I think I have become a Mopar snob

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gtgto

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I'm at a big show this past weekend and the car that caught my eye was a R4 Red 69 Dart Swinger. 340 car and a stick. The car was beautiful inside and out. It was misting and I guess since it was the rain date from it being cancelled the week before. the show must go on. I must have stopped and checked out the car 3 separate times and the last time I went by it the owner who was probably in his 50's like me was drying the car off and someone close to me is talking to the guy. The owner says the car went through a complete frame off restoration. Since it is not even possible to take the body off of the frame in my head I know this guy has money to pay to have his car completely redone and he knows nothing about it. In a way I would probably love to be that guy and just cruise around in a car that is sweet but my love of cars and learning about them and doing as much of the work myself is priceless in my opinion.

If I am a snob so be it.

P.S. How many friggin Chevelle SS's and Camaro's did they make?
 
I'm at a big show this past weekend and the car that caught my eye was a R4 Red 69 Dart Swinger. 340 car and a stick. The car was beautiful inside and out. It was misting and I guess since it was the rain date from it being cancelled the week before. the show must go on. I must have stopped and checked out the car 3 separate times and the last time I went by it the owner who was probably in his 50's like me was drying the car off and someone close to me is talking to the guy. The owner says the car went through a complete frame off restoration. Since it is not even possible to take the body off of the frame in my head I know this guy has money to pay to have his car completely redone and he knows nothing about it. In a way I would probably love to be that guy and just cruise around in a car that is sweet but my love of cars and learning about them and doing as much of the work myself is priceless in my opinion.

If I am a snob so be it.

P.S. How many friggin Chevelle SS's and Camaro's did they make?

I get it man.
Trying not to minimalize their ride or anything but I don't understand how people can or don't want to know about their car mechanically.
Not ONE person save for the tire guy ever touched my car.

There was a Mopar at one of the shows I went to and I asked the guy something about it, and he said he bought it an hour ago, so he said he had no idea.:D
I guess I could understand that, but he didn't even know what he bought.
 
I'm at a big show this past weekend and the car that caught my eye was a R4 Red 69 Dart Swinger. 340 car and a stick. The car was beautiful inside and out. It was misting and I guess since it was the rain date from it being cancelled the week before. the show must go on. I must have stopped and checked out the car 3 separate times and the last time I went by it the owner who was probably in his 50's like me was drying the car off and someone close to me is talking to the guy. The owner says the car went through a complete frame off restoration. Since it is not even possible to take the body off of the frame in my head I know this guy has money to pay to have his car completely redone and he knows nothing about it. In a way I would probably love to be that guy and just cruise around in a car that is sweet but my love of cars and learning about them and doing as much of the work myself is priceless in my opinion.

If I am a snob so be it.

P.S. How many friggin Chevelle SS's and Camaro's did they make?
More SS's on the road today then was EVER produced.
 
So you are saying he dont have the ability to do a restoration somehow makes him less of a Mopar guy than you.Yup you have become a snob because not everyone knows how to fix the car they love.
 
The owner says the car went through a complete frame off restoration.

Snobs are where you find them, but for the record..........

The 'FRAME' on Chrysler broadcast sheets refers to the K-member & they can be unbolted. ;-)

Mopar frame.JPG
 
Ok...I think we've all felt this from time to time...at least in calling it snobbery, you're recognizing this as a not so great way to be. You get some credit there. :)

So the term "frame off restoration" may have been used in a generic way to express how far of a tear-down the car went through so he doesn't have to explain it to everybody. Why not give the guy the benefit of the doubt?

Regardless of how much the owner does or doesn't know about his car, you can't argue with his taste. It sounds like he's willing to spend a lot of money on and take good care of a Dart which has got to be worth something.
 
That's a tough one. Like you, I love doing all my own work. But I haven't yet taken on body work and paint. I might need to learn it if I want it done, cause I don't have that kind of money laying around.

Come to think about it, I love bourbon and I drink a good bit of it, but I can't tell you how it's made, :D
 
So you are saying he dont have the ability to do a restoration somehow makes him less of a Mopar guy than you.Yup you have become a snob because not everyone knows how to fix the car they love.
Well I'm not the overpaid guy that can look in the classifieds and buy a car all done and ready to go. With all of the knowledge at our fingertips these days even a full time IT guy like myself can tackle a lot of the work needed to resurrect whatever the car of choice is. Do I consider myself a real Mopar lover because I'm willing to spend all kinds of hours in my garage working on things, a lot of what I have never done before. Yes I admit I am that guy who is better than the guy with no knowledge of his own car. Money can't buy love and it can't buy love for cars like mine either....The snob guy.
 
Well I'm not the overpaid guy that can look in the classifieds and buy a car all done and ready to go. With all of the knowledge at our fingertips these days even a full time IT guy like myself can tackle a lot of the work needed to resurrect whatever the car of choice is. Do I consider myself a real Mopar lover because I'm willing to spend all kinds of hours in my garage working on things, a lot of what I have never done before. Yes I admit I am that guy who is better than the guy with no knowledge of his own car. Money can't buy love and it can't buy love for cars like mine either....The snob guy.
Some people have 2 left thumbs when it comes to doing mechanical work. Take the guy that calls the furnace guy when it breaks because he knows better than to touch it because the repair may cost more after he touches it.I may be reading too much into it but your 2nd to last sentence you say " Yes I admit I am that guy who is better than the guy with no knowledge of his own car"
 
Some people have 2 left thumbs when it comes to doing mechanical work. Take the guy that calls the furnace guy when it breaks because he knows better than to touch it because the repair may cost more after he touches it.I may be reading too much into it but your 2nd to last sentence you say " Yes I admit I am that guy who is better than the guy with no knowledge of his own car"
I can understand that. My wording might be a little strong. I think I am jealous of that guy with the Swinger at the show in a way. Our hobby is filled with guys like me and guys with big wallets and nice cars too. As long as our hobby is alive and well that's all that really matters.
 
I can understand that. My wording might be a little strong. I think I am jealous of that guy with the Swinger at the show in a way. Our hobby is filled with guys like me and guys with big wallets and nice cars too. As long as our hobby is alive and well that's all that really matters.
think about it, that Guy polishing his car might be jealous of somebody that was able to do the work themselves,wishing he could.
But that doesn't make him less of a Mopar fanatic and true Mopar lover.
 
I can understand that. My wording might be a little strong. I think I am jealous of that guy with the Swinger at the show in a way. Our hobby is filled with guys like me and guys with big wallets and nice cars too. As long as our hobby is alive and well that's all that really matters.
Now that sounds better. I too do all my own work as I cannot afford to pay for it and am lucky to have the skills to do it. I dont look down on anyone that cannot do it and has to pay someone to do it. I love all old cars including the Chevelle and Corvette. My actual dream car will get me burnt here but is a Mustang fastback 2+2 that I will never be able to buy. Just a project of one of those it 10 grand.
 
It's like anything else there are clicks in the Mopar world. The back yard mechanic, the ground up restorer, the hot rodder, the purist, the buy it built-money guy, etc.... but together we keep these cars alive and parts available. We learn from each other, and love ours cars. Weather your a Mopar snob, looking to get something back from your youth or a chevy guy who's finally seen the error of your ways. We all share an appreciation for these old cars! JMO
 
I love flying airplanes but you dont see me wrenching on aircraft.

Does that mean I dont really love flying airplanes?

I think your a bit hard on the guy...some people just dont wrench....nothing wrong with that.
 
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As one of the people who gets paid to do work such as that, I hope you at least find some comfort in knowing that somebody probably had a really good time working on that car :lol:. (If we're going off the assumption that he did pay to have it restored)
 
I don't much care for snobbism. Some people enjoy working on cars, some don't. It would be another thing If he tried to pass it off as his own work. If I was very wealthy I would still do all the work on the Duster, but I would probably let a shop handle the work on my daily driver.
 
For me, building my car was more fun than driving and maintaining it. For another person , they may get more enjoyment out of driving it than rebuilding it. Guys with money may not have time to rebuild one but can afford to pay a shop to do it for them. End result is enjoying the car. That is the common ground between us.
 
I wouldn't call it being a snob. Just opinionated. Opinions are subjective. The 50yr old might have used insurance money from his wife's passing to buy what he always wanted to have. One never knows all the bits that make up others' experiences. The term "frame off" has come to mean more than the technical realities of each unique model of car. See how many Mustangs have also had "frame offs"....
In terms of snobs and frames... I have a Chevelle. I bought it to flip, but found so many things to be below my opinion of good that I couldn't sell it and feel good about it. One of them is the patches and issues with the frame under it. One inquiring guy called me a snob. Because I told him of the laundry list I felt it needed and he felt "none of that is really that big a deal." We disagreed... But I'd wager the issues would have been a big deal when talking dollars...lol.
So I'll be a snob. And when it goes for sale it will be what I consider "right" and if he wants it, he'll pay.
 
Saying it is a "frame off" restoration is a common expression these days that everyone recognizes when referring to a car that has been fully nut and bolt restored. Perhaps you mistook his "expression" as his ignorance, when in fact he might have done all the work himself and been using words that the guy he was talking to would understand.
 
I'm like a lot of the guys here, doing 90% of my own work since I was a teen, and learning new things along the way. Part of me is jealous when I see someone buy a nice car that is turn key. They can jump right in it and enjoy. I'd love to do that one day, that being said, it wouldn't be long though before we would find something on it to fix or at least change up to our personal standards. Hands on guys will always be hands on guys.
 
So you are saying he dont have the ability to do a restoration somehow makes him less of a Mopar guy than you.Yup you have become a snob because not everyone knows how to fix the car they love.

Well said.

And frame off resto is just a term of speech. I say mine was a rotisserarie car simply because I don't know how else to simply put it. It was really a 4 sawhorse car
 
to me the "mopar snob" refers to the guy at the show that is so full of himself and the car he has there. we have seen them. for those types, everything evolves around them and their "prize" car and if they do not win that $5 plastic trophy, well...... look out world! to them everyone else and their car is below them and his car no matter....
I have no problem with the guy that has to pay someone to work on their car as long as the guy truly loves the car, the hobby, and probably has that deep down desire to able to actually work on his car!!! and it is great for someone to be able to by a "done" car. sure can save some hard work and time and many times $$$$ !!!!!
but for me the satisfaction of fixing something on my car is priceless!!!
 
I'm at a big show this past weekend and the car that caught my eye was a R4 Red 69 Dart Swinger. 340 car and a stick. The car was beautiful inside and out. It was misting and I guess since it was the rain date from it being cancelled the week before. the show must go on. I must have stopped and checked out the car 3 separate times and the last time I went by it the owner who was probably in his 50's like me was drying the car off and someone close to me is talking to the guy. The owner says the car went through a complete frame off restoration. Since it is not even possible to take the body off of the frame in my head I know this guy has money to pay to have his car completely redone and he knows nothing about it. In a way I would probably love to be that guy and just cruise around in a car that is sweet but my love of cars and learning about them and doing as much of the work myself is priceless in my opinion.

If I am a snob so be it.

P.S. How many friggin Chevelle SS's and Camaro's did they make?
Feel the same way, anybody can buy one. In answer to the last question, Way too many !
 
There's lots of terms used now days that are misused. "Frame off" works for a 63 Chevy but not a uni-body Mopar. "Numbers matching" only is true if the numbers truly do match and your Mopar is a 68 or newer when the vin's were stamped on the engine. "fully restored" is another misnomer. Restored shouldn't include a pile of aftermarket parts on the engine. 4 wheel disc brakes and custom wheels.
 
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