Few Chargers at local car shows

[Charger440RDN]

I went to a car show this weekend in Springfield, IL and I only saw one 1967 Charger and a plymouth prowler, that was it for the Mopars. There had to be over 70 GM and Fords there. this is not the first time I've noticed the lack of Mopars at shows either. Does anybody else notice this trend at shows that are not Mopar only?

[1969chargerrtse]

Soon as you post the pictures we'll take a look. 

[440charger68]

yea i always notice the only time i see another 68 besides mine is a mopar show every year in june then no more chargers till next year hopefully i will get lucky and see one on the road

[Charger440RDN]

 I got depressed when I didn't see anymore Mopars and decided to just walk around and look, didn't take too many pictures.

[911bear]

I personally think it is the lack of manufacturers reproducing quality Mopar parts   you can just about buy enough parts to build a Chevy , ford ,Pontiac ,Buick or what ever but good Mopar parts are very expensive and hard to find . I think there would be a market for Mopar parts , what is it ?  Chrysler wont license no-one to reproduce parts or  is it that okay enough of my ranting bi-polarness lol
the bear
in Delbarton Wv

[NHCharger]

I attend few shows but the ones I do I'm usually one of the few Mopars in a sea of chebbies and furds. I attended the Sandwich Fair this past Saturday which has an antique car show. Approx. 60 cars, 1 Charger (mine), 1 Duster, 1 50's Chrysler, 1 beat 30's Dodge P/U.
Does make it easy to pick up a top three trophy in the Mopar class 

[histoy]

Usually there aren't many Mopars at our local shows unless our Mopar club attends as a group.

[squeakfinder]

 
Yep, noticed this going on for a long time. And the other mopar guy or gal at those shows you go to will say the same thing. In a way it just makes your car that much more unique in the crowd.

[Troy]

Went to a show Saturday and I was one of 4 Mopars. I registered cars 101 and 102 and a GTO came in behind me so 103 total cars. I was very surprised as I haven't seen it that lopsided in a long time. I agree that it's cheaper/easier to build other brands (except maybe AMC and some Pontiacs) but it also has to do with production numbers. I've also found that, around here, Mopar people will take their cars out (sometimes) - but not to shows. I generally have the only Mopar at a lot of the cruise-ins that I go to. Shows are a bit better because there's usually a Mopar class.

Troy

[noff57]

This is typical... I go to car show almost every weekend and I rarely see any mopars. I am so sick of seeing camaro's, vettes and they are all red....

[1969chargerrtse]

I personally think it is the lack of manufacturers reproducing quality Mopar parts   you can just about buy enough parts to build a Chevy , ford ,Pontiac ,Buick or what ever but good Mopar parts are very expensive and hard to find . I think there would be a market for Mopar parts , what is it ? Chrysler wont license no-one to reproduce parts or is it that okay enough of my ranting bi-polarness lol
the bear
in Delbarton Wv

I bought many many parts for my Charger.  I think Mopar parts are much easier to obtain.

[68charger383]

I'm in CA and they are few and far between out here at local shows and cruise nights. We mainly have 50 Chevys and 30/20s Ford hot rods out here.

I went to the Cruisin for a Cure show three weeks ago, about 3,500 cars....maybe there were 25 older mopars total.  If you count the new challengers/chargers/PT cruisers and prowlers etc. then it would be more.

[mally69]

in a way its not a bad thing but in a way it is. the good side to it is everyone is so used to seeing all the chevy and all the fords that they get kinda that yea yea attitude towards them then roll in to a show with a shined up mopar and people seem to turn their heads because they dont often see as many mopars. at least that what i have noticed driving my charger to a few small locel shows and cruises. i still wish there were more out there to attend

[Troy]

I'm sometimes disappointed that my Charger doesn't garner the attention that my Yellow Barracuda did but...

after the show this weekend my dad told me that he was watching people looking at the cars (I never sit near my car) and he said they'd walk right by the Mustang to look at the Charger. I guess I don't pay that much attention.

I had a guy at a cruise-in last week go on and on about how rare it is to see a Charger and actually asked me if I knew I had something special when I got it. I thought he'd have a meltdown when I told him I had four.

I did have a couple nimrods at a show last week actually tapping on my quarters to see if there was any Bondo - while I was still unloading the car! That's as good of a reason as any to leave the cars at home (and makes me glad that I don't sit there and watch these idiots all day).

Troy

[Charger440RDN]

I did have a couple nimrods at a show last week actually tapping on my quarters to see if there was any Bondo - while I was still unloading the car! That's as good of a reason as any to leave the cars at home (and makes me glad that I don't sit there and watch these idiots all day).

Troy

Tapping on the quarter panel??!? I think I would have lost it right there as soon as they touched my car, there is no excuse for that crap!  

[472 R/T SE]

It shouldn't be too much of a surprise since there weren't that many Mopars built to begin with. 

Kind of adds to the experience of owning one. 

The only way to see a bunch of Mopes is to go to an all Mopar show, then you can't help but wonder why the owners' have been hiding them.


This is just a couple snippets of what we're up against pertaining to Mustangs & Camaros.

"Original sales forecasts projected less than 100,000 units for the first year, but in its first eighteen months, more than one million Mustangs were built."
http://www.squidoo.com/69-mustang

69 Camaros.
"Camaro production totaled 243,085 for 1969, and surprisingly, the rarest models are six-cylinder-powered convertibles, with 1,707 built; the most common bodies were V-8-powered sport coupes at 190,971 units."
http://www.hemmings.com/mus/stories/2004/10/01/hmn_feature12.html

Easy to see almost 40 years later that we're now outnumbered. 

[68pplcharger]

That's always been the case in Northern Kentucky. There have been an occasional mopar, but never more than a couple. And forget seeing a Charger. I see them cruising on the road more than the car shows. The last few years the number has increased a little.

[ipstrategies]

Mopars are too cool for most shows... just a thought. It is rare in my area to see any Mopar on the road or a lot of the shows, that when you do see one it sticks out. I always liked Mopars because they were not the norm, everyone wanted Camaros, Chevelles, Mustangs, I wanted Chargers, Roadrunners Darts etc. 

[hemi68charger]

.... It is rare in my area to see any Mopar on the road or a lot of the shows, that when you do see one it sticks out....

I'm going to make Houston sick of seeing mine........ 

[Charger440RDN]

Sad to see that the car show season is soon coming to an end up here.  I HATE winter!! Only a couple shows left.

[alcusswhen]

What you saw at the show is not new. I've owned a mopar b body of some kind or another and its always been the same way. I think the reason was/is the GM and Ford crowed could out run one another on any given day. So it made good bench raceing. But they couldn't out run a Mopar on any day and that took the BS out of there bench race.

[autoxcuda]

I'm in CA and they are few and far between out here at local shows and cruise nights. We mainly have 50 Chevys and 30/20s Ford hot rods out here.

I went to the Cruisin for a Cure show three weeks ago, about 3,500 cars....maybe there were 25 older mopars total.  If you count the new challengers/chargers/PT cruisers and prowlers etc. then it would be more.

I've seen where you are coming from. The Mopar guys sometimes feel out numbered at certain shows cruise in's and don't show. One of our club member's drove all the way down to Cruisin for a Cure and was disapointed in the relative Mopar turnout. But he though there were enough cars to justfy more than just one Mopar class. He won't be back with his car. It's sort of the chicken or the egg. You don't have Mopar classes, they don't come out. But you don't make more Mopar classes until you get them at the show. 

There's lots of 2nd gen Chargers around So Cal. Just tucked in garages and don't come out much unless it's a Mopar only show. Over 80% of the cars at Spring/Fall Fling are actually from LA, Orange, Riverside counties.

At the last Northridge Bob's Big Boy Cruise In I think I saw three, at least two.

If you go to the Inland Mopar show in Riverside there's a bunch from I.E.

[Armudster]

That sucks, here in Brazil there is a lot of Mopars, but the majority only goes on Mopar only shows and cruise ins, in here we have a bad rep, only because we are fast and enjoy the occasional burnout, in all the shows around here mopars doesn't get any prizes and a lot of collectors don't consider them classics to begin with.
Last year for example there were a 71 Ice Blue Hemi Road Runner matching numbers,that was flawless and had every option possible and had heavy documentation to back it up, including a Gouvier certificate, which believed to be one of one, every Mopar guy drooled over it and we talked with the owner for hours and hours, other than this very car, all the others from the show were the same from the previous year, and it didn't win any prize, the best of show was a POS 70s Rolls Royce, I was furious with the result, and when I asked the reason for it not to win, the organizers said it wasn't really a classic car. You see the hypocrisy? The guy just bought a $200.000,00 one of one car, plus customs taxes and it didn't win because "Mopars are not classic".
On this very show the only cars that came under its own power were the Mopars, and all of them came running, including this RR, and the brand X cars all came towed like it's a piece of furniture or a trophy.
Good thing we are organized and we have a lot of Mopar only shows and weekly cruise ins, and we have the biggest one brand only show in the country, because after that incident, regular shows are not an option anymore, we sometimes go only to piss other people with a false know it all mentality, so I learned one thing about Mopars and car shows, we don't need to blend in with brand X car shows, we are the elite and we need our own space. Sorry for the rant, but that seems to be the rule in other parts of the world too.
 

[Armudster]

Sorry for the double post

[NHCharger]

I was at a show about twelve years ago with my driver quality 71 Charger. The car next to me, a Chevelle SS was immaculate, the engine bay was so clean you could eat off it. Some guy came up and was drooling all over my Charger and started taking some pics. The owner of the Chevelle asked him why he was taking pics of my crappy Charger, not his pristine Chevelle. The guy answered, Chevelle's and Mustangs are a dime a dozen, you never see a Charger around here. That about sums it up.