Charger Paranoia

[41husk]

That is the reason I would rather have a wing car clone than the real thing, I would be much to paranoid to enjoy it.  Well, the main reason is, theres no way I could afford a real Bird are Daytona

[6670charger]

That's what insurance is for.  I used to get a little paranoid too.  Now I drive mine every day.  It sits out in the rain, gets driven in the mud and is covered in dust every day the sun is out.  I have three good scratches or paint chips in it as a result of driving it.  Even accidentally backed into a guy a few months ago.  No damage to the car thankfully.  Eventually I'll get the scratches fixed.

You've got to have fun with your car.  Granted, I don't want mine to get destroyed or stolen, but then again, that's why I have insurance.  If you're being a slave to your car, you aren't having fun.  If you aren't having fun, then it's time to sell the car and get something you CAN have fun with.

[70charginglizard]

You've got to have fun with your car.  Granted, I don't want mine to get destroyed or stolen, but then again, that's why I have insurance.  If you're being a slave to your car, you aren't having fun.  If you aren't having fun, then it's time to sell the car and get something you CAN have fun with.

Very good point.

[volk68]

Oh, I am having fun with it 

Every time I get in it I get a grin from ear to ear 

Still can't help but being worried about her though 

[Neal_J]

Clearly, you are not alone.  As folks noted above, and I concur, the paranoia is real and at times unpleasant.   In my case, I've spent so much time & money getting the Charger done as well as I can that with it now complete, I don't want to redo anything. 

Because of that type of paranoia, I'm deliberately not restroing my other car, a 68 Olds Cutlass, to the same level as my Charger.  If it rains and the Cutlass gets wet, no worries.  If we need groceries, I take the Cutlass and shrug off door dings or mud on the carpet.  The overall condition of the Cutlass is nowhere near nice as the Charger, but I don't obsess like I do with the Charger.

Wacky Neal

[1BAD68]

I look for any excuse to take my 68 out except for the grocery store, its never been to one and never will.
Women (most, not all) just see it as another car and while dragging 3 kids and two carts full of groceries could care less what they bump, scratch or push their carts into.

[CharlieCharger]

At this stage of the game I will NEVER take the car to a local pool, for milk etc & leave it unattended

You have to see my psycho self just leaving the car overnight at the hotel parking lot when I go to Carlisle

 
Take the Charger to the store for milk?    Not on your life.
Too much time & money invested for this blue collar boy to have to worry about something happening by some schmuck who doesn't give a rat's a$$ about someone else's property. I've seen it happen way too many times. Other people just don't care.

I was sitting in a Target parking lot in my wife's daily driver '03 Tribute waiting for her to come out of the store. Mind you, it's no collectible show car, but we take pride in the way we care of all our vehicles. Some low life in a rusted out '96 Corolla parks right next to me, the other 200 empty spots were no good, I guess. She flings open her door without a care in the world and BLAMMO!!!!    Right smack into our car.    I cringe to think if I was sitting there in the Charger...

You should have..

[69_500]

Hey chris, next time your all paranoid about leaving your car in the parking lot of a hotel for carlisle.

Do what I did 2 years ago at Carlisle. SLEEP IN THE CAR. Much cheaper than a hotel room anyways. Plus your right there with the car all night long. Granted you can't shower in the car, but there are hoses at Carlisle.

[70kracken]

i take mine everywhere, but i'm just as paranoid.  i like for people to see it!  i'll even go to walmart in it at 2 am.  if i can park where i can watch it, you better believe i'm in that spot, and every other spot around it.

[terrible one]

I'm paranoid and it's not even on the road! I've already had two attempted break-in's into it's storage area.

[C500]

I know it seems arrogant, but in parking lots, I park right in the center of 2 parks if there are 2 together. No ones doors can bang on the side then, and I park well away from other cars.

If there are a few single parks to choose from, park right beside newer and more expensive cars. Owners of them will take a little more care opening their doors.

kiwi

[bull]

I know it seems arrogant, but in parking lots, I park right in the center of 2 parks if there are 2 together. No ones doors can bang on the side then, and I park well away from other cars.

If there are a few single parks to choose from, park right beside newer and more expensive cars. Owners of them will take a little more care opening their doors.

kiwi

But when you take up two spots that's when people take a key or screwdriver to your paint.

[C500]

Not if there are enough other parks around, I usually take 2 away from where everyone else parks and just walk a little further. People have more respect for a charger than to scratch it because you're in 2 parks if there are other parks to choose from. I would rather take that risk, especially considering how narrow the parks are over here.

kiwi

[Mike DC]

       
I just drive mine anywhere when the car is in one piece.  I don't care. 

The car can get scratched, but it can also be fixed again. 
The body is a 318 VIN and most of the panels have been dented/rusted and repaired again over the various years & owners. 

I just wanna enjoy it.  I'm glad there are flawless & original cars out there, but this just isn't one of them. 

   

[440AirForce]

Same feeling here. I'm in Encino, CA where no one speaks english, yet can drive. I'm faced with blue haired old ladies, or chicks with their faces buried in their cell phones--while polishing their nails while driving 

[Brock Samson]

interesting topic,..
  I guess one could expect some "history" after driving the holy living crap out of a '69 R/T S.E. for 23 years...
I've had some for sure but i am not afraid perhaps alittle paranoid but not afraid... To begin with, i won't drive the car somewhere simply to park it somewhere for long peirods, that's what the Daily Driver is for...
But i often will take it out for dinner and i will park it within eyesight,.. but only occasionally will it be parked where i can't see it...
on warm days in heavily pedestrian traffic situations i'll leave the windows down so folks can look inside, and i'll sit at the window 'n watch my parade float and smile as i see crowds of tourists gather and take pictures, stick their heads in and gaze at amazment at my excellent taste in seat covers...  (that's for Chris G BTW)   
  anyhow,.. I do take precautions, i have a battery disconnect, & i some times take the coil wire... i park ass out with the wheels truned full lock cause my biggist fear is a rogue flatbed or tow truck, and i pay special attention to them when i see them in the vicinity of my cars...
  I park in spots big enuff to have room between cars, sometimes diag. across three parking spots in store parking lots or away from other cars, i will either park under a light so it's well lit or sometimes i will tuck it beween larger trucks so it can't be easliy seen from the street,.. if i have a bad vibe for whatever reason i will move on till i'm satisfied it's safe..
In spite of my precautions i have had some incidents over the years... in no particular order..
..parked in a lot at a small local park, a homerun over the fence put a dent in the previous hood...

I chanced upon three teens about to swing a six-pack of beer through the drivers side window but, i caught them just as one guy was cranking his arm back and shouted at the top of my lungs,.. i spooked them pretty good as they jumped the fence taking the six-pack with them... a second later and i would have been too late,... 

I returned from a night shift one night to find my driver's side wing window busted out,.. and the cheap stereo hanging out of the dash... i was pretty upset as the car was parked less than 30 feet from the attendant's booth,.. but as it later turned out, the attendants were actually the ones breaking into cars there...

I had one drip rail corner just above the same wing window taken from the car... 

I've had both the hood mounted turn signals punched out with what i guess was a screw driver, perhaps they had attempted to steal them, but i had them epoxied in, and they may have been frustrated... 

Once when parked at a mechanics shop the name "JOSE" was carved in the top of the fender in large two inch letters...

after getting the monster back from the shop where the headliner was installed i found the driver's side rear (what's it called?..)
the thing the armrest mounts to... vynal?.. under the window?.. hard to find?.. anyhow it was hacked with a carpet knife or pizzia slicer so there are several jagged 6-8 inch rips there... the shop said it was like that when it got to the shop,.. but i'm sure the disinfranchised youth working there actually did the damage... 

and while on the subject, the Road Runner has an obvious key scratch about four feet long across the driver's side door that was on the car when i bought it...

Dave.

[Argos_Chargers]

Paranoia is the reason that I've never restored my '70.  It was my daily driver for about 10 years, and I still like to drive it when I have the chance.  I've had my share of door dings (and given some pretty nasty revenge dings).  I've had the car dented when it was in the shop.  My only real fear is theft.  If that happens, there's really not much I can do about it.  I just pray that if it gets wrecked it is my fault and that I'm going fast enough that I don't feel a thing.

[Mefirst]

Cant say that I'm paranoid about my Charger. But like everyone else I do take precautions where I park it and I never park it where I cant see it. If I have to leave it for any longer period of time, it will be parked behind locked doors.

Worst fear is that I crash it or someone else crashes into my ride. If that would happen that would be the death of her. Living here in Europe, where parts are insanely hard to find, I don't think Id ever be able to bring her back to life, well depending on how bad the damage would be.. Not even with the 41K insurance I have on it.. Problem is the high tax and shipping cost of parts from the States over to Sweden...

My ride has lived a hard life, it has its share of small dings, then again nothing I care to do anything about right now. I'm gonna enjoy and drive her on the street and at the race track, specially now when she will be equipped with the Hemi. The worst thing I can think of, is people who buy and then keep these old musclecars locked up and never take them out for a ride, I see no meaning in owning a badass ride and not enjoying it and driving it...

/Tom

[LargerCharger383]

i was almost never paraniod until someone actually tried to steal it.  since then, im VERY cautious about where i take it and where I park.

[Manfred318]

I'm paranoid as hell when I drive the Charger. Its my daily driver, but I still dont want some jerk ass wangin' my doors or some smartass kids messing around with it. I usually take up at least 3 parking spots if I can. If I go to a restraunt I will take 2 spaces in the back and I will sit where I can see it at all times. I hardly ever drive it to that hell hole called Wal-Mart. Last time I drove it there I got my door wanged pretty good. I absoutely HATE driving it to the high school on days I work there. It didnt bother me too much untill two days after I had the car painted I drove it to school one day and some shit head kid drew scribble lines all down the side of my car with a black sharpie marker, and about 2 years later a bunch of kids threw rocks on the Charger chipping the paint all too hell and cracking my windshield in 3 places. It totaled around $3000 worth of damage. And of course the school did nothing about it either time.

[JMF]

Everyone says they try and park in 2 spaces but surely you HAVE to, after all these cars are huge so people understand, when I owned my Charger here in England you can't help but hog the road and take up space