So how far back does your Mopar experience go?

These are cool stories, mine pales in comparison as I'm only 30 lol. Since I was old enough to walk I was obsessed with anything mechanical, first I screwed around with my parents' vacuum cleaner. Then it was grandpa's lawnmower. Then when I was 14 I got a nitro-powered (teeny-tiny piston engine) R/C monster truck which I drove and broke and upgraded so much, man good times lol. And I still have it after all these years. However I was the oddball of the family, nobody else including dad, uncles, grandpas etc was into wrenching and building stuff I was all on my own.

When I was about 15 my mom was going to the bookstore and asked if I wanted a book. Just on a whim I thought, "Yeah how about a book on muscle cars?" She brought home one of those big coffee-table books going through famous muscle cars from the 1950s-2000s and I was floored, I knew I had to have one of them. I remember initially thinking Chevelles were really good-looking but then one day my mom picked up an issue of Mopar Action "just because it had a muscle car on the front I thought you might like it" (thanks mom!!). I read about how Mopars were better engineered than other American cars of the day and the cool stories about the Hemi engine, NASCAR dominance in the 60s, the 300 letter cars of the 1950s and the crazy ram-induction big blocks... that was it I was a Mopar guy after that point! Shortly after that (still 15 years old) my grandpa and I ran into a guy at the local Walmart with a 1965 Coronet dressed up to look like a Super Stock car and packing a built 440; we talked and he invited me and my grandpa to his home where he then took me for a ride in that '65 Coronet. HOOOLY **** what a rush, I remember him being nervous about scaring me but I was all "Hey is it over already? Please do it again!!!" LOL

A year later my family moved from central PA to Colorado as my dad got a job teaching engineering (as a civilian) at the U.S. Air Force Academy. As I turn 16 my dad says I can start looking for a car, budget is $3000 pick what you want. So naturally I start looking at old Mopars. Mind you this is in 2007-08 so they had already started getting valuable, especially the B and E-bodies. I really wanted a 68-70 Plymouth B-body but nothing I found in decent shape was affordable. Then I came across the 1970 Duster in my avatar and the rest is history! Still own that car to this day and I don't plan on ever selling it except in the most extreme financial situation, it's a part of me. I taught myself everything I know not only about working on old Mopars but about working on cars in general with that thing. Reminds me I need to update my build thread lol...

I became a Mopar guy when I had saved up enough money from working on a farm in the summers in high school. During the fall of my junior year(1994), I bought a 1974 Dart Swinger /6 auto from my friend for $500.

70aarcuda said:

Was in the USAF in Denver going to school .....Room mate had to sell his car since he knocked up girlfriend while home on leave.

Showed me pictures of the car....70 Cuda....asked how much 2000....looking at the pictures he had...the car had a fiberglass hood and a funny stripe...and a Decal that said AAR.

That was july 11, 1973.....i bought the car based on the pictures for 2k....we flew back to Georgia...and drove it back to Denver on a weekend road trip.

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Today is our 48 anniversary.........

taking her home after getting new paint and interior several months ago

70aarcuda said:

Today is our 48 anniversary.........

taking her home after getting new paint and interior several months ago

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Looks exactly like the one my cousin had in the 70s.

My dad was primarily a Ford guy, but he had a few GMs and one Mopar that I remember. He bought a new 1973 D100 Adventurer SE pick up with a slide in camper when I was about 10.
My first recollection of what I thought was a really striking car was that of a cousin who had bought a new 70 or 71 Challenger convertible, blue with a white top and interior. I remember staring out the window at that car in our driveway the one and only time I saw it. I wanted to go and see it up close, but it was raining and I was sick at the time. That car made a lasting impression on me, and I can still picture it in my head. I never saw it again as he moved away for a job shortly after that day, and of course eventually sold it or whatever. I have no idea what model or engine it had, I likely wouldn't have known at that age anyway. As for the D100, it was gone in a year or so, dad hated it as it was very hard to start in cold weather and always used oil.
My first experience with an a body was when my best friend bought a 69 Dart GTS roller. He put a 318/904 in it as that was all he could afford, but it still had the 3.91 sure grip diff in it. Man we had some great times in that car.

First Mopar I rode around in was a yellow 75 Dodge B100 Tradesman panel van (no window) my parents bought new from Koller Dodge. I remember picking it up new and it only had the drivers seat! My dad had a passenger seat installed, then had dark tinted diamond bubble porthole windows put in the back doors and round portholes on each side at the rear. Built a bed in the back (never got finished upholstered, was just plywood) He then put Cragar S/S rims on it. He used it to haul his USAC Midget all around the Midwest for a few years so I spent a lot of time riding around in it. Was a pretty cool looking van. Next Mopar was a 79 (iirc) Dodge Omni. Moms daily car, but then my 16 year old brother at the time wrecked it twice and it went bye-bye.
My first Mopar was in 83 when I bought a 70 Charger R/T w/440, auto, 3.55, B5 blue w/stripe, buckets, console full gauges.....with a spun rod rod bearing and broken pump drive hex......for $600. Was hooked from the day I saw it for sale in an apartment complex parking lot. Ah memories!

My dad had a 68 Dodge van slant 6 3.91 gears when i was about 3yrs old "1982" and totaled it about a year later when he hit a tree.

thesiren74 said:

My dad had a 68 Dodge van slant 6 3.91 gears when i was about 3yrs old "1982" and totaled it about a year later when he hit a tree.

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Not the Mopar to hit anything with!!

About 1997 went in a ride in my friends 67 Belvedere 4spd 318. That car was a blast cool thing is he still has it.

My time started as a small child (born in 1970) and Mopars were part of my earliest memories. My blood father always had dodge trucks or vans. My legal father (long story) had lots of rides but he loved Dodge trucks and his black Ramcharger. My stepdad had a silver '73 Satellite Sebring and my step-grandparents had a white Chrysler New Yorker and a red Dodge Demon (which I thought was really odd since they were hyper religious). I learned to work on cars on the Satellite and my mom's '74 Gremlin (I have an affinity for AMC's as well).

My first Mopar was an antique white '67 Dodge Monaco with 383 that my cousin and I were partners in. We drove that thing like we stole it and street raced it a lot. We won a lot but also got beat a lot. It was all just for the thrill and we didn't take it seriously. Anyone who cruised Madison Ave in Indianapolis during the mid to late 80's might remember me and my crew. When we parked it was always at Super Shops (until they wouldn't let us park there any longer) or in the point of where Madison and East streets merged over by the White Castle.

I've owned a few Mopars since then. A '70 RR, two '68 Chargers, '70 Charger 500, '71 Charger, '70 and '72 Dusters, '69 Valiant, '67 Crown Imperial, '78 Magnum, '69 Coronet, '69 Fury III, '84 Turismo, '86 Laser, '05 Dakota, '86 Ramcharger, '78 B300 extended van. I'm sure I've forgotten one or two but oh well. I currently own '00 Dakota, '68 Barracuda, '69 Dart, '72 Charger, and, my baby, my '65 Plymouth Sport Fury. I've owned various GM and Ford products over the years but always come back to Mopars.

That said, I wasn't really a Mopar guy until I was about 12 and then it happened. I was playing with some friends at my cousin's house when I heard this mean sounding car coming down the alley. I stopped to see what it was and then it appeared. It was a beautiful hemi orange 1965 Plymouth Sport Fury. It had no hood on it with a tunnel ram and dual carbs sticking up with chrome air cleaners. It was as clean as can be. I watched as he turned on to the street and could see the big tires on the rear. Then he goosed the throttle a bit. I watched those tires break loose and heard that engine roar. I was in complete and total awe. Anytime I heard that sound from now on I dropped what I was doing and would go watch it drive by. Guy obviously saw me doing this so he would always give me a smile and a wave and then proceed to chirp the tires for me. That car, and it's owner, cemented my love for Mopars forever and why the '65 Sport Fury is my favorite Mopar of all time.

1956 Custom Royal Lancer. Seatte to virgina, what a ride !!

BasinStBlue said:

1956 Custom Royal Lancer. Seatte to virgina, what a ride !!

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Our next car after the 52 DeSoto was a coral and white 56 Dodge Coronet D500 2dr sedan, which Dad bought in the spring of 1957 (it would be five more years before he bought his first new car). 315 Hemi, 260 hp, Powerflite. I've always had a soft spot for 56's of all brands, but of course especially Mopars. For the past 20 years I've owned a turquoise and black 56 Plymouth Belvedere 2dr sedan, with a 277 power pack, 200 hp, also a Powerflite. Not nearly as fast as that D500 was, but still one of my favorite cars.

I was born in 1947. When my Dad got out of the Army after WWII in 1945, there was a car shortage so he had to settle for a used '41 Nash. He had it for about 4 years but he couldn't keep it running right. He was a poor mechanic, so he asked his friends and neighbors to help him fix it, but they couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. Then in late '51 he bought a new more-door Dodge Coronet. He really liked that car because it was very dependable. When he decided to replace it in '56, he bought a new Plymouth Savoy with the 277 CI "Hy-fire" V8 and the 2-speed Powerflite, and he really liked that one, too. I do remember that when he saw the 1957 "suddenly it's '60!" styling, he wished he had waited for the '57s.

My first was a new 1967 Dodge Dart, slant six/auto in a medium green w/black interior!

next was a 1972 Sat. Sebring Plus
then a Duster 340....
...on and on,
Now a '73 scamp and a '71 scamp; 340 b&s'd to 408, 727, Currie 9" narrowed to 48" Nodular w/4:10's and a detroit locker, Altercation front tubular coil-over...

wow... thats 54 years ago !!!!!

Dunno if i already replied.. but when I was 15 yrs old. Re Built a 71 swinger 2 door, had it on the road in 2 yrs. Had to help at a hole in the wall garage on the edge of town 'clovis ca. 'working on old American stuff and volvos n Mercedes. How...I talked about my car a lot like most kids.. I went from working at the stereo shop across the parking lot near jimbos and savinos market to working at the garage. L&L motor machine was the place. Leonard was the owner. He was the famous volvo/foreign repair tech in town. I met Art and his son Wayne sheddler along the way and Oldman Dan, Romos, and Jerry Turner of Turners auto wrecking where I ended up getting a lot of my parts from. I walked the yard for hrs at a time. That show junkyard cars or whatever... one episode shows about 1/4 of what it used to be. ..it was amazing... I feel very lucky to have had that opportunity and to know those people.

MOPAROFFICIAL said:

Dunno if i already replied.. but when I was 15 yrs old. Re Built a 71 swinger 2 door, had it on the road in 2 yrs. Had to help at a hole in the wall garage on the edge of town 'clovis ca. 'working on old American stuff and volvos n Mercedes. How...I talked about my car a lot like most kids.. I went from working at the stereo shop across the parking lot near jimbos and savinos market to working at the garage. L&L motor machine was the place. Leonard was the owner. He was the famous volvo/foreign repair tech in town. I met Art and his son Wayne sheddler along the way and Oldman Dan, Romos, and Jerry Turner of Turners auto wrecking where I ended up getting a lot of my parts from. I walked the yard for hrs at a time. That show junkyard cars or whatever... one episode shows about 1/4 of what it used to be. ..it was amazing... I feel very lucky to have had that opportunity and to know those people.

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What years are you talking about here? Romo's was my favorite place to go wandering. Dan's out on Shaw had a bunch of neat 1950s parts in the buildings.

Worked on putting a 350 motor together in a 58 plymouth with my Dad in 1962 I was 7 yrs old. We bought and sold mopars together since then. I took over in 1973 at 18. At 18 I was driving several cars. 66 GTO, 69 Coronet R/T, 62 Polara, and a 70 340 Swinger. The only one I never had the motor out was the Swinger

I had a 413 stuffed in a 64 Valiant but never drove it on the street. I quit school in 73 and went to work at the Bethlehem steel Co. Over the years I had all makes and models I fell in love with the 440's and 340's .

Street racing was what I was into. Wrecked many cars and destroyed many motors with a friend Frank Reichel. "RIP" Drugs got the best of him in the early 80's. I owned two Chevy 5 ton tow trucks from my dad. I even bought old tow trucks. I actually had like a little fleet and I towed what ever I had to to make money and still held a job.

In 1962 my Dad bought a Ford Galaxie with the 352 V8. I learned to drive with that car. The other man who worked in my Dad's office bought a '62 Plymouth with the 361 V8. Once or twice my Dad and his co-worker traded cars for the evening. I remember that the Plymouth with the 361 was very fast. The Plymouth was a downsized, lighter car that year. So were the 383, 413 and 426 engines available in the Plymouth in '62?

Guess day one. My Dad had a 69 Bee when I was born. Then he had a 63 Fury after that. Then when I was 10 a older boy in town had a 71
Cuda which I loved. Then in 1983 Dad took me to the Mopar Nationals. I have been hooked ever since. I bought my 1st Mopar A 68 Coronet 440 at the age of 15 in 1985. I have never been without a 60's or 70's Mopar since 1985. I have a Bee and a Dakota now.

Bill Crowell said:

In 1962 my Dad bought a Ford Galaxie with the 352 V8. I learned to drive with that car. The other man who worked in my Dad's office bought a '62 Plymouth with the 361 V8. Once or twice my Dad and his co-worker traded cars for the evening. I remember that the Plymouth with the 361 was very fast. The Plymouth was a downsized, lighter car that year. So were the 383, 413 and 426 engines available in the Plymouth in '62?

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The 413 was available in the max wedge cars. But in late 62 you could special order the new 426 max wedge in the Polara or Fury because the standard engine was a big block 361. If you were a promoted racer.

I had my share of 62's. We had a bunch more but lost pictures in a fire in the 80's. My dad had a nice fury Conv. and I had a Belvedere sedan. We used to bump start the 65 426 street wedge with the push button trans in the 62 Fury. Starter was tired and couldn't get to it with the headers. It was easier to just push start it. our jack was a tripod screw jack in those days. The legs would fold out and presto screw jack. Came in the trunk of my dads 56 crown-vic .

My dads friend Ronnie Reemes had a 64 max wedge named the "Flying-Wedge" That car was very fast. Always wondered what happened to it. I was 10 or 11 years old when we used to tow it to the races on occasions for him.

Oldmanmopar said:

The 413 was available in the max wedge cars. But in late 62 you could special order the new 426 max wedge in the Polara or Fury because the standard engine was a big block 361. If you were a promoted racer.

I had my share of 62's. We had a bunch more but lost pictures in a fire in the 80's. My dad had a nice fury Conv. and I had a Belvedere sedan. We used to bump start the 65 426 street wedge with the push button trans in the 62 Fury. Starter was tired and couldn't get to it with the headers. It was easier to just push start it. our jack was a tripod screw jack in those days. The legs would fold out and presto screw jack. Came in the trunk of my dads 56 crown-vic .

My dads friend Ronnie Reemes had a 64 max wedge named the "Flying-Wedge" That car was very fast. Always wondered what happened to it. I was 10 or 11 years old when we used to tow it to the races on occasions for him.

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Except for the white top, your 62 Polara 500 convertible looks just like the one my Dad bought new in November of 1962. Ours had a black top.

I did a little write up on it a few years ago for the 62-65 Mopar web site. 1962 Dodge Polara 500 Convertible



I loved the way the car looked, but ours originally had 2.76 rear gears and standard suspension with no sway bar, so it didn't handle real well and only ran high 16's in the quarter. In the spring of 1968, the 361 got dumped for a 440 from a 67 GTX. A few years later, Dad picked up a four speed and 8 3/4 rear from a 69 Road Runner and I put them in for him. Besides not having tapered axles, the Road Runner rear also had 3.23 gears and Sure Grip. Still later, after my brother inherited it, we swapped in some HD rear springs, and I rebuilt the front suspension, swapping the original lower control arms for a pair from a 66 Charger with sway bar tabs, and also installing the Charger front sway bar. Still later, we swapped the 23 spline 4-speed for an 18 spline. With the changes, the car handled MUCH better, and of course also ran a whole lot better with the 440. (In case you're wondering, I inherited Dad's 67 Hemi Charger.)

Three of my old cars I see at Carlisle frequently. GTX , Road runner, R/T conv. I had many others but I never see them. Except for the the cars that are still local, And there are plenty of them still running around here at local cruises. They are mostly a-bodies.

I was into B-bodies in the 70's and 80's. Todd, My neighbor would travel all over with me and we would tow them in from all over the place. The first thing we did when we got home is see how far they could turn the tires He is in the last picture polishing the GTX to sell. The R/T had a white roof and stripe put on and the Bee side scoops. The GTX is usually in with the survivors cars.

my 1st car seat was in a 71 H code duster, g'pa had a imperial, g'ma had a cordova, 2 uncles and a aunt had twister dusters...each!

I had a 68 R/T 4 spd Dana. I left my son drive it in the driveway and on the street out front. He liked doing burnouts and shifting second flat out. It took him a long time to get second. I thought for sure he would blow that motor but it took it well. He was only 13 or 14 when we left him in a 4spd performance car. He drove my tow truck all the time before that and raced ATV's nationally.

When he finally figured out how to hit second he would be waiting at the door when I came home from work to take it out. After the R/T everytime we would get a 4spd car he would want to test it out. We live on a dead end street and it was like our personal launch pad. The neighbor loved us he would set his lawn chair up. Actually we all had chairs. We would sit there and just wait for the rods to come out the bottom. Those were the Days LMFAO

We had our own ATV track, Pit bike track and Burnout box

Around 1975 (I was 7) my mom had a 67 Newport. 383-2, classic light yellow with black top and interior.

I LOVED that car. I loved the power window switches, the thick doors, the horn button with the upside down reelection in the bronze center, the AC vents, the rear deck, the .....everything about it.

After that she got a 71 buick lesabre and I almost forgot all about Mopars (gm town) until I spotted what was soon to be my 1966 Coronet for sale in 1985 (age 17). That instantly brought back all those memories from the thick doors to the power windows and more. I HAD to have that car.