How I started in mopars !

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jimmer

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So I shared my story many years ago when I joined.
I won't go into too much detail , but here is how it started !
In July of 1971 I came home from
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the hospital in a fm3 1970 Plymouth Road Runner my parents ordered.
Here are a few pics of the car from around 74 I believe.
It was wrecked once and the hood fender and I believe maybe the grill was replaced.
I believe this was after the repaint.
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My story goes back a lot farther.
My dad only drove Hudsons which became part of AMC, which became part of Chrysler.
After my dad passed at way too young of an age, my mom traded the last Hudson in on a new '59 Plymouth Fury. That was the first true Mopar I remember in the family.
Bounce forward to November '69 when I bought a very lightly used '69 Swinger 340. I was hooked forever after.
 
Mopars (A bodies) were the only cars that you could find parked in someones back yard or in a field, that you could buy for 50 bucks. Tow ( with a chain) a few of those babies home and you could get a driver on the road for cheap.

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I started in 1973 at 16 with a 68 340 4 speed . In 2016 I bought and restored a 68 383 4 speed .. Ah to be young again. Lol

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It's the only picture I have of it. Rode in it when I was around 5 years old many times and before my Dad purchased it. Hook, line, and sinker....

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JW
 
Here’s what started me into MoPars, only paid $400. 1970 Challenger SE.

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62 Dart owned by my parents, then they traded in to a 69 Fury. First one I bought was a 76 Aspen and that's how it started for me.
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Dad was not a Mopar guy. My first one was about '84 or 5 or maybe 6? I was pushing 40. '71 Charger Rt. The PO had pulled its original 440 sold that and dropped in a good 400. Go figure. Straight rust free needed nothing..$1500> They said I paid too much!! "They" also said, buy a 70 E body!!! LOL
 
I was twelve reading 'Popular Mechanics' that had an article that Chrysler had swept Daytona, finishing 1,2,3,5, with a new 'Maximum Performance Engine" called a 'Hemi'. I thought, wow, this company has got it together. Now, over 50 years later I'm still in the fold!
 
I was born in 1970. I have always loved cars ever since I could remember. I played with hot wheels and built models as a kid. Love my Uncles Olds 442's and Mach I Mustangs.My Dad took me to the Mopar Nationals in 1984 and I have been hooked on Mopars ever since.I bought my first Mopar in 1985 at age 15. It was a 2 door 1968 Coronet 440 with 8116 miles on it.The car was wrecked when it was less than a year old. The car than sat in a barn until I bought it and my Uncle, Dad and I restored it.
 
Got my first car the before my last year in high school - 1978. Lived in a small town in NE Ohio and this 69 Charger (383/727 car) was sitting for sale in a person's yard around the corner and about 5 houses away from our house. The seller was the nephew of a lady that lived across the street from him and had given him the car. She actually owned the building the local Dodge dealer was in - they leased it from her. So he sold it to me - $1500 and I didn't argue the deal. 32k miles on it. Door dings and all.
I thought it was one fast car (it wasn't) but I knew it was a classic looking car even then. So I'm driving it around town one day and happen to go by a guy's house who was outside washing his 70 Coronet R/T. I did the 1-wheel-spin-the tire thing and left. That Friday night, he saw me and we pulled over and started talking. He took me for ride in his Coronet and the torque of the 440...well, what's not to like! I was hooked and in hog heaven!! I knew then that I had to get me a 440 one day for the Charger. He fed my interest on all things Mopar and the rest is history. It's just a big ole street car (4260#'s) that I took to the track now and then. Raced it with the 383 until it got tired from too much shifting at 6700-6800 (slowed down if shifter earlier) so I built a too mild 440 for it (12.46 @ 109+ best). Raced that just a couple years then our first child was born and the car was simply parked in the garage. That first child is now 28 years old and the car is still patiently waiting.

I bought the 71 Demon 340 in 1984 from the orig owner - 34k miles when I bought it. It now has ~44k miles on it as it also sat while our kids were raised. Kids got through college and moved out and the toys are starting to blossom again. Bought the avatar 72 Demon as a roller in 2019 and put it together first. The 71 Demon is going back together and then the Charger will come back to life after it's long sleep.

Still have this first car out sitting in the garage. 40k miles on it now. I owe all my "Mopar-ness" to my pal that had the gorgeous 70 Coronet R/T!!

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For me I love all muscle cars , obviously I'm partial to mopars.
However what I like the most is the sense of connection you can make with others and the life time of friends and stories .
Especially today with all the division it is comforting to have common ground and something to stand together on !
Thanks to all my mopar brothers and sisters and this awesome website !
Rock on
Jim
 
I was 6 when this car came rumbling into the driveway, and it was love at first sight. Everybody who ever laid eyes on this car loved it, and it was the baddest car in our area. It also helped that my grandpa worked for Kendall Oil, and we saw all manner of high performance iron up close and personal. One of my grandpas best friends was John Tedder, who we saw a lot, and anybody that Kendall sponsored was apt to be with Grandpa at some time or another. It was a great way to grow up.

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I was born in the wrong era (violins playing sad song) to have bought anything cool new & by the time I was old enough to buy em myself, prices have always been outta reach.
Had a 73 charger SE in highschool
73 duster.
71 demon.
64 belvedere
69 dart.
And 2 70 darts, 1 now.
Sorry no photos
 
No pics but 40 Plymouth business coupe bad engine neighbor had a 56 Pontiac wrecked v/8 3 speed put the two together with the help of a floor shifter$9.10 from Warshawsky. I was the king until my mother drove it, then my uncle that helped me put it together bought it
 
Here is How I got hooked on mopars, I was probably 11 years old, sitting in my mom's monte Carlo with her, we pulled up behind a early 80s rake (*** up high) 70 or 71 cuda, that thing was black, it was shaking & it was loud. I lived down in the valley below Seattle international raceway when drag racing was still a gotta go watch & see event. Man I miss those days.
 
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