Old, Old timers. When you where Bad, what did yours look like?

[69Charger500]

And I'm disappointed that none of your "bad" pictures had these on them for rolling stock.....

I stood up my high school prom date to save the money to buy those bad boys!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anybody recognize what they are???

They were "must-haves" in Detroit in the late '70s............

By the way, I paid more for the tires & wheels than I did for the entire car (340 4 Speed).  My mother cried when she saw it the day I drove it home after I bought it when I was 17 years old.  It was Hemi Orange, with the trademark furry dash covering & carpet, and a sticker in the windshield that read "Gas, Grass, or *ss,  Nobody rides for free"

It had Mickey Thompson slicks on the back, and no mufflers, just straight pipes...  it was loud and fast!!!!!!!!!

[694spdRT]

And I'm disappointed that none of your "bad" pictures had these on them for rolling stock.....

I stood up my high school prom date to save the money to buy those bad boys!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anybody recognize what they are???

They were "must-haves" in Detroit in the late '70s............

By the way, I paid more for the tires & wheels than I did for the entire car (340 4 Speed).   My mother cried when she saw it the day I drove it home after I bought it when I was 17 years old.   It was Hemi Orange, with the trademark furry dash covering & carpet, and a sticker in the windshield that read "Gas, Grass, or *ss,   Nobody rides for free"

It had Mickey Thompson slicks on the back, and no mufflers, just straight pipes...   it was loud and fast!!!!!!!!!

They look like Keystone Classics to me. Still got them on my '68...didn't know they went out of style.

Here they are on my Charger in 1996, I picked them up for $300 with new tires from a friend.

[Ghoste]

Your mother cried when you brought it Home?   What was she, into Fords?   Just kidding.   When I bought my 68 Road Runner I didn't want the folks to know I had yet another old "junker" to bring home so I was going to stash it out behind the shop that a buddy and I were using.   I was driving the car there and less than two miles from my destination, who should I see going the opposite direction on her way to work?   My mother.
Well, I drove the car to the shop and parked it and said nothing.   My mother generally doesn't notice anyone or anything when she's driving and she certainly wasn't expecting me to be driving a car she hadn't seen before.   The car sat at the shop for about two weeks before my father asked me one day, "so, when are you bringing it home?".   I asked what he meant and he told me that my mom had noticed me driving a loud red car one day that looked like my loud blue car (my 69 Super Bee).   I gave him my best confused look and he said he saw it sitting behind the shop that Mike and I were using and that I might as well bring it home and get it on the road.   The shop was full of other "projects" and he knew it would sit there for a long time.

[Charger_Fan]

Anybody recognize what they are???

Nope, not a clue.

This is a current pic.
I got them used in the early 90's. The chrome is more beat up than it shows in the pic, but they look better than what was there before.

[69Charger500]

I still think those Keystones are a "bad" looking wheel on a tough Mopar!!!!  Mine had the universal slots which were a pain in the *ss.  Couldn't keep torque on the rears, the lug nuts always loosened up.  Maybe it was those "6-grand side-stepping the clutch" maneuvers that caused the problem!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man did that car ever run.  It was supposedly stock with the exception of some mystery cam the previous owner had put in it.  Everyone thought it had one of those freak motors that just runs perfect.  Still had the iron exhaust manifolds.  It would "just" pull the driver's side tire off the ground on a hard launch with those Mickey Thompsons on the back!!!!!!!!

I raced a guy one time who had an "unbeaten" 440-6 GTX on the local street race grudge match night up-North back in around '80.  That guy still owes me his title!!!!!!  I'm not kidding.  I was nervous as he** when that race started.  I thought he and his buddies were just bs-ing about racing for titles, but it sure got my heart pounding pretty good.  I know I floated those dual points and the valves when I launched it.  Even some Mopar guys back then didn't know how fast those 340 4 Speed cars were (and still are)......

It got a little sideways on the 2nd gear shift as I almost ripped that Pistol Grip right out of the console (I never let off the gas on the 1-2 shift in that car), and that was the last I saw of him!!!!!!!!

Those guys demanded I lift the hood after the race, because they did not believe it was stock except for a cam.  They left while insisting it must have nitrous hidden under there somewhere, and I just let it go since there were 3 of them and 1 of me!!!

Man, those were the days....

[472 R/T SE]

I let this thread slip by.  I initially tried to scan one of the only pix I have of me with my '68 RT.  I had to kipe it from my mom.  I left it on the scanner when this thread started and the pic stuck to it and ruined it, as shown.

Back in about '84 my buddy and I were cruising lookin' in his '57 Chebby.  It had a built LT motor in it.  As long as it didn't bogg in third, it held it's own against all the kids in the school on our side of town.  We ran it all the time but I don't remember running many Mopars.  They were a wierd bunch you know. 
One night a '68 Coronet RT stopped us and wanted to know if we wanted to go out for "shits and giggles".  We had heard about this car, it hadn't been beat that we had heard of.  His buddies '70 RR was supposed to be bad arse too.  That we knew.  My buddy Dave says, "Yeah right."  I couldn't believe it, Dave was actually intimidated.  The guy in the RT says, "Blew the 440 up, I'm just runnin' a stock 383 now."  We actually fell for it.  We went out to the Experiment Station out of town and lined 'em up.  Dave just ate him up out of the hole and we were gone.  Dave shifted and the 'ol 57 didn't miss a beat and I'm screaming in the passenger seat pumped.  That fast we heard the RT upshift and it came by us like we were sitting still.  Dave's car ran flawless and we just got our ass handed to us.  To say we were surprised was an understatement.  The RT turns around in front of us and stops, "I was just shittin' you guys, it's still got the 440 in it," as he's laughing.  The 440 had been balanced and blueprinted, we didn't know any of this at the time. 

About one year later I'm at the bank, just sold my second '70 Camaro since high school and I'm putting the money down on a you guessed it, the RT that spanked Dave.  I was making good money working in the oilfield back then, but still needed the bank's help for the $2700 price.  He only wanted $2500, at least that's what Jerry Junemann offered him for it.  He needed the cash cause his girl was pregnant.  I told him to save it for me cause I knew for sure of a kid that would buy my Camaro.  I told him I'd give $200 more if he saved it and gave me a chance.  He saved it...

Dave and I raced one time.  I guess he didn't have enough of the ol' RT the first time.  Same thing, he eat me up out of the hole but that car had just gobs of torque and again he got his ass handed to him.  I finally had one of the fastest cars in town.


I never used to let people take my picture and today I regret it.  I was doing my thing in this pic,'85-'86, drinking my Bud Light and the girlfriend snapped this pic.  I had just came from the liquor store.  In Kansas you had to go there to get the real beer.   Near beer in the other stores.
The shirt says "REAL MEN DRIVE MOPARS" and of course the half rack is in my other hand.  The front license plate says, "Bad to the Bone."
My hair was finally starting to grow.  I went to private Catholic schools for the first ten years.  No hair on the collar.  The last 2 years in a public school was a breeze.  I never cut my hair in the back until about 12 years ago when I landed my Operator's Job.   Now it's military cut, funny.

My new scanner still isn't working.  This is my second new one.  I took a pic of the pic, sorry for the quality.  I'll try to dig up some more old ones.  Great thread everyone. 

[Charger_Fan]

My new scanner still isn't working.  This is my second new one.  I took a pic of the pic, sorry for the quality. 

That's ok, I see taking pics of pics is kinda catchy in this thread.
Great story, Mike. What did you end up with after that car?

69Charger500, yours was a good one too. That's one thing I never did do...race for titles. I couldn't bear to possibly see my wheels driving away with someone else.

[8WHEELER]

Great story Mike, you had not told me that one, saved the best for last? I love it, beer in one hand, a perfect T-Shirt
and your ''FIRST MOPAR'' in the back ground    Former SCUMARO owner thank god   

Dan

[472 R/T SE]

These old pix of us Dan are the best ones.  We're standing for a pose.   I miss my legs. 

All my glory days of racing were with the '70 Camaro that had a 400 small block.  It was a big thing back then to want to race for "pinks".  I challenged more than one guy that way.  Luckily they always turned me down.  The Crumaro wasn't all that, but it was quick.  Mentioning pinks always seemed to get in their head tho.  That's how legends are created. 
I couldn't tell many exciting stories.  Honestly, living in that small town all we did was party and look for races so they it's kind of a blurr.

We had a road thru downtown Hays, Ks. called Main Street.  Bumper to bumper for about 1-2 miles with nothing but kids cruisin' back and forth.  It was nothing to stop someone and start BSing and have them tell they just raced my Dad or so and so raced my Dad. 
Pretty funny, my Dad had a '55 210 Sedan with a 283, rock crusher, line-loc.  He got beat a lot but he didn't care, he just liked racing.

After I got the RT I dramatically changed my driving habits.  With the Crumaro I couldn't keep rear tires on it.  I don't know what the fascination was to boil the tires back then, but I ended up with 2 unnecessary tire spinning tickets and a illegal pocession of alcohol in about a year's time.  Wild Turkey under the seat did me in.
My buddies were comparing me to a alcoholic gone sober when I got the RT.  One night they were pitchin' me shit and we were already on the road out of town.  I nailed it and didn't let up telling them to watch the speedo, right under 150 mph.  Here's where Ken and I disagree.  Without being clocked, I don't know how fast we were actually going, I just know it was on bias ply tires.   It was runnin' 3:23's and I was winding pretty good.  As a matter of fact, the motor had a deep knock after that night.   
And that was the last time I drove it until it got hauled up here.  I bought a '72 Rally Challenger 340 4 gear painted in the same factory colors as the RT to thrash on.  The RT went into storage for many years.
I ended up selling the Chally for 2 eight balls  and went over the road to escape the ex and the Johnny Law. 

I outrun a deputy sheriff one night in my '72 Chevy 4 X 4 so they let it be known they were watching me.
I got into a barfight one night and got run out of the bar.  Well tuff guy that I thought I was waited outside the bar for the guy in my pickup.  The bartender came outside and seen me so I split, went to the shop where I was working.  No one was there so I went back out to the bar and on my way they had called the cops and they were heading back.  I could tell by their headlights who they were so I nailed it.  I looked in my mirror and they were turning around but hadn't turned on their disco lights yet.  I didn't care I was already hauling ass.  I came up to the hairpin curve and by the time I was out of it and past that bar into the next town they hadn't even gained on me.  I bailed off into that little town, jumped out of the pickup barefoot cause I was an orange belt in martial arts, and thought I was gonna still kick that guys ass    and took off running across a field and dove under a fifth wheel trailer that had weeds around it.  I lay there and watched that Sheriff drive round and round looking for me.  Next morining I couldn't walk due to all the stickers I stepped on.  Yeah I was cool. 
Stupid, stupid, stupid.  I have the upmost respect for Johnny Law.  Young and DUMB!
That did pretty much sealed my fate in town.  It was time to move on.  As ghoste said, some of these stories should prolly be told in person. 

[Ghoste]

That must be a hallmark of small towns huh?  At least in the 70's.  There really wasn't anything else to do but party and play with cars.  No satellite tv, no X box or Nintendo. Just race and party.
In our little piece of Mayberry, sometimes I think the police enjoyed it as much as we did.  Probably not looking for bar brawlers and people outrunning them, but I'm sure a lot of other nights they were as bored as we were.  As long as no one was doing anything REALLY stupid, they just wanted to run you home.  There were a bunch of nights that me and a buddy would "outrun" the law on the way home.  We thought we got away with it.  Hell, they knew where we lived.  They were just chasing us home and expecting us to stay in for the night.
Although there were a few other times a little further from home when we pulled it off.  Not very smart.

[Charger_Fan]

Mike, you hellyan, you.
I was kinda the same way...I didn't really get it worked out of my system until I was almost 30. If you ask my wife, I'm still not cured.

In fact, I had my brake lights in my truck wired to a toggle switch with a little LED light next to it, so I knew if I had left them switched off. I only used it twice for it's intended purpose.

[Bandit4142]

Well....  I don't have a scanner (or at least one that works), but in High School I owned a '69 Super Bee, 383 mag / 4spd.   Can you imagine... that was the first car I ever got a ticket in!  Exhibition of Speed for doing burnouts in front of the local convience store at lunch!  :p    In '94 I picked up my first Charger, 1970 R/T 440 6-pak, numbers matching car.   Drove all the way to Billings, MT for it and found it sitting in a barn where it had been since '78.   Brought her home on a car trailer.   Long story short, I ended up selling her to pay my then gf's (now my wife's) back taxes on her business.......      I cried like a little girl when that Charger left my house. 

While that sucked back then, now 10 years later, that is the sole reason my wife let me empty out my savings account to buy myself a '69 Charger!!   I can't wait until I get my new baby on the road!   And BTW--  I just bought a set of PERFECT Keystone Klassics to put on her!  :p

[SuBLimE 69]

You "old guys" sure had some badass looking cars......I love the slotted mag pics with the back end jacked up....great thread and great PICS....except the one of Ken in those shorts....that was just damn scary. 

[TruckDriver]

I just thought this would be a fun thread to bring back for the newer members that haven't seen this yet.

[71ChallengeHer]

Good thread , now I have to find some old pics to scan. If I can the scanner to work

[Slowpoke]

Great story CudaKen,
I used to cruise Madison in my 68 just a few years before that
around 81-83.
I had a built up 413 in the charger then but no pictures

[gordo1968charger]

You old guys ROCK

[Steve P.]

Hell, at first glimpse I thought CudaKen was back......

[70charger_boy]

What an amazing thread.  It is also sad to see all the old members that are not on here anymore.  I hope they read this and come back

[0X01B8]

I guess I'm on old guy now?!?!     I don't think I was ever *BAD* though.   

My 1st car was grandfather's 65 Plymouth, this was around '85.  383-2, put headers on it and just drove around smoking weed and listening to old Black Sabbath and taking dates to cemeteries.     Any chance I got I hijacked Dad's '84 Monte Carlo, but the Fury and the 'Commando V-8' never let me down.  2nd car was a 70 Barracuda.  Complete disaster scene of a car that I shoulda never bought.  Had long since quit smoking pot so I have no excuse...passed on a totally decent '67 Charger to buy this turkey   But I learned enough along the way to get me ready to do the resto on the Dodge.

-john

[Old Moparz]

Well, some of the stories on this thread were fun to read again. 

I had since scanned some old pics, so I'll post them here. I never had any pics of my '69 Charger from the early 80's, but here's a beater '70 Coronet "Deluxe" I had with a slant 6 in it. Why it was called a deluxe is beyond me, all it had was rubber floor mats instead of carpet, an AM radio & a heater. I paid $100 for it & only had to put a pair of ball joints in during the 9 months I had it. I traded for for a set of chrome magnum road wheels & $75 to coworker named Jim to put on my '69 Satellite ragtop.

About 2 weeks after he had it, he came into work soaked. I saw him & said, "Hey Jim, what happened, to you, you walk to work in the rain?"

He said "No, the f***ing wipers died on the highway when I was doing 60 & I had to stick my head out the window like a dog."

I was laughing so hard I could barely ask, "Did it help you see any better?"   

Jim said "Only for a few seconds until my eyes hurt too much from the road spray." 

I still laugh thinking about Jim with his head out the driver's window.

Here's a few friends who went with me to Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ with a slant 6 Coronet "Deluxe" model around 1983.


My sister & I around 1984 with my '69 Satellite ragtop that got Jim's chrome magnums & her '73 Dart with a 318.


This one would have been around 1985 after I put the '70 GTX nose on the Satellite.

[gordo1968charger]

I had a pair of pants like that, Todd.

so did bob hope

[Old Moparz]

I had a pair of pants like that, Todd.

so did bob hope

I'd buy CF a cold one if he finds a pic of himself in those pants & posts it.   

[Charger-Bodie]

first picture is from when i was 16 in 1987
second is the same car when i was 19 and thought i needed a hopped up 383
third picture is from 2003 after i tore it all apart and restored it again , put in a 4 gear and a 440 and did the r/t clone thing ....sold it in 2005 after owning it for almost 20 years for a down payment on a house with my second wife.

by the way this is in no way shape or form an addmission of being OLD!!

[BB1]

Before 1983 Junior in HS and after 1986.  Same Charger.