How did you get hooked on A-bodies?

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My dads 1966 Barracuda Formula S, it was his first car he bought, still has it!! Citron Gold with Citron Gold interior, 273 commando, 4-speed. That is what started my love affair with the a-body. Now I own a 1966 Valiant 340, 1970 Dart Swinger 340. My wife owns a 1970 Dart Swinger 318 with the rare factory FM3 Panter Pink paint. I own other mopar too but I prefer the A-bodies! :thumbup:
 
my frist hot rod was a 1967 mustang needed a tow car a freind told me about 67 plymouth in a grarge for years. went to look at the car it was a 67 gtx all there little rust in one quarter. Liked so much sold the ford and used it every day for six years. when i wanted to build a race car my freinds would not cut the car so i bought a 69 dart gts it was a street race car already so i did not feel bad about cutting it up so i still have the gtx 27 years later and still have mt dart. 95 2500 v10 pickup, 2003 2500 5.7 hemi pickup 70 cuda needs alot of work so i mite be a mopar guy :toothy7: :toothy7:
 
Brother had a 70 340 Swinger, one ride in it when he beat a 396 chevelle was all it took to get me hooked.
 
Growing up a child in the 60's it was hard to ignore Mopar's dominance on the track, be it NASCAR or NHRA. There was a Mopar of some sort on the cover of every magazine. The first time my Father took me to the now defunct New York National Speedway out on the east end of Long Island the VERY FIRST CAR I SAW was the Hurst Hemi under Glass upon entering the track.

That should explain every angle of my fetish. :yawinkle:
 
I had a 68 R.R. with a 4speed, 3.23's, stock except for headers. I thought it was pretty fast at 18 yrs old. My buddies girlfriend had a 68 form s fastback fish, 340, auto, 3.23's with 140,000 miles. We raced one day and she kept stomping it in drive off the line and bogging. Well I was burning up my clutch so at the 3rd run I backed off and my buddie who was riding shotgun yelled she's still coming so I dropped it into 2nd and nailed it. Well she went by me like I was parked!! I knew then that that car was faster than mine and I had to have it. Bought it for $400.00 in 1977. I really punished that car for 45,000 more miles before it started to make some noise in the bottom end. I sold it and now have an identical car except it's a 4speed car same color med forrest green.
 
I started out with 2 B bodies, a 66 Satellite and a 67 GTX. Still have them though. Got hooked on the A bodies when my two boys started driving. Each got a well used Duster to drive to HS, we did the body and paint ourselves, and new drive trains. They are off on their own now , the wife races the 74 360 in street class, and I race the 408 72 in modified. They are lighter weight/smaller, and easier to drive than a B body and a darn good storage spot for a strong running small block engine.
Currently redoing a 73 340 Dart Sport Sunroof car. Going back original, but will probably stroke the 340 to get enough torque to handle the weight of those darn impact bumpers and the sunroof. The car is red with white vinyl top and parchment colored interior.
 
Well my very first car was a 1966 dodge dart station wagon, got it for free from my dads, his friend gave it to him cause he blew a hole in the engine(the size of my fist) :lol: so then my dad said jack its your first car at first i wasnt to fond of it, but it grew on me, well later on we got a 1975 dart sport with a 6 ($50)we were just gonna take the motor out of it and put it in the wagon, well i cleaned it up, and got to drive it to the gas station after talking to my dad about it no insurance :lol: it howled the whole way there and it and pulled to the right, it looked like someone 'dukes of hazzard' the car, it was all beat up under niethe drivers front wheels had alot of neg. camber, and gas tank had a dent, well my dad welded the gas tank shut, and some guy came by and offered $500 for it, well my dad sold it then(still wish he didnt) but i got the keep the engine and trans. so that engine went into the dart all nice and painted, man it looked good. well as some may know a lady pulled otu in front of me and totaled the front end, then i finaly settled with that dispute and got money then i burned it up :angry4: so it was all toasty, then about 5 months later i got my cuda, she needs some work but man it will be worth it in the end :toothy7: but dang its taking forever

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Actually this is my first A body, it's been B bodies up till now like a 69 charger 440-4 speed, 69 SuperBee with a 440-4 speed and can't forget my first a 69 Roadrunner 383-4 speed. There was a challenger 383-4 speed in there also, and a 77 or 78 Aspen RT (it was a piece of junk) but this little Demon has really got my blood pumping especially with the BB. Hell with the stroker kits available out there nowadays a stroked 400 might find it's way between the frame rails.

Terry :burnout:

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In 1983 I was 12 when my brother bought a 1971 Duster 340 and street raced the devil out of it until the early 90's when I got my own. Some of the best street races I ever had were against my brother! My 340 4spd 73 against his 340 auto 71, the best memories I Have of cars.
 
65dartcharger said:
I would like to hear how other people got involved in A-bodies?

Myself, ,I saw a film with Dean Martin back in 1979 driving a 1965 Dart convertible with the top down. Since then I've been hooked on them. Now I have five 65 Darts!

How about you?
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i got hooked when a bodys were cheap.i paid $2500 for 70 340 lime lite swinger.
 
Well, I guess when the B and E bodies getting so expensive the A bodies goes with. The A-bodies are still in the range when people can afford them.
 
My first car, purchased in 1966, was a 1963 Sport Fury Convert. with a 426, 4-speed. I sold it in 1969. After that I was hooked on Mopars. In 1970 I purchased a new Duster, 340, 4-speed, B5, B5 blue. In 1971 I installed a built 440 in it. After that I have owned: 72 Duster 340, 67 Chrysler Newport 440 dual quad, Shelby Charger, among others.
This is a recent pic of my first car. It is for sale.

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I grew up in a pro Mopar house hold where saying Ford or GM was like saying a four letter word. My father owned a wide varitey of B-Bodie Mopars while I was growing up, and still has a few. I got my first A-body when I was 16 and still have it today 11 years later. I always wanted to get a late 60's B-Body but as many of you all know the astronomical prices and when you do find one the huge amounts of money involved in getting one of them back on the road has kept me from getting one. I have grown to appreciate my 74 Gold Duster and my 1973 Dart Sport 340, I wouldn't trade them or sell them for anything.
 
Unbelievably my swinger (got it about two years ago) is the 1st a-body I have ever owned...until now; Demon addition.

I drove my '65 belvedere 2dr sedan A-990 clone project (still had 6 cyl/3speed in it) over to my buddies to put in the new floors and his dad comes over drooling and hanging all over my car and says he always wanted one of these and asks what I want for it...I tell him I don't really want to sell as its still fairly new to me and I need a project. Says "you like darts?" Shows me this '69 swinger 340 project he has had stashed in the back corner of a building and says I'll give you it and the 340/4spd setup in the other shed. One look at the bulge hood and I was hooked.
 
My first automotive memory was my father's 1973 Duster that he bought new when I was 3 years old. Until the early 1980's, I was stuck in the backseat of that car (I figure I'm lucky to have reached 6'1"!), when the car finally returned back to the earth due to body rot.

Later when I was 18, I worked part time at a Porsche dealer where one of the mechanics had a Scamp with a built 318 in it... that car really flew and left another lasting A-body impression on me.

When I turned 19, I bought my first car... a 1973 Dart sedan with a 225 3-on-the-tree combo. Very cool being a standard but I needed a V8 fix so not long after, I bought a super-clean 75 Dart Sport off of a friend and sold the 73 to a buddy who swapped a 340 4-speed (on the floor) into it. I had the Dart Sport for years and treated it to a 4-speed swap, a fresh 360 and a new paint job in the original colour. Sadly, that car was stolen one night while my girlfriend (now wife) were at the movies. I never saw it again.

A 1967 Barracuda fastback and 1971 Demon 340 later, it's A-bodies only for me. :)
 
I always liked A bodies but always owned the beefier looking B-bodies. A great price on my current Valiant finally got me into the A body fold and I am hooked!
Russ
 
I wouldn't say I'm "hooked" on A bodies. I've just got a slight preference for the three 1964 Barracudas and the 64 Valiant Convertible sitting around the house. After all, I can drive my Silverado pickup or Subaru WRX without even throwing up!
Actually my first car in high school was one of the three B'cudas and i've been kind of partial ever since.
 
I guess my addiction came from my Mom's ride in the late 70's and early 80's. She drove a 72 340 3 speed stick on the floor Demon her and my dad traded for. (traded $800.00 plus a 66' big block 2 door Malibu to a sailer for his Demon ) Any who, That Gold metallic Demon with the stripes really was not cool till I saw her win a street race with it while I was in the car. She thought the guy had road rage and was driving for her life, he just wanted to race. She blew his Duster into the ground and he still talks about it till this day I met up with him years later. Then getting the car as my highschool driver and realizing the chicks I could get with it cemented the Demon / Abody in my head. Nothing impresses an 80's chick like burning a set of tires off in front of Dairy Queen. Well the low ceiling and 80's hair did not fit well, but that's another story. Joe
 
3 years ago, i went to look at a 71 challenger for sale. it was in very rough shape. the same guy had a 68 dart for sale - it was more like a diamond in the rough. i always wanted a challenger and was all fired up to get one, but was drawn to the dart for some reason. it was the right color and it had a white interior and white vinyl top. when i saw the original black california plates had my exact name initals and the plates expired on my birthday month - that was it. i bought it!
 
Always been a Mopar fan, parents bought a brand new 64 Custome 880, and a 68 Custom Sportsvan.

He gave me the 880. I found a black 65 880, Had a 78 2 dr LeBaron, 67 Satellite.

Want to find another B Body, but they have got to expensive.

So i bought my scamp to restore. Would like to find another late 60's early 70's C body again for a road cruiser.
 
Back in HS i was walking home after my 3rd or 4th day at a new school and I seen the same kid walking as the previous day, we got to talking and he asked if I wanted to come see his Valiant that he got by trading a bag of marbles for. We became best friends and I was looking for a cool car to start to build (meanwhile driveing a toyota corola hatch back). So as it turns out I was looking through the paper at older cars and came across a 69 Valiant 2 door. I asked him what they looked like. He says "oh yeah thats the boxier one." So I go check it out , it looked strait, I asked for the keys to start it and whether it would start. She said "yeah it'll start" I pumped it once hit the key and she came to life! At this point I hadnt seen under the hood yet. I got out of the car and said "I dont care whats under the hood Ill take it!" The Lady had it in the paper for 350.00 I paid 250.00 and drove it 40 miles back home, then for another 2 years with that slant six running with 3 burnt valves. Finally I got annoyed with it dieing at stop lights, and haveing to nuetral drop it once it started again(annoyance). So I took it home and ripped the 6 out and didnt even have another motor yet.
That was in 95'-96' I still own the lil Valiant and she sat for about 8-9 years while I was in the navy, I just got it shipped from my dads in Or. to Va. last march.
I am finally able to put all the goodies I want into it.
1969 Valiant: 360, J-heads, headers, 2.5"/x-pipe/flowmasters, 8 3/4 Suregrip w/ 323s, 904 w/TF2 kit.

Orig. had 170 /6 904 with a 7 1/4
Thats the story and Ill never sell my little Valiant.
And my wife still doesnt understand why I love this car. I think for all of us, its just the fact that your vision starts to take shape and you put so much effort in them to get them that way. Definately a labor of love! :headbang:
 
Grew up in an all Ford family and was the black sheep. Don't really remember just what it was that made me love Mopars. But from about age 10 or so I've always wanted a 70 340 Duster. I've had 2 68 Barracuda fast backs, several Darts and Dusters, a 71 Challanger, 67 Satellite, 72 Scamp, a Stratus, and 6 Dodge trucks. Currently have a 72 Duster, 73 Swinger, 98 Dakota, 95 Neon (daughters first Mopar/car) and the wife drives a Jeep. Have only strayed from Mopar twice in 21 years and never will again.
 
Plymouths and later Dodges. He'd pay cash and keep them for 8 to 10 years

He had a

47 Plymouth coupe (The year I was born)

54 Plymouth Belvedere (on which I originally learned how to drive)

64 Dodge Dart GT (Took my drivers test on this)

73 Dodge Charger SE


My first new car was a 1969 Dart GT 318 4 speed F5 Green with green vinly top

Then I went to a 1972 340 Dodge DEMON Automatic


Then after a whole lot of Cadillacs, a Mitsubishi Eclipse turbo and Acura I got a Chrsyler 300M when they came out.

Now I have the following:

2006 brilliant black Chrysler 300C 5.7 (It's the black 300 in the logo for hotcarart.com on the Best A Body contest header page)

2006 Inferno Red PT Cruiser Limited turbo

1969 fully restored Dodge Dart GTS 440 (originally an H code) and YOU GUESSED it - it's F5 green with SAME interior and four-speed as my original

That's the MOPAR history for me
 
Thats easy. I like fast cars and to go fast in drag racing the light car and big eng are the way to go. And the A-body fits that just right ! Course now I am older and more into Nostalgic so thats why I sold my A-body to my son and bought my 63 Sport Fury Max Wedge wanna be. Ron
 
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