Chryslers in the Canyon 2009 Pics and Recap: Amarillo Area Mopars

[TexasStroker]

As promised here are a few shots from the show...It was our first time to try this, I had always wanted to do it and it was an idea very well received by members...so we did it    This is going to be an annual event and something that we try to slate late in the year to avoid conflict with any other mass Mopar events.  I know a lot of guys can't drive to Ohio or the west coast every year, and this becomes an intermediate option.  We would like to expand it to a 3 day weekend, complete with track day Sunday in the future, but for now it is a very cool way to spend a Saturday afternoon and enjoy some scenic cruising in your Mopar!

Oh and I just realized this will be the first time I've posted shots of my Charger on here...aside from with a giant hole in the trunk, lol.  We had 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gen Chargers in attendnace so we were well represented.  I'm only posting it here, so no one freaks when they see Challengers, GTXs, Roadrunners, Darts, and Demons in the "Charger Only" section, lol

Meeting up prior to the cruise, we convened at the West Texas A&M Event's Center:






I actually led for a change...I usually try to be the back car...the reason I led was so I could pull over and get a video of everyone going by...I tried the "I'll pass everyone in the Duster" at a deal this summer with just about 5 cars ahead of me and somehow the gap got to be HUGE, so I wound up flat hauling and then had a not so detailed video, haha.

Looking back at the lot:



Open Road:


Cool Shot imo 69 looking back at a 70:

[TexasStroker]

More Open Road Shots:

Happy, or Palo Duro Canyon behind a long line of Mopars...I think that has to be the real road to Happy 



The trailer was a "just in case" for some of our cars...As fate would have it the Fury burned a shifter cable waiting at the gate   So good thing the trailer was there to get it back up!  You might remember that car from Pinks All Out...Dead consistent and brutally quick.  A shifter cable is all that kept him from winning out down there imo...Sad to see it happen again.


Figured some of ya'll would enjoy these...It gives a driver's view of the descent into the canyon and the scenery (hint: come next year!):




Set-up in the canyon:

[68X426]

Fantastic! 

[TexasStroker]

Here are some shots of my car...Hard to not take pics from different angles with all the backdrops:


A friend and myself...69 & 73:


We also had a professional photographer on hand...she had a blast and got some great shots.  She is actually in the club as well, so it worked good.  She positioned herself to get some "driving down" shots of all our cars...Her husband was up at the top orchestrating the timing so she could snap lots of pictures...He is shotgun as I had to bring him back down:





I never realized how low to the ground the Charger sat....looks good imo:


From behind:


I will get on and add some aerial shots later...they are AWESOME!

[TexasStroker]

I am mainly posting these so everyone can see how cool it is down there and what awesome pictures you can get of your car!

As I said, we are going to make this a yearly event and we'd love to have some more Chargers come down    If there is any interest I can work to set up a Dodge Charger Meet with the connections I made with the park.

As it stands right now we did this with NO ENTRY FEE!  We got lucky and had a guy donate a nice amount to cover most of the awards...we only did 3 big ones, but everyone got a dash plaque.  Our main goal with this was to simply HAVE FUN.  Like I said in the events section, a lot of people get burned out on $20+ entry fees and no driving. 

The trek from WT to the canyon is only about 20 miles...we all drove it btw..even the 12.5:1 Hemi GTX    The drive down is awesome, really something worth experiencing...Esp if you have a pro photographer on hand to capture the moment for you.

We did these awards:

Long Haul Award: 09 Caliber R/T (came over from Oklahoma City)
AAM Pick: 1968 Plymouth GTX #s Hemi car, green on green!
Park Ranger's Pick (somehow I convinced them to select a car for this, lol): 1973 Dodge Challenger

We had 31 total "Mopars" in the canyon.  I had expected at least 40, but a lot of members got stuck working or their kids got sick etc.  There were several expected to make the trip down who couldn't make it either.  But for a 1st year event with basically 3-4 weeks of "official" planning, it turned out awesome!

With the "group" discount we got admission to the park for $2, as opposed to the usual $5 per person.  That was the only cost associated with this and I am very proud of that.  We plan to do the same thing next year, but with more planning and more notice, lol.

If anyone wants to make it down just let me know.  I will do whatever I can to make your trip enjoyable.  If we get a ton of interest and people want more awards we can do that, but rest assured we will never do more than $10 per person (unless you get a hotel, shirt, hat, dinner, etc lol).  The awards go down in price as the volume increases, so we have that working in our favor.

I will get some aerial shots up later tonight.  Hope ya'll enjoy the pics.
BTW, membership in Amarillo Area Mopars is also free!  I do not believe in charging folks to be part of a "car club" and then ex-communicate them if they don't mail a $20 check every year.  This is all for fun and enjoyment imo.  If anyone regionally is interested in checking out AAM or any of the events we attend feel free to join the forum (link on website's home page).

Ya'll will love the aerial shots 

[TexasStroker]

Here is the link to the video I shot, not great but once I realized just to hold the camera over the hood/fender it got better, lol.  I have tried 3-4 of these thigns and I think I FINALLY figured out that may very well be the best bet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f_zu_GOpfE

[TexasStroker]

One quick aerial shot...I'll post a couple later tonight as well:

[skip68]

    WOW !   Thanks for the pics.        Looks sweeeeeet.   

[Doright]

Love too see that 72 SE Charger up close

[TexasStroker]

Glad ya'll are liking the pics.  Charger-wise we had a: 66, 69, 70, 72, and 73.

Here is some more of the 72 as you requested:



It is a 72 SE with a 400...He got the car locally, but I believe it was originally sold in Alaska!  Not sure how it wound up down here.  Also, believe it or not that is a drive-way paint job 

[TexasStroker]

An early aerial shot by one of our members:

[tan top]

   good lot of pictures , like the video  charger sounds  mean at idle     thanks for sharing 

[TexasStroker]

Not a problem on sharing them.  I would have gotten them up sooner, but I was wiped out and we've been busy at work etc.

I forgot to mention but that is a good, real-world shot of the Charger and the way I did the tail light panel as well!  I'll try and get the trunk floor thread bumped and finished since obviously it is complete, lol.  I don't have many individual car pics bc I was running around handing out dash plaques and trying to figure out how to do our AAM Pick award etc.

The Park Ranger's Pick went to the 73 Challenger, but their 2nd choice was the black 66 Charger...both of which were owned by the same guy!  He was very happy to get that award! 

We had a lot of random people in the canyon and runners (big charity race that morning) come in and check out the cars.  As you can see we have a large lot to work with if anyone is interested in coming down, or having an all Dodge Charger event.  It is a great location, very reasonably priced, and lots of fun.  Della does great work with her pictures and will gladly do a side shoot of anyone interested.  Or if you can do it yourself it is FREE!  I know some of my pics have the sun's rays cascading down, I kind of like that in some pics, so I posted it.

Thanks for the compliments on the Charger at idle as well.  I imagine it will sound even meaner with the stroker and 3"    I am hopefuly that the next time I video a cruise or something tha I will nail it...ie best shoot the whole duration, not adjusting after 5-6 cars, lol.  In car vids are no problem..it is these drive-by ones that get me.

My tranny started slipping pretty bad...it was interesting coming up the hill    I am going to mess with the bands and then if that won't cure anything pull the pan, see what is in the pan, get a new filter and fluid, and while at it check the valve body and get everthing torqued back down.  I knew I'd have to beef the tranny up a little for the stroker, but I wasn't plannig on having it crash on me now.  Oh well...I'm not sure of the exact elevation change, but it is pretty dramatic.  I believe Palo Duro Canyon is 2nd only to the Grand Canyon in size.  It is definitely a cool thing to do in your favorite car.  I would have done a video, had Jim shotgun and everything, of the ride down but with the tranny acting up, it would have been more humorous than cool...Maybe next year 

[Todd Wilson]

No more pictures of the Townie?


Todd

[TexasStroker]

No more pictures of the Townie?


Todd

Yes.  I will get some up later...That is "Bertha" btw 

[PocketThunder]

Nice pictures..    thanks for posting.   

[TexasStroker]

Nice pictures..    thanks for posting.   

Thanks!  I've started to realize how many pictures I take from the drivers seat, lol.  I have a TON of pictures and coupled with the pics everyone snapped it is almost like a cinematic deal, haha.  I tried to just give a shot of the event and quick overview of the cars.  Didn't want to make a 15 page thread just with original pictures, lol.

And as requestd here are some shots of the Town Wagon:



I'm not sure if there are any Mopar photo collectors on the site, but if so and you like anything I can get you in contact with Della and she can get you some prints.  I have no clue how many pictures she took, but she probably has a lot on each car.  Seeing how Bertha is one of her own, she would probably be delighted to send out some prints!