How I got into the hobby, and why I drive a Charger....

[DixieRestoParts]

Hey Guys,

I'm not going to bring any parts to Carlisle or the Nats this year to sell. I'm bringing an old school hotrod to display in my tent. Also my son is 16 and we're going parts shopping for his project Demon. Of course, I'll deliver any pre-ordered parts and you can order stuff with me while there if you want to.

Anyway, I thought it would be neat to post some stories of my first love and some of the (mis)adventures I had with her. It will give you some background if you see the car in my tent this summer. I am not a professional writer, so please cut me some slack on the grammar, punctuation, etc. I hope you enjoy and I'll post another in a week or so.

1982
A time when VW diesel Rabbits and late model Cutlasses with big tires on all four corners roamed freely among the few big blocks that were still being daily driven. The once proud 'shine running country of East Tennessee was being taken over by "good on gas" econoboxes. The horror, the horror.

There were still a few wild-eyed southern boys with a need for speed. I was one of them. The muscle car was my P-51 Mustang, my Sopwith Camel, my pure adrenaline rush. Unfortunately, I didn't have one. So, I set about rectifying that in the summer of 1982. I must have looked at every Camaro and GTO for sale within 40 miles. One day after looking at Camaro's all day, my best friend (Jimmy) and I were eating a burger at the local drive-in restaurant. The C&W, great local place to cruise. It's still around, but in a more sedate form with inside seating. As we sat there talking about the cars we'd just seen, a '71 Challenger pulled up. Gold with Black interior, rally hood. Jimmy went crazy telling me how cool Challenger's were. How fast they were. He already had the Mopar bug - but no car. It was definitely a good looking car.

As we sat there, I looked up and down the line of parked cars, and saw an F3 Green 1969 Charger R/T parked a few feet away across from us. It had slots with 3-bar spinners. I looked at it, then the Challenger, then back at it. Finally, I uttered the immortal words, "Jimmy, that car is me."

Jimmy elaborated that it was a Charger and was also great, but not as great as the Challenger. I left the drive-in not really thinking much more about it. A couple of weeks later, on the first day of my Senior year in High School, I passed the same Charger on a used car lot for sale. Less than an 1/8th mile from the drive-in, just up on the right. Jimmy caught me at school, he'd seen it to.

Well, you know we went straight to the car lot after school. It was a 440 4-spd. R/T SE in triple Green. Stripe delete. Virtually unmolested 80K mile car. I couldn't even drive a 4-spd. The owner of the lot, drove me to see my Dad (the local insurance agent) with the car. Dad had been, shall we say, less than friendly toward my previous muscle car desires. For some odd reason, he agreed to this one. I was shocked. He got a "90-day" note on the car, and told me to sell my current car, and use the money to pay off the note. I made enough money off my other car to pay off the note on the Charger, and buy 2 new tires to replace the L60-14 Tiger Paws on the rear. I put some Sears Superwide 60's on it. G60-14. Did they match the front? Nah, I didn't know any better at 17, and couldn't afford 4 new tires anyway.

The first Sunday I had the car, my Dad decided to drive it after Church to take the family to dinner. As he wound the car out in first gear, he looked over at my Mom and said, "This thing's geared like a tractor". Then he proceeded to bounce the front-end a little before shifting to second. My Mother was not thrilled. Her words to my Dad were, "He'll get killed in this car, and it'll be your fault". Somehow, I pleaded enough that she let me keep the car, although she was very nearly right. It was, and is, way too much car for a kid. The Dana had been swapped for an 8 3/4 with 3.91's. So, my Dad was pretty much on the mark, it was geared like a tractor. He still tells me that to this day. On a side note, I recently called him and thanked him for letting me get that car. I told him Mopars have provided me with much joy, and even some pocket change over the years.

The car brought me instant celebrity at school among the car guys. Yeah, I had the quickest car in school. My driving stunts brought me celebrity and scorn from my other classmates. The car had another dramatic impact on my life at that time. I had been shy and introverted before I got the car. I went through a sort of "Christine" effect with this car, and came out of my shell so to speak. I still didn't hang out with the cool kids, but they were afraid of me......or was that my driving? Oh well, the older I get, the better I was. But, Jimmy and I survived it all. Jimmy got a '70 340 Challenger a couple of years later, and still has it along with a '70 383 car.

I left for the Army shortly after graduation and moth-balled the car for the next couple of years. After returning from the Army, I rebuilt the drive train in the car with help from a buddy of mine. It was pretty much stock, with the addition of a Direct Connection Street Hemi grind cam and ch4b Edelbrock intake. It ran very well.

Succumbing to the trends of era, I traded out the 14" American Racing slots (with 3 bar spinners) for a set of polished 15" Centerlines. Yeah, I was in high cotton. Never mind the fact I didn't change the tranny speedo gear. I never drove the speed limit anyway. Many a Chebbie saw those Charger taillights in the years that followed.

Come see me at Carlisle, Spaces J187-188 across from Building Y.

Show specials: http://www.dixierestorationparts.com/products.cfm?ci=E5445801-B7AD-B1A3-46E9385B7FF77E23

[VegasCharger]

Cool story and nice Charger. Too bad I cannot stop by and say hello, I'm over here in Vegas and I'm not making the long haul or else I would.

Have fun 

Cool pic of two Chargers 

[Ghoste]

Cool story, I love the pic from the MMCI meet too.

[TPR]

I love hearing these kinds of stories, please keep them coming.

I still find it amazing and think it's really cool that many of you guys have lived the kind of lives that I have only experienced by watching classic road movies.
By this, I mean there is such a huge contrast between many of you folk who have grown up in the States with Mopars all around you and me who was a child of the 80's living in Australia.
It's completely foreign to me, and of course intriguing at the same time.

My early depiction of Americans were based on car movies like DMCL, Christine, Two Lane Blacktop and Vanishing Point. I remember watching these as a kid and they painted a portrait of what life was like at the time.
Of course, these are some crazy examples but I'm guessing they captured quite a lot of the essence of what went on in those days. (Perhaps even crazier things occurred)
Sharing these real stories is one of the great things about DC.COM.
TPR

[DixieRestoParts]

Thanks guys!

[triple_green]

I few years ago I sold this 69 R/T SE in F3 and triple green. Only diff is that it was an automatic. I ended up putting a white butt stripe on it even though it was a stripe delete car like yours originally.

[DixieRestoParts]

I like it! Magnums and tail stripe set  it off.

[tan top]

 

[Stegs]

great story, I don't have any cool stories about being in high school with my dream car. Heck, I graduated 7 years ago only, but a 69 charger has been a dream of mine since I was 12 years old.

Seen one leaving a car show that my friend took me too....I will never forget that sound that car made.....

of course being a 12 year old and not coming from a "car" family....I had no idea what kind of car it was. So I went home, searched old cars on the computer, and finally came across a pic of it.

1969 dodge charger is what the picture caption read. From there is was all over.....I was a mopar guy....I looked at challengers, roadrunners, cuda, gtx, superbee...etc

all very cool cars to a 12 year old, but then there was something about a 69 charger that I just couldn't shake. It stayed with me

Well all thru the last part of middle school, all thru high school (you know, when you become your own person in a way) I made a lot of new friends. Lots of gear heads. We all had trucks, of course everyone drove a Silverado or a f150....there I was in my oil slick glossy black 98 ram 1500.

I got a lot of grief for being the mopar guy in a ford/chevy group of friends, but the funny thing is after we graduated.....some of them ended up with a dodge truck

anyway long, long story short.....69 charger has been "the car" for me since I was 12 years old leaving that local car show

here I am 27 years old today, just bought my dream car a couple weeks ago!..

It makes me smile reading these stories, on how people like me have a dream for a old mopar, then one day, out of the blue they find one!

time to start a thread on "how you became a mopar guy" or "how you came across your car"

[DixieRestoParts]

great story, I don't have any cool stories about being in high school with my dream car. Heck, I graduated 7 years ago only, but a 69 charger has been a dream of mine since I was 12 years old.

Seen one leaving a car show that my friend took me too....I will never forget that sound that car made.....

of course being a 12 year old and not coming from a "car" family....I had no idea what kind of car it was. So I went home, searched old cars on the computer, and finally came across a pic of it.

1969 dodge charger is what the picture caption read. From there is was all over.....I was a mopar guy....I looked at challengers, roadrunners, cuda, gtx, superbee...etc

all very cool cars to a 12 year old, but then there was something about a 69 charger that I just couldn't shake. It stayed with me

Well all thru the last part of middle school, all thru high school (you know, when you become your own person in a way) I made a lot of new friends. Lots of gear heads. We all had trucks, of course everyone drove a Silverado or a f150....there I was in my oil slick glossy black 98 ram 1500.

I got a lot of grief for being the mopar guy in a ford/chevy group of friends, but the funny thing is after we graduated.....some of them ended up with a dodge truck

anyway long, long story short.....69 charger has been "the car" for me since I was 12 years old leaving that local car show

here I am 27 years old today, just bought my dream car a couple weeks ago!..

It makes me smile reading these stories, on how people like me have a dream for a old mopar, then one day, out of the blue they find one!

time to start a thread on "how you became a mopar guy" or "how you came across your car"

Great story too, STEGS. I hope you have many years of driving enjoyment with your car. It's a lot different now the when I picked mine up on a used car lot. Very expensive to buy and restore. But, the fun hearing your engine roar is still the same. 

[dual fours]

Dixie, waiting patiently for another story, thanks, please hurry!

Isn't it funny how these episodes in life with a Charger just burn in to your brain and stay? Well, may have been some of the near death experiences.
It's also funny, well in a strange way, how when you were a kid (teenager) back then, buying a Charger and grown ups are telling you, "your kill yourself with that car.".
The good ol boy selling me the Charger and my father both said the same thing, I still got the car.

[DixieRestoParts]

Dixie, waiting patiently for another story, thanks, please hurry!

Isn't it funny how these episodes in life with a Charger just burn in to your brain and stay? Well, may have been some of the near death experiences.
It's also funny, well in a strange way, how when you were a kid (teenager) back then, buying a Charger and grown ups are telling you, "your kill yourself with that car.".
The good ol boy selling me the Charger and my father both said the same thing, I still got the car.

Thanks! I'll post another one shortly.