4 door mopar cars

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Princess Valiant

A.K.A. Rainy Day Auto
Joined
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Is it just my imagination or have 4 door cars become a hot item these days?

I kinda became obsessed with 4 door valiants 68/9 and I have had a lot of positive comments on my current project which is a 68 valiant 4 door.

I had an old fart see it and assumed I bought a 4 door because "I couldn't find a 2 door" till I showed him all the 2 door cars i have lol.

I'm not sure if the new found interest is due to 60s /70 s more doors being a rare sight, or if it's just a generational thing and younger people are more familiar with seeing 4 doors cars.

My progression in the mopar hobby is me starting out with E body cudas, then moving to B bodies 68-70. Then to a 2 door 72 dart, then I fell in love with dusters. Now I'm on to 4 door valiants and I ask myself why I didn't buy a 4 door valiant years ago.

Anyone else progressed to 4 door cars lol

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yeah.... i have a ...
  • 5 two doors and 1 five door... lol
  • 1 six door and 2 four doors
 
Never thought I would own a four door, until I bought a 2006 Charger. The purists hated them when they came out, because a Charger was a two door; but I think the popularity and success of those cars, has helped the "more doors" become cool. I considered several C -bodies and a couple four door B- bodies before finding my current project.
 
My son and I turned a parts car into a driver and it’s been a blast! With the cop wheels and cop light on the roof, it always gets attention. Best of all, it was dirt cheap and we did it together! Plus, I have a place to put all the parts I’ve stashed over the years.
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4 doors still get plenty of hate but it might end up coming around. Station wagons used to be the most hated things on the road and now that the majority have been crushed everyone needs to have one and prices are through the roof
My initial plan for my 4 door was to tear it apart once I got a 2 door shell. But now I am too attached to it to gut it and I get nothing but thumbs up in it or people ignore me completely which I prefer
 
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I have two four doors due to coming across them and price to get into the game. They are just great cruisers. But I’m an oddball. I’d love a 67-69 dart post someday
 
I think that the lack of availability of classic two door cars and the increased prices have led many to go for the more available and usually cheaper 4 door. The rarity of old cars no matter how many doors they have make them way cooler than the modern ones IMHO.
 
Had it for years. 440 in it.
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By @dartnabout


It’s a cool summer evening as the young man comes to a stop at the red light. He is thinking that it is the last light for quite a distance and what better time than now to test his latest adjustments on his tuner car. The exhaust is ringing with that new Turbo tail pipe that he just installed and the throttle response is immediate. As he quickly scans the gauges to see if everything is in order for a solid run he hears a rumble that at first sounds as though his exhaust is coming apart or leaking. He now notices an older gentleman pulling up in the lane next to him. Ah…thank goodness he thinks, it is his car that is doing the rumbling. The old fellow must be hard of hearing and does not realize his exhaust is making such a noise or perhaps he does not have the money to have his exhaust fixed. The young guy looks over and realizes that it is an old man, and he is driving an “old” car (complete with roof rack) as well. He remembers his father telling him of such a car and fun vacations so many years ago. With a great deal of pride the youngster decides to rev his engine to let the old guy know just what is sitting beside him and the performance the “old coot” is about to witness when the light turns green. As he revs his engine he notices that the older guy never looks over but stares straight ahead. But something else catches the young man’s attention… it is a scoop that begins to rise up out of the hood of the old four door relic complete with roof rack. With very little concern he is wondering what is happening to the old man’s car he begins to press the accelerator of his “tuner car” anxiously waiting for the green light and his chance to show his car off to all who may be watching. But the rumble from the old white car gets louder and stronger as well and the young man begins to wonder if this old gentleman is challenging his finely tuned automobile. It was then that the light turned green and the young man’s foot jumped off of the brakes as his other foot slams the accelerator pedal all the way to the floor and his tires begin to smoke as they spin as they try to grip the asphalt for the launch. To the young man’s amazement he notices that his wheels are spinning and grabbing aggressively but the old white car is now moving forward and his is at a standstill…how could this be his speedometer shows 35 in a heartbeat and his engine is singing at the red line on his tach, but it is as though he is not moving because the amazing old four door car, roof rack and all, driven by the older gentleman is steadily pulling away. As he quickly shifts into second gear thinking that this might be his problem he notices even more smoke forming around the rear of the older classic car. Tire smoke that is obviously not his is drifting into his lane. The rumble that he had heard at the red light has now turned in to a thunderous roar of power that is seemingly making the ground around him vibrate. He remembers his father telling him of such cars and in his father’s day they called them sleepers… could this be what he was encountering? As his speed grew even faster he noticed that the beautiful old Dart driven by the charming older gentleman had just left him and his whirring, tinny sounding car behind in smoke. And as the old car pulls away ….etched in the young man’s mind is the question….what is a Popmobile 440?
 
No offense, but newer 4 door mopes just can't hold my attention no matter what it is.
 
4 doors have gotten more popular because two doors got expensive. you will also find more unmolested 4 doors.. still not my thing though.. if its someone elses thing thats awesome. buy what interests ya.
 
I've owned many a 4 door Mopars over the years.
I even drag raced a 67 4 door Dart. More than once people would comment that they never noticed it was a 4 door.
Yes there are many haters out there. I never cared.
My current Mopar is a beater,rat,bomb, what ever you want to call it.
Yes it was a parts car that was repurposed with mostly used parts.
A 4 door can do anything a 2 door can.
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Never thought I would own a four door, until I bought a 2006 Charger. The purists hated them when they came out, because a Charger was a two door; but I think the popularity and success of those cars, has helped the "more doors" become cool. I considered several C -bodies and a couple four door B- bodies before finding my current project.

i maintain that a more door charger should have been called a monaco

but all that aside, i will point out that the 06 and up chargers are good midsized family cars
i bought my wife an 08 awd charger as a winterbeater back in 09 (with 80K miles on it)
she totalled it with 175K on it earlier this year, and i replaced it with basically the same car, only an 15 (and the hemi instead of the 3.5)

now, i understand im probably a bit younger then most of the members on here, but that charger has been the best vehicular investment i've ever made

doesnt matter how you calculate it, total cost/years of ownership, initial investment - totall loss payment, amount of time/part required to fix it.
speaking of maintenance, in the 14 years i have owned that car, i replaced one CV joint, an O2 sensor and the metal fuel door (rusted out)

i'll admit that charger doesnt make the heart beat like the duster does, but it has been the best family car i ever owned
 
now, i understand im probably a bit younger then most of the members on here, but that charger has been the best vehicular investment i've ever made

glad you had good luck with your charger. we had a 07 dodge magnum and what a pile of **** that thing was.. couldn't wait to get rid of that thing.
 
glad you had good luck with your charger. we had a 07 dodge magnum and what a pile of **** that thing was.. couldn't wait to get rid of that thing.
sorry to hear that
those magnums (another misnamed car) has an almost cultlike following

i wonder if the issue with yours were typical first run issues?
 
sorry to hear that
those magnums (another misnamed car) has an almost cultlike following

i wonder if the issue with yours were typical first run issues?

who knows. loved the engine. it was the larger v6. plenty of power, ran so smooth. but damn, needed front end parts, liked to warp rotors, 2 shifters, fuel pumps and a few other things i don't remember right now. bought it with like 17,000 miles on it and all that went before 40,000 miles. traded that thing in on a 07 camry that had 20 some thousand onit at the time , when i sold it had 100k on it and never needed anything other then routine maintenance... doesn't help that 3 months after i bought the magnum they closed the local chrysler that i trusted because i knew most of the guys there and had to deal with the two outer horrible dealerships that are local to me.
 
My parents bought a 68 Fury VIP when I was kid.
that thing was massive ! Haven't seen one since
 
who knows. loved the engine. it was the larger v6. plenty of power, ran so smooth. but damn, needed front end parts, liked to warp rotors, 2 shifters, fuel pumps and a few other things i don't remember right now. bought it with like 17,000 miles on it and all that went before 40,000 miles. traded that thing in on a 07 camry that had 20 some thousand onit at the time , when i sold it had 100k on it and never needed anything other then routine maintenance... doesn't help that 3 months after i bought the magnum they closed the local chrysler that i trusted because i knew most of the guys there and had to deal with the two outer horrible dealerships that are local to me.

Blame Daimler for that crap. I still love them, though !
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I have not progressed to 4 doors, but we do have a 4 door Dart we got with 30,000 miles on it. Put, another 70,000 added a 273 intake, AFB, double roller timing chain, a small Mopar Performance cam, 340 electronic distributor, dual exhaust, and new paint. It still starts and runs better than new.

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Here is my 69 Dart Custom, lifetime Phoenix car, and has been in my heated garage since October 2006.
It is a 273 V8 Auto with factory A/C and P.S. It came stock original with 340 bars, HD radiator, 5.5 rims and E70-14 tires.

the blue Mopar book shows all V8 Factory A/C Darts came with this as standard equipment.Everything mechanical is new from the engine back, with about 200 miles on everything.

I look at it more than I drive it. It isa numbers matching Engine/Transmission, fender Tag and all body numbers. The Interior is Blue and is mint original or reproduction material, the original carpet stained in the previous picture was the old carpet. The seats came from an original 17k Dart In 2006, which was the Basic dart, not the Custom Interior. and shipped to me from Pennsylvania.

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I've owned two four door '60s Mopars. 1965 300 and 1969 Polara wagon. At one time I considered finding a really nice 318/AT/etc. '73-75 four door A-body to put a 400 into and make it look stock for a daily driver. Won't happen now as that's not the direction I'm going for daily drivers. I likely will never buy another "old" car as it is so no four door old cars again. I get it, but don't need or want one.
 
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