Where & How Did You Find Your Car?

[Shakey]

My hunt for a '69 Charger R/T started around September 2004 as I traveled on business throughout the United States.  I have customers all throughout the Southern part of the country and I figured I would find a relatively solid car, ship it back to Canada and restore it.  After about 3 - 4 months of searching I told my Father and my Father-In-Law what my intentions were.  Both agreed that since I was the Father of a Child that was less than a year old, it would hardly be fair to spend the next few years of weekends building a car.  Both had suggested that I spend more money than I budgeted for to find a complete car or a project that was in its final stages.

My Father-In-Law called me later that night and said he had found three Chargers all within an hour from his farm.  One fella (a Professor) had a green '69 R/T that he was almost finished but had run out of time and money because he was going through for his PhD full time.  He had five other Mopars including another '69 Charger and was willing to let the green one go.  We made arrangements to look at it in January 2005.  Turns out to be an R/T SE that was almost finished and mostly complete.  Made an offer a few weeks later and put a deposit down a couple weeks after that.  It was tucked in a barn at the rear of the property so we had to wait until April to get it as the snow was just too deep.

So folks,

How did you find your car?

Where did you find your car?

P.S. - I didn't think that the story was that long until I had to type it out.

[viper r/t]

Well let's see, it all started about 3 or 4 years ago. Me and my dad had been looking around for awhile, with one of my dad's friends. We actually found alot of chargers all over Kentucky, but they were either rotted to crap, not for sale, or the owner's are going to fix them some day . So I had almost gave up, until January of last year, my uncle decided to go with us and see what all he could find, that was actually worth bringing home. Originally I was wanting a charger that wasn't completely done, that I could make a general lee out of, but anyway we had found two charger's actually local and one was for sale. It was originally a 68 charger but they said it sat out in a field for years and somebody swapped VIN'S to a 69. It was primer gray, grille was gone, front valence gone, pretty much all the good stuff for $8,500. So we decided to talk more with the guy who said he didn't want to sell. Somehow we finally got him to price the charger, it was a Viper blue 68 charger completely #'s matching, original A/C car, console, the works. The car was completely restored, and by night fall we had the charger in the garage. All together I'd say the charger that I got was found less than 10 miles from my house....

[WM23N1]

By Terry Patrick

I had been looking for a 1971 Super bee for many years. When I was about 12 or 13 I was just getting into cars and the dodges and plymouths seem to have the most impact on me. I remember a yellow '71 Super Bee sitting in a field a few miles from my house that really got my attention. It was parked in front of a guys shed with 2 other chargers. It had a pistol grip 4-speed and the standard Super Bee hood. As time passed by the car was never for sale and eventually the guy did paint it and moved off.I had always wanted one but never could find one closeby.I met up with a guy at a doctors office one day in july of '99 who drove up in a nicely restored '72 duster 340. I struck up a conversation with him and I mentioned how I really wanted a '71 Super Bee. As luck would have it he had one sitting in his yard he wanted to get rid of. I followed him to his place and there it was sitting behind his workshop.I looked it over to make sure it was a legit Super Bee. Sure enough it had the WM23N1 vin plate and the yellow super bee emblem on the dash.He was not asking too much for the car but i asked if he would trade it for a decent RUNNING '71 satellite.The deal was made and off to my house with the bee.It has power disc brakes and the valence with the cutouts(the chrome tips were in the trunk). It was missing the hood insert but thanks to Tony D'agostino and Jerry from J&J parts i now have 2 of them.The car shows about 55000 miles and the last tag on it was from 1977.I found an old bussiness card inside it from a local wrecker service and when I asked someone from the wrecker service if he recognized the car, he did. He told me who owned it at one time and where he was from.The car currently sits in my backyard under a cover partaily stripped,blasted,and waiting on me to get around to working on it someday soon, I hope.

[70charginglizard]

Not to make things look simple, but

Local area e-bay search.

3050.00 bid.

Done.

[694spdRT]

I have the High Performance Mopar magazine right in front of me that my wife found the ad in from May 1991. I remember it like yesterday because it was so out of character for her to point out cars to me. I was not even looking for another Charger at the time. She said this one looks like a good deal it is a '69 R/T 440 red and black.....I called on it that day and bought it the following weekend. When she complains about how much money it cost to restore it I just say "Don't blame me, you're the one that found it!"  

Looking back at the ad now it was a little misleading. The "good" body was fair at best, the "excellent" interior was out of a '69 GTX, the "original" paint was there just under one or two other coats, and the 4.10 Dana was really a 3.54. Oh well, it was a red and black R/T 4 speed and that was all I cared about. The only thing I do regret is not buying a lot of the other cars that were also for sale in there.  

[jaak]

I had been lookin' for one a couple of years, had one sold out from under me, and some were priced too high for their condition, I thought,
Then one Sunday afternoon, a nice day in 99, I was bored so I filled my truck up and just went riding around to see if I could spot one anywhere....I done this every so often.  Well I ran across a 68 XP Charger sitting in a yard with about 6 other mopars, I stopped no one was at home, Then I rode on a little further saw a 69 RT at a closed service station, I wrote the number down off the sign on station, Called monday, went back up there on Tuesday with cash in hand.

[RD]

short and sweet, its been in the family since 1975.

[TruckDriver]

Two years ago, when I really wasn't looking for a Charger at the time. I was chatting with a guy who I chatted with for a few years. We were chatting about his old Mopars that he had. He said he still had a Charger that he wanted to sell cause the neighbour kids wanted to use it as a demo derby car and his wife didn't care for the 3rd generation body style. He had bought it cause he got it from a friend of his, and his friend hadn't driven it since the mid 80s and was using it for storage. We kept on chatting and after about another 15 minutes went by, the light in my head turned on. I even had to scroll back to re-read about him saying he had a Charger. So, I asked him about it, he told me what it was and a few of the options, and that he did a in car re-build of the engine. Before he could even finish, and before I ever saw any pics of it, I told him he sold it. He said "I want $2,500 for it", and I said sold, sold, sold. About a week later, he sent me about 20 pics of the car the way it was sitting in his yard in Golden Valley Arizona. Also with the email and pics, he said, "I decided you can have it now for $1,500. cause I rather see this car be restored then just sit". Well, needless to say, I sent him the money. I first got to see it for the first time in person last August '05 when it finally got delievered to me. Except for the trunk floor (which leaked and had a old shag rug in it on the passenger side),  and the very minor surface rust where the vinyl top was, it is totally rust free. The doors close like a new car yet even. I hope to get it running this year.

[derailed]

I had been searching for a 67 GTO for a couple of years and kept finding alot of over priced junk. Ive always been somewhat of a mopar fan as well and found my car in Hemmings in PA while I was looking at a GTO down there so I figured id look at it as long as i was there.  A week later I was bringing it home on a trailer.

[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 beleive 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.

[General_01]

Here's an overhead of the Bee, my wifes Vette and my cousins Fairlane.

[hemihead]

Worked in a salvage yard in 91 passed on it when it came in.The boss's son who worked with me bought it.10 years later i bought it off another guy.Doing a restification presently. 

[Nupe]

My friend Randy found my R/T for me.     Actually about three times.  His brother's neighbor who knows only a very little about Mopars kept telling him of a 71 R/T "original 340 six pack car".  They blew it off until one day they called his card on it to see if there was even any car at all (has a way of making things up).  Randy was brought to some old trailer and immediately noticed the R/T hood.  Did a quick check of the VIN and it was real and a pistol grip. 

Ended up getting moved to a couple more locations until Randy's mother noticed the car down the street from her house.  Knowing plenty about Mopars from her sons  , she told her son who told me.  I ended up getting it after a week of trips to the house and dealing with the crack head owner.


Sure is hard to try and act like a car isn't worth much, yet try to get it quickly enough before someone else finds it.   

[rare69]

actually grew up just down the street from my car. when i was five or six i used to ride my bike by a yellow hot rod and would slow down or stop and look everyday. when hot rods became more important i knew a few guys who had inquired about the car but it wasn't for sale.finally, thirty years later i stoped buy the old guys house and told him about growing up addmiring the car and told him i wanted to restore it to its former glory. and low and behold he said OK but not cheap.but i don't care i wouldn't sell it for anything it is the car that started the whole thing for me.

[Charger Aficionado]

  eBay for me too...  The R/T SE was local, so I went to look at it.  Orig sheetmetal and Power Windows were what sold me.  I was high bidder at $6,300 (pix were VERY BAD) and reserve wasn't met, so I went to see and made a deal  (Long before prices spiked).

[Silver R/T]

Jesse spotted it and Ive bought it when I heard about it from fastbackJon

[bull]

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 beleive 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.

My first Charger, a red and white '70, was on my school bus route when DOH was in full swing. When I turned 15 I told my dad I wanted to buy it so we went and paid down something like $350 for it and took it home. I drove that car for 11 years.

I got a green '68 R/T when I was 18 for $50, kept it for a few months, chased down a previous owner on the other side of the state to file for lost title and then sold it back to the guy I bought it from for $500.

My current '68 I got after searching all over the US and Canada for nearly two years. I did a lot of screwing around before I finally talked to the right people and found it within 15 miles of my house. I did look at several Chargers before that but they were all '69s. I had to have a '68. Actually, I take that back. I did find one '68 for sale but it had no title and looked like a hlpag car.

[Charger_Croatia]

I didn't, forum member ipstrategies found this one for me.  Thanks Russ. 

I have spent a lot of time on-line on different places while looking around. Maybe I would ran into bad deal but thanks for old site and Troy (hlpaq warning) I decided to wait.
Despite nasty look this car is very solid, could be easily daily driver but I decided to restore it. My first run will wait for a while. 

Here is the first photo of of her where she was found.

[69Charger_440]

Here is kind of a long story, but I am writing this for those who are hunting for their dream car and who think that there are no longer any deals out there.  Also to prove that things happen for a reason and good things come to those who wait.  Anyhow, after seeing some cars on Ebay go for more than what I would have paid, I decided to start looking locally.  Well actually my brother was looking for me since I was in NM at the time.  Anyhow, one day he called me and said,"that there was this '68 about a mile from my house."  He told me that he would stop by and ask the guy if it was for sale.  I believe it was a Thursday.  Well he tried going over to this house all weekend so he could talk to the guy, but no one ever answered the door.  On Monday, he tried once more in the afternoon, and the guy who answered the door was pretty friendly.  He told my brother that the car wasn't even his.  He said he bought that house, and the owner of the Charger asked him if he could leave it there for a while.  The man said that it had been close to seven years since he last saw the owner of the Charger.  So that Monday morning, for whatever reason, he called a friend of his who had a tow truck and asked him to tow that car out of his yard.  The man said he would have given it to my brother if he had known he had wanted it.  So that's that.  According to my brother it was in pretty good shape.  So anyhow,  I was pretty bummed out since it is not everyday one gets a chance to get a free Charger (I would have worried about all that legal stuff later).  Anyhow, I was thinking about giving up on my dream and pouring all the money I had planned to drop on a Charger into my '01 Dodge Ram, with the 5.9 if anyone is curious to know what it has.  So anyhow, I decide to place an ad in my city's paper just for the heck of it, also a Thursday.  Well on Saturday, my brother called me, and said this guy called saying he had a '69 R/T for sell. I'll have to cut this a little short, it's 2:48 A.M., and I am tired .  Anyhow, after my brother sent me pics, and after telling me the guy wanted less than $6,500 for it, I told him right there and then I would buy it.  It runs and all, but the only thing bad is the roof.  Lucky for me I already have a replacement roof panel .  So that is my story.  Now some pics!!         

[69Charger_440]

Here is kind of a long story, but I am writing this for those who are hunting for their dream car and who think that there are no longer any deals out there.  Also to prove that things happen for a reason and good things come to those who wait.  Anyhow, after seeing some cars on Ebay go for more than what I would have paid, I decided to start looking locally.  Well actually my brother was looking for me since I was in NM at the time.  Anyhow, one day he called me and said,"that there was this '68 about a mile from my house."  He told me that he would stop by and ask the guy if it was for sale.  I believe it was a Thursday.  Well he tried going over to this house all weekend so he could talk to the guy, but no one ever answered the door.  On Monday, he tried once more in the afternoon, and the guy who answered the door was pretty friendly.  He told my brother that the car wasn't even his.  He said he bought that house, and the owner of the Charger asked him if he could leave it there for a while.  The man said that it had been close to seven years since he last saw the owner of the Charger.  So that Monday morning, for whatever reason, he called a friend of his who had a tow truck and asked him to tow that car out of his yard.  The man said he would have given it to my brother if he had known he had wanted it.  So that's that.  According to my brother it was in pretty good shape.  So anyhow,  I was pretty bummed out since it is not everyday one gets a chance to get a free Charger (I would have worried about all that legal stuff later).  Anyhow, I was thinking about giving up on my dream and pouring all the money I had planned to drop on a Charger into my '01 Dodge Ram, with the 5.9 if anyone is curious to know what it has.  So anyhow, I decide to place an ad in my city's paper just for the heck of it, also a Thursday.  Well on Saturday, my brother called me, and said this guy called saying he had a '69 R/T for sell. I'll have to cut this a little short, it's 2:48 A.M., and I am tired .  Anyhow, after my brother sent me pics, and after telling me the guy wanted less than $6,500 for it, I told him right there and then I would buy it.  It runs and all, but the only thing bad is the roof.  Lucky for me I already have a replacement roof panel .  So that is my story.  Now some pics!!         

more pics

[TheGhost]

I had just gotten a new digital camera, and decided to go on a Mopar hunt.  Found a couple third gen Chargers, and a few other Mopars, but, on the way home, I spotted the taillights of a 67 Barracuda in a driveway.  I had been halfheartedly searching for a 2nd gen Barracuda online for a couple weeks, so I decided to stop and ask if it was for sale.  The guy said "Make me an offer".  4 weeks and $4000 later, she was sitting in my driveway.


I think the original thread I made when it happened is on this site, actually.

EDIT:  Found the thread.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,1133.0.html

[Jon Smith]

picked both cars up locally, which is probably fairly unusual for someone from england
the 72 rallye was at a dealer
i turned up the 69 a few miles from my house within a couple of days of deciding i wanted another car

[THE COLONEL]

Well, one of the very first Chargers I looked at, in 2002, just to see what was out there, and pricing at the time,  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.   The guy was in Alabama and I was in Pittsburgh, and was not ready to buy at the time, but the picture of those wheels just stuck in my mind.   Here is a pic:



After searching for a couple years, and having some money now, I came close to getting a few off of eBay only to lose in the last seconds, but I always kept searching on this site too.  Well I came across a Charger on here that, to my knowledge, was for sale for only a few months.  I kept going back to it, and decided to call the guy and talk to him.  To make a long story short, I decide to make a deal to buy it, sight unseen other then GREAT PICS he had.  So I get my fathe,r and his trailer, and we travel from Pittsburgh, PA to Foley, Alabama.  We look at the car and I decided I wanted it.  So we load it on the trailer, and the guy gives me all the pictures he had when he documented its restoration.  We make the deal and leave on St Patricks Day in 2004 with it.  About a half hour down the road I decide to look at the pics he gave me.  Low and behold, there is that same Charger with the ugly wheels I saw when I first started looking.  I was in shock.   It was for sale off and on probably for two years, and I still end up with it.  It is amazing how things sometimes work out.  I really feel the car was saved for me by some miracle until I had the money to buy it.  When I saw the pic of the Charger with the ugly wheels, I knew I made the right decision on buying it, and that it was for me.

So now it was time for a name.  The car was yellow, so I was thinking Big Bird and stuff like that.  I also thought about Colonel Mustard from "Clue" because it was yellow.  The Charger also had a horn in it, which is the "Charge" theme, something a Colonel might blow in the army years ago.  So that is how I came up with the name "The Colonel".

[nh_mopar_fan]

Saw mine on Ebay. Spoke to the seller but didn't bid. When reserve wasn't met, I made him an offer, he took it. We flew out and drove it home.

[TruckDriver]

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.