On a Mopar site you ask that question, "why a mopar"! Of course your going to get tons of bias answers.
I'm a mopar fan myself. I bought my first mopar in 76 while a Junior in high school and it blew up on my graduation night in 77. It was and to this day still is the favorite car I've ever owned. A 70 Cuda big block. Even today I always tell my wife if we ever see one sitting out for sale I would sell the house, throw her and the kids in the deal so I could have another 70 Cuda. Well, shes still with me and Im still living in the same place 35 yrs later. I've owned about a dozen mopars since then but only have my 66 Dart and 98 1500 truck now.
With all that said now comes the dark side of my life with mopars. My dad had a garage that I was brought up in during the 70's an 80's. Its apparent that some here dont remember having to spiders and bearings go out of the rears, the oil leaks they all seemed to have, the timing chains jumping on the small blocks, the carb problems they had compared to other cars, the choke issues and fouling out plugs from both from rich carbs or excessive oil usage. And probably the worst thing is that mopars rusted away as they sat in front of you compared to other vehicles. Yes I know, most spider and bearing issues were on 7 1/4 rears but there were tons of duster and darts out there. Yes, other cars had their share of issues as well. But can anyone say that changing the plugs on a 383 or 440 after the car was driven in for a tuneup was something you enjoyed? I know I cant and I probably did at least one set a day for many years because we worked on a ton of them. That good thing was many worn out chrysler New Yorkers with 440's ended up being left for sale for $50- $100 bucks where I could yank the motor and trans and rear and have many spare parts for my collection!
Yes as I said I am a mopar fan, but over my years of driving and working on cars Ive found that all brands suck when you have issues and when they run, they all run good.
As for body styles, they can be liked or hated but a few years later you can fall in love with the same car you hated. Yes, I can say that as I use to hate the corvettes. Then I ended up working on a friends while he was away for a month. Fell in love with the way it handled and bought one for myself. Did a total resto mod and it has become one of my all time favorites.
View attachment 1715148691
Then there was the time I was at the Beach and decided to check out the fall car show in OC Md and saw a Pontiac that for some reason I couldnt get out of my head. Found one within a year and its the car I take whenever I do the hot rod power tour or an over night car trip.
View attachment 1715148696
Now dont mistake what Im saying. I love the mopar line but there are other cars that are as nice or even nicer that I have opened myself up to that I enjoy.
As for those that say I never got beat racing in their mopar, well maybe you were and still are a hell of a driver or maybe your opponents were very bad! lol. I grew up in an area that had a ton of Ford and Chevy garages that had some super fast cars that were on both the street and strip.
I guess what Im really trying to say is that the love of cars should be just that. A love of cars. Yes when you go to a show there will be 30 camera's for every Mopar, but thats because the mopars rusted away! lol And yes theres a ton of Mustangs but have you checked out how many new challengers are out here now. Years from now they will be everywhere as the cameras and mustangs of the past are now and everyone will be complaining about them! Actually probably not as cars wont be a hobby anymore!
So to wrap this somewhat of a rant up, I think cars are all the same and it comes down to a personal preference.
Thats my story and Im sticking to it!
Rod
