What made you get into Mopars?

[Ghoste]

For me it started with the styling as the bait and as I learned more about them it was the engineering that reeled me in for life.

[69bronzeT5]

Dukes for sure

[Mefirst]

Insanity

/Tom

[terrible one]

Bullitt.

[Ghoste]

The styling of the car in Bullitt or the image?

[Brock Samson]

 The turbine bronze HEMI GTX the dude around the corner got when I was 9,.. Man that Car sounded MEAN!!!!
the ground shook even before he came around the corner..  And I remember the Chargers' intro in '66 as well... Dodge Rebellion white hats GoGo boots and all...

[redrider]

my dad telling me about the cars my uncle had like his 71 sixpack challenger and 70 superbee

[Rolling_Thunder]

went for a ride in a 68 charger that had a 440+6 4-speed with 4.10 Dana...     I was 11 at the time - bought my charger at 15   

[mopar_nut_440_6]

When I was 5 there was a guy who had a brand new hemi orange Superbird around the corner from me. We always went over there and hung out and would look at the wing and the cartoon on it. He would also honk the beep beep horn. As a young kid this was just too cool. Incidentally a friend of mine bought the car a number of years ago and sold it a few years back!

Then when I got my license by fluke I bought a 75 Plymouth Scamp and started working on the 318. I then met a friend we called Barracuda Joe who had a 70 Cuda and he built up a 440. I remember the first time I saw it and he did a brake stand and left 2 blocks of rubber. I was amazed and even more when he took me for a ride. I was hooked after that and had to have a 440. I bought my Charger and drove it for a bit with a 360 and realized how slow it was. I was in a Mopar club and had the fastest top speed car but it was a slug off the line. I was working in a pizza restaurant (2.65 an hour) so I parked the car for a year and built up a 440. I then started drag racing at the strip while my friends played on the street. I ending up learning how to tune and after a year had the fastest car out of my group!! Been hooked ever since.

Sorry for the rant!! 

[Ghoste]

Man that's no rant, it was a cool story.  Thanks for sharing it.

[kingjoop]

DoH 

[MoparSam]

For Mopars my dad done it and for a '68 Charger, Bullitt

[tan top]

When I was 5 there was a guy who had a brand new hemi orange Superbird around the corner from me. We always went over there and hung out and would look at the wing and the cartoon on it. He would also honk the beep beep horn. As a young kid this was just too cool. Incidentally a friend of mine bought the car a number of years ago and sold it a few years back!

Then when I got my license by fluke I bought a 75 Plymouth Scamp and started working on the 318. I then met a friend we called Barracuda Joe who had a 70 Cuda and he built up a 440. I remember the first time I saw it and he did a brake stand and left 2 blocks of rubber. I was amazed and even more when he took me for a ride. I was hooked after that and had to have a 440. I bought my Charger and drove it for a bit with a 360 and realized how slow it was. I was in a Mopar club and had the fastest top speed car but it was a slug off the line. I was working in a pizza restaurant (2.65 an hour) so I parked the car for a year and built up a 440. I then started drag racing at the strip while my friends played on the street. I ending up learning how to tune and after a year had the fastest car out of my group!! Been hooked ever since.

Sorry for the rant!! 

good story 

for me it was seeing  DMCL in the 70s , can only just remember the first time i saw it , but thought wow it was the mostest awesomeest car i have ever seen , was only 5 or 6 at the time ,decided then & there i'm going to have one of them cars one day !!! exactly like that one !!! ...i said to my parents !! they patted me on the head & said sure  or something like that from what i can remember 
then DOH came along ...then seeing bullit  ..started reading up on chargers ..then mopars ! then learned about dragracing & the ultimate power plant ...the elephant motor  , then wing car domination in the  grand national series
  all by the age of 10 or 11 
   while all my friends were reading comics & stuff , i was reading hot rod etc was learning more & more about who made be baddest muscle cars of all time    Mopar 
   first job i got out of school , started saving ..got my dream car year & a half later  ..never going to part with it 

picture is of me a week after i got my charger  early april  89

second one how it is today   

hmm funny though ..my charger looks younger now &  i keep getting older 

[Chargerrtforme]

I was into the GM cars and Mopars since about 68.  The style and rumble of the Mopars is what really attracted me most.

                                                                                 

[TeeWJay426]

My Dad was a service manager at a Dodge dealer starting in '61. Had a pretty nice string of new cars while I was growing up as a kid. Started with a '62 Dart, '63 Polara, and '64 Polara- all convertibles. Then a '66 Coronet 500, followed by a '68 Coronet 500- both 383 4 barrel cars. Used to hang out at the dealership checking out all the new offerings and drooling over the brochures, dreaming about what I would get when I was old enough. Of course, by the time I could drive, all I could afford was a slant six Dart, and the musclecar era was pretty much over. One of the earliest true musclecars I remembered was  a '66 Hemi Charger that a friend of my Dad's bought brand new. I first saw it when he stopped by the house one day, I was maybe 9 or 10 years old. I couldn't stop drooling over that engine under the hood- I wasn't sure exactly what I was looking at, but the way my Dad and his friend were talking, I knew it was pretty special. And the sound it made when he left the house- which he did in a hurry, just to make a deeper impression on me- was like nothing I had ever heard before. I made up my mind at that young age I was going to have a car just like it someday. I actually went one better- he and my Dad stayed in touch over the years, my interest in the car was made known to him, and in 1984 when his wife got after him to do something with it or sell it because he hadn't touched it in 5 years, I bought it from him. Still have it to this day!

Sorry for the ramble....

[JeffYoung]

Richard Petty.

[richard pettys 73]

Richard Petty.

     

DID YOU MEAN ME?   JUST KIDDING. I AGREE WITH YOU I AM THE SAME EXCEPT I GOT THE CARS BY ACCIDENT, BUT KNEW WHAT I WAS GOING TO DO WITH THEM AFTER I GOT THEM!!

[elanmars]

styling and movies/tv shows. being a kid in the 80s, there were still a lot of 60s and 70s cars around where i lived in Venezuela and i loved them. a lot of times i'd tell my parents i want a "car like that when i'm older!" while pointing to a charger, camaro, chevelle, trans am, etc. i remember thinking as a 4 year old that when i'm older and have a car just like the dukes of hazzard, i'm going to have to practice the hood slides. I also had seen dirty mary crazy larry and remember thinking 1) i want sunglasses like peter fonda, which i got from my dad 2) i'd have to make sure to slow down near train tracks! 3) i'm going to pick up chicks with better teeth than dirty mary.

[Back N Black]

Could not afford the Chevelle that i wanted, so i bought a Charger. 

[mauve66]

3) i'm going to pick up chicks with better teeth than dirty mary.

its good to have some standards................

definitely my dad, he had a 67 mustang a gold color i've never seen on another mustang since (of course) that i remember him changing the tranny out of while parked over a ditch in front of my grandmas house.  he says i liked the mustang more than the 69 Road Runner (dark green color with a darker green or maybe black vinyl top and black interior with bench seat) he had but its the RR i remember riding in all the time.

my best memory was in 73-74 (8-9 yrs old) coming out of Marshall, Mo on the new highway 20 (they just flattened it out for 4-5 miles outside of town then it went back to hills). i don't know the speed limit on a rural 2 lane back then but we were always moving along (16 miles to the house and i NEVER asked "are we there yet?"). anyway we are cruzing along and i keep hearing this reving motor behind us, i'm not wearing a seat belt (of course) but i'm not allowed to climb around the car at this speed either, so i keep looking at my dad as he glances in the mirror and down at his gauges.  anyway this lasts for a couple of miles (i only got to see him on weekends so saturday shopping traffic was big back then) on coming traffic clears and i hear this roar coming by the left side of the car, i strain to see over the dash and see these SS454 badges, about the same time i see these badges go by the car's rear bumper gets even with the RR's front bumper and i'm suddenly pinned to the seat as the front of the RR jumps up, i'm still craining my neck but all i can see is the roof line of the chevelle as it slides back behind us. after what seems like forever i can move in the seat again, my Dad looks over and goes "Beep Beep" and i we both bust out laughing.  that car stayed behind us the whole 16 miles after that, when we turned off they kept going.

anyway back to those damn hills they didn't finish flattenning out, some time later on we were again going home and popped over a blind hill doing well into 70-80 MPH and there was this damn combine (corn picker for you city folks) sitting in the middle of the lane and some on coming traffic so my Dad whips the wheel all the way left and we end up in the ditch on the other side of the road at the same time he grabs me and pushed me into the floor board on the passenger side.  i was kinda bruised up from the impact but i'm sure i would of went through the windshield if he hadn't of done that.  he got his left side pretty banged up but nothing broke. RR was toast though, back then nobody thought you could fix a unibody correctly after a hit like that on the front end.

funny thing, like the mustang i've never seen another RR with that DARK green color since then, maybe its just my childhood memory................... but i don't remember that chevelle ever challenging us again either

[mopar_nut_440_6]

Could not afford the Chevelle that i wanted, so i bought a Charger. 

I think you dodged a bullet there. No pun intended! 

[41husk]

My dad always had mopars but I realy didn't get into them until I was stationed in Millington TN.  I was asigned to the auto hobby shop and my supervisor Henry McCurdy was really into mopars.  He had a 32 Dodge with a 392 hemi.  I saw he always gave guys with Mopars alot more help.  Infact he talked me into buying my 70 Challenger convertible.  A Marine came in and was being transfered over seas and wanted $2500 for it Mr. MCCurdy told me he would buy it but he just wasnt into rag tops.  He said If I take care of it and hang on to it, it will be worth more than 2500 some day.  The only problem I had was I had no money.  Henry told me if there was any way I should probably buy it.  I made a deal to buy it for $1950 and had to borow the money from my father in law.  I guess old Henry was right! I think I could get my $1950 back out of it today.  I probably have over 25k invested in the car.  I wonder if Mr. McCurdy is still alive?  This was way back in 1982 and he was probably in his mid to late 40s then.

[bigcountry]

It started with the DOH, but now I just can't get enough of the 2nd gens.  Gen Lee or not.

[WingCharger]

When I first got into Muscle Cars, I really like AMC cars. AMC led to MoPar I guess...

[mauve66]

When I first got into Muscle Cars, I really like AMC cars.

i thought you said MUSCLE CARS................... just joking now

[WingCharger]

 

[69*F5*SE]

When I was 4 yrs old my uncle had a 69 GTX that I thought looked so cool. I know I was young but that was what got me.  Also, my aunt was dating a guy who had a white 70 Super bird and I just couldn't stop thinking about it. It all started from there. 

[John_Kunkel]

I was pretty much a GM guy (Oldsmobiles). I wasn't particularly looking for a car at that time but in '63 I went with a friend to look at a '57 Dodge D500 that was advertised locally, it was an Ex-CHP prowler that had a built 325 Hemi. He didn't want the car but after a full throttle ride I was hooked and the fins sealed the deal. Turns out the Hemi was built by a local speed merchant Noel Black of Bonneville fame.

Traded it off a few years later for a '63 Max Wedge and it's been (up)downhill ever since.

[Silver R/T]

I saw FastbackJon's 68 R/T and I knew I had to have one

[Foreman72]

it was forced upon me 3 yrs ago... ...about 3 years ago i was @ my aunts house for easter...she lives in andover mass...well my entire family was there and i was talking to one of my uncles about cars and i mentioned i loved muscle cars...always have...anyways...so he was like so what are some cars you like...i listed a bunch...then he left for a bit and went and talked 2 my mom for a while...I went on hanging out with family and then he came back and was like I got something to show u...I noticed he had a key in his hand...so we went out 2 the barn that my grandfather helped build and such, very historical spot for our family...anyways its kinda a ways away from the house...so I was like uncle bill whats the deal and he kept telling me 2 just be patient...hard for me, a 14yr old kid at the time 2 do ...so we get to the barn which is huge and has a ton of old cool crap in it...and i see an old tractor, a bunch of engines, a boat, and this old car in there...kinda in rough shape...he siad this was my car when i was my car in high school...when I got a new one when i was in college I had nothing to do with this one so I put in here...that was 20 yrs ago...I've been trying to think of something to do with it and ur mom said it was ok if I gave it to you so guess what...he handed me the key and I couldn't even see straight...now 3 yrs later I have studied everything possible about this car and chargers in general...picked up every parts mag I could, read all the mopar mags ect ect I could and of course joined here...

this thread should be awesome...  

[mauve66]

very nice of him, hope you do him AND the car justice for taking a chance on you

[WingCharger]

Cool story.

[Foreman72]

it was forced upon me 3 yrs ago...about 3 years ago i was @ my aunts house for easter...she lives in andover mass...well my entire family was there and i was talking to one of my uncles about cars and i mentioned i loved muscle cars...always have...anyways...so he was like so what are some cars you like...i listed a bunch...then he left for a bit and went and talked 2 my mom for a while...I went on hanging out with family and then he came back and was like I got something to show u...I noticed he had a key in his hand...so we went out 2 the barn that my grandfather helped build and such, very historical spot for our family...anyways its kinda a ways away from the house...so I was like uncle bill whats the deal and he kept telling me 2 just be patient...hard for a 14yr old kid 2 do ...so we get to the barn and i see this old car in there...kinda in rough shape...he was like this was my car when i was in high school...when I got a new one I had nothing to do with this one so I put in here...that was 20 yrs ago...I've been trying to think of something to do with it and ur mom said it was ok if I gave it to you so guess what...he handed me the key and I couldn't even see straight...now 3 yrs later I have studied everything possible about this car and chargers in general...picked up every parts mag I could, read all the mopar mags ect ect I could and of course joined here...

this thread should be awesome...  

Sounds a bit familiar...

i thought it might...

[TheGhost]

2 main reasons, for me.

When I was little, I was big into Mustangs.  Mainly because I never really liked Camaros, and hadn't even heard of Mopar, but my excuse was that I was young.

I remember my dad telling me stories about the 69 383 Roadrunner he bought new.  My dad grew up in Connecticut, and anybody who's been through there knows there's alot of twisting roads and hills.  One story of his stands out in my mind.  One night, not long after he got the Roadrunner, a cop tried to pull him over.  Well, my dad was young and stupid at the time, and decided he didn't want to stop, so he led the cop on a merry little chase.  He pulled far enough ahead of the cop that when he went over one of the many hills, the cop didn't have a line of sight on him.  So, he pulled into a driveway, threw the car in park, shut the lights off, and told everyone in the car to duck down.  The cop just drove on by.  When he went out of sight, my dad backed out the the driveway, and went back the way he came.   It was stories like those that made me interested in Mopars.

Then I saw a movie in the theater, called Gone Fishin, starring Danny Glover and Joe Pesci.  It wasn't a car movie, like Vanishing Point or Bullitt, but Joe Pesci's charactor drove a 68 Barracuda fastback.  I thought that was the coolest damned car I'd ever seen.  After I'd seen the movie, I kept telling my dad (and myself) that I'd own one of those cars someday.

I started doing research on Mopars, Plymouth in particular, and just fell in love with the styling.  Mopars looked so much better than the Fords or GMs.  The 71 Plymouth B bodies are absolutely stunning, in my opinion the most beautiful cars ever made.  And the 67-69 Barracudas are both tough and beautiful at the same time.  And, of course, there was the Chargers.  I don't have many memories from when I was a little kid, but I do remember that my absolute favorite toy was a 1/64 General Lee diecast car, that I took with me EVERYWHERE (until I lost it in the back of a taxi cab.  Broke my little heart at the time).

There's also the fact that you don't see Mopars every day.  I'd see Mustangs and Camaros everywhere, but Mopars were (and still are) a rarity to see.  That's another reason I love Mopars.  Not everyone has one.

So, I guess my dad got me started, and the styling got me hooked.

[C_stripes]

Well, it was actually a 74 power wagon that got my attention. My family are all Ford fans. My uncle has a 67 Mustang GT with a 428 SCJ duel 4's and a 4spd and there were some other Fords in the family at the time. So I started out as a Ford fan. I was technically born to be a Ford or GM fan (4-27-1983). Anyway, my Dads friend had a 74 power wagon with a built up engine and took me for a ride one day. He hit the gas at a stop sign and the trucks tires started spinning and we fish tailed (remember when it was called fish tailing? now it's drifting) around the corner and took off. It changed me forever. I was about seven at that time. Ever since, I have loved Mopars. Mostly A-bodies, but B-bodies are second. My first real step into mopars was in 2000 wile I was 16, I bought five 66 Chargers from a guy locally and one turned out to be a factory HEMI car. Three of the others where big block cars, including a 383HP car and one was a running driving 318 car. I paid $2000 for all of them. Before that, I had a few Darts and Dusters. But that was the big step.

One time, I traded a 70 or 71 Camaro SSRS with a corvette 350 straight across for a 71 slant six four door Dart for parts for my 72 swinger. I love the Darts. Looking back though, I should have sold the Camaro.

[NHCharger]

I enjoy being shunned by the chebbie/rustang crowd.

[bear]

For me one day I saw an ad in the paper for a 69 Charger and I looked it up in one of the car books I have and from there I knew that I wanted one. And part of it was to probably annoy my dad and brother who have GMs

[426HemiCharger]

"dang them DUKES!!!"  - Boss Hogg

[68charger383]

To be different.........

[chargerkid01]

Going to shows as a kid and hanging out with my grandpa and uncle is what got me into old cars. What got me into the charger is the DOH, F&F, Bullitt, and others!!

[cpthowdy1369]

I watched DOH as a kid (who didn't) but wasn't really interested in Mopar untill I was about 21.  Then for some strange reason, I noticed Mopars everywhere and had to have one.  I've had two Dusters and a Charger since then and now the wife wants a Cuda.

[69_500]

Had to say that it was because of my dad. Although I'm not positive on that one, JK.

Who wouldn't like mopars when you grew up in a yard full of them? I mean tell me one kid that grows up in a house that has 5 Daytona's between the back yard and the garage, and a HEMI 500 in the garage that wouldn't like Mopars?

[mikesbbody]

Great stories! I met a guy with a 72 challenger at the time I was into my full size American cars I had a Cadillac but once I had a drive in the Challenger, I knew I had to get myself a Mopar! and the rest is history.
Sadly, the 72 Challenger was hit by a older gentleman driving a BMW who ran a red light (back in 96) The BMW was history, the Challenger drove away damaged it was taken apart and is still apart to this day 

[RD]

i grew up riding in my 73.  mopars are my extended family.

[BLUE68RT4ME]

I grew up in a town of about 125 people in South Dakota.  Though it was small, it was well known for racing.  My dad and one of his younger brothers used to carry quite the reputation in the area.  There were two bridges south of town about a quarter mile apart and people would come from all over to race my dad for beer, money, or dinner. 

My dad was into Chevy early on (dragging a 67 camero and circle tracking a modified... with the same engine!) but noticed a local guy who was running a 340 Dart Swinger that was stock and kicking butt and my dad thought, why soup up a Chevy to beat a stock Dodge?  So, he ended getting a 340 Demon.  That's the car everyone came to race.

My dad had great traction on the street and never lost between the bridges.  He also had time records at two tracks in MN and SD for G-Pure Stock-Automatic.

My uncle Mark, who died before I was born and hence my namesake, had a 68 Coronet R/T.  Mark was crazy.  He went through tires on that car as often as oil changes.  Once, his tires were nearly bald so he was going to powerbrake them until they popped.  Well, he ended up gigging trenches in Main Street and instead of popping one of them started on fire!

The stories I've been told about him and that car are countless, and they come from people I've never known before.  I've met people who are friends of my dad and they're like, "You look like your uncle Mark.  Boy, I remember that R/T of his..."  A number of people have said that he clocked himself between mile markers at 165 MPH.     And with some of the stories I've heard, there's no way they could be true unless he could actually go THAT fast.

Things changed for my dad when he got married but he still drove a lot of Mopars.  He got a 66 Coronet 500 when I was about 10 or so, and I loved it.  It was Yellow with black interior, 383 2bbl and a 727.  We'd ride around town or to neighboring towns with some of his old buddies, one with a 65 Mustang, and when mom was away... the boys would play!  The sound of that motor, the force that sent me to the back of my seat, and just the look of the car made me the happiest kid alive.

My dad, despite struggling at the time, gave that car to me for my 16th birthday.     Well, as a downer, a tree fell on it late that summer and though we planned to restore it much happened after that and I no longer have it but will own another some day.

Anyway, Mopar was put in my veins early, and with the credibility to never allow my heart to wander.  My favorite style was always the Gen 2 Charger.  Always thought of it as the king of the hill when it came to muscle cars.  And now, in a short amount of time, I've come to own two!  Thinking about moving back home to keep the tradition of my uncle and father alive (RIP)!   

[The70RT]

My nephew was working at a veterinarian and the vet had a 70 Mach I. My nephew didn't save enough money in time and the vet sold the stang. When he got the money a girl at his high school was selling a 70 R/T and he bought it. Next thing you know he was Army bound and sold the car to me  I had to get a loan for a 1,000 which i paid 38 bucks a month till it was paid for.

[tan top]

I grew up in a town of about 125 people in South Dakota.  Though it was small, it was well known for racing.  My dad and one of his younger brothers used to carry quite the reputation in the area.  There were two bridges south of town about a quarter mile apart and people would come from all over to race my dad for beer, money, or dinner. 

My dad was into Chevy early on (dragging a 67 camero and circle tracking a modified... with the same engine!) but noticed a local guy who was running a 340 Dart Swinger that was stock and kicking butt and my dad thought, why soup up a Chevy to beat a stock Dodge?  So, he ended getting a 340 Demon.  That's the car everyone came to race.

My dad had great traction on the street and never lost between the bridges.  He also had time records at two tracks in MN and SD for G-Pure Stock-Automatic.

My uncle Mark, who died before I was born and hence my namesake, had a 68 Coronet R/T.  Mark was crazy.  He went through tires on that car as often as oil changes.  Once, his tires were nearly bald so he was going to powerbrake them until they popped.  Well, he ended up gigging trenches in Main Street and instead of popping one of them started on fire!

The stories I've been told about him and that car are countless, and they come from people I've never known before.  I've met people who are friends of my dad and they're like, "You look like your uncle Mark.  Boy, I remember that R/T of his..."  A number of people have said that he clocked himself between mile markers at 165 MPH.     And with some of the stories I've heard, there's no way they could be true unless he could actually go THAT fast.

Things changed for my dad when he got married but he still drove a lot of Mopars.  He got a 66 Coronet 500 when I was about 10 or so, and I loved it.  It was Yellow with black interior, 383 2bbl and a 727.  We'd ride around town or to neighboring towns with some of his old buddies, one with a 65 Mustang, and when mom was away... the boys would play!  The sound of that motor, the force that sent me to the back of my seat, and just the look of the car made me the happiest kid alive.

My dad, despite struggling at the time, gave that car to me for my 16th birthday.     Well, as a downer, a tree fell on it late that summer and though we planned to restore it much happened after that and I no longer have it but will own another some day.

Anyway, Mopar was put in my veins early, and with the credibility to never allow my heart to wander.  My favorite style was always the Gen 2 Charger.  Always thought of it as the king of the hill when it came to muscle cars.  And now, in a short amount of time, I've come to own two!  Thinking about moving back home to keep the tradition of my uncle and father alive (RIP)!   

great back in the day story i fined these storys really intresting , thanks for sharing 

[Tilar]

My favorite car up until the 66 GTO came out was the 55 T-Bird. I just liked the styling of the T-Bird.  Then, Dad bought a 66 GTO with a 389, Tri-Power and a 4 speed that would run a hole in the wind. I remember he used to bet people about the power of that car. He would take a thumb tack and tack a $50 bill to the carpet on the passenger side of the car. Once they started reaching for that $50 bill, he would start going through the gears. If they could grab that bill before he reached 4th gear they could have it. If they couldn't, They owed him $50. Only stipulation was they could not brace themselves. All they could do is bend over and reach for the bill. Everytime they would start to bend over, he would grab another gear and throw them back in the seat. I thought that car was the neatest thing since the shirt pocket!   

He traded that GTO in on a 67 Ford F-100 Ranger and then bought a 63 Chevy Biscane for Mom to drive. When the 68 Charger came out, I tried my darndest to get Dad to trade that Chevy on a 383 Charger with a 4 speed but he wouldn't have anything to do with it. Finally in 69, he traded the Chevy in on a 69 Newport that had a 383. Somehow it just wasn't the same. 

Anyway, I bought my first Mopar in 1973. It was a 1948 Plymouth Special Deluxe. 6 cylinder with suicide doors. I gave $60 for it. I bought a new $20 battery for it. Put 5 gallons of gas in it and got her running. I made it within a half a mile of home when the timing gears or something stripped out and it never ran again.

Since then I've probably had 4 Chargers, No idea how many Dusters I've had, And a few Town and Country Station wagons. I've had more cars than I could ever count but Mopar has by far been the most dominant. Performance and Styling is what did it for me.