Will the modern charger be a collectible ever?

[ramairthree]

We hit the roads in our beater 500 dollar GTOs and stuff in the 80s.

[Troy]

Where did I say a teenager could afford a full restoration? I said a teen could afford one of these cars and that isn't incorrect. Heck, most kids I know don't drive nice cars even if they are newer.

Over the course of several years I looked at over 200 68-69 Chargers for sale in my area. Of course I purchased the ones that were nice (and priced right)! That doesn't mean the worse ones were destined for the crusher - just that I knew what I wanted to end up with and didn't have the time, energy, or money to fix a bad one. When I was a kid though I bought what I could afford and fixed what I could when I could. I drove lots of cars with rust so bad you could see through them and I spent all my spare cash fixing maintenance items on the weekends. All the while I knew they wouldn't be show cars - but I had a great time any way! Recently I had a 73 Barracuda (there's pictures here somewhere). Purchase price was $9k and the body was straight with new(ish) paint. That might be a bit high for most teenagers but if the car was worse the price would have been lower. I can run through Craigslist right now and pull up piles of drivable old cars in the $3-6k range. Not that I'd recommend it to anyone but there's even a '70 Challenger on there for $1,500. Is it pretty? No. Could it be drivable - and reasonably safe - for under $5k. Yes! Will it be pretty then? NO!!!

I honestly think I've hurt myself trying to complete "perfect" cars. I have lost so much quality "driving" time by working on stuff that I really don't care about. I can live with cracked/chipped paint, ripped interiors, missing trim, ragged carpet, misaligned body panels, saggy door hinges, dashes that only partial work, and bent bumpers as long as I can cruise the back roads with the windows down listening to the engine. I got a 70 Mach 1 for my dad and he doesn't want me to restore it because he'd be scared to drive it the way he does now. It's not all about how much money you can spend - it's having what really makes you happy.

Troy

[ramairthree]

The prices on full sized coupes in driver condition is on par with all the used accords and camrys and stuff Mom's want the kids to have because of air bags, etc.

It pains me not to have the room and time for all the Ford 500 fastbacks, Mauarder x100s, Grand Prixs, etc. you see come up at driver 6K or so prices.

[odcics2]

a few new pics