Mopar Addicts - How'd You Get Hooked?

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66340SEDAN said:
Not to change the subject but how cool would it be to be Richard Petty and have people say they got into "Mopar" because of you!?! :glasses7:
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I believe he was pretty brand-loyal until Chrysler wouldn't give him what he wanted. He changed makes a few times but I think most people remember his Chryslers better than his other rides. They were iconic I guess.

It definitely was not genetics for me though, my parents were not really interested in cars or mechanical things. My dad was a GM/Pontiac guy, had a few Firebirds up until the mid '70s. My mom grew up in Chevrolets but started buying imports in the early '80s. My grandmother always used to say I could name all the cars on the road by the time I was two or three.

I was a child of the '70s. Watching NASCAR on TV back then was a huge deal, at least for me and The King's cars always stood out. It was partially the color scheme but I think that I was really into the fuselage body and recessed grille. It was an epiphany early in my life, like 'oh, I see, this is what I am about'. Seriously, it's pretty deep for me!

ABC also had the Wide World of Sports with Keith Jackson who used to do a lot of the car stuff. Every once in a while they had a drag racing segment which was always a little scary to me for some reason, probably because of the sound and violence of it. I remember having a sweatshirt with an iron on image of Garlits doing a fire burn out though so I guess I was attracted to it regardless of my fear. I am a drag racing guy now too, could care less about NASCAR.

Later in the '70s the Dukes of Hazard left a pretty big mark on me as well, like everyone else who is my age and into cars. I remember one episode where they were being chased right at the opening shot. John Schneider was driving and extolling the virtues of the new sway bar they put in. How cool is that?

My favorite car toys also ended up being representations of Chrysler products. I had A/FX slot cars and my favorite was a blue '71-'72 Satellite body. Again, I think it was the grille and fuselage body. And let's not forget my favorite Hot Wheels car of all time, a '69 Charger in 'F4' green without a hood. I LOVED that car, I remember staring at it and admiring it.

It sounds corny to say that you are born a Mopar guy but I think there is some truth to it. It's beyond just a preference for me.
 
My dad had a bnch of old hot rodding magazines and drag racing mags, I loved looking thru them and the Mopars always looked the meanest and coolest! That and building Mopar models cars at a young age really helped me become a "Mopar Maniac" :glasses7:
 
I got out of the Navy in 1967 and with my $2500 I had saved went and ordered a 1968 Dodge Dart 2 door post with a 318 and a 4 speed.That was a fun car to drive. Had it for 7 months then traded it for a 1969 Dart GT.It was copper metallic with a tan vinyl roof and white interior. 1971 saw a new blue Charger with a 318. Then I had a 1969 Chrysler New Yorker and a bunch of Chevys before a new Ram with a Hemi in 2005. I now drive a 2013 Avenger.
 
Dad had 70 Roadrunner when I was little. Moms cousin had 69 GTX in next town over. 70RR had the big old pistol grip shifter in it remember playing in there pretending to roll the gears. 69 GTX had center console with the cool lights on the side of it. Spent many hours playing in those cars with my cousins racing all over.

My dad always had a dodge pickup the whole time I was growing up. First thing I drove Dodge truck with 4 on the floor and a granny low hard to kill it when taking off when learning.
The truck he had that was the most fun was a late 70 Club Cab 400 big block tons of torque and light in the rear. I rapped the speedo cable all the way around in that truck on a nice long stretch in New Mexico. Heavy truck would stick to the road like glue in the front end the rear was another story. If your foot was heavy taking off the rear would suddenly develope a smoking problem from both tires.

Also had an great uncle with a 4 door Plymouth Belvedere with an Elephant under the hood. He got the motor for a song (mid seventies) he did some mechanical work for it. He would take us out of town and ask if we wanted to hear the motor roar. We would be jumping all over the place. He would get out with a wrench undo something on both sides of the car underneath get back in. He would fire that thing back up and you could hardly talk over it. He would stomp it shoot down the road and what a roar is the only way I can still describe it to this day. There is nothing like a HEMI uncorked and hauling a$$ down the road. I think I was 8 at the time.

Mopar will Always be an addiction

Bought my first car a Duster when I was 14 drove it all over. Leaning tower of power under the hood that could take the abuse of a high school kid. It had the Space Duster option so it was handy for lots of things.
 
69dartgt1 said:
I got out of the Navy in 1967 and with my $2500 I had saved went and ordered a 1968 Dodge Dart 2 door post with a 318 and a 4 speed.That was a fun car to drive. Had it for 7 months then traded it for a 1969 Dart GT.It was copper metallic with a tan vinyl roof and white interior. 1971 saw a new blue Charger with a 318. Then I had a 1969 Chrysler New Yorker and a bunch of Chevys before a new Ram with a Hemi in 2005. I now drive a 2013 Avenger.
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You may have met my dad. He was in the Navy from 62/63-66/67 in Pearl Harbor. Got out about the same time. He was on an old Fletcher Class Destroyer in charge of damage control (if the ship got hit, it was his job to put out the fire and keep it floating...)
 
I was in Pearl Harbor aboard the Destroyer USS Carpenter from 1965 to 1967. What was the name of his ship? I was a sonarman tracking submarines.
 
69dartgt1 said:
I was in Pearl Harbor aboard the Destroyer USS Carpenter from 1965 to 1967. What was the name of his ship? I was a sonarman tracking submarines.
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I don't know the name of his ship, all I know is it was a Fletcher Class Destroyer. He always said that the ship should have been retired 20 years before he was on it....

he was officer in charge of damage control. If the ship got hit, he was in charge of the crew to put out the fire and patch up the leaks to keep it floating.

Both mom and dad are gone now, so I can't ask them.


When he enlisted, they shipped his 62 Sport Fury convertible out there it was white with blue interior. Mom got him the pick of the litter Crown Jewel Dalmatian for his birthday in 1965. Mom was a 5 foot tall brunette.

So if a guy who drove a white 62 Sport Fury Convertible with blue interior, had a 5 foot tall brunette wife and a Dalmatian with lots of spots and diamond shaped spots around her eyes, that was him.... His knick name was Spike. He got out late 66 or early 67, after putting his 4 years.

They also lived in the Navy housing while they were there. I remember mom telling how they looked out for each other while the husbands were out at sea. One time a Navy wife was mugged and she screamed, and a couple of other Navy guys came running to help her and chased the guy away.


He did say that he sailed to the Phillipeans once. I know that he sailed to Japan as there are a couple of good stories about when mom went to visit him there in 65, then my older brother was born 9 months later in April 66. (I like to tease him that he was made in Japan - it's true.... However, he has the distinction of being born in Honolulu hospital, so is a natural born Hawaiian. - I was only made in Hawaii, and born in Chicago... BFD.... LOL!).



Did you know the story about when some Navy guys went to that bar in Hawaii that had all of the monkeys in the cages, and someone bet that they wouldn't open the cage....

Well, the guy that opened up the cage had to round up all of the monkeys after he let them out. Like 1-3 of them got away, and he had to pay for them....

Dad took us to that bar once back in 75 when we visited Honolulu, and they still had some monkeys and he told us the story....
 
View attachment image.jpg
Pile in my buddy's 61 Willys jeep...
Head to Bridgeville...
Pile out on the goat path up to the track...
Hike thru the woods to save the $2.00 spectator fee...
Daddy's Toy was my favorite car...
I never got to race here, it closed when I was a senior...

:burnout:
 
not sure how it happened, born and raised in the Netherlands i grew up thinking a 2.2 4 banger was a big motor
i moved to the US in 2001 and i guess i am just one of those foreigners who truly assimilate :)
 
diymirage said:
not sure how it happened, born and raised in the Netherlands i grew up thinking a 2.2 4 banger was a big motor
i moved to the US in 2001 and i guess i am just one of those foreigners who truly assimilate :)
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Welcome to America!!! LOL!
 
When I was about 10 years old, my Dad bought a 1968 Chrysler 300. You can see it in back of the gate in the picture. We used to pull a trailer (also visible) and go camping a couple times a year. I always loved that car. When I was about 14, the car had already been stuck behind the fence because it wasn't running anymore. He had bought another car but I was able to talk him into keeping the 300 so I could fix it and use it when I got my license. I was also going to fix the trailer, but that didn't happen. I did manage to get the car running, but I think Mom had had enough at that point so my father sold the car and the trailer. I was really bummed. That was what really dragged me into Mopars and working on them. I should say that my Moms decision was probably based on the fact that I had bought a 73 340 4speed Duster that I was planning on rebuilding the engine in. This picture was taken in 1980. My brother was a Mopar guy from the beginning as well. His Dart is parked next to my Duster. He was the one who drove the Mopar brand home to me. I helped him work on his car, so he showed me a lot about the mechanics of the cars. I have had Mopars ever since. Probably 20 or so through the years. even in the lean times I stuck with them.
 

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The day my soon to be Dad drove up to pick my Mom up for a date in his new 1970 440-6pak 4 speed convertible Road Runner! Red with a white top and interior! Had those bubble wrap looking clear seat covers on it, probably just for me and my brother! We loved that car!! Dad was tight with the Fox Hills racing program and reportedly had 5 6pak motors dyno'd and the best one put in his car! Ran a solid 12 flat, my brother still has the time slips!! His friend had a 70 Hemi GTX, blue!! When he came over they would both drive the mile or so over to Telegraph Rd. and run them! Reportedly Dad never lost to him, and he would retreat home and do something else to his car and come back! I remember my brother and I rolling under the front of his friends car and seeing that huge chrome oil pan!!

Also helped that my grandpa was a Kendall Oil rep and took us to all the big races! He was friends with Garlits, Kallitta, Keremecenes...all the old timers!!

May be my brother will chime in here with a couple pics!! The old roadrunner is long gone, but pics of it still remain, as well as a great pic of grandpa with his girlfriend Linda Vaughn!! Geof
 
Grew up in a Desoto family, took my drivers test in Mom's 64 Plymouth convertible. Dad, liked fords at that time and I ended up with a Mustang. Back from Vietnam a few years later Bought a new 68 440, 4 speed rt charger traded that 2 years later on a new 70 cuda, 440 six pack 4 speed. I've had other stuff, but have 6 mopars around right now.
 
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