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.   

[pettyfan43]

I'm sticking a 440 in my 66 Charger, in place of a DEAD poly 318. When the car is painted and finished, I am leaving the little 2 barrel V-8 emblems on the fenders, I am also adding a 67 style Super Stock hood scoop.

I just REALLY want to screw with the idiots and know it alls! No telling what kind of response they are gonna get when they ask about engines in my car.

Ya gotta picture, the car is DARK green (GG1) with that scoop it has a black interior, it has 15X7 steelies in front and 15X8 steelies in back with poverty caps then has those little V-8 emblems. and a solid exhaust note! sitting pretty low with those fat wheels and tires.

should be fun.

[davidlclassic]

I had the 74 se at a cruisein this sat. I had several kids come up to me and ask what it was! they didn't even know it was a charger. Of course there was only a handful of mopars there.

[charger490]

when they ask if my car has a hemi i say yes its a 4 cyl hemi with a 2 speed tranny and one bbl carb. and its for sale.50000.00 plus tax. they tend to walk away.

[Charger_Fan]

When they ask if it's real I tell them to "touch it, does it feel real?". 

NICE!

Man, that whole "this isn't your car" thing just pisses me off...as I'm sure it still does you, Mike.

[ACUDANUT]

 When someone says "that's not original" tell them "it's better than yours".

[CharlieCharger]

The guy pretended to drive as he left?   

OH MAN that made me roll

[70charginglizard]

I just like the guys who come up to my car. Look right at the hood and then come up to me and ask me what I got under the hood. 

[71ChallengeHer]

When I owned my 70 Barracuda GC , I put a bulge hood on it. It still had the 340 'Cuda emblems on it so I left them on. It was just a 318 car. I use to have have guys come up to me and ask does that really have a 340 in it. I would reply " No, it has a Hemi. I put 340 emblems on it so people would quit asking me about it. "

[Mean 318]

my car is kind of a beater, but the three inch pipes out the back and the sound will give it away... otherwise it is a sleeper!
Nothing is more insulting to have someone come up and say "I will give ya 1200..." "NO" "Hows 1600" How F&*# OFF" I have no problem with people asking about the car or wanting to know if it is for sale. But to low ball like that....

[68isgr8]

I don't get bothered when I'm driving, just because I'm a girl.    I don't get the attention like my husband does when he's the one driving.  What irritates the hell out of me, a lot of guys come upto the car and the first thing they look at is the VIN #.  I tell them, "it's an R/T".  I can tell they have questions, but don't want to ask them because they feel i won't know the answers.  Sometimes being a girl in this hobby sucks.

[Silver R/T]

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.

Id grab $500 and peel out of station as fast as I can.

[cold85]

I get the is it for sale and I say do you see a sign? they reply no. well there's your answer.
the best are the "mopar guys" so they say. then they ask is it a hemi 383? And you are a mopar guy?

Or you always get this my car is mercedes silver and a 440 "I had one just like that"
"it was a roadrunner and lime green and a 318" me, well your right they were just alike

[deputycrawford]

     I had a young guy argue with my soon-to-be ex-wife that mine was a 68. She kept telling him its a 69. He kept it up until the guy with the car next to mine told him to read my 69 model year plates. What an idiot.
     I have had many people ask me if it has a Hemi in it. I tell them "its got a 'B' deck wedge in it." They just look at me. One guy looked at it and told me it needs alot of work. I asked him if it needed more than his 69 charger. He said nothing. One more. I had a guy offer me $4000 for it. I told him it was insured for over $18,000, which it is, I then said he can have just the tranny and drive shaft for that much. He just drove away.
     Many people talk without thinking. I have job security because of that. I just wish it wouldn't spill over into the hobby.

[pettyfan43]

I have a buddy with a NICE 70 Charger R/T clone. Red, black top interior and tailstripe. NICE running 440, Chrome magnum 500s and a REALLY nice solid straight car.

This car has a nice interior and is just a nice solid driver.

A guy that lives near me, saw him at a local hardware store. Asks him if he wants to sell the car. Now the guy near me has had MANY Mopars, A lot of really nice cars.
He tells my buddy he's like to buy the car. So to humor the guy my buddy asks, what would you give for it. The guy looks at him seriously and says, "I wouldn't be afraid to put about ten in it (10k)" My buddy just told him not to hold his breath! That is around HALF what this car would bring.

[LargerCharger383]

"too bad it's not a hemi"
"too bad I don't have an orchard of money trees"

I've said that a few times

[ck1]

just pimp slap them before they open there mouth

[Mike DC]

Lowball sellers:

If they keep pestering me then I pretend to think about it for a minute and then say, "So what you're telling me is that you'd choose to keep my car and give up your $2000?   
Then I say, "Well, guess what?  I totally agree with you.  I'd much rather keep the car too."

 

[Ghoste]

And it's always been this way too.  I had a car back in the 80's when I lived in a "lower income" area.  One morning when I was leaving for work as I went to get in the car, I had to step over this dude that looked like Willie Nelson who thought that our parking lot was a good place to sleep.  When I started the car, old Willie looked up and as I was letting it warm up, he staggered over to give me a , "nice car man".  I thanked him and then he asked if it was for sale.  I just looked at him and told him there weren't enough food stamps in the world and drove away.

[Bones68charger]

It's amazing that if you have a car it must be fore sale, sometimes I get annoyed by people who ask me if its for sale, and then they get pissed if your not willing to sell.

On a side note, I got my car because it was a 318. The seller could not get rid of it because it did not have a big block. Nobody wanted it. I could not care less what it had.

[hutch]

Tell em its a two stroke titsomatic with a left handed box pumper.

[Brock Samson]

 

[gojo64]

The people who ask if it's for sale are very annoying to me. When they ask if it's for sale, I just reply "Do you see a For Sale sign on it?" or "If you have to ask, you probably can't afford it." 

[Bob]

Usually right after, "Nice car," they ask if it's a 440. I, of course reply "No, it's a 400". The conversation usally dies right there. Most have not heard of the 400. Like now my car is not as nice because it does not have a 440. Correction, "It has the 400 Magnum".
Bob

[dodgecharger-fan]

"Everything is for sale for the right price. Is your daddy Donald Trump? No? Then you won't be able to afford my "right" price. Have a nice day!"


My car isn't even close to being done and I've had offers for it as is. The first one would have gotten me out even - it was tempting. I could have turned around and bought something that was already done. A year and a half later, I think I should have taken it. (But I'd have probably spent the money on upgrading the house instad of another Charger...)

[Zentelis]

I'll be using the liter rating with the import folks..it translates better.

Them: "Yo, what engine does that have?"
Me: "440"
Them:  "Is that a lot?"

Vs.

Them: "Yo, what engine does that have?"
Me: "7.2 liter"
Them: " That's like 10 times bigger than my engine!"

I haven't had a chance to say it yet, but the reaction should be similar   
And then I'll tell them it's not for sale hehe

[moparguy01]

I'll be using the liter rating with the import folks..it translates better.


Them: "Yo, what engine does that have?"
Me: "7.2 liter"
Them: " That's like 10 times bigger than my engine!"

"So let me get this straight, my 2 liter of mountain dew is bigger than your engine???  "

[PocketThunder]

I'll be using the liter rating with the import folks..it translates better.

Them: "Yo, what engine does that have?"
Me: "440"
Them:  "Is that a lot?"

Vs.

Them: "Yo, what engine does that have?"
Me: "7.2 liter"
Them: " That's like 10 times bigger than my engine!"

I haven't had a chance to say it yet, but the reaction should be similar   
And then I'll tell them it's not for sale hehe

I use that one all the time.  If i guess that the person asking is younger than i am (32) then i say 7.2 liter.  If its an older person then i switch to 440. 

[Charger_Fan]

You could always tell them the "after overbored" size, like 452 or... That would give their little scalps-a-scratchin'. 

[volk68]

I have been on both sides of this fence.  When I was looking for my car, I spent a lot of time searching driveways, fields, and everywhere else I could think of for an older Mopar.  I still do.  I have stopped countless places to ask if a car is for sale, too.  Sometimes people were really nice to me, and sometimes they were jerks.  Depending on how they treated me, I would even walk away angry sometimes.  Of course, the only people that really offended me were the ones who had a car in need of a complete resto just rotting away.  They have no intentions of restoring it, but they won't sell it either.  They just let it rot away.  I know of a 68 Coronet R/T in that condition right now.

As a Charger owner now, I try to be cool to people wanting to buy it and turn them down politely.  What DOES irritate me is when they rant and rave about the 454 Hemi Charger 4 speed they owned back in the day with 600hp from the factory    Sometimes people scoff because I "only" have a 440 in it, and it pisses me off a little.  Still, they have to watch me drive away in it while they crawl back into their Rice box.  Most of the time, people are just complimentary.

[hemihead]

Yes it is amazing how many people think that something is always For Sale.I guess they think the owner doesn't know what the value of the car is
and they will get it for $75 or something.Then there is the so called Mopar experts who don't even know the difference between a Plymouth and Dodge. But as I read these stories I think about how many people do the same thing looking for cars.And I don't think anyone can say they don't give low ball offers when they buy one.Everyone has the attitude of : What is mine is gold and what anyone else has isn't worth anything.

[hemi-hampton]

This Lady in my Neighborhood had a Hemi Orange 70 Roadrunner always sitting in here Driveway. One Day I stopped to ask if For Sale, She cops a major major attitude & goes on a verbal rampage, Spouting I must think she's stupid because she's a girl, She's sick of people offering here 2 or 3 grand like she's stupid. So I say OK, Then how much do you want. She sez real Quick I want $7,000. I say OK. I'll be back tomorrow with 7grand. Came back next day with 7 grand, She would not answer door or phone for a week. Obviously blowing me off. So, I go buy The Charger I got now instead. About 6 months later I see her Husband out washing Car. I say remember me? The guy that was going to buy for $7,000, He sez Yeah, Hows it going. I say what happened? Came back with the Funds but Blown off. He sez Wife changed Her mind because She thought She could get more (made me wonder why she said she wanted 7k when I asked?) What happened was I said Yes to Quick to the 7k. If I would have complained & haggled she might have went for it. SO, I tell husband It's OK, I bought this Charger instead. Being a unrestored original unmolested Survivor with original paint & 24,000 miles & zero rust he thought I made a much better choice, I agreed. My plan was to turn the Roadrunner anyways to aquire more needed funds for Charger anyways. LEON.

[Silver R/T]

Tell em its a two stroke titsomatic with a left handed box pumper.

lol thats good one

[DodgeChargerNeeded]

I don't think it hurts to ask if a car is for sale if you are actually seriously interested. Just because there is no for sale sign doesn't mean its not for sale. Never know until you ask.

[pettyfan43]

I don't think it would be so bad if the people that asked were serious or weren't such BSers. But the guy that shows up at my house thinking he can buy my 66 Charger (still has original paint and is STRAIGHT and solid) for 650 bucks is gonna leave with his breath smelling like tennis shoe leather!

[resq302]

My general reply to the "Is it for sale?" is "What do you think its worth?  Ok, keep adding zero's to the end of your price and I will tell you to stop when it is enough."  That usually either gets them to walk away or give them a good laugh.  Either way, I still go home with the car.

[bull]

It's very, very simple. If you really do have the money to make a serious cash offer for what a given car is worth, go ahead and ask if the owner will take (insert amount here) for it. If you don't have the money to make a serious cash offer for what it's worth shut the F up and don't bug him about buying it. Why do people think it's fun to make rediculous offers and then proceed to provide verbal lists of what's wrong or incorrect? Just express your appreciation by saying say, "nice car," and then run along.

[Mike DC]

       
Everybody's trying to find a cheap deal on a Charger.  Nothing morally wrong about fishing for a low seller. 

But yeah, some of these "buyers" actually get rude when you don't jump at the chance to sell your car for a fraction of its market value. 
I don't understand that mindset.  It's uncalled for.

[Lord Warlock]

I really don't mind people who ask if I'd sell mine, only a serious person will actually knock on the front door to ask questions or make an offer.  I've done the same thing to people in the past.  What sets me off is the stories they tell, that are so blatently wrong.  Like a horribly beat up chevelle owner at a show this weekend, claiming to have a blown corvette in the 70s with 1200hp (guy was in a wheelchair) in the 70s, blown cars might have had 500hp, at the best 600.  Normally i let them talk, and don't rain on their parade.  BUT if someone comes to the house and interrupts my afternoon to make an offer on my car, i expect a real offer, not a lowball waste of time offer.  Over the years i've had a few real attempts to buy it, with offers over 10k as it sat. 

I do get tired of does it have a hemi?   A good response to those making offers that bring up is it a hemi 4spd is: you can't afford a hemi 4spd.  You can't afford a hemi.  I doubt you can afford a 440 based on your current transportation.  Unless they are driving a 50k car, you know they probably can't afford your car either.  Very few can afford a real R/T SE at a realistic price.  But then again, every now and then you do run across the rare great deal by walking up and asking with cash in hand. 

As for the guy who slapped 500 on the hood, i would have picked up the $500, and tell him he's just paid to correct the scratches he made in my 15,000.00 paint job.