Why did YOU buy/like the Dodge Charger?

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

My one kid asked, why do you like Chargers? Was it because of the Dukes of Hazzard? Probably...

But the 68-70 Chargers were/are one of the most iconic auto designs, EVER!

I've had both 68 and 69 Chargers and if I could find another 69 to paint orange, I would... But only for my kids 



What is your reason for liking the Dodge Charger - and which body style is your preference?


Happy Memorial Day - and THANK YOU for all who gave! 

[JT01]

Im 38 and grew up in a Chevy family but the Dukes is what got me into Chargers not just the General but all 69s

[terrible one]

It became my dream car at like 13 when my dad showed me the Bullitt chase scene 

[TK73]

Couldn't afford a '70 Chevelle...

[twodko]

I was always a Chevy guy particularly SS Chevelles. I couldn't afford an SS in the condition I'd want so we bought a 69 Malibu. We restored it with a 350/350/350 and had fun with the car in our early retirement but it just wasn't a BB. A good friend is a diehard mopar guy and had our 69 as well as a 69 'Cuda. The more I read about the early Chargers, their power, styling, nice interiors and becoming more and more hard to find we decided we had to have a Charger both for the car and investment. Sold the Chevelle and started pestering my buddy to sell me his car. He lost his passion for his cars.......the Charger was in storage for 5 years prior to our purchase after he finally gave in. Its fully restored now and, for us, its the ultimate classy muscle car.

[jaak]

I have always liked Mopars, I think it was actually a '75 Dart my Dad had when I was a kid that really attracted me. I always thought Chargers were cool. When I was in high school all my friends were either Chevy or Ford guys, I was the odd on (before everyone had to have a Mopar). Right out of high school I worked with a guy that drove a '69 Charger to work and after seeing one up close, I really wanted one for a project.

Jason

[71wrenchhead]

saw one my neighbor had when i was 11, didnt know what it was, he let me start it on account of i was standing there starting at it, fell in love the moment the engine turned, actually fell in love iwth cars in general at that moment, a week later i had my dads ranger pulled apart down to the block, yeah caught flakk for that one, lol

[leeandgrant]

My dad was always and still is a Road Runner guy. He got a lead on a 68 charger. He went down and bought it as an investment. When he brought it home I fell in love with it. I was ten. It was a blue 68 charger with a white vinly top and white interior. He kept it for a while and "teased" me with it. He ended up selling it. Since then I have bought and sold many 68-70 Chargers.

[tsmithae]

It all started with the white Vanishing Point Challenger... From there, I've just always loved mopars.

[purplechargerguy]

    When I was just a wee little tyke back in the late 60's my mom and dad had an old fury III with a 440 4bbl. I remember my mom smoking the tires more than once in it and I remember the sound and power.  My uncle had a 68 RR with a 383 4spd and that was one sweet ride, Later on a friend of mines dad bought a brand new 74 SE and I began to really dig the style of the chargers.  I bought a 69 RT in 83 but sold it 4 $500 when I discovered the frame was completely bent and rusty.  This was in the days when replacement parts were hard to find so I let it go.  Now I have a 73 SE but still can't wait for the day when I can afford a nice 69 RT.

[morepower]

The only car I remember riding in from 2-4 years old was my dad's 69. When he sold it, I didnt think much of it when I was 5 or 6. But as time wore on, I saw his passion for the car come back. So he picked up a 68 in 96. I was a 5th or 6th grader then...He told me it was goign to be mine one day. He let me drive it all senior year to high school. Then I graduated and he gave it to me. I was like  Rust set in and we put her down for awhile. But we are starting to work her over again. Hopefully back on the road in 2012

[Iron Chef]

Back in high school, a friend of mine named Aaron drove a '71 Charger R/T.  Hemi Orange, Auto, Air, the works.  I fell in love with that car.  Truth was, it was his mom's hand-me-down, and he never seemed to care much for it one way or another.  Went to work at a Dodge dealer after high school for a bit.  Been into Mopars since.

[daytona71]

My grandfather always had Mopars. I wish I had any of the 50's-60's Chrysler cars he had now, always immaculate shape and very clean. I was into stock car racing at an early age, and around 13 years old, saw my first Charger on the Nascar circuit. I was hooked. I had a 68 383 auto for a few years, and traded it in on my 73SE (that was 38 years ago) The restoration has started

[1969chargerrtse]

I was 14 in 69 and went down to where all the new car dealers were almost every weekend.  I still remember the 69 Chargers on the showroom floor. Always wanted one since 69 and love the one I have now.
Simple as that. Still have my original dealer brochures.

[chargermike]

saw dirty mary crazy larry and fell in love with them. and when i turned 16 i bought a 68 r/t. and loved mopars since. i have a 70 500 now. chargers just have cool lines. and am looking at a 71 challenger 440 car now. red with white interior.

[Old Moparz]

It's interesting where my love for Chargers came from since there was absolutely NOBODY in my family into cars at all. To anyone in my family with a car, cars were appliances except for a 2nd cousin on Long Island that had a late 60's Corvette who I hardly knew. When I was about 6, 7 or 8 years old living in New York City, (Manhattan) there were 2 cars in my neighborhood that I remember seeing regularly. One was a '69 Charger, & the other was a fastback Mustang, probably also a '69. Nice cars in NYC were rare, so these really stood out.

To me, both of these cars looked like race cars, & that's what I thought they were. I loved seeing them because they looked fast even parked. The Charger with a huge, chrome, fuel cap & awesome lines, & the Mustang with the hood scoop, stipes & rear louvers. Of course they could have been 6 cylinder cars, but I didn't care. My favorite dicast car that I still have, is a '69 Hot Wheels Charger in metallic purple. Later on I got a set of Aurora A/FX slot cars with a black & yellow No. 7 Daytona that became my favorite. At the time I had no idea it was a real car & had thought it was just some exotic race car.

By the time I was in high school there were 2 cars that were owned by a couple of older friends of mine, the same 2 cars I had loved as a kid in NYC. I got rides in both & still remember it like it was yesterday. One guy named Alan, had a '69 Charger with a 383-4V & a set of SS Cragars. It was light gold with a black vinyl top, automatic on the column, & loud. The other guy, named Rusty, had a '69 Mach I with a 428 Cobra Jet, 4 speed, shaker hood, rear louvers, that was red & black. Rusty was a nut & gave me my first hell ride in a fast car. He also owned a '69 Boss 429 that was all white. I know Alan eventually sold the Charger, but I wonder if Rusty still has the 2 Mustangs?  

So anyway, I've been hooked on Chargers since the late 60's.  

[ChgrSteve67]

The Charger picked me.

Bought it 26 years ago and I have not been able to get rid of it since.

[E5 Charger]

I learned to drive in my dad's 74. Fell in love with it and bought a 74 Charger for my first car.

[pentastar426]

There was an old guy ( about 30) in my home town that had a burnt orange '70 R/T. I was 11 or 12 at the time in '71 or ' 72. I bought a '69 with a 383 when I was 16 in '76. Sold it to a friend in '79 and bought a '70 Challenger which I restored and kept until '92. Always wanted another Charger. I had a health scare in 2006 and decided that I really wanted another musclecar. I looked at second gen. Chargers for months. Finally found a green ' 70 R/T in ' 07.
I've done a full rottisserie restoration on it, it is about 75% done. Can't wait to drive it! This summer I hope.

[Wicked72]

Ive had many cars and the 3rd gen was my first mopar and for some reason that changed everything. I kicked my self every day for 11 years for selling it, in that time period I have many more cars but no mopars, I just looked for the right 3rd gen to make up for my mistake and everything came at once. Got married, bought another charger, and then bought a house. now a new job is on the way so then I can get the loan i need to get the beast moving forward  .

[bobs66440]

The Charger picked me.

Bought it 26 years ago and I have not been able to get rid of it since.

You have to stop feeding it! 

[Richard Cranium]

When I was looking for a first car, I had somehow narrowed irt down to a Road Runner & a Charger (the good body styles, of course). A classmate bought a '68 383 4 speed Charger in junior year & I was instantly hooked.

[Back N Black]

I was 12 years old and our neighbors son came home from the Army and he was driving a F6 green 68 Charger, i was instantly hooked and vowed one day to own a charger. So, i joined the Military and bought a Charger, still in the Military and still driving the Charger.

[purplechargerguy]

Back n Black..  Thank you for serving

[Plum Crazy 68]

There was a kid in the neighborhood who was a spoiled rotten teen.  He had a white 69 RT in 1978.  He got mad one time and went up the street hitting all the mail boxes.  I couldn't believe the power and destruction this one car made.  Saw a few around town and lived near Riverside raceway where we watched them race.  They were race cars to me and I wanted one since the early 70s.

[Kern Dog]

These questions always seem to annoy the guys that hated the Dukes TV show.
Sorry guys, THATS the show that gave the car the exposure that hooked me. I was 13 when the show was first aired. My dad sold new cars from 1971 to 1995 and worked for various car dealerships in  Sacramento including Chrysler/Plymouth and Dodge, Chevy and Ford. He often had dealer cars as personal drivers, but he wasn't interested in the Hot Rods.... he liked big, comfortable cars. He never brought home performance cars until the late 70s. By then, "performance" at the Chevy dealership was a Corvette.(Too small) and the Camaro Z28. I dont remember seeing a Charger until the Dukes TV show.
I REALLY wanted a Charger when I was coming into driving age, but the ones I saw were just outside of the reach of my meager Burger King $3.35 per hour job. My first car was a 69 Dart 2 dr with a 318.

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

I think the Dukes had - and continues to have an impact on people wanting a 1969 Dodge Charger...  It's not a bad thing - just the way it is... 

[elanmars]

growing up in the early 80s in Venezuela, a lot of those cars were still around. Hell, Nacho can tell you guys how they're still using darts/polaras/coronets as taxi cars to this day! but anyway...I also saw plenty of Dukes of Hazzard as a kid...but it wasn't until much later, as I got more into movies, I began an appreciation for older cars and their styling but Mopar in particular...just seemed to have that extra edge in not only aesthetics with the car designs but also in performance. I got the bug for an older car bad and to me, the 68-69 Chargers were the ultimate. However, it was a few years ago when rusty projects were going for a lot of money-so I settled for a 1973 Dodge Charger. I loved it and would love to own a 3rd gen again. the 73-74 Chargers i like better than the 71-72s body-wise...I'd just put 71-72 hidden headlights and maybe the rallye tail-lights and then that'd be the ultimate 73-74 Charger styling wise.

anyway, sold the '73, got a 69 finally, loved the hell out of it, ran like a complete beast. but had to sell it because it needed a bit more than i could afford at the time and i wanted a car with a/c for the baby that was on the way....so i settled for a '69 Charger with a/c haha. my girl is now 2 and loved going in car rides, though i miss my car, i'm very glad it was a death proof-life saver. Currently looking for another one.......

[JPL]

1. It's different
2. One of the Meanist looking cars ever built
3. Hide-A-Way lights
4. Slapstick and/or Pistol Grip shifters
5. Easy ride height adjusting with torsion bars
6. Things like "HEMI", "6-Pack", "Pistol Grip", "Dana 60", "Scat Pack", "Rapid Transit", "Cross Ram", "Air Grabber", "Go Wing", "Track-Pack" & "MOPAR"
Motor wise in no perticular order):
-External oil pump
-Can remove intake without removing distributor
-Can remove water pump without water pump housing
-Once your timing is set, you can remove the distributor and put it back in without worring about the gear, worst case your 180 degress off








IMHO!

[nvrbdn]

at 14 i fell in love with the 2nd gen charger. it was 1970 and nothing looked that cool. at 16 dad said get a job and i will get you a car. i had a job the next day at i hop. dad said go find a car, but it doesnt have to be your dream car. well i didnt find anything i liked all that week. but at church on sunday i watched a guy and his kids pull into the parking lot in a blue 68 with a white vinyl top. the boy told me his dad was selling it for 700,00. i ran to dad and he cut a deal and i drove home in my new car. here she is in 74. bad pic though.

[bajaherbie]

back in grade school i played little league baseball, the coaches son had a road runner and one weekend he took a bunch of us kids to an out of town game... we pestered him to go as fast as it could, i remember looking at the speedometer at 100+ mph.

[A383Wing]

We like the dash of the first generations best...that's what first got me hooked on these cars

[68RT4ME]

I blame my addiction on Troy(hemi68). We've been friends since the 10th grade. He showed up at school in a 68 one day. (He had a '73 before it but I wasn't all that crazy about the brown color and opera windows.) Of course I didn't even have a car yet back then. When he showed up in the '68 with it's new bright yellow paint and black top I was  for it and hooked ever since. I bought that car from him a few years later but it's been gone since the late 80's. I've had a few MOPARS since but Chargers are my favorite.

[charger1972]

I'm from a Ford family.But going to school in Benson Arizona as a kid,every day i would see two superbirds in a junk yard with the tails pointed towards the road/off ramp.Maybe that had some subliminal effect?And yeah,the dukes where a big part of it.

[WhiteLightninn]

I liked the Dukes of Hazzard when i was really young, I am only 16 now, but I didn't really know that the car was a Charger I just thought it looked cool.  Then about 9 months ago I realized that I was about to get my drivers license, so I literally came home everyday and sat on ebay, showing my dad every nice muscle car under $10k, for a few months.  Every once in a while my dad would show interest in some of the cars I showed him, 72 Monte Carlo, 77 Trans Am, 74 Torino, and finally I came across a 73 Charger SE and for some reason he really liked her.  At first I didn't really care for the looks of her because she wasn't a 2nd gen but in the past few months I've realized that she is a real beauty and i should be thankful that i have such a cool car that i didn't even have to help pay for.      


...eventually i will have a 70 R/T though  

[68RT4ME]

I liked the Dukes of Hazzard when i was really young, I am only 16 now, but I didn't really know that the car was a Charger I just thought it looked cool.  Then about 9 months ago I realized that I was about to get my drivers license, so I literally came home everyday and sat on ebay, showing my dad every nice muscle car under $10k, for a few months.  Every once in a while my dad would show interest in some of the cars I showed him, 72 Monte Carlo, 77 Trans Am, 74 Torino, and finally I came across a 73 Charger SE and for some reason he really liked her.  At first I didn't really care for the looks of her because she wasn't a 2nd gen but in the past few months I've realized that she is a real beauty and i should be thankful that i have such a cool car that i didn't even have to help pay for.      


...eventually i will have a 70 R/T though  

Now that's the spirit 

[toocheaptosmoke]

I think the seed was planted years ago, from a friend's family.   His dad had a couple of chargers that were fixed up, and he daily drove a road runner with a 318.  It was literally his commuter car, even driven in winter!   His mom drove a mustang mach 1, keep in mind this was only like 10 years ago or so.   I thought that was the coolest thing ever, actually using those cars as if they were just a "regular" vehicle.  Nobody in my family were car people, to them driving an old car meant that was all you could afford. 

Over the years I've grown an appreciation for the nostalgia of older vehicles, and almost anything cool that's retro/classic/old.     Newest vehicle I've ever owned and driven on a regular basis is a 1984, and yes that was because it was all I could afford...       I try to incorporate using something vintage into almost every thing I do.   I get a lot of enjoyment from being different and showing that just because something is no longer new, it doesn't mean it's dead. 

This leads up to the reason why I recently joined this site.  Having finished school and gotten a job in the "real world"  I've found the need for a new car, to be used as a daily driver replacement for my current pile(s).  I know the sensible thing would be to find a decent used economy car, but that just ain't my style.  So, have decided to live the dream and find a 68-70 charger project, and to actually use it as a daily driver.  I'm sure it will be quite the POS at first, as I can't afford much, but I love projects.   

[Fred]

To me the second generation Charger is the most beautiful looking car ever!  I've also got a 1970 Cuda and a 1970 Pontiac Le Mans and my wife has a Corvette...........all these cars are beautiful BUT the Charger beats them all. I could stare at that baby all day!!!

[UH60L]

Didn't even know what a charger was (or mopar for that matter..) until I saw the Dukes in '79.  I remember reading a magazine article about the show and it talked about the car being a '69 dodge charger, but that they used some '68s too, and I knew I had to have one.

The more research I did on '69 chargers, the more I wanted one.  The shape was cool, the hidden headlights and grill were great, they sounded great, the fact that it just looked fast sitting still......  I had to have one!

To be fair, I like all the chargers made from '66 to '74, but like the '68 to '70 best, and am partial to the '69.  If I had had more money back in high school, I definitely would have had several chargers back then.  They were "giving them away" for "$1200 or best offer" in the '80s.

Ahh, to have been rich in the '80s........

[XS29L]

 Honestly Mom  it just followed me home .  For me Dirty Mary Crazy Larry then I saw Bullit that was it, I had to have a 1968 R/T.  When I was a kid my father was car shopping , we stopped at a Dodge dealer and I remember seeing a yellow Charger '71 or '72 with a blacked out hood I didn't know it then but that day I became a Mopar Guy for LIFE !  OH by the way the old man bought a brand new '72 coronet stationwagon 

[1970Moparmann]

I was a Dukes fan.  Every Friday night, nothing would get in the way.   I liked all cars, but since my first Muscle Car was a 69 Charger, I started to appreciate more and more as there was always Chevy's EVERYWHERE and no Mopars.   

[1970chargerrt]

When I was about 10 I used to go to a local junk yard with my dad once in a while back in the days when you took the parts off the cars yourself.  While dad worked on getting the part I would sit in old cars and pretend to drive.  I found a 68-70 Charger (not sure which year) and thought it was the coolest car I had ever seen.  The Dukes reinforced that although I'm not a big GL fan I have nothing against them.  When I was in High School I worked as a janitor/car washer at a body shop and they did a repaint on a 68 R/T.  I got to drive it in and out of the shop a few times and I loved it.

So, fast forward and today I came within a whisker of selling my 70 R/T.  I had been thinking about selling for a while and a guy about 400 miles away was really interested.  We finally agreed on a price and he came today to take a look.  He was surprised it was B7.  From the photos he thought it was B5 and one of the big selling points was that his dad lost a B5 70 R/T in a fire.  He looked it over real well and we went for a drive.  I told him EVERY SINGLE detail of the car, good and bad.  I wanted to sell the car for several reasons but it's the only hobby car I've ever had and I completely took it apart and put it back together myself in the 90's doing jsut about everything myself.  I know I'll never do that again with my bad back (and I know better now how much work it is).  I like the car but I got into this thing where I was terrified of it getting door dinged or scratched (even though it's not what I call a professional paint job), etc so I only took it for drives and to shows, I never used it as a car which is what I intended to do back when I bought it, a nice summer time driver for a change of pace once in a while.  The prospective buyer really liked it and ended up going to dinner to think it over.  I was going to be happy either way.  He just called and decided not to buy it.  I was happy.  I decided I am NEVER going to sell this car unless it is a matter of keeping my home or basic need's, etc and I've been fortunate to so far not be anywhere close to that in these hard times.  I am going to do the few things I have been thinking about for years, like a new exhaust and a firm feel steering box but I was too cheap to spend the $ on a car that just sits.  Next year the R/T is going to the grocery store and I'm letting the dog ride in it (with a sheet on seat of course).  I'M GOING TO USE THE HECK OUT OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I FEEL GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[ChgrSteve67]

I bought mine in a moment of weekness 26 years ago and have not been able to get rid of it.

Of course with the last 10 years of work I have put into it, it would have to be a hell of a offer before I would consider selling it. I have more time invested in the car than in my wife, but then again I have more money invested in the wife than in the car so I can't get rid of her either. Sounds like a win win to me.

-Steve (Charger owner till death)

[694spdRT]

Dad bought the '68 when I was just a little kid and the rest is history. I remember watching him put the new cam, intake and headers on when I was about 4 years old.

[D13vyl]

Hi there

The Charger is an icon, not that keen on the Dukes of Hazzard version but nothing sounds better to me than a 440 idling at the traffic lights, makes a tupperware jap car tremble lol

R

[Dino]

In the early 90's I was working in a body shop and we got a bright orange Ford in that was run off the freeway (probably on purpose  ) and much of the underside was messed up.  One of my co-workers said something to the effect of 'did he think he had a GL and jump it?'

I had watched the show when I was a little kid (born in '74) but couldn't remember much of it, including what type of car it was so I asked him and he told me it was a Dodge Charger, but he didn't know the year.  He told me there was one in the current issue of a European car mag so after work I picked it up.  Featured was a dark blue 68 with black interior and top with its butt up in the air.  I fell in love right away, it was stunning.  It was the meanest car with the most beautiful lines I ever saw.

I put an ad in the local paper looking for one and got a call a few days later.  Not too far from me a garage owner bought old cars and sold them as is or restored, he had two but one was already sold.  I went over there and arrived at a fairly small garage with a big lot in the back.  Stuck my head in and a mechanic said te boss would be back in about 20 so feel free to hang out.  I walked around the building and saw a dark green 68.  Being European I was amazed at the size of the thing, I thought it would be the size of a 65 stang!

I was just in awe looking at this thing.  The paint was all matted but it showed the lines really well.

When the shop owner showed up he took me inside and showed me another 68, the one I saw was already sold.  I asked him if this was the same car the Dukes drove and he told me the differences between theirs and this one, I couldn't care less, I was in love.  It was a running 383 car but had serious rust issues.  The car had the for sale sign on it with the price and he said if you take it I'll take x amount off, I jumped on it and he dropped it off to my home a week after.  That car is long gone, fast forward to present time where once again I'm enjoying the classic beauty that is the 2nd gen charger.  69 this time.

I did watch the Dukes reruns until I got bored with the same old plot and lousy acting, don't really care to drive a GL but I certainly have nothing against it.  I will say I will never get tired seeing the GL tear up the roads.

Although the Dukes are part of my early youth, I wouldn't say it's the reason I like Chargers.  If one was never shown on tv it would still be a badass car, nothing will take that away from it.  It's just a gorgeous car top to bottom. 

[71charger]

It was always one of my dream cars. One day I was given a nice hunk of cash and was told spend half on a car and the other half on college (I'm 19). So I told myself that I would get a classic car since when I first saw one as a child I told my father that one day I'm going to have me a classic car. So I'm looking for impalas and some starter cars when I saw my car for the right price and local and I immediately called the guy and went down to check it out. I bought it for 4,000 and drove it home. It was a 1971 318/904 with NO rust and some gauges didn't work with a transmission and oil leak. So far I have spent all the money (7 grand) on my car.... hehehe