So how far back does your Mopar experience go?

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65 Cuda 340

65 Cuda 340

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I'm older than most on here, I think. Here's a picture from probably 1955-56 or so. Our 1952 DeSoto. Nothing special, huh? Four door sedan, wide whitewalls, completely stock exterior. Under the hood, though, its original 276 hemi had been bored to a 291, heads milled .100, dual two barrel carburetors, Mallory Magspark ignition and dual exhaust with truck mufflers. Despite being handicapped with Chrysler's ridiculous Fluid Drive, it was pretty quick for a daily driver in its day. Would easily outrun a Rocket 88 Oldsmobile. Even outran a 55 Chevy with power pack (but Powerglide trans).

That's me and my sister standing by the car.

me and sis in front of our 1952 DeSoto.jpg
 
Mine's about the same.The family car was a 53 Desoto then a 57 Desoto wagon when I was a kid .My first MOPAR was a 65 Valiant I bought at age 25 in 1974 and have had an A body ever since along with a 48 Plymouth thru the 70's and 80's . Now I'm down to 2 A bodies and an F body that I use as a beater.
 
Came from a family that was predominantly Chevy, but I remember learning to drive the "farm car" '47 Plymouth out in the fields... around 1967 or so...
 
In the womb. I am sure without even picking up the phone my old man was cruizin' mama around in one of his Mopar hotrods after they did the dirty deed lol..... True statement.

Past that, 51 years. I remember a few things still when I was probably 4 or 5. The 340 Cuda, 340 Duster, and the 340 Dart sport just to name a few....

JW
 
I was 9 years old in 1966, when my brother took me to ride in his brand new 66 Formula S Barracuda. 273HP 4 speed.......scared the living hell out of me even though I was laughing the whole time. Our Mom and his wife ate him alive when we got back because they could hear the tires squalling a mile away.....lol. :eek:
 
I think I was always a Mopar lover, but when I was about 13 working at my Dad's Sunoco station the mechanic took me for a ride in a 67 440 4 speed GTX he was tuning up. That sealed it.
 
My Dad bought used cars whatever he found that was a 'buy'. I think one he regretted was the '54 Nash Ambassador. Hard to park, no power steering, and had the "continental tire kit" which was a disaster for trunk acess. Just an example. He owned a few ponchs, and only one old Dodge pu, which had a bad flathead which he re-ringed.

My first mopar was bought in late 70? or so, a 69 383 RR and not much later bought the 70 440-6 from a friend and then a 64 426. That was in the Navy days at San Diego, NAS Miramar. I sure wish I had that '70 back. The kid I sold it to in the mid 70's is STILL a crackhead and asshole, and paranoid. No idea what became of the car

The better photo with steel wheels was when the original owner and I had gone to Lions, he stationed at Long Beach.

70RR_Burton.JPG


70RR.jpg
 
My mother had a red 1963 Dodge Dart, but I don't know how old I would've been to remember that (I was born in 1960). Through the years, most of my family members were Mopar owners. Mt stepfather came into our lives when I was 9 and he was a Chevy guy that was eventually converted to Mopar. So, I guess all my life.
 
My brother informed me I wanted a duster when I told him I wanted a nova for my first car. "Duster is like a nova but better". Ok....whats a duster? Ended up getting a dart and then a dozen or so dusters over the next 5 years. This was back in early nineties and A bodys could be had for free. People were happy for you to haul them off their property. Those were the good old days.
I have been all mopar ever since with the exception of a short stint where I played with fox body mustangs.
 
In 1980 I was given my great uncle’s 68 Dart 270. It was QQ1 blue and only had 14,000 miles on it. I was 17.
 
I started pumping gas and changing tires in 1974. I guess that's it.
 
67Dart273 said:
My Dad bought used cars whatever he found that was a 'buy'. I think one he regretted was the '54 Nash Ambassador. Hard to park, no power steering, and had the "continental tire kit" which was a disaster for trunk acess. Just an example. He owned a few ponchs, and only one old Dodge pu, which had a bad flathead which he re-ringed.

My first mopar was bought in late 70? or so, a 69 383 RR and not much later bought the 70 440-6 from a friend and then a 64 426. That was in the Navy days at San Diego, NAS Miramar. I sure wish I had that '70 back. The kid I sold it to in the mid 70's is STILL a crackhead and asshole, and paranoid. No idea what became of the car

The better photo with steel wheels was when the original owner and I had gone to Lions, he stationed at Long Beach.

View attachment 1715761975

View attachment 1715761976
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Awesome list of cars.
 
51 years ago. 65 Dart 270 post with a HP 273 and a 3 on the tree. It ran like a scalded dog! Easy to get hooked on the brand with a start like that.
 
I remember, a real long time ago, my Dad had a 37 Chrysler which is the first car I remember. He then had a 41 Chevy and then a 51 Plymouth Station wagon. For some of you Long Islanders, station wagons were not permitted on the belt parkway. How do I know, my Dad was pulled over and because he was a FDNY member Cop let him go. Eventually that law was changed.
 
My experience goes back to about 1968 or 9 when I was riding home from church with my grandfather in his 64 413 New Yorker he pulled by a couple of the local hot rodders and they were in Chase of us he dialed up that 413 courtesy of a push button dash with the AFB screaming they couldn't gain on us he navigated the corner on our country road I watched in excitement as they spun out behind us,it was the most awesome thing I had ever experienced up to that point, my grandmother did not feel the same way LOL
 
1966 Coronet 500 in white with green interior. that was my Dad's car and I remember it lit it was yesterday, but it was 1972! I was 4. Then we bought my mom a 71 Duster 3sp manual. I think it was a slant but never remembered the engine. I got a 65 Barracuda in 1984-85 as soon as I got my license. Dad sold it when I went off to boot camp but I bought a 65 "S" in 1992
 
K.O. SWINGER said:
My experience goes back to about 1968 or 9 when I was riding home from church with my grandfather in his 64 413 New Yorker he pulled by a couple of the local hot rodders and they were in Chase of us he dialed up that 413 courtesy of a push button dash with the AFB screaming they couldn't gain on us he navigated the corner on our country road I watched in excitement as they spun out behind us,it was the most awesome thing I had ever experienced up to that point, my grandmother did not feel the same way LOL
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We had a 64 New Yorker 413. I remember the effortless torque. The car really came into its own on the highway.
 
K.O. SWINGER said:
My experience goes back to about 1968 or 9 when I was riding home from church with my grandfather in his 64 413 New Yorker he pulled by a couple of the local hot rodders and they were in Chase of us he dialed up that 413 courtesy of a push button dash with the AFB screaming they couldn't gain on us he navigated the corner on our country road I watched in excitement as they spun out behind us,it was the most awesome thing I had ever experienced up to that point, my grandmother did not feel the same way LOL
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LOL Not sure I should tell this story, but after our 52 DeSoto was long gone, one of the Mopars Dad bought was a 1967 Hemi Charger, in the fall of 1970. Some time later, Mom and Dad and my much younger brother were in the Charger on I-285 around Atlanta - back when there was nowhere near as much traffic as there is today. Mom was driving at not too much over the speed limit. A GTO zipped around her at full throttle, so she took out after him. He had a huge running start, so it took a while, but she caught up to him and went around. My brother, sitting in the back seat, peered over Mom's shoulder at the speedometer, saw the needle hit 150 as they were going around. (3.23 gears)
 
Dad purchased a new '62 Chrysler New Yorker wagon nine passenger when I was six or seven years old. Probably had a 413. Actually, you could fit four smaller children in in center seat, so make that fit ten. My smaller younger brother was often told to sit in the "box" (area between the second and third seats) when the three cushion seats were occupied, which made it a solid ten passenger vehicle, regardless.



'62 wagon.jpeg
 
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qkcuda said:
We had a 64 New Yorker 413. I remember the effortless torque. The car really came into its own on the highway.
Click to expand...
Yeah that big old girl would go pretty good my grandfather had it for several years and then he got it rebuilt. He was beginning to get sick he may have even been in the hospital I snuck it out when I was 16 and race my buddy and his beautiful 73 Cuda it was camed with headers I knew he could take me but I just wanted to race. He only beat me by a couple of cars , he said I can't believe it was that close.
 
Born in 67. Apparently Dad being a mopar man had gotten pneumonia and missed a month of work, forcing the sale of his 1960 361 Fury and mom's big 61 Dodge in 65ish. They never had another new car again. Story goes he ended up with a 25 dollar 53 Chevy and mom was on foot for a while. Earliest cars I remember when I was 3 or 4, are the very used 50 Plymouth Business coupe and 63 Fury, that were trade-ins at the Chrysler dealer dad turned wrenches at, as they got back on their feet. From there, it was a pair of 64 Polaras, one of them given to us by my uncle for Mom. Then Dad got her a 66 Newport around 1974. In 1976, Dad brought home a trade-in 66 Fury for himself that he drove into the late 80's before scoring a K car. Mom got upgraded to a 72 Polara and then a 76 Coronet.

My 1st car was a free 71 slant 6 Swinger in 83, then a free 74 Dart more door, then a 71 318 Barracuda that grew to a 360 in 85.
My older brother started with a 73 Charger that he dropped a 383 in and then picked up a 70 Road Runner when he was in high school.
So I've been mopar since the beginning of my memory.
 
Nov 1959 I would have been brought home from the hospital in a 1956 Savoy. After that was a 1963 Belvedere and then a 1969 Fury III. I started working on Mopars in 1977...
 
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