When people approach you about your Charger......

[JR]

Just another run in with the general public Friday as my 70 was parked outside got me thinking.

My yellow 70 sits outside all day at my work in plain sight, I pull it in after hours to work on it and keep it locked indoors. Of course this encourages people to stop and ask if it's for sale. This last guy friday, was the typical early 40s male, construction looking type driving a late model chevy 2500 4x4.
I'm pushing the car inside the shop when he drives up to me and my boss and ask "you wanna sell that car?"  My boss walked up to him and told him no, its my car, etc. I'm so tired of telling people no I didn't care.
Anyway I heard him start to say this, which I realize I've heard so many times before.

guy "what's in it? 440?
boss "440"
guy "automatic?"
boss "yeah, it's an automatic..."

And here it comes, the part I always hear that bugs me. He says " I'd like to find one with a 426 and a four speed....." "but thier hard to find" "id even settle for a road runner with a 383 4 speed"...

Basically my engine isn't good enough. I'm always hearing "too bad it's no hemi" or too bad it's not a 4 speed.....
Mostly these guys are driving pick up trucks, or late model whatevers, and their critisizing my car because it's not a hemi.  Or a 4 speed. Even my SRT 4 neon driving buddy looked at a new Charger one day and said "too bad your car will never say that," Talking about the "yeah, its got a hemi" bumper sticker.

My engine being built is a stout 500+ inch 440 that will easliy make 500 plus ft lbs torque, be drivable on a daily basis, and scare the hell out of whoever rides shotgun, but it's too bad that its not a hemi.  Or a stanard shift...


What do you guys say to these people?

[71ChallengeHer]

I usually ask them " What do you own or drive ? " Usually shuts them up.

[Khyron]

I just agree and move on. I've had this same conversaion when my car had the 360.

My car's 440 is getting prepped and readt. But I have my answer already.

Guy: Whats that got in it?

Me: 440

Guy: too bad thats not a Hemi

Me: Naaaa, that one is home

Then just drive / walk away.

[69charger2002]

yep i agree with 71challengeher, best thing to do is ask where their hemi classic is? it does get annoying. you CANNOT please everyone. i have to think even if i had a hemi in one of mine, they would still somehow say.. "awww. it's not the 528 crate motor?"... it's not worth the arguing. just ignore it or tell them to hop in and go see their car. you'd be surprised how many people's reactions change when you make them feel dumb when they realize they don't even own one/can't find one..i brought a couple guys to my old house just to shut them up. one look at my yard couple years ago, and no more words were needed. they just looked around and stared for an hour
trav

[Silver R/T]

I usually ask them " What do you own or drive ? " Usually shuts them up.

exactly, last guy I asked that just kinda cringed as everyone else laughed at him. He used to have civic but now got 4 cyl camry. Some people will never understand, and Im not there to teach them. Just ignore them man, life goes on. Enjoy your Charger

[Mike DC]

     
I don't really look at it as "criticism" when I hear that stuff.  I just try to interpret the guy's preference for Hemi cars as a source of common ground. 

The casual onlookers often don't seem to really get the offense in what they say.  They would never say, "too bad your wife's not better looking."  But for some reason a lot of people feel comfortable saying the same kind of thing about your beloved car right off the bat.  It's weird.

But sometimes they really do say that stuff as a genuine criticism.  In that case, I agree it's time for the "Where's your Hemi 4spd car?" response.  Shuts 'em up every time.  Most of them will never even own a 318 car anyway.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And isn't it interesting that owning a 426 Hemi 4spd Charger is still perceived as a matter of "finding one" even in 2007? 

I can "find them" all damn day.  (I could even "build them" all day if I had the raw materials!)  But most of us just can't afford  a Hemi car.

 

[Silver R/T]

yep i agree with 71challengeher, best thing to do is ask where their hemi classic is? it does get annoying. you CANNOT please everyone. i have to think even if i had a hemi in one of mine, they would still somehow say.. "awww. it's not the 528 crate motor?"... it's not worth the arguing. just ignore it or tell them to hop in and go see their car. you'd be surprised how many people's reactions change when you make them feel dumb when they realize they don't even own one/can't find one..i brought a couple guys to my old house just to shut them up. one look at my yard couple years ago, and no more words were needed. they just looked around and stared for an hour
trav

not sure if Id bring some strangers to see my cars, you know there's all kinds of freaks out there.

[Khyron]

Because of your question, I've compleated some scientific research, according to my calculations...

The percentage of jerkoffs to actual Hemi Charger 4 Speed cars is exactly 64,274 to one. So you'll have to deal with it a lot more

[moparguy01]

This is why I cut a fender tag out of flat steel and used a reverse stamp set to stamp numbers of all sorts of rare options for my car. then right smack dab in the middle "f#($ off" followed by more codes. 

just to see what they say when they finally happen to get to that line of the tag.

[pettyfan43]

what it comes down to is that people hear about "Hemi 4 Speed" cars everywhere (Magazines, Barrett Jackson) and that is all they know, they think they are the only cars to have, I worked with a guy who had buddy that has a 68 Charger R/T. Now this guy doesn't know much about these cars so he thought since the car his buddy has didn't have the original engine, it was not worth ANYTHING since it was no longer "matching numbers".

These people drive me nuts. I had a guy tell me one time the way to tell if a car had a 426 Hemi, was that there would be a PLATE BOLTED TO THE HOOD underneath that said "Shaker" because he saw a shot of a Challenger or Cuda in a magazine with the hood open.

I just give em one of these 

[69bronzeT5]

It would be funny to put down "If you reading this then you probally bugging me about selling my car so F#%* off"

[Rolling_Thunder]

I either do one of two things...     I say "its a 318" ...    or I just keep the hood closed and say...    "you'll never know"

[Chad L. Magee]

Usually I am not rude with the average car guys looking for a new project, but I still am not a seller.  It is the ones thinking that they can find a hemi car for a steal of a price and then make a mint at BJ that get my goat.  I have had to deal with some of those types with my /6 Charger when it was sitting out uncovered (bright red atracts them).  After they ask "What engine?", they get depressed when they hear it only has a /6 and not a big block.  When they ask for a price, I just tell them to combine the price of their house with all of their cars, trucks, etc and multiply it by a factor of five.  They usually  and then quickly leave.........

[hemi-hampton]

When sitting at Red light or in Traffic I'll here, Hey, that thing gotta Hemi. Doesn't really bother me, What really bothers me is the Clowns that offer to buy, Ask if for sale, You say NO & they say, Yeah I bet you take $3,000 for it? OK, How about $4,000. The rediculous low ball offers constantly gets irritating. LEON.

[moparguy01]

ive had the lowball offers too. i had a guy walk up to me at a gas station and say, "thats a nice looking car. I think i'm gonna buy it from ya!" then slapped 500 bucks on the hood. I told him to take his hands off my car, and that 500 bucks will buy him 2 of the wheels of the car. thats it. then he got pissed off and called me some names then left. jerks are everywhere.

[69bronzeT5]

This one guy came up to us one day when the Charger was sitting in the driveway and I was like about 8 during the time and I was sitting in the car having fun and pretending to drive and this guy walked up and my dad had the hood open and was working on the car and the guy was like "I want to buy your Charger" and my dad said "Nope, sorry but its not for sale" and the guy said "What will it take to buy it?" and my dad replied "Can you give my kid the same amount of happiness that this car gives him?". The guy looked at me smiling and having fun pretending to drive and he turned around and left.

[Rocky]

The guy pretended to drive as he left?   

[69bronzeT5]

The guy pretended to drive as he left?   

No....he saw me pretending to drive and I was smiling so he got my dad's point when my dad said "Can you give my kid the same amount of happiness that this car gives him?". Thats what made him leave.

[hemihead]

I've been there also. People seem to get extremely bummed when you tell them you have a 360 in your 73. Like all Chargers are made with BB's
in them. When you tell them it's not for sale or the money it would take to buy it, they get a look on their face like they just opened a box of dog crap at Xmas. So now I just tell people what all the street racers told people in the day when they ask " What engine is in it?". I say
" V - 8, What else?"

[Brock Samson]

here's a classic..

Thursday afternoon last week when Troy was here visiting, i took him out in the Road Runner (We cruised in the Charger  Wends) , anyhow,.. I'm gassing up at the local "cheap" station when this obese teen
spots the gold '71 and comes over all excited and spouting off uncontrollably, first he says something like...
  "Wow! that's a cool Ford" Troy says, "No, it's a Plymouth" kid goes, So it's a "Ford",.. Troy, "No, it's a Plymouth"..
there were a couple of other exchanges after that quite similar to the preceding ones...
  Then the kid volunteers,.. "I like 8 engines", "300s 320s 330s 340s 380s".
   Troy handled it pretty well though, realizing the kid knew little about cars and cutting him allot of slack...
     It was pretty funny though, wish i had the entire exchange on tape, you guys and gals would be rolling... 

Well, At least he didn't offer the change in his pocket.

[Blakcharger440]

The guy pretended to drive as he left?   

LOL! That would have been great! That is funny!

[ACUDANUT]

 Man, I have had that happen too.  I tell them ya,... I took the Hemi and the 4-speed out and sold it for 50,000.  Now I am thinking about putting a Toyota engine in it for fuel mileage.  Oh, by the way..Your Honda is junk.

[41husk]

 

[472 R/T SE]

Even when you do have a Hemi, or at least badges and call-outs, they all want to know if it's real or if it actually has one in it.  When they ask if it's real I tell them to "touch it, does it feel real?". 

Or you get stuff like what this loser did to me Friday.
http://1970chargerregistry.com/70messageboard/viewtopic.php?t=4467

[PocketThunder]

Took the family out to eat at the ice cream shop for burgers and malts last night, on the way home we stopped at Menards for some stuff and two older guys in a beat up truck told me i need to get the original rims on my 68.  I told them i didnt have them and they said nice car anyways.  I said thanks..  I usually get heckled by the older guys about my 17" wheels, the younger crowd, and all women , like my 17" wheels.