Our Chargers, what do they mean to us?!

[Spartan]

I was outside having my usual Saturday cigar and cleaning up some car parts, now dreaming about next spring and how disapointed I was not to get what I wanted to done on her this summer.   This got me thinking, this thanksgiving will mark the 22nd anniversary of the first time I saw her.   In a little over a month I will have owned her for the same number of years.   This got the wheel turning in my head a bit.

I have owned this car longer then anyone else has. I am not sure how many owners there were before me, I know at least 2 (my dad's 67 he is only the second owner), but none of them had her this long combined.   I remember all the little things I did with her, my first dates with girls, spray painting the 1/4 mile on a back alley road we called "the driveway"; the first head turn I got driving down the road (and my dad getting reports of where I had been cuz his buddies knew the only green on green 69 in town lol).   Hauling kegs in college, roasting the tires in drive and reverse with my buddies, doing candy canes in an empty parking lot.   I could go on for all the little things I remember.   The hardest thing was the years it sat, during the hard times that I could not afford to work on her but also being too stubborn to part with it.

Like the title says, what does our charger mean to us, each of us individually?   For me, its part of who I am.   It won't be 100% stock but I figure for the years I negleted her, she deserved to have a few extras she didn't come with to make up for those times.   To me, its a hobby, a source of pride and one of the few things I had from my childhood (al bet a teenager).   Since I finally had her roadworthy, its been almost an obsession to get it back to where she should be.   Every waking moment, if I am not thinking about my family or work I am thinking about the car.

Maybe I don't think about being 100% numbers matching because I never plan on selling it, its sort of an extension of who I am.   Some people still associate the car with me and laugh that I still have it after all this time. She may not be the rarest, the fastest, or nicest Charger but she is mine, and there are a bunch of people out there who would jump at the chance to have it. Maybe down the road one of my girls will take an intrest in it and I will pass it down to one of them but until I am too old to drive, she will be mine.   I don't care how much money its worth, its not about the money, its about the memories, the fun, the crazy stuff you can't put a price tag on.

I have been fortunate, allot of people have not owned their cars for over 20 years, and I am only 39;   I have had this car for more of my life then I have been without it.   I can't even think about life without it, its part of your lifestyle.

Me and someone else posted once before, we don't pick our Chargers, they pick us.   Sometimes I think truer words were never said then that statement.   It may not mean as much to me as my family, but in a way, it is part of the family and is a close second.

What does your Charger mean to you?  

[Ghoste]

Great question.
I can't even really answer it.  There are the obvious things, a sense of accomplishment when I repair, restore, or improve some part of it.  There is the alpha male look at me and how cool I am part of it.  The thrill of going fast or even the freedom of cruising around like I'm not a husband or father.
More than all of that I guess it comes down to the memories I've made in it.  Some alone, but the ones I shared with family and friends.  Heading down to Columbus each summer with my best friend and meeting up with a bunch of other guys who have become very important to me over the years.  Going with my Dad to the dragstrip.  Taking my wife out for supper.  Maybe the things in which it means the most to me are the things in which it's just the catalyst for being with people I love.
But going fast and looking cool are way up there too!

[bluesfool]

I had to ponder this question for a little bit before I replied. I guess for me, it's a mixture of patience, pride, and accomplishment. I was 16 when I first noticed the first gen Charger and for 16 more years after that, I dreamed of owning one. When I finally bought this one, I was as happy as any (32 yr old) kid could be. As a child, and even most of my adulthood, we always made the "economical" choice when purchasing stuff, hence a lot of things we had would break down/apart prematurely. Once I got to the position where I could afford to buy "quality" items and a few luxuries here and there, I started looking for the one thing I never stopped wanting: my big block first gen Charger! I spent 3 yrs restoring it and for the vast majority, I did it all by myself. Call it vanity, pride, or whatever you want, but when I look outside and see my dream sparkling in the sunlight, I am filled with a sense of accomplishment that I can't get from anything else. The Charger is the only thing I have that I can say I did it my way, on my own terms, and it is most definitely built to last!

[71Charger500]

It's a connection of the bond between my dad and I.  When I was younger, we didn't agree on many things, music was about the only thing we could talk about without getting in an argument.  Then I started getting into cars.  We started ritual cruises every sunday in his Chevelle, Vette, Impala, and the GTO and Camaro's that he used to own.  I loved these cars and he loved taking me for rides and explaining things about them to me. We still do these cruises to this day. However, as much as i liked chevy, my favorite car was always the Dodge Charger.  I saw the Fast and the Furious when I was little, and I thought all the japanese cars looked pretty dumb.  And then I saw that charger and I knew that was what I wanted.  He'd had bad expierences as a child with cars, (my grandfather was gone before I met him because of someone else not knowing how to drive), so when he tracked this car down for me, it really made me feel that he trusted me.  He had the engine rebuilt and showed me a lot of things about it that I didn't know, and added a lot of performance parts to it.  He's really trying hard to give me a badass car, and that's really cool.  He helped me get a job because he doesn't want to hand it to me, he wants me to work for it.  I have a tremendous ammount of respect for him.  I guess that's  what this car means to me.

[Charger_Fan]

Good thread.

I have the same type of feelings for my old truck that I've had since I was 16 as I do for my Charger. I can't possibly part with either one.

I had always wanted a 2nd gen Charger since I was about 11 years old. Finally, I found mine in October 1986. It seems like just last week when I took it for it's test drive with the previous owner riding shotgun. It became the family driver (nothing cooler than that car as your family driver) until fall of 1990, when it was officially retired from any winter outings.

In the fall of 1993, during a final evening cruise before going to bed for the winter, I was hit head on by some nameless schmuck. The guy had no insurance & my car was rendered undriveable. It took a huge hit & I found out that people can in fact bend a steering wheel with their bare hands!
Totally bummed out, I drug it home, stuffed it in the garage, covered it up & contemplated it's fate. It hasn't been on the road since that day. My wife wanted to sell it & for a while, after it was deemed we needed garage space, I actually advertised it...but back then, it was only good as a parts car...no way could I bear to part it.

Instead, I hung onto it & slowly collected parts. Two more times through the years, I advertised it for sale when money got tight (some of that from collecting parts )...but nobody wanted to pay what I considered it to be worth.
I have a feeling that wouldn't be the case these days.

So today, after hanging onto it for all these years & even though I haven't driven it further than the end of my driveway in 12 years...I find that the Charger I've got is no longer considered a parts car, but a very restorable fairly rust free 2nd gen Charger (with possible bent front frame rails) & dammit, I can hardly wait to get it done!    

Like Spartan said, it's part of the family & it's definitely part of me. I couldn't imagine life without walking around my garage queen each time I go into the garage.

[RECHRGD]

Cool topic!  I guess one thing that my Charger means to me is perpetual youth.  Whenever I look at it or get behind the wheel I'm the 20 year old kid who bought it new in 1968.  Not that my present Charger is my original one, but I restored it to look identical to it.  It keeps alive the old memories of the numerous street victories that were commonplace back then along with trips to the Irwindale Raceway dragstrip as well as running the old 1/2 mile drags at Riverside.  Also, I remember how my dating potential improved dramatically when I bought that car and find it hard to believe some of the things that were accomplished in that cramped back seat.  All I have to do is slip a CCR or Doors CD in the player and it's 1968 all over again.  No mortage, no wife or kids to support, no cares and premium gas is $.36 a gallon.
Fast forward to 2005 and the present Charger has been in my possession three times longer than the original and has created it's own memories along the way.  I love the way it brings smiles to people's faces when they see it going down the road.  I have hundreds of different reactions from people on the road branded into my brain.  It has been a great social tool for the wife and I to meet new people at all sorts of auto events.  My wife of almost 35 years enjoys the car almost as much as I do (she's a woman and craves attention).  Premium gas is now about $2.79 a gallon, but I'll keep pouring it in the old Charger as long as I can drive it.  I've got a grandson that will have it someday, but it will never mean as much to him as it has meant to me.   Bob

[Silver R/T]

"umm ...ya.. i want some respect dawgs"

[69hemi]

8 years of blood, sweat & tears, long nights, no social life, frustration, angush, pain, suffering, pride, accomplishment, conquest and finally a college fund for my daughters.

[dkn1997]

I an ordinary average guy, average house, average job, etc....

I blend in generally.  charger is one of the few things about me that does not "blend"

[Highbanked Hauler]

 With me it is part of my and its history.I have had it since 1970 when I was 21, it has 50 or so miles at 140mph. as it worked for a living in its early days. Wrecked once like me and rebuilt.You can't buy history you have to make your own and it's part of mine.When I can't drive any  more  my son will  own it and it will stay in the family as long as he is alive and that is his idea not mine.

[JimShine]

My Chargers are the first hobby I have gone into not caring about what i put in as I am not looking to cash out. It has been fun so far. Very few negative aspects overall. I wish I could afford to do more, but will get the same job done over a longer period of time. I am only about halfway done with life, so I have plenty of time to get them up and running and enjoy them.

[Brock Samson]

 Mine is the fullfillment of a dream that began when i was 12, and saw a triple black R/T on the third floor of Leslie Leasing...
I've told the story before about how i went to auto row and sat in all the hot new models every fall,.. and finaly decided a '69 Charger was THE King of the Road,..

The story of what it took to finally get my dream car is an expensive convoluted tail that simple words alone cannotbegin to tell..
I have a story of sheer will-power to make my dream car that some of you can relate to I bet,. I'm known as car crazy here, always have been, yet I can't hold a candle to some of you folks, in whom I'm in awe..

Now my Skunk is a part of me,..  

  I held fast and was willing to give up most weekends and holidays to scrounge parts and work a second job to afford the expensive stuff, I had the vision and saw my '69 as a full sized model car like the dozens i built in my youth...

I put up with the snickers behind my back from arrogant ass holes at car shows when my R/T had a small block.. while i searched and saved for my eventual 440 6-pack...
and...
 
...I know i will forever appreciate mine alot more then the kids down the block who's parents bought them a new BMW M-5 to go to H.S. in..

horses for courses...       


  ttp4.pixagogo.com/S5HObAqNDlbjQGSOasLSdIMkZuXVRVBi3bjrqhoQmun559qvZ4p6ydr3iwu7cn1pvgN6Gw9rPxUw8ke7zJr3EJ6TcCZM2MQebDRyLyLPq8rPs_/JK_Catalyst2.jpg[/img]




http://www.warbird-photos.com/Pre-Airshow2003/images/PICT0540.JPG


http://www.fairechaser.com/images/knight.jpg


http://artur54.no.sapo.pt/images/sr71.jpg

http://www.air-and-space.com/20040621%20Mojave/DSC_1362%20White%20Knight%20N318SL%20SpaceShipOne%20N328KF%20right%20side%20taxiing%20l.jpg

http://nessus.gunslingers.org/2003-09%20-%20North%20Carolina%20Beach%20and%20California%20Hiking/0035%20Flying%20To%20NC.jpg

http://www.spoothe.com/2001/art/slim_pickens_bomb.jpg

http://tylerzander.com/images/slim.jpg

  git the picture?..  

[Johnny SixPack]

I would if you used the [ img ] & [ /img ] tags.  

[Brock Samson]

didn't work,..   infact it screwed up the link...  
you'd be better off just clickin the damn link,.. O.K. 

[Johnny SixPack]

didn't work,..   infact it screwed up the link...  

It looks like the beginning of the link got cut off on that first pic, but here's the others:











Three were a bit big so I resized 'em.

[Brock Samson]

 well anyway,. Johnny's riden in the skunk and i think he will agree a ride in her is much like the photos..

[img]http://members.lycos.nl/songman/pegasus%20(24).[/jpg]

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://members.lycos.nl/songman/pegasus%2520(1).jpg&imgrefurl=http://members.lycos.nl/songman/s16.htm&h=394&w=307&sz=14&tbnid=soVcFXgbnmYJ:&tbnh=120&tbnw=93&hl=en&start=275&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpegasus%26start%3D260%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN

[Johnny SixPack]

Yep, proud to say I got to see San Fran from the seat of a Charger.



Rode in the Skunkenstein the day they picked my Charger to haul 'er home to Texas.  



Thanks again, Strat!

Good times, man.

Sorry for the hijack!

[Brock Samson]

 tis o.k.  

 

'ow about this as a mural on the hood?. 

[Ghoste]

Hey Strat, those pics remind me of what I tell a buddy of mine with one of those Fords with the little horsie on the grille.  A Shetland pony is fine for hauling cabbages to market, but if you're going to war you better get a fine Arabian.

What's that t-shirt say?  "Scars are just tatoos with better stories" or something like that.  Sounds like we all have a few Charger scars on our hands.

[6670charger]

This is a cool topic.  I have often thought about the very same thing.  I've owned my car for 17 years.  I've had eight or nine other cars as daily drivers during the same time period.  This is the only car I've ever owned this long.  I've learned everything I know about restoration from restoring her.  I used much of that knowledge to restore a second Charger that I've since sold out of necessity, but, plan to replace as soon as I'm able.  My car is not a numbers matching car, and I don't care.  I like her just the way she is.  I love driving her more than any other car I've owned.  I've gone through some headaches and frustrations, almost like dealing with a child in some respects.  Although she isn't more important than my family, in many ways she is very much a part of it because she is part of who I am.  I had her long before I ever met my wife.  I'll probably pass her on to one of my children also. 

[myk]

To many a car is just a car; the same can be said of many of the members in this forum.  I've had my Charger for 11 years now and I definitely feel that it is a major part of my life, like family even.  Honestly, I could not or would not imagine a life without it.   Sure, it's not a numbers matching hemi 4 speed triple black blah blah blah, but it's still my Charger and I love it...

[NYCMille]

Man, this car is SO many things to me.... Freedom, Therapy, Escape, Power, Coolness... and a big overall "F*CK-YOU" to conventionalism....

I friggin' love my car.

[41husk]

This thread got me thinking, I have owned my Challenger for 25 years last month and all I can think is "damn Im gettin old"

[bull]

This is the only car I would alter my life to this degree over. There are very few things in life that I would spend this much money and time on to the degree of getting a 2nd job to afford it and working on it for hours each week on my days off. It's a big dream for me to be able to have a good looking, strong running '68 Charger. I wouldn't do what I've done for a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Challenger, nothing. To me this is the best car I could ever own. It's funny how much I took it for granted when I was 18 and was driving my '70 every day but even then I knew how hard it was to find parts for these cars. I used to worry about a bird or something flying into my grill even back then. And all I saw then, like today, was Mustangs and Camaros so I knew it was unique. It's weird that the 2nd gen is the only car I've ever seen and thought to myself that I would do just about anything to get one. Even when I saw my first Charger on the Dukes of Hazzard at the age of 13 or 14 I knew I would own one and I asked my dad what it was. Then, when I got into middle school I saw the '70 I eventually bought on my school bus route. I bought it when I was 15 for $300 I think and we limped it home and I loved it from day one. If I had a place to store it at the time I was 25 I would have kept it but it was my daily driver for over 10 years and the only thing that ever went wrong on that thing was the carb, the right front brake drum, the starter and one of the lifters got stuck. That's the only mechanical problems I had with that car in 10 years of driving it hard.

[Doc74]

I've been working on many types of cars for over 15 years now, from frame off resto jobs to custom to collision work and all related, I've seen the worst cars and I've seen the greatest and always have been lucky enough to drive the wildest rides around BUT nothing will ever come close to the charger, for me the 69 with the 68 being extremely close is the greatest car ever made. Which is funny since i drove a 68 for 5 years and drove the 69....never. 
Now it's not just about being pretty or anything, I mean there's cars out there that make my jaw drop, not dang ferrari's, don't see the attraction in that but there's some astons around I like, few special cars out there that make the blood run faster.
Still no matter how much power, looks and rep they might have, I still wouldn't trade my rusty project charger for a one of a kind supercar (i'm not going into the sell it, buy 50 chargers thing, you know what I mean) .
And for me it all comes down to one thing..CHARACTER.., just like in music, you can hear something and say yeah it's not bad, but does it make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end? The charger does that to me, seeing it is falling in love every time, it has so much character it will never go out of style, it only increases it's cult levels every day.
With difference in paint, trim and rims you can have a gorgeous classic, a superb daily driver, the meanest monster on the planet and even a tv star !  The sky's the limit.
I remember walking into my garage looking at the charger and the longer i stared at it, and this may sound weird, the more I felt it was staring back at me and it made me small, it's only a car, from a company I never really had any affection for but it all doesn't matter seeing it, it looks fast standing still, it's huge, it's got more power than many can handle and it's here to stay.
There will always be priorities and loved ones will always come first but I will do anything I have to, to keep that charger close to me.
Let's face it ladies and gentlemen, we have charger fever, now stop fighting it, there's ricers out there that need a lesson from a car with a soul. 

Oh and btw, since I had no closure yet  I will never accept the new charger as one of the family, I don't care about who drives it, my best friend can get one, fine but if I see one on the road and he gives me the thumbs up, I'm not gonna be a hypocrit and return it, it's a soccer mom dime a dozen car no matter what name it's got. People who are trying to convince themselves' it's not that bad'...go have a look in your garage again and rethink that 

EDIT: forgot this...unless it's snowing heavily, icy, I'm broke and need to feed 5 kids or I lost a leg....the charger is for driving, it's what it's made for and I could never leave it in the garage and drive a damn honda or something. I understand not driving, or not daily anyway, a real rare car but that's something I want to know...people who only have those too expensive to drive chargers...don't you want a stock 318 charger or so to drive around in??? I mean how do you go from a charger to anything else without feeling a bit depressed ? 
It's probably just me.