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

[1974dodgecharger]

and the values have jumped since then myk.......

[myk]

and the values have jumped since then myk.......

Jumped into freaking outer-space.  The only good thing about being a Charger fan/owner now is the availability of parts and sheetmetal; "back in the day" there really wasn't anything to buy.  Why couldn't I have gotten into Mustang's and Camaro's like everyone else...

[TPR]

Nice thread revival. Here's my story:

I had always had my heart set on owning a '69, and it was my dream since childhood.
This year I finally reached my target in terms of $$$ savings and a Charger was advertised only half an hour away from where I live. (This is a rare occurrence in Australia)
It was a numbers matching 440 R/T, light blue with black vinyl top, black interior, console auto, AC, S81 steering wheel, headrests etc. every single option I was looking for but...
it was a '68.

Now don't get me wrong, I have never disliked the look of a '68, (I still remember when my dad showed me the Bullitt chase scene he taped on the VCR) it just wasn't what I had imagined owning.
I checked out the car and everything looked good in terms of overall condition and value but I turned it down as I had only been 'seriously' looking for a short time.
I continued to look around for about six weeks and then out of the blue I started thinking, would I be disappointed if I bought this car? Would I really be driving it and be thinking, well it's not a '69?
That same day, I got a text from the seller who tells me he has lowered the asking price and fixed up some minor, but visually obvious issues.
I was starting to realize that this is it. I will own this car. What's also weird is that the same night, I flicked over channels to find Blade being shown on TV. It was a sign.

Four months later, I do not have any regrets. I stare at it often and don't wish it was any different.
I still check the classifieds (out of habit) and several nice '69's have come up, but the prices have been ridiculous for XP cars.
So in the end, I don't feel that I've settled for second best, it has perhaps only fueled my want to one day own a '69 and '70 as well.
TPR

[Ghoste]

Of those of us who settled I wonder how many regret it?

[6spd68]

Had to settle at the time, but my build will be worth it to me in the end...  And that's what I'll keep on telling myself.

[RoscoePColtrain]

A little of both.  Grew up loving DOH, moved to the Volunteer State (when 10) and fell in love with 1970 Stangs.  Someone down the street had a 1970 454 Chevelle, which after pulling into his driveway after work, would open the hood (to let it cool I assume).  From then, grew to love Chevelles (especially the 66), but then again I was 10-12 at the time.  Moved back to TO and school and work put the car hobby on hiatus.

While finishing my undergrad, was talking to Scott of Scotlea Customs, but as time went on, so did his prices... so that was a bust.

Fast forward some many "life experienced" years later and my wife (then fiancee) knew I was looking for a 69 Charger, but always fell short of pulling the trigger because something always came up.  Found a 1970 383/auto Satellite cloned into a sublime Road Runner, and she knew it was my second favourite, so she pushed me and I got it (her mainly stating that you probably won't have another chance until you're 50 coz we just bought a house, had a big wedding, and other expenses).  Love the Satellite, but 2 years later found a dark green 68 440/auto Charger (she knew I wanted the 69), went to see it and that was that... loved it and got it (she pushed me again and said get it AND to keep the RR (for now at least)). Gotta love a good woman... and a 68 

[Mopar Nut]

I wanted a 68, I saw it, I bought it and then I went ahead and restored it!
It was an Arizona car with very little rust and completely unmolested.
I'm so happy can somebody please slap me!   

  Better late than never   

[Tilar]

When I was looking for a 68, I really wanted an R/T but it wasn't a deal breaker either way because I was going to restore it and do what I wanted to it anyway.  When I first saw the one I have, it had a 318 and a 3 on the tree and this kid was just beating this thing to death. I wanted to get that car out of that kids hands so bad, then beat him for treating a car like that. I bought it after he blew the engine up. I thank God that he didn't have his license yet and didn't have a chance to take it out and jump it anywhere.

Now my 73 is another story. I wanted a 318 car with A/C and ended up with a 400 car with no A/C. It was a low mile one owner car and I got it at a good price but she needed a lot of help after sitting out behind the guys garage for 20 years. 

[xs29bb1]

Nice thread.  For me I went into it thinking, it was black on black 68 R/T or bust!  (I actually prefer the look of them w/o the vinyl top... but then of course it's not "triple black", however this would have been perfectly fine w/ me)

After months and months of searching, I realized my choices were 1) spend big money for an already restored car (and then never really know what was done to it) or 2) buy a project R/T that was a different color and just paint it black.

Then out of the blue one day I found it... a project car that had the fender tag below.  Not only was it a triple black R/T, but it had all those damn options.  Some I cared about, some I didn't, but an essentially loaded 68 R/T (before there was a such thing as an SE) in the exact color combo I wanted, ready for a restoration where I'll know every single thing that was done to it and have a record of it w/ all photos and receipts is going to come around how often??  Clearly if it did, I wasn't going to be the one to find it - so that was that.  

Pretty damn close to when I had given up hope and was getting ready to settle, it just appeared...

[Dino]

I'm still in love with my 69 mutt and there's no vin or fender tag code out there that I would trade it for.  I can't believe how long I looked for this car and all that popped up at the time were R/T's, SE's and 4 speeds.  Go figure!   

[myk]

I'm still in love with my 69 mutt and there's no vin or fender tag code out there that I would trade it for.  I can't believe how long I looked for this car and all that popped up at the time were R/T's, SE's and 4 speeds.  Go figure!   

Yes.  I do regret not waiting for the right car back in 1994, but I am at peace now and love my car; no other Charger could take its place...

[F8-4life]

circa 2010 looking for a complete 1969 charger project being around 20 years old with a 3k budget...
Umm yes I settled, but finding a local 69 prject is lucky in itself, so I'm just happy to own one.

[tsmithae]

I settled honestly.  I was looking for a '70 Challenger and a guy I used to work for told me he knew a guy with a '70 Doge, tho he wasn't sure it was a Challenger so don't get your hopes up.  I DEMANDED the guys name and number and set a time to go check it out.  He took me throughout this massive 2 story warehouse filled with cars (mostly 30-50's) and I was in heaven.  All the while we are talking and he asks me if I have seen anything I liked yet.  I told him that there were so many cool cars but nothing that piqued my interest just yet, I was more of a Mopar guy.  Then came the jokes and my friend who told me about this guy had told him to sell me a Ford or a Chevy!    Finally, he shows me a few 60's Mopars and I see this rusty POS sitting in a corner, very neglected and I walked up to it and I just knew it was the one.  For some reason the damn car spoke to me and told me to drag its sorry a$$ home.  I have no regrets and still intend to find that Chally. Then again I don't think I would mind a '70 RR or Cuda... 

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Found a white 68 but needed a lot of body work, but I was very tempted since there wasn't too many chargers around for sale. Well as I was debating what to offer for the 68 a local ad came up for a white 69 R/T for a price that seemed fair. The thought of getting a real R/T never crossed my mind but I went and checked it out anyway.

The second I saw it I knew it was mine. I had looked at about 15 different chargers but this one I knew in my gut was the one. It was about a 12-15 year old restoration that was looking neglected but it ran, needed only minor body work, the interior was all there but was faded, and the engine bay was a mess. So after an hour test drive in 100 degree heat we struck a deal, gave him $1000 bucks and said I'd be back with the rest later. Picked it up a few days later and has been a great car ever since.

So I almost settled, but then was in the right place at the right time and got something better than I wanted. A real deal 69 R/T with a/c!. Here is how it looked a few months later after about a hundred hours of polishing, waxing, vacuuming, sanding, painting, wiring, cleaning, etc...  Then later I tore it all apart and redid everything.  

[Old Tired Rebel]

Well I have never settled or bought what I wanted. In fact I never bought a Charger, the 74 I have now is a gift from a friend that did not want to scrap it and gave it to me. If I ever get the chance I would like to buy a 68 Charger color,engine,trans,interior matter to me since I would do it up the way I want.

[cdr]

my car was just what i was looking for,b block ,ac, not too crusty & almost all there.
as it happened it was an identical twin to the first charger i ever saw when i was a little kid in 1967,my neighbors car.
and i am making a twin of my 1st charger i had in the late 70's,black,black no vinyl top.

[bill440rt]

I guess I kind of settled with my '68.
This was in '86, I knew I wanted a '68 Charger and my Dad & I looked for months & months for one. Every car we looked at was a butcher case. It got so bad I started looking at Challengers, Cudas, even A-body Barracudas. I really wanted a Charger R/T or something hot.
Then this 318 '68 pops up, original owner, unmolested, etc. Total granny car, low options, etc. Even though it was caked with bondo & rust, we still bought it because it was otherwise unmolested. Wasn't really what I "wanted".
However... we built it into what I dreamed of, and it was a great learning experience side by side with my father. I couldn't replace that with anything.
I eventually found my R/T a few years later, but still have that '68.

My '69 was exactly what I was looking for. A clapped out dirt cheap project with no fender tag or broadcast sheet. 

[charger490]

I was driving a 1960 chev station wagon that was 8 years old so i went looking for a new car. i liked the 68 pontinc and drove it at the dealers but we went by the charger dealership and when i saw them sitting out  there in the sun i was hooked. so went back with the pontinc and went over to the dodge place and ordered a new charger.it was delivered in may of 1968 .the day i picked it up i had to get some gas at the station andthe kidcame out to put gas in and i told him to check the oil because i did not want gas spiled on my car. he said what is an old guy like you doing with a car like this?i was 36. can you wait a min. and i will show you as i left i left 2 black marks out of the station.had the car 1 yr. and three months and got hit head on. end of story.i also have a pic of the car from the crash but it is packed away somwhere

[myk]

Wow.  I can't even imagine how cool it would've been to drive by a dealership and see a bunch of Chargers sitting around "waiting" to be purchased...

[odcics2]

It was nice.   

[BrianShaughnessy]

Black Betty came about from settling for the only semi reasonably priced non numbers matching 4 speed 69 RT I could find...  late '01 in Maryland.   After new quarter panels, and a bunch of other stuff and a black paint job later...


Later on I was just sorta goofing off and decided to look at craigslist in Detroit for some unknown reason and found an ad which turned out to be my HS car... and too much $$$ later Sinnamon came home... to NY. 

[Lord Warlock]

Can't say it was either, it was more like it was the best choice available during the period of time I was looking to buy my own transportation.  The previous summer I had been taken cruising in my cousin's 68 charger, and introduced to mopars, which at the time weren't any more special than a mustang or Camaro.  My optimum choice at the time would have been a cougar eliminator, but none were for sale locally.  My friend was selling his 66 lemans/gto clone for $600, I looked at a 69 superbee sixpack 4spd with a disassembled motor for 400.00, was already driving a 66 mustang convertible 289 4spd and wanted something else with more oomph.  Saw the charger on the corner on the way to where I picked up newspapers for delivery, was the first 69 charger r/t I'd ever really looked at.  Never even heard of an RT SE, preferred a numbers matching car and got one, preferred leather seats, got  those, preferred tan over black interior, got that.  Would have preferred a 4spd but the auto was ok at the time.  It had 4 tires an engine, it started and ran reliably, and it cost 800.00, a little higher than I wanted to spend but within the range I had available to spend at 17 years old.  

Realistically speaking, I think fate stepped in and it found me...before dukes of hazard came on tv.  Had several opportunities to trade it for something else, weighed the pros and cons at the time and chose not to.  Probably a bad financial decision on my part, one was a 70 Hemi 4spd Challenger convertible, new hemi, crappy looking body, other was a 70 GTO Ram Air IV convertible 4spd, totally rust free, looked new, even tried to get my dad to buy that one instead of trading it, he made a couple offers but they weren't flexible, although he offered an even trade for the charger, (this was around 1980-81).

Once I knew what a Charger R/T was and what the choices were, I would have picked something green, a 440 six pack or hemi, and a 4spd, but back then without the internet, before autotrader, you got what was for sale near where you lived or wherever you found a deal, it was rare to drive that far for something special.  

[DAY CLONA]

There's only 2 Chargers worth owning IMO a 1970 Charger R/T an option loaded 440/6 or HEMI unit, or a 69 Daytona, only thing better is a 1970 Charger Daytona R/T ...I build what I want, I don't settle for 2nd choice

Mike

[Challenger340]

[472 R/T SE]

Back in '93 I had my '68 Coronet R/T shipped to Wa. state after almost 2 decades in storage.

I was now married so I started searching for a purple '70 Charger again.  I had gotten a permission slip from my new wife so the search was intense.  I had 4 or so cars professionally inspected.  After the last insp. I made an offer.  He declined so a few days later I called back so I could work him some & if he wouldn't budge I'd buy it anyhow.  Too late.  It sold.
This last one pissed me off since that was twice now that a car sold while I was looking at it.  I can't blame them though, money talks. 

Another one came up in Hemmings (remember when that was one of our only sources for classic cars/parts) & I called...it sold.  But he had a '70 Super Bee, original #'s matching V code, 4:10, 4 gear, real go wing car.  According to Galen, the last V code Bee built @ St. Louis.  And it was purple.  I settled.

It stayed in my garage unrestored until I found AllBlueRT.  In order to afford a nice Mope I needed a better paying job/career.  With the new job I now had little time to work on one.
So the Bee left & Blue took over.   I settled.

Now my current car the purple car, I hounded the owner for years.   To say I was shocked when he told me he was actually thinking about selling would be an understatement.