Where did you find your Charger?

[69bronzeT5]

I found mine in a field/backyard. Rotted pretty badly but amazing mint trunk & rear interior floors.

[CHASWINGMAN2]

My very first charger:
  Sitting in english class one day I borrowed a local trader paper from a class mate.  I found an add that said "68 Charger, rusty but runs $200.00"  I had 40 minutes before the bell rang and was going nuts.  I asked for a hall pass to use the restroom (pay phone in the same hallway) and scrounged for a dime (showing my age).  I called the number and got a busy signal, my heart sank.  Tried a few more times and gave up.  Stirred in my seat until the bell rang (I think that's where I got my first gray hair).  The bell rings and I call my sisters boyfriend, he worked nights so he came and picked me up.  I knew the car was close by because of the phone number, so I went to my local police station (I knew the chief, kinda sorta) and they had this big book with phone numbers first, addresses second.  They let me look it up and off we went.
    The poor car sat with sagging springs and was covered in about a foot of snow, but it was complete and looked like it might run.  I knocked on the door and some old dude answered.  I told him I saw his add and tried to call (he never did ask how I found him).  Frank and I had to shovel his driveway and clear the car if we wanted to look at it (of course the driveway was about 5 car lengths long). 
    She was bright red with white top and interior, very rusty and very sad looking.  I promised her a 2nd chance.  He would not let me take the car because the muffler was missing and he didn't want me to get in trouble.  Frank and I went and got a muffler and 2 clamps, the old guy let us use his hacksaw and after about 30 minutes we had it on.  He cut the price to $150.00 and gave me the title.  Frank followed me home, but on the way, a Ky trooper pulled me over for littering.  My vinyl top was coming off in sheets.  We ended up picking up everyone else's trash until it got dark, about 45 minutes, while the trooper sat in his warm car.
    The car was so rough looking that my parents would not let me park it in our driveway, so I parked it on the street.  That began a passion for old mopars that has never gone away.  The passion has outlived 2 wives, 3 or 4 girlfriends, 2 wars and 6 jobs.  My 3 boys love Mopars and I just hope they have better luck with women than I have.

Ok, yeah, I know, enough is enough

[Charger1973]

I have found all of mine basically left for dead.  The first one I found in person, the others were found through networking and talking to people. 

[red72chrgr]

used car lot.

[Arigmaster]

I found mine in North Dakota while on a job site. It was sitting all by it's lonesome with stuff stacked on & against it. The people I bought it from had a repair business behind their house and the woman who owned it said it wouldn't start... The rest was history..lol

[TruckDriver]

My current Charger actually was offered to me by a chat friend that had it in Arizona. I was looking for a '69 at the time.

[rt green]

a buddy was working on a house his brother rented out. the guy who lived there had it and wanted to sell, he needed the cash. my buddy calls me, and asked if it was worth the money he wanted for it. i said that i didn't know, because i had never seen it, but if he didn't want it, i would take it, without even looking at it. talk about a gamble. my buddy didn't want it because it needed some work. he's not the hands on type. went to see it in the dark. but i still took it. the guy looked as if he was going to cry when the deal was closed. ill always remember that look. i had it once in a bad divorce. i felt good though, still do. after seeing what kind of work {cobble job] he was doing to it, i was glad i saved it

[69DodgeCharger]

I found my first 69 R/T in an auto swapper in April of '88 it was about 60 miles away. I went and looked at it and was hooked immediately, even though it was kinda rough. Texas car with rotted 1/4's and trunk floor. I wish I had kept it. My second 69 i found in a 2 line ad in the January 98 issue of Hemmings Motor news. After some phone conversations, and some pics in the mail I sent him the money and it was finally delivered for $2250 total to me in August of 98. I have found and parted several other 68-70's through either junkyards or aquantainces.

[CB]

found my 69 on the board, bought it from a member. (old board)

[terrible one]

The 'Bay.

[twilt]

found 1 here-seller needed $$, contacted me and asked if i was interested , 1 bought as a result from the old D-C.com Cars Wanted  section, 1 from Ebay, 1 from a local trader paper. Also have bought 7 parts cars off ebay and one on the old site.

[moparjohn]

In the fall of 2001 I decided it was once again time for a Charger- it had been 11 years scince my high school Charger was around. I picked up Mopar Collectors Guide for a look and in the for sale Charger pages was the ad:
                                                            For sale
                                                            1969 Dodge Charger SE power sunroof , 383 4 bbl, PW,A/C PDB, loaded
                                                            $16500 or trade for 70 Chally 4spd.
                               Well I thought my HS car was an SE and I liked those options but there is NO WAY that car is still available and I've never heard of one with a hole in the roof, but I'll call anyway.  Well I talked to the man a few times and he trusted I would take care of the car so I sent him some money and hired a truck to haul it home (from Colorado) I only saw 4 pictures on the net and bought it UNSEEN!!!
Jan 4 2002 the car was delivered to my work (which is right off a major hiway) and I paid the driver the shipping and it came out of the trailer. It was everything I was told it was and nothing was less than what I was told.  I fell in love right there,  even when it was  not so clear to my co-workers what I had.  Now 5 years later even those who saw it that fateful day understand what I saw in this car becuse it is the realized dream.  John

[69bronzeT5]

Great stories guys!

[Doright]

1st one 27 years ago from side of the road with a for sale sighn 71 Charger Plain jane Anchorage AK.
Next one and favorite was in the back yard of a freind of a freind 72 Charger SE w/sunroof Anchorage AK.
then another one the side of a Gas station Boulder CO. 71 340 ralley gun metal grey lots of options including sun roof
then a 73 Plymouth Satilight I gave to my son got it from a freind at work
My matching 73 Plymouth Satilight to my sons except mine is a BB w/ rally dash and buckets and consol got it from Ebay sight unseen cept. for a few ebay pics.
And finaly my current 72 Charger SE with Sunroof from Hemmings got a few pics picked it up the following week.

All have needed work all were drivers nothing fancy

[Mean 318]

I include my 70 Coronet 440 in these posts, It is a MoPar "Muscle" car after all. Mine was in a field, left for dead!

[Zentelis]

I only saw 4 pictures on the net and bought it UNSEEN!!!

I had a similar experience. I'd wanted a '68 440 4-speed "running project" for a long time and happened to check ebay one day. There sat a primer gray R/T with a 4-speed swap. The guy was selling it to finance a Challenger project (i think..or a 'cuda?)
Anyway, it was in California, I was in Pennsylvania. I emailed him back and forth and he sent me every picture I requested (frame rails, etc etc). So, I bought it..we used an escrow service and split the cost in good faith.
The car showed up and the mechanic that looked it over (before I took delivery) was shocked..the engine was just rebuilt and was a 440 out of another '68 Charger. Not only that, it was an original R/T car (XS29)..from the sellers emails, I was under the impression that it was a 440 swap into a non-R/T.

All in all, the car was in better shape (mechanically) than the he let on. It was only this past summer that I found out that the rear-valence, wheel wells, and passenger's quarter panel were just about rusted apart

I also bought it right before the really crazy prices hit the hobby..about a year later, I saw a similar '68 in worse condition go for over $12,000, and the prices just kept climbing from there.

[xs29j8Bullitt]

My first Charger was a 383 4BBL 1969 Charger that had been repossessed by a local bank.  The year was 1973 and the bank sold it to me for the upaid loan amount plus some fees/penalties... $550

In 1977 I bought my second Charger, the Hemi powered triple black 1968 Charger R/T that I still own.  I found out about it through a friend that was returning a favor, I had found him a 2X black 1968 Hemi Road Runner (I could not afford the car).  The Charger was 400 miles away, and after some preliminary price haggling on the phone (and arranging creative financing), I made the trip to buy the car for $740!

XS

[Zentelis]

In 1977 I bought my second Charger, the Hemi powered triple black 1968 Charger R/T that I still own.  I found out about it through a friend that was returning a favor, I had found him a 2X black 1968 Hemi Road Runner (I could not afford the car).  The Charger was 400 miles away, and after some preliminary price haggling on the phone (and arranging creative financing), I made the trip to buy the car for $740!

You "haggled" over $740?!  If only we knew then what we know now 

[Rallyecharger]

I found my '69 Charger through a buddy.I was moving to our acreage when my buddy alerted to a 1 day sale on the Charger.......looked at it in the morning,bought it in the afternoon.As the story goes.....the guy needed money.
And last fall was reading one of the canadian mopar clubs web pages and spotted a '74 Rallye Charger and I just had to have it!! I love the 68-70's  but I own more 71-74's......esp. Rallyes....
go figure

[Silver R/T]

Backyard of a local mechanic. He had dogs running all around it, so I had to be real careful when I was inspecting it as not to trip a landmine

[xs29j8Bullitt]

You "haggled" over $740?!  If only we knew then what we know now 

It is a bit funny now, but to a college kid back then a borrowed $740 was a small fortune... 

His original asking price was $1000, but over the phone he went down to $750 quickly.  I thought he would go down farther, maybe to $550-$600... so I gave it my best shot when I arrived to look at the car.  After test driving the Charger, I haggled with him for about an hour... At last he said something to the effect "Look son, if I lower the price $10 will that make you happy?"  Realizing I was about to blow the deal, I just nodded yes...

XS

[AKcharger]

My 1st '70 Charger was behind a guys house in 1980, he dropped a strong 383 in it and I bought it for $350 drove it in HS, beat on it and sold it for $300 when I went in the AF

Found my current '70 in 2002 abandoned in a storage lot in Anchorage AK, the storage people were IDIOTS and the entire 6 mo. I searched for the owner they threatened to scrap it. Found owner in N.C. after 3 months of internet "detective" work ( I could really write book on the whole story it was so involved) Anyway, $500 for the title from the old owner and $250 back storage to the idiots...then the fun started ...I had NO idea what I'd gotten myself into.



Found our '72 ralley from dodgechargerguy here on the board in 2004, he posted some "good deals" he'd found and I followed one of the ads up. A '72' numbers matching car in NJ was a good deal so we drove up there and towed it back to VA for $2500 and fixed it up for the wife





Both are done now and make us happy

[gers1968rt]

I bought my first charger from my sister's boyfriend. It was a 68 383 HP four speed. It was an original canadian car and was rough and too rusty and had been in an accident once before. I had always wanted an RT but never found one I could afford. Nine years later in 1988 I went to Florida with my wife and two kids. I bought a booklet showing all the junkyards in the USA. I mapped out all the yards I could visit on my way down or back that were not too far out of the way. I must have visited a dozen or so on the way down but had no luck. I was also picking up any auto trader type papers, too. On the way back to Canada I went to a yard west of Valdosta, Ga, about 40 or 50 miles off of the interstate. In the yard was a complete 69 runner and I thought my luck was about to change. The guy at the yard said he had sold it the day before, . Being as I love to take a different route when I can, I decided to go cross country back to Atlanta. We came to a little town called Albany, Ga and I decided to get a auto trader, but not knowing the town I missed the main street exit and took the next exit into the not so affluent neighborhood. There under a pecan tree, up on blocks was a 68 RT, . I turned the car around and stopped at the house. A woman at the house told me that her brother owned the car and it was for sale, he had been asking 500 bucks for the last 3 or 4 years,  but  the local kids were only offering him 400 for it, so I got his phone number and went on my way back home.
   After closing the deal over the phone  I went down to pickup the charger. When we rolled into the yard my brother looked at the car and said, "we came 18 hours for that!?" More importantly, however, was the fact that the owner had the car off the blocks and he was washing it for the last time. Thats when I knew that he still loved that car. Now, 18 years later I still have it.  Gerry

[mikesbbody]

i advertised for mine in a autotrader magazine i said i wanted a 71-74 charger i got all kinds of people trying to sell me all kinds of cars, but only 2 71-74' chargers. one was about 3 hours drive from me the guy aid he wouldnt be home but i was welcome to check it out.
When i got there it had just rained, he had left the hood up and there was water all over the block! the car hadnt been used in years but had a good body with no rust. The guy lived in a HUGE house with like a quadruple garage it was all open 1000's of dollars of tools, a big block v8 racing boat, motorcyles, etc. his house was open! the keys were in the charger...(lucky im a honest guy) i figured id start her up maybe go arund the block it started up (very noisey busted exhaust) i drove it forward a few feet put my foot on the brakes and the pedal went to the floor! so much for the drive around the block!. The other was the charger i bought the guy had moved to my city and had it stored in a storage unit he told me it was "green" but when he rolled up the door it was a bam! in you face green! it took about a month but i finally got it off him. ps this is a great idea for a post i love reading the stories 

[dpm68]

In Aug. 2003, my girlfriend and I were going up to Grand Lake, CO. for the wekend to fish and whatnot, and there it was, a 68 R/T, in the middle of a horse field. It had been sitting there for sometime, and now it has been sitting in my garage for some time. One of these days I'll get out of school and have a real job...