Where & How Did You Find Your Car?

[HAZZARDJOHN]

Here is my story. In about 2001 I decided, That I wanted a General Lee. I grew up with the show and was a huge part of my childhood. Well We were at a family event out in Northwestern MN. I told my uncle about my wish To do this. He started telling me about some crazy guy he knows has one of those in the barn. I said is it a '69 and he said "Yes I am sure it is". Well the next morning we went out to the guys place and he came out with a beer in his hand wearing dirty overalls. He had an old farmhouse that looked like Boo radley's house. He was a hermit. Well My uncle shot the s#!t with him for a while. Then he brought up me wanting a charger. He said "Hell I got one of those!" Well we went out to his barn and I could see the front end of a charger! But to my Disappointment, it was a '70. But I went in there and looked at it. It was complete and solid in the important areas. The plates said '86 on them so it has been sitting awhile. Well we struck a deal. I had know way of getting it home so he said I could leave it there as long as I need. I came up their the next summer with a trailer and another truck and some winches figuring we would spend all day trying to hump this thing on the trailer. Well when I got there he started it up and pulled it right behind the trailer I was in shock I assumed it didn't run for the years of barn dust that was on it. Well we pulled it onto the trailer and I brought it to my folks house. Their I drove it off the trailer and into the barn. (the first and Last time I have ever driven a 2nd gen charger). Me and some buddies proceeded to strip the front clip off, remove the motor, and gut the interior, in the course of a few weekends. and that is where it sits to this day. Life got in the way. Housing, college first Job, First House, marriage,...etc.

I am working on buying some land and building a new house. When I get my bigger garage I will be towing it home, and doing a restoration on that car.  Some day, Just not today!

~HJ

[BB1]

ebay

That's even shorter; Local car. 

[smasherofall]

I kinda lucked into mine back in 1988. My 72 Demon had just been stolen and stripped so I tried to buy my step-fathers 71 Superbee, 440 6 pak, AG. He sold it 2 days before I had enough cash to buy it  . A couple weeks later a buddy stopped by the parts store I worked at in a 68 Charger, real bad smoking 400 but looked really solid. $400 later it was mine 

[DC_1]

Well my story is a rather recent one and another one of those hard to believe twist of fate. Let me start by saying I am 37 and my first recollection of Chargers was when I was 12 years old. I remember it vividly. I pushed my green CCM bike with banana seat and all up to the corner Sunoco gas station to put some air in the tire after replacing the tube. This is back in the days when gas stations actually use to do work on cars and when they had the air just outside of the door mounted to the wall. While putting air in I looked in the garage and sitting in the bay was the badest car I ever had seen. It was a black 68 Charger RT with white interior. They were putting exhaust on the car and I remember them firing it up with out the mufflers. The thing scared the hell out of me!....Anyways from that day forward I was always a Charger lover. A couple years later when I was 14 one of my buddies got a job at the same gas station pumping gas at night after the garage closed. I use to go up to hang out with him and in one of the bays was that black 68 RT I saw a few years earlier. My buddy told me that it was the guy who owned the gas stations car. His name was above the door so I always knew who he was. ....When I turn 15 I bought my first 69 for $400 I sold the car a few years later and always wanted another. A few years ago I picked up a 69 SE that was from Georgia and in need of a restoration but not completely rotted. Then just before Xmas a buddy of mine was telling me of a pretty mint red 68 RT that was totally restored about 12 years ago but looks like it was done last week. It was always garaged and the guy who owned it only drove it maybe 3 times a summer. He wanted to get rid of it and although he wasn't advertising he was open to offers. I currently live in Toronto and this car was about 4 hours from me in my home town of Windsor. I made the drive down and looked at the car. It was everything my buddy described. I took some pics and even posted them on here for some comments on whether I should buy the car or not. After decided to do it and making the deal I went to the Transportation office with the VIN number to get the vehicle history and make sure there were no liens on the car. I don't know if it is the same in the US but here in Canada you get what's called a Used Vehicle Information  Package. It has the history of the car including the names of all previous owners. On my way to pick up the car I was reading through it and I saw that the guy who owned the Sunoco station with the black 68 also owned this car and was listed as the second owner. Once I arrived to pick up the car I told the current owner how the previous owner had a Black 68 RT at one time that I use to see at the gas station. The guy told me that when he bought the car this car was in fact black and during the restoration he painted it back to the original factory color which was red......I was totally freaked out.......the car that I dreamed of and turned me on to Chargers was now 25 years later mine! ! !......is that fate or what!

[jgbailey57]

I was visiting a friend in my home town of Omaha, NE in January '01.  I walk past the Charger covered in 6" of snow not knowing what it was.  I visit with him and when I leave he flips on the porch light and there are the 69 tail lights staring me in the face.  I asked him what kind of car it was and why he had it.  He's mostly a VW guy and it struck me funny he had a real muscle car.  I was kinda wanting a muscle car and when I heard it has a 440 I was thinking wow, that's a pretty big motor.  I still didn't know much at all about Charger's, and I couldn't really tell what it looked like covered in snow.  He said it was the same car they used in Dukes of Hazzard.  It had been years since I'd seen the show, but I remembered the car.  I asked what he was going to do with it and he didn't know.  He said he was storing a VW at a buddys place but he had to clean up.  The bug was way in the back and the Charger was right up front.  He asked if he'd like to trade cars to make it easier to clean up.  He said he only had $1100 in the bug so that's what he wanted for the Charger.  I came back a week later with a trailer and picked up the charger.  It sat in my backyard for about two years untouched then I got bored so I brought it in the shop to kinda check it out a little.  It wasn't supposed to run but it wasn't locked up.  I figured I'd dump a little gas in it but it came out faster than I could put it in.  I went out to my boat and grabbed the tank and hose from it.  Hooked it directly to the fuel pump and it fired right up.  I couldn't believe it.  Now I'm just trying to finish up a '66 Cutlass convertible for a friend so I can have some funds to work on my car.

[BLACKWOLF]

I went to a local salvage yard one day to buy a 4.3  for a GMC Safari van. i had been interested in finding another Charger for some time. I went back in the office after i loaded the engine in my truck to ask the owner if he had or knew of any Chargers for sale. He picked up the phone and called a salvage yard in smithville, mo. that had alot of old cars. The guy said he would take $300.00 (he was more into custom 50's cars). My parents went up there and put a down payment on it. Then i went the next month and picked it up. It is now in my back yard disassembled. My first 2 cars were a 73' rallye and a 74' se.

this is a picture my parents took of it at the salvage yard.

[Shakey]

Well my story is a rather recent one and another one of those hard to believe twist of fate. Let me start by saying I am 37 and my first recollection of Chargers was when I was 12 years old. I remember it vividly. I pushed my green CCM bike with banana seat and all up to the corner Sunoco gas station to put some air in the tire after replacing the tube. This is back in the days when gas stations actually use to do work on cars and when they had the air just outside of the door mounted to the wall. While putting air in I looked in the garage and sitting in the bay was the badest car I ever had seen. It was a black 68 Charger RT with white interior. They were putting exhaust on the car and I remember them firing it up with out the mufflers. The thing scared the hell out of me!....Anyways from that day forward I was always a Charger lover. A couple years later when I was 14 one of my buddies got a job at the same gas station pumping gas at night after the garage closed. I use to go up to hang out with him and in one of the bays was that black 68 RT I saw a few years earlier. My buddy told me that it was the guy who owned the gas stations car. His name was above the door so I always knew who he was. ....When I turn 15 I bought my first 69 for $400 I sold the car a few years later and always wanted another. A few years ago I picked up a 69 SE that was from Georgia and in need of a restoration but not completely rotted. Then just before Xmas a buddy of mine was telling me of a pretty mint red 68 RT that was totally restored about 12 years ago but looks like it was done last week. It was always garaged and the guy who owned it only drove it maybe 3 times a summer. He wanted to get rid of it and although he wasn't advertising he was open to offers. I currently live in Toronto and this car was about 4 hours from me in my home town of Windsor. I made the drive down and looked at the car. It was everything my buddy described. I took some pics and even posted them on here for some comments on whether I should buy the car or not. After decided to do it and making the deal I went to the Transportation office with the VIN number to get the vehicle history and make sure there were no liens on the car. I don't know if it is the same in the US but here in Canada you get what's called a Used Vehicle Information  Package. It has the history of the car including the names of all previous owners. On my way to pick up the car I was reading through it and I saw that the guy who owned the Sunoco station with the black 68 also owned this car and was listed as the second owner. Once I arrived to pick up the car I told the current owner how the previous owner had a Black 68 RT at one time that I use to see at the gas station. The guy told me that when he bought the car this car was in fact black and during the restoration he painted it back to the original factory color which was red......I was totally freaked out.......the car that I dreamed of and turned me on to Chargers was now 25 years later mine! ! !......is that fate or what!

That is the best story I've heard in a long time.  Very cool!

[41husk]

i bought my 68 Charger from the cars for sale section on the old site,  CudaKen had just introduced me to the sight and I had a 72 rallye clone at the time but really wanted a 2nd gen.  Infact this Thursday will be the two year aniversary of my cars arrival.  I bought it Thanksgiving morning and had it delivered from Nampa Idaho.

[CaptMarvel]

A couple of years ago, I had been passing a 2nd genertion shaped car with a cover on it at a vacant house on the west side of Fresno for several monthes. The gate was locked & no-one was ever around. Finally, I was was passing it after a windy day & noticed the rear corner of the cover had flipped up to reveal bumble bee stripes, an R/T! I kept leaving notes on the fence, but never any response. One day I saw a guy cleaning up and the gate open, I stopped & started talking to him. He said that he had just sold the house & was moving everything out. He had stored the Charger there while he was living out of town. I asked if he would like to sell the charger (a factory yellow/black 68 R/T with 440 & console auto) he said that he had had others interested too, but only wanted to give him a few hundred dollars, and said that was insulting. I asked what he thought was fair, "I'd sell it for 3G" I almost broke my wrist getting my cash out. Turns out he was the 2nd owner & had it since 71. I drove it home that day & it has been a blast! Moral of the story: dont offer people pennies for this old stuff, you are wasting your time. I paid what was still a very fair price (for what it was) and didnt make an enemy either. They are out there, just be ready to part with a couple of thousand when you find one.

[THE COLONEL]

I came across this Charger for sale on here that had some of the ugliest wheels I have ever seen on any car, let alone a Charger.

I seen worse on cars. Got any close up pics of those. I don't think I ever seen any of those before.

Sorry, but I don't have close up pics of them, which for me is good.  They are like old hurricane wheels.

[CB]

a member from the old DC.com board kept his 69 R/T project and sold me his other 69

[triple_green]

I the little nickel want ads under misc autos. Advertised along with a boat and a 86 Taurus SW.

[Charger_Fan]

That is the best story I've heard in a long time.  Very cool!

That's pretty damned cool!

Mine was sitting at the end of a guy's driveway in 1986 with a weathered old for sale sign in it. $1,200 later & it was mine.
This is October 1986.

[Lowprofile]

I found mine behind a old body shop in Omaha, NE  12 years ago.  After taking what looked like 2000 lbs of old parts off of her, I loaded her into my dropdeck 48' trailer and brought it back to Vegas......where she sat for 7 + years, UNTIL MY DIVORCE!
Now, my Charger sleeps soundly behind the barn of my new Wife's home, waiting for me to finally get started on her reserection to musclecar greatness this year!

[Steve P.]

Screwed on E-PAY for 1 and from a buddy in Vegas for my zero rust car..

Anyone want to buy my screw job??

[andy74]

i was driving my 74 camaro,with my son and a buddy of mine,blasting down some back roads one sunday morning,when my son says"hey dad,did you see that old dodge in that driveway?"so we turned around,and i see the owner walking across the yard with a for sale sign!he told me that he had owned it for 5 years,and had only put 4 hundred miles on it,and his wife said he had to sell it.we bullshitted for a few minutes,then i really looked it over,and told him id be back in a few days.i borrowed the 4 grand that we agreed on from a credit card,put a for sale sign on the z,and had my detailer give me a ride back with a dealer plate-monday night she was mine!that was 2 1/2 almost 3 years ago,and alot of ass busting along the way,not to mention getting married,having a new baby,etc.i would only sell her now if i bought a 71 bee,which is the car ive always wanted

[Chris G.]

The time (or money) was right back in May 2002, so I went looking. Hit www.dealsonwheels.com and there it was. The cars come out online first, so I called the guy the first day it came up. A few days later it was sold. Once the rag came out on news stands the guy was fielding over 10 calls a day on it. It was gone before it even hit newstands. Anyways, I never did meet the honey, but here's the first thing I saw. I know some here remember the pic. The other '70 I looked at was OK, but thankfully I turned that down. I am also thankful I bought from a normal human and not some dealer.

Since then I have met great people from here and other places, and also started a registry with Don that is going stronger than ever.   and 70's Rule!  

[General_01]

The '71 Superbee I found in "Deals on Wheels"in 1989. I had a rusty '74 Charger at the time and was looking for something better. I was looking for a '69 at the time, but I also liked 3rd gens. I decided to call the guy and talked to him. I asked if the car would make it to Minneapolis,MN from Great Falls, MT. He said no problem. I told him I would buy the car. My cousin and I flew in with one-way tickets at 9 pm. I looked the car over in the dark . I paid him and we drove it back to Minneapolis. It doesn't have the correct hood or the original motor, but it is a 4-speed car. I have an automatic in it now, but the 4-speed is under the workbench and the pistol grip is stashed away so it can go back if I want it too.

The '69 I found while talking to a guy at a job I used to have. It was 2001 and I was talking with Kelly about cars and I told him I was thinking about selling the Bee and buying a '69 Charger. I said "You know. Like the General Lee". He said he knew where there was a car for sale like the General Lee and it was for sale. I asked if it was a '69 Charger and he assured me it was. "Yea. It's done up just like the General Lee". I couldn't believe it. That weekend we went and looked at it. I went home and talked to my wife for about 10 minutes and called him back and told him I would buy it. Here it is the day we brought it home.

The Charger looks great but that's about the ugliest motor home I've ever seen.

:icon_smile_big:That motorhome has been in my family since it was new. My dad saw it for sale on a car lot on the way home. He wanted to buy it. He called his brother, my uncle, and told him about it. My uncle promptly went to the car lot and bought it out from under my dad. This was 1974. Fast forward to about 1991-1992. My uncle sells my mom and dad the motorhome. A few years later he sold my dad the trailer the General is on. You wouldn't believe the number of people who want to look inside that little motorhome. It has a Chevy 292 6 cylinder motor. It was originally a three speed on the column, but my dad put an automatic in it after he bought it.

[WINGMAN]

I have gone to the ElDorado KS charger show for the past seven years and have become good friends with Rockey Slagel. He was down in Enid OK back in 03 and stoped into sooner auto salvage looking for parts. The old man that ran the yard told him that sooner was a late modal salvage yard and he did not have old cars or parts, but he was retireind at the end of the year and he wanted to sell his 69 daytona that he had for the last 30 years.Rockey took down all the info and when on the way back to KS he and his wife were discussing the daytona and said JR is looking for a daytona. When they got home rockey called my and told me about the car, man i almost fell over. I called the owner the next day and set up a time to go look at the daytona.Next week i drove down to Enid to see the car, met the owner, a real nice man. he took me out back to a tractor trailer box that he had in his back yard, open the door and there was the daytona.Well i am not going to tell you what i payed for it but if i wanted to i can over double my monet today.And the car is NOT fo sale.     

[Dave22443]

Well, I don't know if my story can hold up against some of these others, but its pretty special to me and I don't mind telling it. 

The year was 1982 (I think) and I was a 17 year old driving my dads old hand-me-down pickup truck.  Don't get me wrong, I thought the truck was great (a 1970 Ford long bed) but I wanted something with a little more style.  As it so happened, there was a gold '68 with a black top in town that a weird guy owned. (At least he seemed weird to a 17 year old)  He lived right around the corner from my best friend and one day we spotted a for sale sign on the window.  We both liked the car, so we both went to go look at it.  He wanted $500 for it.  It had minor rust in the quarters and was a 318 auto w/console and had a black interior.  He started the car up for us and it purred like a kitten.  We talked him into a test drive and that was my first experience in a Mopar.  To me, the car rode and drove like nothing I had ever been in before and its funny now to think about it, but I was actually amazed at how rock solid the speedometer needle was.  I remember telling my friend that it didn't bounce when you drove it! 

I wanted the car in the worst kind of way.  I absolutely loved it.  My dad however, was not impressed and back in those days, $500 to a 17 year old might as well be a million.  If dad wasn't helping, I couldn't buy, despite my trying to sell him back my old pickup!    The car got sold to someone out of town (probably one of you collector types!) and I never saw it again.  My heart broke and I felt like I had this big empty spot in my life.  I made a vow that day to one day own one if it was the last thing I ever did.

Fast forward a few years to 1989.  Life had come over me and over time I forgot about the old Charger.  I mean, it was hard to keep thinking about it when that old gold '68 you lost out on as a kid was the last Charger you had ever seen!  I mean, in 7 years I had not even SEEN another '68 they are that rare around here.  Then one day, I loaded up my panel van and headed out on my route to make my deliveries and I swear my heart almost stopped.  (I had to untangle my jaw from the steering wheel)  There in the parking lot of my very own building was the most beutiful sight I had ever seen!  It was half dark green and half primer and the top was showing its age, but I'll be damned if it wasn't a 1968 Dodge Charger looking back at me!

I freaked out.  All those years.  None had ever been seen.  Thought I had forgot about it.  But the feelings of that fateful day all came crashing down on me like it was yesterday.  Thoughts began racing through my mind.  Where did it come from?  Why hadn't I seen it before?  Who owned it?  Why was it here???  AHHH!!!!

So I did what any sensible man would do.  I jumped out of my panel van and ran back into the building, breathlessly asking everyone I could if anyone knew where that car had come from?  Nobody had a clue!!!  I began to get depressed again.  I felt it slipping away.  Surely if I left the car would be gone and I would never see it again.  I had to do something.  I know!  Tell the boss the truck broke down and sit there by the car until the owner shows up!  No wait, can't do that.  Boss ain't stupid and I need my job.  Okay, think Dave... think!  Ah hah!  I know!  I'll leave a note!  "If you ever want to see this car, CALL ME!"  Did I remember to put my number on it?  (checks paper)  Yup!  Okay.  Place note in secure location (obvious secure location, don't want them to not see it!) and wait for the call.

Sure enough, at the end of the day when I came back from my routes, the car was gone.  I rushed home to check my messages and told the wife NO ONE answers the phone but me and oh, by the way, you'll have to cook in tonight, we're not going out. 

Three weeks go by - no phone call.  Depression.  Anger.  Frustration.  Until...

I was standing around the water cooler kicking back one morning before I left to go on my routes and was shooting the breeze with a co-worker.  We'd been talking for a while and I was getting ready to leave when she made the comment.  "You'll never guess what happened to me the other day."

My heart jumped.  But why?  What did it know that I didn't?  Could it sense something???  I casually replied, "Oh?  Whats that?"

"Somebody left a note on my car."

I swear, I thought I was going to explode! 

I couldn't hold it in anymore and without hesitation I blurted it out.  "A GREEN 1968 DODGE CHARGER?"

She looked at me with a really strange face.  "Yeah.  How did you know?"

  "THATS MY NOTE!!!"

Well, the car turned out to be her husbands.  She had driven it that day because her car was in the shop and sorry, but no, he didn't want to sell it.  So I settled for second best, first dibs if he ever did.

Fast forward to 1997.  The phone rings.  Its for sale.  I still have first dibs.  Do I still want it?

SOLD!!!  But you don't know how much?  I DON'T CARE!  SOLD!  Oh.  Ouch.  Maybe I DO care!  NO MATTER!  SOLD!!!

As it turns out, the Friday afternoon when she had gotten home with the car after driving it just that one day, her husband put the car in storage in a local airport hanger and hadn't touched it since.  The rent was due again and several of the guys (also with cars) that were sharing it were pulling out.  He had no choice but pull out too and figured that since he hadn't touched the car in 8 years, he wasn't likely ever too.  When we opened the hanger, there was the car sitting exactly as I had seen it so long ago.  It was dusty, but the tires were still up.  We wet the carb and jumped the battery.  I climbed in and it fired right up!  I drove it home that day with the biggest smile on my face I think I've ever had.  Heck, my jaws are starting to hurt just thinking back on it now.

Driving the car now makes me feel like I'm 17 again.  Windows down, wind blowing my hair, speedometer hanging rock steady at just a little over the posted limit.  I love my car.  Its part of the family now.  And no, its not for sale...

[PocketThunder]

my C500: HLPAG     traded Hans my 55 Chevy for it.  evreyone thinks i was nuts but i dont think so.
my 68: dead relative    after an elder distant relative died of a heart attack, nobody in that family wanted it so i took it under my wing. 

[Charger_Fan]

Well, I don't know if my story can hold up against some of these others, but its pretty special to me and I don't mind telling it. 

Ok, that was a good story too!!

[road/track]

I found my 71 SE original 440 (u-code), 4spd,Dana etc in local add.
I call the guy and said i wanted to see the car, he said he could not show me the Charger for another 2 weeks due to that he would go on vacation (why try to sell the car when your on vacation??) He said he would call when he was back, I assumed I lost the deal but 2 weeks later he called me and said he had a new phone number!! (another guarantee to hide from any potential buyers) I went to see the car and found it under the tar.
I did the MOT test the next day (the car have been sitting under the tar. for several years) but the MOT guy was  LOL when he was doing the road test and she passed without any comments at all.

[Purple Haze]

I love telling the story of my lucky find. I purchased my R/T Charger last November of 2004. I wasn't too sure what I had until this site let me know that what I found was a rare car. I had an opportunity to buy this car for $7,000 and I wanted to know if this was a good investment, so I started researching values. While researching the R/T, the seller had an urgent need for space in his garage, so he lowered his price to $4,500 as long as I would get out within a week. After finding out what I did, I got it out quickly. The tag reads as follows:

26 END
J45 M21 M31 R11 V21 V6W
V1X A34 B51 C16 C55 J25
FC7 C6XW EW1 123 020584
E87 D21 XS29 V0G 183781

The Vin # XS29 V0G indicates that this is a six pack car. This corresponds on all of the numbers on the fender tag, dash vin, door jam vin, engine vin and trans vin. The broadcast sheet was still intact on the back seat. (see pics on web link) This turned out to be the one that matches the car. Since I started taking the car apart, I found three more broadcast sheets for other cars.

Here's the story on the car. This car has been sitting in the garage since 1976 and the guy that I bought it from states that the motor locked up due to sitting for such a long time. The car belonged to my cousin's cousin. I remember the car as a kid in high school. He was racing the R/T and lost control of the car when he hit a parking meter with the left quarter and door. Since he worked in a body shop, he had it repaired at work. As he was working on it, he bought a Firebird and lost interest in the R/T. It sat for years and later was not able to turn the 440 6 pak, so he replaced it with a 383. Again, he lost interest and it sat in his garage for many more years with the 440 motor out in his yard. The six pak set up was stored in his basement, while the 4 speed trans was stored in a shed. The R/T was only a year and half old when he bougth it and drove it for about two years when he had the accident. So the car actually only has 35,597 miles.

The 440 motor was sent to the machine shop and was saved but the heads are shot.

(Pics)
http://community.webshots.com/album/117932981iHZrRJ

Dodge Don gave me some info on the production #s on the R/Ts and this appears to be one of a kind. Even if it isn't one of a kind, I'm very happy with my find. So I'm definitely gonna keep the Charger. I almost passed this car up, but my wife insisted I buy it for investment. But now she insist that we should not to sell it.


Quote from Dodge Don:

"Purple,
Congrats....you SCORED BIG TIME!!!!!

For 1970 Charger R/Ts:

E87 - 440 Six Pack.....only 684 of these were built (7.3%)......and there were only 347 built (3.7%) with the 440 Six Pack and the A833 4 Speed......and only 159 built (1.7%) with 440 Six Pack, A833 4 Speed and 4.10:1 Sure Grip.

So your car appears to be 1 of 159 (based on available historical records).

Other info:
FC7 - Plum Crazy Paint...only 1199 built (12.8%)
C6XW - Black/White Seats...only 1312 built (14%)
V1X - Black Vinyl Roof....4516 built (48.2%)
A34 - Super Trac Pack.....only 394 built (4.2%)
J45 - Hood Pins....3205 built (34.2%)
V21 - Performance Hood Treatment....only 169 built (1.8%)


If you assume the same build % (not guaranteed...varies by colour/option combos)....

We know it's one of 159......if only 12.8% were Plum Crazy then it is 1 of approximately 20.

We know it's one of approximately 20......if only 4.2% had the A34 Super Trac Pack then it is 1 of approximately 1. You can slice and dice the % anyway you want....it still comes up as very rare.

I believe (cannot prove it) that your car, with that combination of options is likely 1 of 1."



Currently

[68ChargerJMP]

My 68 was bought new in 68 and has been in the family since day 1.