes the exact same reaction today as it did in 1979.

[cdr]

it was late 1967, I was 5 ,outside playing, & I see my next door neighbor pulling in their driveway , it was a BRAND SPANKIN NEW 1968 Charger & it was love at 1st sight , in 1976ish I had the chance to buy that same car, BUT I was to young to drive & my brother needed a car so my mom took my brothers side with the deal that he would sell it to me later on, a year passed and HE abandoned the Charger on the side of the road & DID NOT let me know GRRRRRRRRR, in 1977ish I traded my 10 speed bike that I built out of junk people threw away for my 1st car, it did not run, Black on black no vinyl roof 383 H code 1968 Charger, I rebuilt the carb & got it running, the right torsion bar was broken & I did not know how to fix it so I sold the Charger. through the years I had many different cars, GTS383 68 Dart, 70 Roadrunner, SS Chevelle ECT.....ECT , never another Charger, in 2011 I was diagnosed with Kidney cancer & Multiple Sclerosis, could not ride motorcycles anymore & had to close down my Hot Rod motorcycle shop down & sell my Hardly Ableson  [Harley Davidson] & decided to get me a project 68 Charger, found one in North Texas, & brought it home, as it turns out it was an Identical twin to the neighbors Charger that I was supposed to buy from my brother, JJ1 gold, ac, console, black gut, buying this car & building it has saved my life, I was unemployable, Multiple Sclerosis was & is still KICKIN my ass, it gave me a purpose to keep living, it takes me a long time to get things done on it, but an hour or two a day some days more & some I could not even walk into the shop ,it has ALMOST become my dream car, it will always be a work in progress, I did everything on this build myself, from porting the heads, building the engine, complete R 1/4 panel to a shitty matt black paint job, it's a high 10 sec 1/4 mile REAL street car that is a blast !!!!! This forum REALY saved my ass & I am forever grateful for the knowledge shared here @ Dodge Charger .com !!!!!! Thanks guys    

Well, dang....Who is going to be able to top Charlie's post??
Nobody!
Great story, friend. You have some spirit!

Thats the nicest thing you have ever said to me LOL !!!!!  Thank you Greg, keep on keeping on , you are doing a great job on the Charger !!!!

[Kern Dog]

 
Thank you so much. We all need something to drive us forward.....otherwise we sit on the couch, essentially marking our time until we kick the bucket.

[moparstuart]

My Grand Mother always bought Mopars  ,  that got my older brother who was 7 years older then me hooked on them.  So I can by the love from family  but for me I saw the movie Bullitt and i was hooked . 

[TTSaleen]

My dad married my mom and drove a new 1968 Coronet R/T when they left the church that day.
Growing up in the late 70's and 80's I watched DOH, Bullitt, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, etc movies and later the Fast and furious movies.
Always wanted a B-body and it had to be a 68 like my dad's, but I preferred the Charger to the Coronet.

My dad's car - 1968 Coronet R/T - 440 + 727 column shift




My car - 1968 Charger - G3 Hemi swap with NAG1 5 speed auto console shift

[triple_green]

TTSaleen, is that color GG1 in base/clearcoat?

[TTSaleen]

TTSaleen, is that color GG1 in base/clearcoat?

You got it.