Who got you into Mopars?

[BlueSS454]

Quite simply for me, The Dukes of Hazzard and Bullit.

[mikesbbody]

I met a guy who had a 72 challenger (small block 360) i had a 71 coupe deville at the time (dont laugh :-) and after he took me for a drive i knew i had to have a car like his only, i wanted a charger 71-74 (i now have a 440 72 charger) i remember one night we went crusing he let me drive we were pulling out of a gas station and there was this ford coming our way my friend said "GO! GO NOW!!!" so i stomped on the gas cutting off the ford and doing a crazy half out of control skid up the road smoke pouring off the tires. my friend and his brother thought it was funny but i was holding on for my life! i never experienced a car with power like that (keep in mind it was a small block car)  sadly, my friend had a bmw run a red light and he couldnt stop in time the challenger was hit.
My friend drove away, the bmw was dead this happened back in 96 and due to various circumstances the challenger is still off the road but i hve had my charger since 98 and love it!

[472 R/T SE]

HeavyF, sounds like the same place, small world.

They would get up to the house and could either go right past a shop and in the grass or straight and it would put you towards the rear, side of the house IIRC.
Now that you mention it, I remember an A12 car, must have been owners, (red or ev2) going out on the highway and racing someone.

One dude sat there so long burning the tires that he blew one.  I need to get the video back from him and copy it.    I'll send you a copy. 

[Sinister68]

My dad got me into Mopars! 

[73chgrSE]

I watched the Dukes of course too, and Richard Petty, but it wasn't until I saw a black 3rd gen cruise my neighborhood one day I knew I had to have one. I was probably 12 years old then and I remember it was the meanest looking car I'ld ever seen. It had tinted windows and a spoiler, it sounded awesome, I chased it on my bike to see it for a little longer but it was gone and I never saw it again. Never knew who it belonged to.

Growing up in the 80's all my friends had 60-70's cars. They were everywhere, and cheap. My high school parking lot back then would look like a classic car show now.

[70charger_boy]

Bo and Luke Duke got me into chargers!!!!!

[AirborneSilva]

My mom, she bought her 68 Charger R/T from an airlines pilot in 1970 and after riding on the freeways of LA with her and her lead foot I made her promise to sale it to me when she was ready for a new car - fast forward 4 years and that awesome car was mine and I was hooked ever since 

[Lostsheep_01]

Hooked originally by the Dukes, however, my dad played (and still plays) a vital role in both my '73 SE and my current '69.

[JimShine]

The Dukes of Hazzard. My uncles (whom I grew up around) were gearheads and HATED Mopar. They were diehard GM and had some Ford too. The Charger looked cool to me and they never had them (they wouldn't take a Mopar for free). So, i had all the toys, the models, etc. As an adult I wanted the real thing. Funny thing is I allowed one of my uncles to borrow my Charger while I was away. Two weeks later he bought a new Ram dually diesel! To date it is the longest he has owned a vehicle. I always give him a hard time about that.

[Lord Warlock]

Dad got me into mopars originally, due to his reminscing of his chrysler 300-J with a 413 dual quad long ram motored beastie, that and a memory of getting caught in a street race between an SS dodge a Stingray and my dad (with the whole family in the car) and my dad got the biggest fine since he was ahead at the time they got pulled over. 

I also got "influenced" by a couple of cousins in Lincoln Nebraska in 76, who owned a 70 Cuda AAR and a 68 Charger with a 383 4spd-but the 383 had an Accel Turbocharger installed on it and it was running mid 11s, which back then was pretty damn fast.  Even with the turbo'd big block, he still wasn't the fastest in town though.  I got to experience a bit of street racing first hand with those cousins that summer.  The following summer when i started looking for my own car, I had a choice of a 69 superbee 440 4spd, a 66 GTO 4spd, and a 69 Charger R/T SE which was all original, numbers matching, and not ragged out.  I ended up buying the charger r/t se for 800 and drove it my senior year in HS and thru college.  Then parked it when I had to drive across country for military training.  It stayed garaged for the next 26 years but I kept possession of it and all the spare parts I'd accumulated.

This year I built a new project garage just to store the mopars (charger and stealth R/T turbo), so i could park my daily driver 04 cobra in the front garage, as well as the wife's GTP.  I also started working on the charger finally, so I hope to get it back on the road in the next year or so.   Its time.   

[79LilRed]

It was my dad & all his buddies. In fact my dad has 72 Rallye Charger that needs restoration & has had it for 30+ years. Owned it since 1976. I have fond memories of him blazing on the interstate @ 120-130 mph with that 400 under the hood. Anyways, his buddies had some cool cars like a 70 Barracuda 383 Gran Coupe, 69 Road Runner with a 383/4 spd; his one buddy who committed suicide had a 71 Charger R/T with a 440 auto, another buddy had a 69 Road Runner with a 383 auto & sold it for a 73 Dodge Challenger Rallye & put a built 440 into in, another one had a 68 Hemi Road Runner drag car, another 71 Dodge Charger R/T Pro Street, & another had a 69 Dodge Dart GTS Drag car with a built 440.

[71 Bee Man]

Let's hear your story, was it a show..your dad uncle what. Bonding with buddies or family with your mopar is a great American pastime..share with us how it became part of your life.

My Grandfather here in Australia owned an old 1962 Valiant....that was back in the early 80's. I saw another 62 Valiant all done up in an auto magazine down here and thought how great my Grandfathers car would look if done the same way. I was only about 16 I guess. Anyway, I knew nothing about cars.

Then a friend of mine said that the car he was driving was a Chrysler, and that my Grandfathers acr was also a Chrysler.....so we started to take an interest in Aussie Chryslers....still, neither of us knew anything about cars at this stage.

In 1986 my Grandfather passed away, and the family weren't really interested in his car - so I got it.

That was 20 years ago.....and I still have the car.....as well as my 71 Superbee plus a swag of others I've owned through the years. That initial liking of my Grandfathers old Val has since led me to help organise Mopar shows here in Australia and become a life member of my 62 Valiant Car Club. http://www.1962valiants.com

I'm hooked........so's my son. My mate who owned that "other" Val.......he's a Mopar man too.

Peter 
Sydney, Australia.

[69bronzeT5]

My dad got me into muscle cars when I was around 6 or 7 but D'O'H got me into Chargers.

[moparnutty]

It was good old Dad, He never had anything but Mopars.

[Doright]

MY DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!
He Bought me my first Charger!!!   71 of course

[Charger1973]

I guess for me it was the Dukes too... I was obsessed with the General Lee since I was old enough to watch TV.  When I was about 13 I remember asking my Grandpa what kind of car the General Lee was, and he said it was a Charger.  I started looking everywhere for Chargers, even managed to meet Don (gnrl01) that way when I found a 68 in his backyard...    

I found two 73's in my hometown, one was a 73 SE triple black, the guy would not sell.  (It ended up in the junkyard when he finally did let it go, it was so bad by that time that the springs rusted through the trunk floor  )  The other Charger was a yellow 73.  I became obsessed with that car and looked for it everywhere.  I used to ask my mom to drive past it on the way home from school just so I could look at it.  Eventually the guy stopped driving it and it just sat there under a pine tree.  When I was 18 I sold everything I could to get $500 and knocked on the guys door.  I went home with my Charger that day.      I drove it for a few years and finally tore it down to restore it.  I ended up joining the Army though and sold the car, so that my mom wouldnt be stuck dealing with it since she was preparing to move and I kept it at her place.  As soon as I got out of the Army I was on the hunt for another 73 and Don knew a guy who had one for sale.  We went out there and I bought it.  The rest is history.  Im pretty determined to finish what I started the first time! 

[Charger-Bodie]

for me it was my dad when i was born my dad owned a body shop and did til the fire in 1986 he closed the shop and started selling insurance i went on to working in a body shop for 15 years then opening my own place in 2002 but anyway the story goes like this i was always into mopars my dad had a bunch of them over the years and when i was 15 i wanted to by an 83 charger from him that was wrecked ,fix it up have it paid for and fixed when 16 , well i told my dad this plan and he said ive already found you a car , i was thinking oh boy some junker [ like the 83 charger wasnt ] and then he said its a 68 charger , i about crapped , then i had to wait 2 weeks to even go look at it cause the guy that owned worked const and was out of town working it was a very long 2 weeks but we went then i spent the 200.00 from my savings acct to buy it we restored it together at his shop [one of the last cars done there] and that was it for me if it wasnt for him id have a savings acct a normal car and a charger addiction but i guess it could be worse

[72chargerSE]

This is easy.... My DAD!

My father was a employee in Chrysler Engineering from 1965 untill his retirement in 2001. His father (my grandpa) worked at Chrysler also, as did my brother, my uncles, just about everyone in our family.

If you poke my Dad hard enough, he will bleed Chrysler blue, he lives , eats and breathes MOPAR. I will always buy Chrysler products till the day I die, due to my Dad. I also promised him my wife and I would always have a Chrysler product to keep his pension going 

I grew up with cars you guys would not believe a kid could grow up with, I met guys you  wouldn't believe a kid could meet, my Dad was and is the main reason I love MOPARS.

Mike

[AKcharger]

I had a brother in law that would wheel an deal all the time and I helped him a lot. He was pretty much a dirt bag but I credit him with hooking me on MOPARS. Some of the more interesting storys
- Helping him buy a 340 duster shell and get towed home 30 miles in the ran sitting on a bean bag chair
- Watched him drive a freshly painted...like 15 min, challenger to his mother in laws to dry
- Helped him sell my friend an AAR Cuda with a 440...only to find it was stolen

[Birdflu]

My lovely bride pictured in my avatar! 

[Kern Dog]

My Dad sold new cars from 1968 until 1995. He worked at several dealerships through those years including Dodge/Plymouth, Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota and Volvo. The early days were Mopar. I recall him talking about the Muscle era cars when I was getting close to driving age.
The Dukes of Hazzard put the '69 Charger right in front of me. I surely must have seen a 68-70 Charger before the show but I don't remember. From there, I had to have one. They were not that commonly found though and they ranged from unreliable worn out wrecks to nice survivors priced out of my range. I bought a '69 Dart for my first car and even though I loved the Dodges, I went to Chevrolets for many years. In 2000, I bought THIS:

[DAY CLONA]

Muscle car ownership was always present in my family and relatives, but they were either Pontiac's or AMC products (my uncle owned an AMC dealership from 1958-1983 so that meant most of the "family" drove AMC's) I was the only black sheep that gravitated towards Mopars, esp when the 69 Daytona's and 70 Superbirds appeared on the dealer lots, after that I was hooked for life on mopars (I do have to admit my first car was a 67 Grand Prix which I replaced with a slightly used one owner 71 Challenger which I still own some 4+ decades later)

Mike

[dual fours]

Dirty Mary and Crazy Larry on the big screen.

[70B5Cuda]

David Spade movies! LOL! Especially Joe Dirt and Tommy Boy...

[ACUDANUT]

Al Bundy in.... love and marriage.