My First A-body and my brother’s First Car
Excited to be part of this forum finally! I’m no stranger to Mopars, with my first one being a 1989 W250, but I have mostly dealt with 1980s Dodge trucks (I just finished a 2 year rebuild on a 1989 Shelby Dakota) and the last time I worked on a Mopar this vintage was 2021 when I took my 1971 Polara to begin its restoration (4 plus years later it’s still in pieces). The story of this car and what it means goes back a little…
Back in April 2024 I went down to a buddy’s place to pick up a bracket for my Shelby, and saw this Valiant (his dad’s) sitting there in the yard. I knew it would be a perfect car for my then 14 year old brother, but I was in the middle of the Shelby rebuild and didn’t have time, money, or space for it. That summer my brother finished middle school and I decided to bring him to Chrysler Nationals at Carlisle for the first time, the same thing our dad did with me when I was about to start high school. That trip transformed my little brother into a car guy, so I knew I could prime his mind with A-body thoughts (especially since I’d be the one buying and building it). He survived his freshman year with flying colors, having major roles in both school plays and being one of the best percussion players in his band and marching band. When I was his age, I did well in school but barely survived the social aspect, but I knew I had an awesome Mopar to come home to. That’s when I devised the plan- I was going to surprise my brother with his first car.
I went down in early August to look at the car again (and get some pictures of it), and I made a deal with my buddy’s dad on it. Had to wait for a government per diem check to hit my account, and last night my dad and I went with my buddy Cade to pick the car up.
As you can tell from the pictures, my little brother is over the moon, and my collection has grown to 6 Mopars.
Excited to be part of this forum finally! I’m no stranger to Mopars, with my first one being a 1989 W250, but I have mostly dealt with 1980s Dodge trucks (I just finished a 2 year rebuild on a 1989 Shelby Dakota) and the last time I worked on a Mopar this vintage was 2021 when I took my 1971 Polara to begin its restoration (4 plus years later it’s still in pieces). The story of this car and what it means goes back a little…
Back in April 2024 I went down to a buddy’s place to pick up a bracket for my Shelby, and saw this Valiant (his dad’s) sitting there in the yard. I knew it would be a perfect car for my then 14 year old brother, but I was in the middle of the Shelby rebuild and didn’t have time, money, or space for it. That summer my brother finished middle school and I decided to bring him to Chrysler Nationals at Carlisle for the first time, the same thing our dad did with me when I was about to start high school. That trip transformed my little brother into a car guy, so I knew I could prime his mind with A-body thoughts (especially since I’d be the one buying and building it). He survived his freshman year with flying colors, having major roles in both school plays and being one of the best percussion players in his band and marching band. When I was his age, I did well in school but barely survived the social aspect, but I knew I had an awesome Mopar to come home to. That’s when I devised the plan- I was going to surprise my brother with his first car.
I went down in early August to look at the car again (and get some pictures of it), and I made a deal with my buddy’s dad on it. Had to wait for a government per diem check to hit my account, and last night my dad and I went with my buddy Cade to pick the car up.
As you can tell from the pictures, my little brother is over the moon, and my collection has grown to 6 Mopars.