Where did you find your Charger?

[694spdRT]

The '68 I found in my dad's garage.    He bought it in 1975 for $300 and drove it home. I posted a thread about the history of it a while back.

My girlfriend(now wife) saw the add for my '69 R/T in the March 1991 issue of High Performance Mopar and made the mistake(for her) of showing it to me. At the time I didn't usually check magazine classifieds for some reason and would have never seen it without her bringing it up.  I still have the issue with all the info I scribbled down when I called the guy. Funny thing is all the stuff that prompted me to call about the car when I was younger like the tunnel ram and fat Mickey Thompson Indy profile's on aluminum slots have been changed as the car went from a well used and abused street thumper back to a stock restored show car. 

[Bandit4142]

1969 Super Bee -  (Bought in 1992)  Found it sitting behind a A1 Auto Pawn sitting in a pile of junk wheels and misc parts...   Ironically I was looking for wheels for my '84 Trans Am...  traded the Trans Am straight across for the Bee 10 minutes later.   

1970 Charger R/T - (Bought in 1995)  Found it in Hemmings -  Ad copy   "1970 Charger R/T - all there - $4500 (555) 555-5555"  Left on a 700 mile roadtrip to buy the Charger a hour later.

My current '69 Charger - (Bought in May of '05)  A friend was building it for his wife, and after the divorce he knew I wanted the Charger, so we worked out a deal and now its mine.   

[69bronzeT5]

Good stories guys!

[Shakey]

Good stories guys!

Lots of neat stories in here also:

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,8146.0.html

[BigBlackDodge]

Found mine in 1996 by word of mouth. The car was sitting in the local housing project.....for 5 years! Got the car for 200 bucks (none running 360 in it) and had it towed home. There were many rusty razor blades and empty little plastic baggies inside....... There was even a phone number scratched in the hood for those late night non-perscription refills.


Here's a pic the day I got hit home.


BBD

[Brock Samson]

Now look at that car?!
How could anyone pass a deal like that up!?.   

[Mean 318]

My dad worked with a guy who collected MoPars and used them as yard art..... So I was a 15 year old who had his permit and wanted a car so I told my dad to ask this guy if he had a 69 Coronet or Bee. For a week I hounded my dad about asking him, he finally asked him if we could go out and look at what he had. He told my dad that he had a 70 Coronet that he would sell, but one problem... I didn't like the 70s, but figured it would be cool to take some pics of what he had. We didn't even leave town before my mom called and told my dad "he is NOT coming home with a car!!!" Well sure enough, we pulled up in the yard and there she was, sitting in the grass -more like in the ground- . It was love at first sight! We looked at her and I knew that I had to have the car! He had mentioned a price, I got some pics and went home. A week later I had my first job!!!! I saved for six months, got in a car accident and the Coronet had to be put on hold while I fixed my dads truck.... talk about a kick in the teeth! So I then saved some more, and finally me, my mom, and my dad went out to his farm with cash in hand. We got out there and the car was back in the weeds, the grass was up to the top f the doors. We took it for a drive up the gravel road and back, my dad first and then me. That was about the best moment a teenage boy could have! It took us three hours to talk him down to where I could afford it! My mom couldnt believe I had ust spent money on the car! I drove it home that day, and took it to a car show. It was dirty, full of junk, but I couldn't care less.... IT WAS MINE!!!!

[Mean 318]

OK, It may not be a Charger... or a muscle car, but it is very important to me and the story is kind of cool.
I was in the marching band -I was also in track and cross country so back off,  - We were doing our practice out on the street one day, my buddy points down an alley and says "look at that" It was a 90 Power Ram 4x4, I told him I wanted it.... very half heartedly. Later that day I was on my way to autos class, I got out to the parking lot only to see someone hit and run my truck. I had JUST put 800 into fixing this truck, and was pissed! I had got the cops, but they couldn't do anything, even tho we found the guy, and my paint on his fender, they couldn't do a damn thing! That day at 3:00 I went over to the office that the truck was sitting, and sure enough it was gone! I was crushed! I went inside hoping it was someones who worked there, I talked with a very surprised security guard who let me leave a note that said "Is your truck for sale? 701-775-**** About two weeks later I was out in the garage and the phone rings. I answer and a guy says someone left a note about his truck. I told him my story and he said that he was thinking of selling the truck. We set up a time to go look at it. I managed  to get my dad to go with me, we pulled up, there she was, sitting on the street. Him and my dad shot the shit, he leaned in the door and turned the key..... it fired right up!!!! We drove it, and I then spent the next month begging my dad to help me get a loan to buy it. I took all of my friends, and my girl friend by his house to look at it! EVERY DAY I DROVE BY IT!!! Finlay, after four test drives I went to his house and sat down with the owner. He talked man to man with me, he asked what I thought was fair.... I told him what I could afford.... about 2800 and he looked at me straight in the eyes and said "are you going to take care of this truck?"  The next day I had a check for him! I had it for six months and got rear ended! I got home from the hospital and made the call to the old owner, I was more upset than him, but I told him I would fix it up! I ended up fixing it up, and now drive it when it is nice out!

[69bronzeT5]

Do u have any pictures of that 68 Charger that was with ur car?

[Mean 318]

Me?

[jasonfromIKILLYA]

An ad in the local paper.  It was in a trailer park in Frankin Indiana.

[migsBIG]

I've had over 30 Chargers over the last 15+ years. My current three were real diffrent purchases.

I got my 1972 SE 400 body for $900 for a friend to be used as a parts car.
My 71' R/T was bought from a friend and sold back to em 2 times in twelve years. The third time I bought it back from him, it cost me $3K for it.
I bought a 1971 Charger off ebay as I needed the fenders. The only dealer at the time who had nice fenders wanted $750 ea for em, so I bought it for $700. If one quarter wasn't hit by a truck, it would have costed more.
I recently got a 1972 Charger in trade for a 1938 Dodge panel van. Has power windows, disc brakes, ac, bucket seats, rallye dash, new paint and ran. That with registration cost me a whopping total of _________ in the deal. I would post how much I got it for, but I am selling it off currently.

[Old Moparz]

My first Charger, a 1969 SE, came from an ad in "The Want Ad Press" out of NJ in 1981. I paid $1600 for it with a semi-fresh 383-4V & 727 trans. The car had some rust issues that weren't repaired quite right, but it was a clean driver with a mint interior. It was also abused, but I didn't know that until later on. (Experience is the best teacher.) I dumped a lot of money into it over the 3 years I had it, & was planning to line up a body shop to fix the rust in the quarters, fenders, & trunk floor. The timing chain went about the same time I was doing this, & it took the rest of the motor with it. I was in college & broke, so I put the car in the same "Want Ad Press" & sold it for $650.

I was happy to see the headache gone, but I did want another Charger. I had tried to find another body to use my drive train & interior in, but no luck. I even placed a wanted ad in the classified & was offered a 1970 RT/SE with 17,000 original miles for $5000. Too much for me to spend, & too much for a Charger in 1983. This was when the timing chain went, but I didn't know the motor went with it at this point. I started looking at other B-Body cars & scored the 1970 GTX I posted about in the "Worst Mopar Loss Thread" for $450. I did have a chance to buy some POS red, white, & blue, 1969 Hemi Road Runner that supposedly, some famous race car driver had owned, but it was missing the Hemi. The $3000 asking price for a rust free Road Runner body was nuts back then. (Can you say Sox & Martin?)

For a short time I had both my Charger with lots of rust & a bad 383, a GTX with lots of body damage & a bad 440, & dust in my wallet instead of cash.     So I did what a lot of people did back then, I bought a $400 beater & ran it into the ground. It was a 1971 Lincoln Continental with a 460-4V & no gas gauge. The MPG was sooooo bad, I had to fill it all the time since I had no idea how much gas I had. I only ran out once, but that was an experience I won't forget. I was on a busy highway, with no shoulder, during rush hour, on my way to school, & in the rain. This was Route 4 East just before the George Washington Bridge toll plaza, so for those who have been there.   

For me, that stretch of time from 1983 to 1985 wasn't so great when it came to car ownership. 

Fast forward to the present. The '68 I got a few years ago was on ebay & from Corydan, Indiana. The auction was ending on a Sunday night, so I took Friday off & left Thursday night to go see it. Got there on Friday & the seller who was really cool to talk to, said I was the only one who came to look. The plan was for my wife to log on at home to bid on it since I probably wouldn't have made it back to NY in time, but the seller offered it to me outright & said he'd stop the auction. Well, that was a no brainer so I agreed. I paid $1200 for the shell which had twice that in new sheet metal on it, & who knows how many hours of labor to do it. 

I always knew I was patient, but I didn't expect to be patient for over 20 years trying to locate a good Charger body.   

[Bones68charger]

Well I was a teenager living in West. Nebraska where I am still living today. I remember telling my mom that I wanted a 68 blue Dodge Charger. I have been a fan of Chargers since I was little watching the Dukes of Hazzard. Well I was working at  John Deere dealership and drove a 1977 Ford F150. This was 1997 by the way, well down the road from where I worked there was a 1968 B5 blue Charger. I could not believe it! I tried to talk my parents into buying it, or help me buying it and they would have nothing of it. My dad said he was not going to send me to college in an old car. Well I stopped and talked to the guys who owned the body shop that owned the car, and they wanted way more then I could afford. I was only 16 at the time and $400 was a ton of money. I think they wanted $9000 or something.

Well I drove by the car every day and stared at it. I finally got my dad to come down and check out the ride, well low and behold he now wanted the car. I did not care as long as we had the car. They had a hard time selling the car because it only has a 318. I really could not care what it had. Well from May to September the car just sat there. My dad worked at the same John Deere dealership as I had and one saturday he pulled the car into the shop so the mechanics could look at it. After they gave him the thumbs up that it was good mechanically he let me test drive it. I tell you what I was in heaven on Earth, but my dad still said he did not know if we could get it.

The next Saturday I went to work, when I came out for lunch, my truck was gone but the Charger was there. I just assumed it was mine and hoped in found the keys and took off! When my dad found me he asked me how I liked my car, and of course I was ecstatic and he said I hope you like it because your going to make every damn payment on the car. So every day after school and on the weekends, I washed farm equipment and I made every payment. It's been about 10 years and I know have the money to start doing stuff to her. By the summer I hope to have my engine done and put it, and next year paint. Cross my fingers!

[69bronzeT5]

Me?

[Mean 318]

I have to do some scanning to post them, and my scanner is on the fritz

He has as fallows
68 R/T 440 car Charger
71 Charger
70 R/T 440 Charger
two 69 318 Chargers
two 68 318 Cars
68 Slant 6 Charger
70 440 Charger NICE
69 383 Charger NICE
70 440 Charger Not too bad
79 Lil Red Express
69 Road Runner
59 Desoto Not bad
unknown year 300.... maybe a 60 Not bad
58  Belvedere 4 door
2 Edsels
64 New Yorker 4 door... was VERY nice till his kid ran it into a tree
lots of 70s rams
68 Satellite 4 door 318 car
71 Demon

[Mean 318]

and one less 70 Coronet 440

[69bronzeT5]

Wow..thats alot of cars.

[Khyron]

I had to post "other, because it was the old Dodge-Charger.com



Thanks Brian for the Link, Thanks Dan for the sale!

[72chargerSE]

Mopar Collectors Guide April or May 97 issue (The one with Bo,Luke and Daisy and the General on the cover, as I remember) It's advertised right in there!!!!

[Joshua]

Mine was inherited......uncle purchased from OG owner in early 80's.........