Trying to finally get my first Muscle Car - I’m nervous

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Gold Crusader said:
Thank you guys for all the advice! What would be the best place to get a loan for a classic car? Any suggestions?

Also, I was really set on getting one with a manual transmission, but someone on the forum has offered a really cool Plymouth Duster with an automatic transmission with a B&M shifter which I've never tried before. The pros of an automatic would mean I could let people I trust 100% take it for a spin (with me in the car of course haha). Most people I know don't drive manual. Besides, I'm having a hard time finding manual muscle cars for some reason. But people talk so much crap about the automatics I'm just not sure what to think.
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A car loan for a classic is a death wish. Do not do that.

Remember when everyone said cars are lousy investments and the vast majority of people lose money? Yeah, a loan on a classic is a terrible idea for that exact reason. And if something expensive breaks and needs repair you're toast, you don't have the money to fix it and if you sell it broken you're still in big debt because of the price drop.

TT5.9Mag hit the nail on the head. I mentioned a similar idea earlier. You're way better off looking at something else first. A nice '73-76 A-body that runs and drives will cost you a lot less than $20k. Heck I've seen 4 door Darts that run and drive and are pretty clean not sell at the $5k mark. Maybe not the same "wow" factor as a Demon, but they're still fun to drive. I'd rather drive a /6 more door on my own dime than be leveraged up to my eyeballs.
 
Gold Crusader said:
Thank you guys for all the advice! What would be the best place to get a loan for a classic car? Any suggestions?

Also, I was really set on getting one with a manual transmission, but someone on the forum has offered a really cool Plymouth Duster with an automatic transmission with a B&M shifter which I've never tried before. The pros of an automatic would mean I could let people I trust 100% take it for a spin (with me in the car of course haha). Most people I know don't drive manual. Besides, I'm having a hard time finding manual muscle cars for some reason. But people talk so much crap about the automatics I'm just not sure what to think.
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You know you get the 4 speed so your friends can’t drive it and people won’t be able to steal it. What happens when your pals start spinning the tires and back the *** end into a ditch or mail box with your 50 year old car? As the other guys here have said, you can find nice dusters / dart sports for 10k and under and once in a while a really nice gem will show up. As noted, demons are rare, true H code 340 demons are even rarer now so you going to spend a really shiny coin for one and when you spend that kinda money, on a 50 year old car, you’ll not want to be driving it all the time cus of all the stupid drivers on the road and good luck finding a bank that will loan on a car of that age. Possible, but unlikely. And like the other guys said, get a car that you can learn on and drive that’s not a huge chunk of change so your not paying a shop 100 or so an hour to work on your car as that will add up very fast.
 
Scody21 said:
You know you get the 4 speed so your friends can’t drive it and people won’t be able to steal it. What happens when your pals start spinning the tires and back the *** end into a ditch or mail box with your 50 year old car? As the other guys here have said, you can find nice dusters / dart sports for 10k and under and once in a while a really nice gem will show up. As noted, demons are rare, true H code 340 demons are even rarer now so you going to spend a really shiny coin for one and when you spend that kinda money, on a 50 year old car, you’ll not want to be driving it all the time cus of all the stupid drivers on the road and good luck finding a bank that will loan on a car of that age. Possible, but unlikely. And like the other guys said, get a car that you can learn on and drive that’s not a huge chunk of change so your not paying a shop 100 or so an hour to work on your car as that will add up very fast.
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Here’s a really nice duster 340 in seattle
https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/d/puyallup-1973-plymouth-duster-factory/7262677895.html

Over over priced junk

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/d/south-san-francisco-71-gold-duster/7264330362.html

Check Fakebook as i see dusters all the time around Portland / seattle and only 2 demons in the last 3 years.
 
I hate to be that guy, but if you need a loan, you're not looking at cars in your budget
 
Id be real carefully with the Seattle duster
Painted bumper always look cheap, and just scream "flipper" to me
 
Gold Crusader said:
Hey guys! I post every now and then on this forum, thinking this is the time I’m going to get my Mopar. However, there is always financial difficulties. I’m finally at an income where I think I could pull the plug. I’m 28 years old and have been waiting for this since I was 10 haha. The girlfriend gave me the OK! :D and we both want kids and I know for a fact I’ll be using this money for a minivan in a couple of years so I really want this.

I’m set on a Dodge Demon (71 or 72, doesn’t matter to me) with a 340 or higher. It doesn’t need to be the fastest or the best looking. I’m thinking my range is $20,000 and $25,000 would be really pushing it.

Here is a Demon near me and I wasn’t sure if it was a good deal or not. I have zero mechanical skill (I can change oil, an alternator, and small things like that) and have no body work skills. I want a car that runs and maybe when I get time I can tinker with it. Besides that, I’ll be paying people to fix the major issues (over a period of time. I’m in no rush to fix this one up, as long as it drives)

Sorry for the rambling. I would really appreciate any tips on buying a Demon. And unfortunately, I have no time to work on engines or take on massive projects. I want something that runs and I could work on over a period of time :)

Thank you guys so much.
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Congrats on the future MoPar purchase and Kudos to having a really cool girlfriend to boot. I had a girlfriend like that once as well. So I married her. Now we both have hot rods and enjoy the heck out of them.

Purchase the best and most complete car you can as close to what you want in your dream car.

Bring a MoPar man with you! Even better if there an actual mechanic.

Bring a body man. A fella that hopefully works in resto work. Look under the car for rust. Know the typical and weird spots to look for rust.

Know the market value of what you want and don’t make an impulse purchase. Wait it out. It will pay HUGE dividends down the road.

Once you get a car..... Have a MoPar buddy that knows there way around MoPars. A guru genius they need not be, but familiar they should be.

Lastly, never yell or overly raise your voice when your girl friend is helping out. That can be a quick way to loose one very cool chick. Or if your lucky and retain her, I’m sure she’ll make you unhappy for a spell. Everyone starts out knowing nothing. Patience!
 
72bluNblu said:
2. Terrible advice. All classics are money pits. Most of your money is made on the purchase, the rest is inflation and what's currently popular. The money you put into them after you buy them is almost always a loss. This is especially true if you're paying someone else to work on them. I love working on my cars and ALL of them are projects. Which is why I can say I would totally have been "ahead" in most cases buying a finished car. If you've got the money to buy a finished one, don't buy a project.
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Money wise, yeah. But you just tend to appreciate the cars you put the work into a whole lot more. They become sentimental and almost a part of the family. Like I could buy my dream car which would be a Vanishing Point Challenger but it just wouldn't hold the same value to me personally as my slant six Duster, despite being worth 10x more. It's just a totally different feeling (which I'm sure you know). You can always shell out the cash for something but driving them and knowing that you put in all the work to make that happen is one of the things that makes the hobby special.

It also makes you incredibly paranoid as well because you know how quickly some dummy can come along and mess up thousands of hours of work and dollars in an instant.
 
Why does it have to be a Demon?
I mean Scamps are short wb 2-door Darts right? And they have Dart dashes.... that could easily be converted to Rallye. And the Later ones have the Neat-O Power-Bulge Duster hoods. A bodies are all very similar. The biggest difference from the Duster/Demon/DartSports/and 2gen Barracudas,to the others, is the size of tires that can be tucked into the factory rear wheel tubs.
If you jack the back of a DartSport up a lil, it starts to look pretty Tough. Meh, the front not so much. No biggie, just put a Scamperdoodle front clip on it. Now you got a ScamperSport. I mean A's are like LEGOs.
Or how about a 6/7/8/9 Volare/Aspen wagon F-bodies. Or the Town N Country version; PowerBulge Hood and radiused rear wheel arches ready for big meats. Drop a warmed up 360 into it and give'er. The possibilities are nearly endless.
If you just gotta have a Demon, I respectfully suggest; get one of those metal models and plunk it down on your desk. Then go open the hood every now and then, or slam some doors, etc. My Daughter gifted me a nice 69 Barracuda, like that, and that's what I do,lol.
 
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AJ/FormS said:
Why does it have to be a Demon?
I mean Scamps are short wb 2-door Darts right? And they have Dart dashes.... that could easily be converted to Rallye. And the Later ones have the Neat-O Power-Bulge Duster hoods. A bodies are all very similar. The biggest difference from the Duster/Demon/DartSports/and 2gen Barracudas,to the others, is the size of tires that can be tucked into the factory rear wheel tubs.
If you jack the back of a DartSport up a lil, it starts to look pretty Tough. Meh, the front not so much. No biggie, just put a Scamperdoodle front clip on it. Now you got a ScamperSport. I mean A's are like LEGOs.
Or how about a 6/7/8/9 Volare/Aspen wagon F-bodies. Or the Town N Country version; PowerBulge Hood and radiused rear wheel arches ready for big meats. Drop a warmed up 360 into it and give'er. The possibilities are nearly endless.
If you just gotta have a Demon, I respectfully suggest; get one of those metal models and plunk it down on your desk. Then go open the hood every now and then, or slam some doors, etc. My Daughter gifted me a nice 69 Barracuda, like that, and that's what I do,lol.
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keep talking, next thing you know hes buying that red 79 ive been saving for my boy
(cant remember who it was whos got it for sale, but hes out in texas)
 
This just popped up in Vegas... its in Vegas, so its probably pretty damn rust free if it has been here for a while :thumbsup:... Not that I would know how much rust is found with desert cars:poke:

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You've been given some great advice so far.
A little more advice, if I may...
If you don't intend to at least attempt to learn to tinker with this thing, go buy a new or lightly used Chally. You will be much happier in the end and it will serve your purposes.
Older A bodies take TLC and if you try to pay someone to do it for you, your A will eat you alive. That is, provided you find someone who doesn't totally butch your ride. These cars are going on 50 years old now, some already are. If you want one, great. But expect that you will be the student and your car will be the teacher for a good while. The folks on this forum are the best there is when it comes to helping and mentoring. But if all you intend to do is drive it (and break it) this is not the hobby for you.
That being said...it ain't rocket science. Don't be afraid of it. Cars "back in the day" were nowhere near as complex nor computer controlled. If your heart is set on a Demon, take some of the advice given and build one out of a Duster or Dart. FWIW, ain't a thing wrong with either one of them. If you expect to find an H-code car, expect to pay for it. Much easier to build your own replica from a 318 car and not have to worry about devaluing it or screwing something up. A whole lot cheaper, too. Just my two cents.

EDIT: Also, working on your project car in the parking lot of ANYWHERE is a really, really BAD idea. Find someone local willing to rent out garage space. Dusters, Demons and Darts are famous for rusting out. Even parking one outside is asking for Big Trouble.
 
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A few more thoughts...Watch a few reruns of "Graveyard Carz". Mark can be a piece of work at times, but you get to see the nuts and bolts of what it takes to rip one of these Mopars down to the studs (A-bodies are quite similar to the E-bodies he loves) and it will give you an idea of how simple these things can be, but also what it REALLY takes to rebuild one properly. Not only that, but you'll get to see some most heinous butchery hack job repairs, and what it takes to correct them. And then you will gain an understanding of why it takes him and other pro restorers sometimes years to rebuild one and why he gets 100k when he's finished. It sure opened my eyes! It will also teach you what to look for in a potential prospect as well as what to watch out for in terms of scams and scammers.
 
I think someone older and wiser said a couple posts back.......Do not take out a loan. Own your life.
$0.02
 
I waited until my 40s and my 12 year old at the time was the perfect father son project. Hence the name Loganscuda; Logan is my son the Cuda is no longer his. Haha. It’s all mine and I got free child labor.
 
loganscuda said:
I waited until my 40s and my 12 year old at the time was the perfect father son project. Hence the name Loganscuda; Logan is my son the Cuda is no longer his. Haha. It’s all mine and I got free child labor.
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There's laws against that. LOL!
 
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