Your Charger: Did you buy the one you wanted, or settle for what was available?

[XS29L9Bxxxxxx]

Your Charger: Did you buy the one you wanted, or settle for what was available?

I know that if we could all go back in time, we'd walk into the Dodge dealership and check every box we could on the Charger of our dreams - however, we cannot all drive at 88mph and go back to the future, so...

What would you have done?

Did you buy the Charger of your dreams  or did you settle for one that was available? 

[TK73]

Late 2000; Was looking for a '70 Chevelle but even then they were out of my $2500 budget. Since I love most late 60s to mid 70s American cars I kept my options open. The '73 came up on Auto Trader online and I jumped on it...

Didn't know much about 3rd gen Chargers (mostly into Chevy's) but learned a WHOLE lot quick...

[Stretch]

I was looking for a 440, 4 speed '67 charger tripple black. I found a few. all were rusty junk!

[1BAD68]

Both, I found mine after looking at quite a few. But I didn't hesitate when I found it because I knew it was what I wanted.
Low mileage, unmolested southern California car that was nearby and cheap which is really hard to find when you live in Wisconsin.
Although its a original 318 grandma and grandpa model, it was in great shape and I drove it home.
and I love it 

[Dino]

I did.  I was looking for a non matching numbers car that was nothing special to begin with as I wanted to have it black with saddle interior (not that easy to find to begin with) and wanted to add power locks on doors and trunk, power windows, seatbelts, add carpeting to trunk and a few other mods.  For that reason I did not want a car that would be worth restoring to its original condition.

Funny enough I kept running into R/T's, SE's or 4 speed cars!  Eventually I found the car I wanted which was a 318 car with non matching engine/trans but with A/C as I did want the original dash vents and not just an aftermarket system.  Oh and it was 45 minutes from my house.

Sometimes it pays to wait, sometimes you just have to get the closest match you can find.  As it were my demands weren't very high but if you want an original triple white 4 speed R/T you may have to settle for less.

[41husk]

I wanted a real Daytona but settled for what I could afford

[Chryco Psycho]

I had a 70 R/T 440 4 spd basically fall into my possesion , it burned to the ground a couple years later but was completely disassembled at the time awaiting paint . I found another body but sold the pgk off as I could afford to restore it properly , I have owned 5 more since & they have all dropped into my lap , just available & too good price .

[Brock Samson]

i wanted specifically a '69 R/T S.E. and wanted to build one up my way, besides which i couldn't no way afford a Trailer Queen, and I wanted to build one my way,pretty much a street monster powered by a 6-pack, so i found one stripped in a junk yard that was tripple black & that i could envision doing my own way...  & that was before some of you guys were born. 

[triple_green]

I had a little extra cash from OT on the latest merger deal (1998), I looked locally for 2 years for any 68-70 Charger. I must have looked at 20 cars that were junk and were overpriced and overrepresented. (I was not looking at $20K restored cars)

Finally the ad shows up in the misc autos section of the little nickel want ads:

18' bellboy cruiser
68 Charger 383
95 taurus wagon
all best offer

At least it was close to my house (8 miles away)...I truthfully wasn't expecting much

The car was tucked away in the back of a carport (where it had been for 10 years)
It was all original(but worn) and had been purchased and owned by the guys wife, who died of cancer in 1986.

I asked him how much he wanted and he said I don't know,,,what will you offer. I pulled $4000 in cash from pocket and flashed it at him. There was a line of about 5 guys waiting to look at it after me. He said I will take your name and number and get back to you. I thought I was toast, but 3 days later he called and I went and got the charger. I prob would have preferred another color other than dark green, but I was thrilled to get a original 383 HP numbers matching car.

[mopar0166]

after ten years of looking a swiss cheese r/ts, i bought a 318 se car , because it soild and i wanted to build a GL anyway.  so it worked out.  just have to swap in the big block this winter though 

[1970Moparmann]

My first Charger (1969 RT), I had to find what I could afford.  Sold it and purchased a 70 RT that was a good deal, and better condition then what I had.   I didn't want to hack it up because it was a low mileage original car, so I went out to find my dream car - high impact 4 speed 70 RT.  Found it on Ebay and purchased it almost 10 years ago.    Almost sold it this year, but I came to my senses. 

[71charger]

OK so it was my first time ever buying a car. I was given 7k to invest in my first car, so I had it in my mind to get into the muscle car game. Ever since I first laid eyes on a classic car I turned to my father and said " dad one day I'm guna have a muscle car" anyways I was looking around for impalas, novas but always kept my eyes out for one of my top favorite cars even tho I probably wasn't going to get em . Then I saw her a 71 charger with a 318 auto on the column with 39,000 miles on it and he was asking 4k. she needed some minor work other than steering, front suspension, and some leaks. I called the guy and he told me she ran just fine and to come take a look. I drove 45 minutes from my place to Modesto CA and as I pulled up I instantly fell in love with the car. I took and hour and a half just looking testing things. After I was done looking I paid the guy 4k and drove my first baby home. I am 19 and I'm addicted to my car. Ive gone from knowing nothing to knowing alot in only 8 months on my own. 

[1969chargerrtse]

My dream car was a T5, white top, interior, stripe 4 SPD R/TSE
car. But back in 2007 69 Charger anything were hard to find. Very hard. I "settled" but was thrilled to get what I have now. I love it. I use it, and I have no regrets as I'm still so lucky and blessed to be a 69 Dodge Charger owner.  

(But would trade for T5 69 R/TSE 4spd white top, stripe, interior car) 

[ITSA426]

When I had my midlife crisis I decided to get a red 66 four speed hemi Charger with a black interior.  I settled for yellow but some other things got out of hand.  I wouldn't trade for a red one now.

[kab69440]

I bought the first one I had enough money to get. My old man nearly kicked my axx up one side and down the other when he found out I paid four hundred dollars for the pile of parts sitting on a trailer then parked in our driveway. He was even more irate to discover that guy wanted the trailer back without "that thing" on it.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Back in '97 when I got mine I had no idea i was even looking for one.  Just bought my house, had a little extra cash, saw mine for sale in the local paper & bought it.   never really "looked" for one....this one "found" me! 

[69 OUR/TEA]

Bought my 69 R/T B5 blue,white top,white stripe in 98.Had looked for nearly a year for a real R/T,my dream was a 3x9 69 R/T,so yeah I guess you can say I settled.Ten years went by,(always still looked)and then my current car surfaced,and to make things even better than getting my 3x9 dream R/T Charger,it turned out to be a loaded R/T SE from Cali and very solid.Could'nt be happier now.Then,not wanting to have 2 of the same car,decided to sell the B5 R/T.

[vancamp]

i was wanting a non numbers blue,silver or orange 4 speed R/T and by pure circumstance ended up with a numbers black (originally T5)  automatic R/T, have considered trading for what i really want or turning this one into what i want just bring my self to change this one yet.

[Ghoste]

Settled.

[charger_fan_4ever]

Always wanted a 69 charger 500. Got realistic $$ wise and wanted a 68 r/t I could do up tripple black bullit style. Settled for my current 70 r/t. I'll still do it my way colorwise. I say i settled, but looking back on it i prefer the 69-70 tailpan and the 68 grille, so i guess the 70 was meant for me. Mind you I'd be happy with any 2nd generation r/t.

Maybe a LONG time down the road I'll try to get a real charger 500, but that would mean getting rid of my current car. With all the blood sweat and tears going into the revival i just couldn't sell it.

[Dans 68]

I specifically looked for a '68 383 4-barrel 4-speed. I found it and bought it.

Dan

[Darkman]

I initially wanted a 69 Charger, but the only ones available down here in Aus (in my budget) were 68's. So I looked into getting one of the 68's and converting it to a 69. Then, my demons were excorcised and came to my senses and prefered a 68  . Not too many options available for me at the time and my budget. I didn't really settle for my car because a complete 68 big block which needed some work was what I wanted and it is what I got 

[Kern Dog]

GREAT TOPIC!
I wanted a '68 or '69 Charger. My budget was limited when I was shopping for my first car, so I settled on s '69 Dart. I later sold it and bought a '76 Dart Sport. I went to the Chevy camp for a while, then in the late 90's I decided that I was ready to get serious about looking for a Charger. Once again I wanted a '68 or '69 but I didn't try too hard. I saw an ad in the local newspaper for a '70 Charger 500: 318, A/T for $2500. I figured that I could put a '69 front end on the car if I decided to. I bought the car for $1700 and drove it home. In fact, I drove it 122 miles per day for about a month while I was rebuilding the engine in my work truck.
It didn't take long for the '70 front end and grille to grow on me. Now I couldn't imagine changing the car that way. So its now a R/T clone/fake/tribute car, but it was, is and always WILL be a 1970 model car! Yeah, I settled, but in the end I would never want to go back and do it different.

[66chargerkid]

I was dead set on a 2nd gen charger. This was at the peak of the prices and I couldnt afford anything that didnt need a complete resto. So I settled for a 66 that was local and in my price range. Couldnt be happier =) But I will have a 2nd gen charger one day.
Q

[ChargerD100]

Got exactly what I wanted a base model 69 that I could build anyway I wanted. I spent all of the last 6 years looking for a 2nd gen. Found 1 70 that was on ebay that ended up being 1 street away from me but it was a rust bucket for 12k then recently a new neighbor said his friend had one he didn't think was for sale. I talked to the guy he said not for sale. the very next morning it was in craigslist. So i emailed him and went and looked it over and the next morning I took a loan out and got my car