65-66 Early-A,s popping out everywhere!!

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toolmanmike said:
These forums are a great place for us to congregate so our numbers look good. I was in a local car show today and out of 330 cars there were only 7 or 8 Mopars and I was the only early A. There were 4 of us in the 1959-70 stock Mopar class. I'm glad they gave trophies to 4th place so I got a nice trophy and met a lot of nice folks. It's funny all the "kick myself in the *** for ever selling that car" stories I heard today. LOL toolman
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We took our A's to local show on the 4th. 200 cars, here's the count:
1 Plymouth Satelite
1 67 Dart (wife's)
1 70 Dart (buddies new car)
1 64 Dart (mine)
All won 3' tall trophies except the wifes car! It was because they gave out so many to the 98 - 03 Mustangs?????
I then had to explain how it was probibly my fault for not displaying her tools in the Black & Decker bag, rocker spear trim still not on drivers side, some trim dinged, etc. She still didn't buy it cause the judges told her 2 different times her car did real well and one said later to try again next year.
I reminded her that my 64 won and that if it wasn't for the 64 she would have been fired from her job by now due to her car being broke down all the time! She drives it more than I and has been our main mode of transportation for the last 6 months! Besides you won't see those trophy carring Mustangs in the mud at the 4 local junk yards, 3' from a muddy creek in 4' tall weeds fishing, packed to the max on vacation, driving everyday through the last 2 winters, greasey dirty parts and muddy boots in trunk from junk yard, and so on..... Our 64 does all that and still has time to show up and take a trophy home with a quick wash and shammy dry! Never been waxed sense we owned it! 3 shows so far this year, trophies from 2 and left early due to heat at the 3rd show!
So cheer up ABodyBetty, it was still OUR car that you drive the most! Besides it's pretty cool to take an all original 4 door 64 daily driver with only a wash and dry to a show and get something for your hard efforts!
I was probibly the only one there that had my feet up and napping in the recliner lawn chair 5 mins after we arrived at the show. It took that long to unload and set up my chair and cooler!!! Why are all these guys working on their cars around me, and will they start waxing mine when they are done with theirs? LOL!
"Baby" will be showing in Rising Sun , IN on 4/12/09. Stop out and say Hi to us! SO far this year it's been the only one I've seen at the shows!
Oh we can also be seen at 2 junk yards, gas station, grocery store, and anywhere else we drive this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:love7:LOVE that 64!!!!!
 
Great story there 170. It sounds like your Dart is used like mine, daily transportation and still fun on the weekends. If you can collect a nice trophy
even a bigger bonus. My Dart can often be seen at the local Wal Mart
or grocery store. Last week I had to drive 50 miles to pick up some parts to repair my tool truck. What better vehicle to use than the Dart. It was a nice day for a cruise and I stopped by a customers shop along the way to BS and show them the car they've heard so much about.
When I go to a cruise or show I don't have any paint to wax. I just polish the chrome and pop open a refreshment. My car is no where close to being show worthy but it seems to attract interest. It's the type of car that everyone remembers owning or driving. I get a lot of questions and stories which I enjoy being part of. It's not because of how it looks but what it is. Glad to hear your
Dart story. toolman
 
Maybe it's me but being rare and unusual is exactly what makes mopars, especially the early a's great. We have a massive antique/muscle car market in southeast va. but unless its an all mopar show you just don't see many mopars let alone early a's. This is exactly why I love them. My friends pop got a used 66 formula s cuda in the late 60's when I was a kid & i've been hooked ever since. Whats even better is the looks you get if you make one fast . These cars had great engineering for the day and are still affordable but eventually thats going to change.

Oldschoolcuda
 
Wow what a cool thread. I guess there have been more A-bodies in recent years than the past. When I bought my 64 Barracuda in 1987 there were not as many on the roads but used mostly as daily drivers. It does seem when the Economic boom hit and E bodies were everywhere A bodies started and uphill climb because they are more affordable, then the reporduction era hit you saw alot more cars. Now that we are in a recession there I would say more active A body owners building more cars than ever because they can be had cheap, unlike most E body folks who think they will retire on there car.

I think in the next few years we will see a steady uphill climb from 63-74 A bodies.

Just my 2 cents.
 
g'day all,

here is a few pics of my 66 dart gt convertible , had it now for a couple of months now and startin to get use to drivin a lhd car on a rhd road ...very interesting at times, ha ha ! ., not my first mopar, but it is my first convertible and is great fun, has a slant and auto..no tyre burner!been restored prior to me owning it , pity they didnt put the correct front back on it maybe in time i will locate one and send it to australia , put it on. till then i will cruize with it and enjoy it....

great mopar site ! great bunch of fellas!

aussie dart

31052009109.jpg


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AUSSIE DART said:
g'day all,

here is a few pics of my 66 dart gt convertible , had it now for a couple of months now and startin to get use to drivin a lhd car on a rhd road ...very interesting at times, ha ha ! ., not my first mopar, but it is my first convertible and is great fun, has a slant and auto..no tyre burner!been restored prior to me owning it , pity they didnt put the correct front back on it maybe in time i will locate one and send it to australia , put it on. till then i will cruize with it and enjoy it....

great mopar site ! great bunch of fellas!

aussie dart
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OMG What a beautiful car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I want what he's got!!!!!!!!!
I think that is totally cool!!!!!!
 
This IS a really cool thread, and I just wanted to add my thoughts.

In the Fall of 1964, I was 11 years old. The '65 Barracuda my Dad had ordered was at the Plymouth dealership. I went with him to pick it up, and can still remember him shaking his head, saying, "Damn, I've never paid $2700 for a car before".

It's been a family car since - Dad driving it for a couple years, then Mom, me as a teenager (several good memories "under the glass"), and my older brother, who used it as a daily during the '80s.

Unfortunately, my brother drove the car into ruin. He let it become a rust bucket, and managed to lock up the engine (apparently ran it out of oil). Dad was pissed. This had been one of the first "sporty" cars he had ever owned, and he reclaimed it from 'bro, then had the engine blueprinted and the car repainted. He found some carpet and other various sundry parts at a local junkyard, and pretty much got the car back into "survivor" status.

Then he suddenly died in 1990. The car sat in Mom's garage 10 years. Out of the clear blue, she called me one day and asked, "Do you want this car? .....If not, I'm going to sell it to the first person that'll give me $50."

I had a trailer at her house the next weekend.

Since then, I've re-spent Dad's original $2700 several times over..... wheels, tires, tranny overhaul, steering wheel, springs, shocks, brakes, dual exhaust, headers, chrome doodads under the hood, and a myriad of all the little things you have to do to keep a 45 year old car running.

It's kind of funny. I don't think that I would have ever just gone out and bought a '65 Cuda as a project car..... (maybe a 67 or 68 - which, to me, are by far the sharpest looking Barracudas that Plymouth ever made - and I'd sure love to have one)....... but because this '65 is - literally - part of my life - heck, it's part of me.... it's flat out worth a fortune.

No matter what the cost of A Bodies will eventually rise to - I don't think anybody could ever give me enough money for mine..... and I fall more in love with it as each year passes.
 
May have a few more photos on my home computer - but if so, they're several years old (prior to when I installed the new heavy duty leaf springs)....

After I get the Spitfire installation done (and the car's drivable again), I'll try to get some current pics.
 
After reading PolarBear's story I think one difference with the early-a's is they have a deeper emotional attachment....I don't think you get the same kind of affection for say, a 71 cuda, as you do a 66 Valiant. The early a's have that underdog quality. I had to borrow to buy mine but I couldn't stand to see it with dull paint and beginning to rust.
 
PolarBear said:
This IS a really cool thread, and I just wanted to add my thoughts.

In the Fall of 1964, I was 11 years old. The '65 Barracuda my Dad had ordered was at the Plymouth dealership. I went with him to pick it up, and can still remember him shaking his head, saying, "Damn, I've never paid $2700 for a car before".

It's been a family car since - Dad driving it for a couple years, then Mom, me as a teenager (several good memories "under the glass"), and my older brother, who used it as a daily during the '80s.

Unfortunately, my brother drove the car into ruin. He let it become a rust bucket, and managed to lock up the engine (apparently ran it out of oil). Dad was pissed. This had been one of the first "sporty" cars he had ever owned, and he reclaimed it from 'bro, then had the engine blueprinted and the car repainted. He found some carpet and other various sundry parts at a local junkyard, and pretty much got the car back into "survivor" status.

Then he suddenly died in 1990. The car sat in Mom's garage 10 years. Out of the clear blue, she called me one day and asked, "Do you want this car? .....If not, I'm going to sell it to the first person that'll give me $50."

I had a trailer at her house the next weekend.

Since then, I've re-spent Dad's original $2700 several times over..... wheels, tires, tranny overhaul, steering wheel, springs, shocks, brakes, dual exhaust, headers, chrome doodads under the hood, and a myriad of all the little things you have to do to keep a 45 year old car running.

It's kind of funny. I don't think that I would have ever just gone out and bought a '65 Cuda as a project car..... (maybe a 67 or 68 - which, to me, are by far the sharpest looking Barracudas that Plymouth ever made - and I'd sure love to have one)....... but because this '65 is - literally - part of my life - heck, it's part of me.... it's flat out worth a fortune.

No matter what the cost of A Bodies will eventually rise to - I don't think anybody could ever give me enough money for mine..... and I fall more in love with it as each year passes.
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Amen Brother!!!!!!!!! You have a beautiful car, 1 to be proud of!!
Time and time again my friend, my 64, pulls our asses from the gravey daily. I don't know what we would do with out a car thats dependable, day in day out! I Love my 64, "Baby" !!!!!!!:love7:
I will never sell mine and the damn government can't make me either!!!:angry7:
We're down in LVille quite often! Bought "Bride of Frankenstein" 67, there!!

64 & 67 @ Aurora show.jpg


64 & 2 trophies!.jpg
 
Got mine about a month and a half ago. Body isnt perfect but mostly rust free and seems to be a pretty easy fix. Big plans for the engine..408 indy headed stroker on E-85. minie tubbed with a narrowed 8 3/4

DSCN0992.jpg
 
dont touch that body! old race cars are cool! some satin centerline auto drags and a thumpin motor and it would be perfect
 
CUDAGUY said:
dont touch that body! old race cars are cool! some satin centerline auto drags and a thumpin motor and it would be perfect
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I kinda of like the paint job myself. its a 50'er though. it has some problem areas around the headlights and a little on the very bottem of the passenger side rear quarter..trunk extension is fine though. The car was also orignally red I believe and it seems to of had a quicky paint job which is starting to chip/flake off in areas. I will probably do a quick fix on the problems areas for now and concentrate on the drivetrain enjoy it for awhile and then get some decent body work done to it
 
Love the paint job.

Are those rallys painted black? They look cool on that car.


72swgnr said:
Got mine about a month and a half ago. Body isnt perfect but mostly rust free and seems to be a pretty easy fix. Big plans for the engine..408 indy headed stroker on E-85. minie tubbed with a narrowed 8 3/4

DSCN0992.jpg
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kcoyle said:
Love the paint job.

Are those rallys painted black? They look cool on that car.
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Yep they are rallys. They look like they are painted black but I'm not 100% sure. I looked at the car before i bought it and then trailered it up to my parents place and have no been back up there to see it again lol.

here are a few more pics

DSCN0998.jpg


DSCN0997.jpg


DSCN0996.jpg
 
kcoyle said:
Not that I go to alot of car shows but the few I've been to locally have few to no early A's. I've never seen another early cuda in real life near me. I'm dying to see what a nice looking one looks like. I went to a show today in Glen Cove with maybe two hundred cars but only like 3 early mopars at all. As rare as this thing seems to be it doesn't seem to be worth much. Go figure.

Rumor has it there's a yellow 65 cuda around where I live but i think its more like the loch ness monster, a few sightings but no proof.
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Same observation here. This is Chevy country. Unless you're going to something like the Ohlone Mopar show, the local shows are pretty light on A-Bodies, especially '66 and earlier. On one hand, its cool to be unique, but on the other, I wish there were more around to look at, enjoy, and appreciate.
 
Funny...I just found this from Redfastback in the "West-Coast" section reporting on a local show in nearby Pinole from last week:

"Funny that the awards were for "best 55-57 chevy, best corvette, best t-bird, and I think best mustang and best camaro". Besides the "best engine, best, paint, and best of show", the rest were all labeled "best class award"...LOL"
 
Check out my 65 cuda. Just listed it on Craigs list for 4500.00. Go to Boise ID and search Barracuda.
 
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