Pictures of my '68 over the last 26 years

[694spdRT]

I got a scanner and thought you guys would like some pictures from the old days. First ones are my mom and sister in 1979. Dad bought the car in 1975 and planed the heads, put in a hot cam, Weiand high rise, and headers. Of course, he left the 2.71 gears in back though.

[694spdRT]

Next two are the 1980 Homecoming parade. You can see the side exit exhausts if you look close.

I forgot to mention I have the Charger in the 1980 and 1982 Homecoming Parade on home movie reels also. In 1982 dad drove the '68 and mom drove their new 1982 2.2 Charger. They made up signs for the side that really ticked off the local Dodge dealer. The signs said "This was great in '68" and  "This will do for '82"

[Charger_Fan]

You can see the side exit exhausts if you look close.

Looks like it's wearing a '68 grille too...yes/no?

[694spdRT]

Next one is my sister and I in 1984 at my grandpa's house. Notice the Widetrack Super 60's and Keystone Mags. The last one is me looking over the car in 1986 while we were in North Carolina on vacation.

[694spdRT]

You can see the side exit exhausts if you look close.

Looks like it's wearing a '68 grille too...yes/no?

This is my '68 that doesn't get much press compared to the '69. 

[Charger_Fan]

You can see the side exit exhausts if you look close.

Looks like it's wearing a '68 grille too...yes/no?

This is my '68 that doesn't get much press compared to the '69.  

My bad. I forgot about your '68.

Those are cool pics!

[694spdRT]

Next two are my sister and I and a shot of the car in North Carolina again.

[694spdRT]

First pic is dad starting a burnout and an action shot taking it up the road in 1986 again.

[4402tuff4u]

Cool pictures! Thanks for sharing. Nice Charger!

[694spdRT]

Next two are my wife(girlfriend then) and I in 1996 at her parents house. By this time I had repainted it, rebuilt the 383 engine and tranny, installed a 3.55 sure grip, and changed over to some 15" Keystone Classics.

[694spdRT]

Here is how she looked in 2003 after I pulled the original 383 and trans in 1999. The tunnel rammed 440 was actually in my '69 Charger when I bought it. I pulled it out of the '69 for the resto and dropped it in the '68. The engine compartment needs to be freshend up and the years are starting to show on the old girl.

[694spdRT]

Here she is all dusty in 2004 after we found metal filings in the oil. I pulled the 440 and the bearings were down to the copper. The 440 was rebuilt and is now back in the '69, although a little less radical.

[694spdRT]

Here she is today....still dusty as ever. Now I have a stock 383HP back in it that I payed $300 for. It had been pulled out of a boat and completely rebuilt before I got it.  I plan to do some work on the body and hopefully get it painted next year. The body is fairly solid, just need to do some lower quarter work due to Wisconsin salt before dad bought it. I want this to be my street car like it use to be.

[Charger_Fan]

Does your Dad still currently have any cool musclecars? You've probably said before, but obviously since I didn't catch the big 68 in your thread title...and the 68 in your pic file names, I'm not entirely with it today!  

[Old Moparz]

Cool photos, thanks for posting them. I wish I had taken a lot more years ago. I also wish my mother didn't lose the suitcase with family photos going way, way, back. Must have been a couple of thousand of them, oh well. 

[Nupe]

Thanks for the cool story and old pics.  Makes you respect just how long these cars have been around and how lucky they are to survive.

[GTX]

Thanks for the cool story and old pics.  Makes you respect just how long these cars have been around and how lucky they are to survive.

Who, the cars or the owners? 

That was really cool!

Made me feel old though, how old were you in those shots in '84?
I wish I had taken more of my cars.

[BigBlockSam]

very cool , thanks for sharing

[hemigeno]

Thanks for the pics, those are awesome!

[HAZZARDJOHN]

That was great Thank you!

[73rallye440magnum]

awesome pics, its cool seeing these cars back when they roamed the streets a little more often. thanks for sharing!

[69_500]

Sweet photo's. Glad to see that my family isn't the only family that took pictures of their cars back in the 70's and 80's. I think we have as many photo's of cars as we do family pictures from when I was growing up. Well in reality its about a 2 to 1 ratio of car pictures being the 2 and pictures of us as the 1.

[Khyron]

Unbelievable!

Thanks for the trip down memory lane

[8WHEELER]

Your Dad had great taste in cars    great pics and history. My Dad came home when I was
17 and said his buddy at work was going to sell his car, well that was 1978 still have it pic below   
My parents were not into taking pictures of cars at all, to bad that would have been great.

Dan

[hemi68charger]

Very cool !!!  Thanks for sharing your Charger's life with us......

Troy

[AirborneSilva]

very nice, I wish I would have kept my 68 when I had it, but you know what they say, poop in one hand and wish in the other - also something about being young and dumb comes to mind...   

[Brock Samson]

thanks that was really really cool!!! 

[Blusmbl]

Awesome.   History like that is priceless.

[69ChargersRule]

Very Nice Cars

[694spdRT]

Thanks for all the kind words. The car has been around so long it truly is a member of the family and I could never sell it. It is the reason I have been hooked on Chargers from the time I was 3 or 4 years old. Some of my best childhood memories involve that car and the time dad and I spent together. The good thing is both of us are still here and playing with cars today. 

[694spdRT]

Does your Dad still currently have any cool musclecars?

Dad started off when he was a kid with a 1963 Sport Fury 383 4 speed and then a 1971 GTX 440 4 speed. Those were both gone by 1973 and then he got the '68 Charger.

Through the years he has picked up some nice cars for a fraction of what it would cost today. Some have been sold or traded along the way. Here are his 2 current show cars. A '71 440 Six Pack R/T in Butterscotch and a '68 GTX.

[dpm68]

Nice history, and of course, a very cool car.   - dave

[AirborneSilva]

Very nice collection!!!  and that's great that you and your dad can share the love of Mopar together.

[Danny Gutierrez]

  Great photos!!!!!  I love seeing the history of these cars!!!

[Charger_Fan]

Very nice collection!!!   and that's great that you and your dad can share the love of Mopar together.

That's great!

[694spdRT]

Thanks guys, it is really nice to have dad involved with cars too.

Back when I was a kid he was gone so much with work and riding around or working on the Charger was how we spent time together. Now I work with him in the business so we are lucky that way. 

[Doc74]

Great story and pics, it's nice to read good things every now and then     

[Danny Gutierrez]

Thanks guys, it is really nice to have dad involved with cars too.

Back when I was a kid he was gone so much with work and riding around or working on the Charger was how we spent time together. Now I work with him in the business so we are lucky that way. 

  I know what you mean.  My Dad was always busy but we always worked on the Charger together.  We argued and fought over the work but I wouldn't trade our time for the world!!

[oldschool_muscle]

The story behind any car that has been with someone since the beginning is always the best. I love the Keystone Klassics btw iv got a pair of those on the way for mine.

[Chris G.]

Very Cool pictures and history. 

[RT DAVE]

I just love that 71.  It was one of about 20 cars that I deemed "worthy" of taking pictures of at the '04 Mopar Nats.  No slight to anybody else who were there, but that car is just plain awesome in my opinion...

Here's my pic:

[Nupe]

I'm a little partial to that 71.   Nice car and the GTX isn't too shabby either!

[chargervert]

I had a scorch red 68 Charger, it was mt daily driver for seven years! I miss it! your pics bring back some great memories!

[charger_72_318]

great thread  
thanx for sharing

[694spdRT]

I decided to blow the dust off this post instead of starting a new one. That way I can follow from the beginning of my Charger's story to the next phase. I moved 2 years ago and my wife and I also had a kid so my '68 Charger got put on the back burner.

This weekend I moved it to the new shop so that I can hopefully start working on the resto soon.

Here are a few pics to continue the now 31 year old story. 

The first two are pulling it out of the garage after sitting for 5 years. Dad's '78 Dodge rollback made it pretty painless.

[694spdRT]

All loaded up and ready for the move.

[694spdRT]

Made it safely to the destination and it is now up on the hoist.

[bull]

Sweet. Looking forward to when it moves under its own power. I love seeing how these cars fare over the years and it's even cooler when they stay in the family.

BTW, since your thread was started almost five years ago I thought I'd update your parade sayings: "This was great in '68,"  "This will do for '82,"  "As sexy as bricks in 2006."

[tan top]

  so whats the plan ?? 

[694spdRT]

so whats the plan ?? 

To be honest I keep flip flopping on the plans. On one hand, because of the history, I would like to keep it close to original. The other hand says 5.7 Hemi, 4 speed, white top, new style bucket seats, and change the interior. I just don't know yet so cleaning up the body will give me some time to decide.

I want this one to drive a lot so that will be the direction it takes.

[Highbanked Hauler]

 You are lucky that you took pictures  of your car over the years, I didn't except for a few when it was done in metal flake but none when I first got it.

[694spdRT]

BTW, since your thread was started almost five years ago I thought I'd update your parade sayings: "This was great in '68,"  "This will do for '82,"  "As sexy as bricks in 2006."

I'd be in heaven if it was finished in 2011. 

[bull]

BTW, since your thread was started almost five years ago I thought I'd update your parade sayings: "This was great in '68,"  "This will do for '82,"  "As sexy as bricks in 2006."

I'd be in heaven if it was finished in 2011. 

Me too. Maybe, but I'm sure I'd use up all of 2011 to get there.

[doctor4766]

You should take some pics of you and your sister in the same positions as you were with the Charger way back then.
Would make a great photo.
And you could put a footnote on the pic saying something like "Time changes a lot of things - but the Dodge Charger's character is timeless"
Meh, I dunno, just rambling...


Great pics btw