Why Mopar?

[bobs66440]

I think most will agree that most Mopar people are very loyal to the brand, and some can be, well, a little obsessive. Much more so than say, Ford or Chevy people.

I am curious. What was that one moment in your life that made you a Mopar (Charger) person?

Especially you members from overseas. You must REALLY love Mopars to go through all the trouble and expense to obtain/maintain one. What's your story?

[Alaskan_TA]

Why breathe?

Some things just happen. 

[Slowpoke]

I got my love for mopar's early. I learned to drive using the family's 1968 Fury III wagon, 383 four barrel. 
Nothing like smoking the tires Thu an intersection while driving the family to church. 

[vancamp]

for me it was growing up in a chevy and ford town no one drove dodges or plymouths when i got old enough to drive i wanted something a bit different then what everybody else had.

[el dub]

Because mopars rule!

[Brock Samson]

  Always seemed the rarest and coolest cars were the Mopars of my childhood...
There was a '61 Imperial right up the hill and a New Yorker and '65 300 but the absolute clincher was the new '66 Turbine Bronze Hemi GTX which I heard long   before it came into view.  

[xpbprox]

I'm relatively young so I got my influence from the show Burn Notice, he had a nice clean 3rd gen.
Also the fast and the furious movies with the 70.  I also converted my dad into a mopar lover, he grew up with low riders and bombs slammed to the ground, he was a bit of a "cholo" now he's all into muscle cars especially mopars

[JT01]

2 things got me into Mopars the Dukes and my neighbor had a 72 Cuda that I really liked. My mom and dad always had 2 gen Camaros so yes I also own a 2nd gen a 71 SS.

[General_01]

A few things got me interested in Mopars. When I was about 9 my Dad took me down to the Dodge/Plymouth dealer in town and was looking at a green 4 door Volare', but I saw the two door Road Runner model and told him to get that. Didn't work. My mom drove a 318 Dodge Polara for a little while when I was about 14 years old. She traded that in for a '83 Dodge Omni. The Dukes were on and it was my favorite show and there was a maroon '69 Charger and his plate read "SIX PAK". Also, my older sister met a guy(now her husband) in about '86 and he drove a '73 Charger.

[1969chargerrtse]

My brother and I used to go to all the car dealers back in 68 and 69, 70 etc...  We loved Chevies but we also loved the cool mopars with all the funky stripes and scoops.
Any Muscle car did it for us.  I did watch Vanishing point at the drive in, in a 70 Toronado GT.  That was one cool Mopar.  I remember the 68 Charger being super cool but I don't remember watching Bullitt?  I also remember watching the old Elvis movies like Speedway, and at the time the fastback Charger was it.

[scamper340]

It's Jackie's fault.   After she moved out on her own, she would come to visit (early 80's)and it seemed she was always driving a different cool Mopar.  I remember a white Duster, a yellow Duster and then what would become her Plum Crazy Barracuda, "Spot".  Later on she had a brown '71 Challenger, a burnt orange '70 Barracuda Gran Coupe 383 that would later go to our older brother, and an orange Barracuda.  Our older brother Bob also had a limelight '70 'Cuda Gran Coupe, 383 pistol grip car, and an orange '70 Charger 500, 383 2 barrel.  When I was growing up, there were a lot of cool cars around where I lived.  But none of them compared to the wild colors and stripes of the Mopars.  When I finally decided to buy my first car, she helped me find a really clean '73 Challenger.  Been hooked ever since.

[adauto]

I grew up in my dads 53 Plymouth, my grandad had a 52 Dodge buisness coupe. Hows that for "old school" ?  Man those were really kinda ugly IMO. But I guess it stuck. 

[Darkman]

My parents bought a 1976 Chrysler Valiant brand new (I was only 1 1/2). It was the toughest car ever! I learned how to drive in that car. It was a sad day when they sold it. If only I knew my folks were planning on selling it, I would have bought it!

I was also heavily into Aussie Chargers, but the Dodge Charger is much tougher and better looking IMO

[440]

I've always liked Mopars but have always owned fords and chevys. I think the attraction was you'd see lots of fords and chevys and fewer Mopars. Mopars also had interesting options and were more unique compared to the others, and I think they look better.

Bought my first Mopar 6 - 8 months ago

[69_500]

Why Mopar?

Well growing up I am not sure that I even knew there was other brands out there, only kidding of course. We always had way more Mopars than any other cars when I was younger. Plus is there anything cooler than a 1969 Daytona or a 1970 Superbird? I mean where there was more than a handful of those in the yard and garage at your house wouldn't you like Mopars too? That did it for me. Or maybe it was being brought home from the hospital in a 1969 Dodge Daytona.

[rt green]

it was the bright colors and the racy looks. the fastest car in town was a 70 challenger. no other brand fit the true muscle car theme like mopar did. bad ass is bad ass.  that's what did it for me.

[BrianShaughnessy]

  Probably one of the first car models I built was a #71 Bobby Isaac Daytona when I was about 7.

  10 years later I mashed the gas pedal on Sinnamon and that was that.

  Things come and go,  and just like Sinnamon did...  they come back.   

[hemi68charger]

Remembering my Dad's '69 Daytona and then at the age of 16 ('80), getting my 1st Charger. AND, I have always owned a Charger of one year or another (most times, multiple Chargers), at any given time...   

[CharcoalCharger]

My love came early, but not from my dad.  My dad wasn't really a car guy, but the ones he did fix up for my mom to drive were really nice, attention to detail, no brand loyalty.  We did have a Duster that I remember going to the hospital in after getting hit in the mouth with a baseball bat.  My grandfather and uncle were MoPar all the way.  Between the 2 of them they owned pretty much everything... Darts, Chargers, Demons, Barracudas, Polaras, and my uncle pretty much wrecked all of his.  I remember getting picked up at the airport in my uncle's '72 Charger or going fishing with my grandfater everday after he got home from work in his '73 Fury III.  My grandmother's dialy was a '71 Dart.  I remember sliding side to side as my aunt flew on the backroads with her '72 Satellite and the seats were covered in Armour All. 

In 1992 I went to look at my Dart and just sitting in it, I said to my friend, this is my first car.
From cruising in my Dart in school, I helped convert another buddy of mine.  His dad had an early 70's Olds Cutlass.  He wanted one, too.  His first car was an '88 Cutlass.  Today he is the proud owner of an '05 Ram and '69 Charger   

[Richard Cranium]

Why Mopar? I guess that I'm just a glutton for punnishment. 

[TruckDriver]

I had lost my drivers license with my '74 Nova I had, and was looking for something with less power to help keep me out of trouble. A friend had this '78 Aspen R/T I fell in love with once before when I saw it. When he knew I wanted a slower car, he asked if I wanted to do a even up trade for it, and I said yes even though the tranny was blown in the Aspen. I been hooked on Mopar's ever since. And even though I would own a Ford or GM car yet, I will never own anything less then a Dodge truck. I am totally brand reliant on Mopar trucks.

[Nacho-RT74]

Being overseas, ANY BRAND would require to ship stuff from USA, so actually no matter if Mopar, GM or Ford. Just Mechanical parts are availabe around locally, being of course the Mopars the harder on this too.

now, why I'm on Mopars ? I fall on this accidentally, and I'm not regret about that.

[moparstuart]

My family on my dads side was always mopar only ,  My grandma always had a new big dodge sedan when i was a kid .  This got my brother into mopar muscle when she went to the dealership .  That then grew on me and now its mopar or no car .   

[Back N Black]

I'm not really into Mopar's any more than Chevy's or Fords. My dream Garage would have a 69 Charger,69 Camaro and a 68 Mustang fastback. 

[68RRFlyer]

I was die-hard Ford all my life.  I've owned more Mustangs than I can remember.  Then I finally got a "Muscle Car" over a "Pony Car" and I was hooked on these for a while: GTOs.  I had a 67 GTO, 400-4spd, dealer installed leftover 66 tripower, 4.11 backend.  Man this thing would fly with all six butterflys open.  Dump the clutch and the next thing you'd see is Tuesday!  That started me down the road of "seeing what else is out there" and dipping into the other brands.  Then I got a ride in an A12 Road Runner and that set me straight.  Dump that clutch and the Earth's rotation slows down!  My Charger infatuation came in restorng my coworker's 68 R/T and ever since I've done that, I truly don't think I'll ever be without a Charger.  There may be another Mustang in the stable, or another GTO from time to time.  But they'll ALWAYS be a Charger or Mopar.  Period

Cheers  

[Darkman]

I was die-hard Ford all my life.  I've owned more Mustangs than I can remember.  Then I finally got a "Muscle Car" over a "Pony Car" and I was hooked on these for a while: GTOs.  I had a 67 GTO, 400-4spd, dealer installed leftover 66 tripower, 4.11 backend.  Man this thing would fly with all six butterflys open.  Dump the clutch and the next thing you'd see is Tuesday!  That started me down the road of "seeing what else is out there" and dipping into the other brands.  Then I got a ride in an A12 Road Runner and that set me straight.  Dump that clutch and the Earth's rotation slows down!  My Charger infatuation came in restorng my coworker's 68 R/T and ever since I've done that, I truly don't think I'll ever be without a Charger.  There may be another Mustang in the stable, or another GTO from time to time.  But they'll ALWAYS be a Charger or Mopar.  Period

Cheers  

[71wrenchhead]

when you take apart the heater box and find all that junk inside of it
thats not dust
and these people arent loyal to mopar
they are down right addicted




fortunately, im addicted too
and i dont plan on stopping

[68X426]

Richard Petty drove a Road Runner. Of course.

Well, actually, it was a great man in my life, who became my father-in-law and has since passed away, who told me that Mopars were the best engineered autos of the 1960s. He worked as a mechanic for Ford for decades and owned Chevies and Cadillacs. He said it was Mopar that he admired and liked best. This was 1973 and I was a teenager looking to buy my first car. He told me to buy the 68 Charger with the 318 and I did. There was no looking back.

I miss him badly, I still love his daughter, and I have Mopars and my wife because he was a great man. 

[Lizey]

because they're different!!!
everyone i know has a Camaro, or a Mustang, and etc. etc...but I only know of two other people with old Mopars at my school ('79 Magnum and a '71 D100). why blend in?

[69rtse4spd]

My older brother & the rides in his 69 Chargers, enough said. That's how I fell in love with them.

[67440chrg]

The first thing I was given a lesson on how to drive was a 49 Dodge  pickup. My first car was a 69 Dodge dodge pickup 383 auto primered and beat up but with a little work it was fast for a old truck. For many years I was a one brand man.Still today I am a mopar man all the way for my classic cars but American made only for my daily drivers.

[G-man]

Mopar looked awesome and offered Huge engines. Mopar is also the Undisputed HP King. U want straight line performance thats unrivaled for cheap(er), Mopar.

However, FORD always made the better circuit racers, The mustangs that dominated pony car class racing against Camaros, Dodge Challengers Plymouth Cudas and Pontiac Firebirds etc and the Ford GT40 that dominated Lemans against Ferraris Lamborghinis etc.

So neither is better. There just differet built for different purposes and different tastes. These days Mopar can be made to Handle but ford Can be made to pump out thousand+ HP. So really its what you prefer. I kinda got sucked into the whole "loyal" mentality and ford was garbage so were Chevies and ford, typical mopar owner, however I know Mopar is just a big old brick that cant turn corners to the mustang/chevy crowed and thus Mopar sucks to them (mere opinion)... but only recently I decided to look at it for what it really is and sad to say but Ford make much better cars for turning corners than Mopar do. Even the revered Dodge Viper doesnt come close to the FORD GT. On the other hand... Straight line performance, Top Fulers (the extreme other end) Thecars with HEMIS in them win. So mopar wins there.

So now I dont bother with the whole Mopar owns stuff as it did then. I think all cars are good (unless there japaneese), they all look awesome, some corner with Lemans heritage, others have 1 direction (Daytona) heritate of toping 200mph (mopar)

So whats better? It could be argued that Fords are the best considering there better all round performance than dodge. They dont just corner WAY better but they go pretty hard in a straight line aswell. Dodge also needed huge engines to push there overweight cars with bad aero design while the fords were more thought out in terms of build. So Yeah

Why did I get mopar, Cause it was different and looked tough and I had the Mopar mentality where everything else was junk (nieve outlook)

Now that Im little more educated and understand things better, Love them all.

I just wonder where all I said here about Ford Cornering/race winning and Mopar Power/looks leaves chevies... I could never seem to justify there existence... There like no-mans land... didnt do either that great lol.

[Laxy]

Jesus christ not again. 

[b5blue]

  Pop was a GM kinda guy so that was what I knew and drove. As a result I thought it was S.O.P. to constantly be repairing your car. After blowing up or breaking about 15 assorted GM's, everything from old to new I ended up getting a 67 Mustang in trade. It ran well after some fixing and was easier to work on so that got me thinking.
  Then I ended up trading my 65 rag top Stang for A 73 Duster and a shotgun and found a car that A: Was cool and B: Never had to repair anything on. By the time I stumbled on my 70 Charger I knew I was looking at the only car I would ever need. With "infinite repair-ability" and sound engineering combined with wide array of proven engines I knew I had a winner. Over the last 16 years I've watched as every part I would ever need has become reproduced or located on eBay. I like the looks, ride, size and dependability.       

[Cooter]

the absolute clincher was the new '66 Turbine Bronze Hemi GTX which I heard long   before it came into view.  

I assume being a Mopar person, you meant 1967 Turbine Bronze Hemi GTX? I think it woulda been a Satellite in '66...

[bobs66440]

I never was a Mopar person. I was into Chevys mostly. My first collector car was a '72 Vette. Then got a '39 Pontiac street rod, then a '28 Ford Model A with a 468 BBC (miss that car), then a '70 Mustang. Then I went to look at this Charger I have now. When he pulled it out of the garage into the light, it was like "Oh man! I gotta have this car!". Just beautiful...and sinister looking at the same time. I'm gonna keep this one for a long time! 

[chargerjy9]

I was 13 when I heard and then saw a Chrysler Turbine car woosh thru my neighborhhood, that was the ultimate in cool. seeing that car made me want to design cars, it inspired me and I achieved that goal by working for Ma Mopar, Styling, for 35 years. In 1968, my father came home with a new Chrysler 300, with the 440 TNT motor. Big, fast, tire smoker. I was hooked and still am. Chrysler has put bread on my table for near 50 years. I bleed Mopar Blue. if it ain't Mopar, it's no car.  Amen.