What got you into Mopar?

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carls72dart

carls72dart

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I spend so much time on this site and always wonder what got each of our members started on the Mopar path. So please share your story!:)

For me it was a few things, one uncle was a ford guy and the other was a chevy guy. I remember they both had some very beautiful cars. It seemed that I was always being pulled in one direction or the other. Then at New England Dragway, I was introduced to the 426 hemi!!;) Two weeks later I purchased my first of many Mopars, a 1967 plymouth GTX!! It had a 440/4 speed and a dana 60 w/4.10's. My favorite car to this day!! In fact, as soon as the dart is finished, my son and I are starting the build of another 67 GTX!!
 
Not really a Mopar guy...more of a car guy. Truth of it is more of a bike guy than a car guy....
 
Breaking junk GM drivetrain parts. As an old guy, this was before thinks like Muncies became generally available "used" and before 12 bolt rear axles were plentiful.
 
My dad bought nothing but mopars his whole life. He did try one Ford conversion van once, but we still had a few mopars at the time.

The ford could not pull well enough, so we eventually got rid of it and bought a 79 Warlock II to pull our cars with. Much better workhorse.


When we were kids, mom drove a 67 Barracuda 273 formula s, and dad had a 68 charger 383 2bbl car.

Mom and dad divorced in 80 and we chose to live with dad. We started collecting cars in '81 with a 71 Challenger convertible and soon after, dad found the Superbird that he always wanted.

Then all hell broke loose with us starting our collection.

Dad raised us to be Petty fans also.
 
Growing up I had mostly Fords or Pontiac,s.I always had a thing for the 340 4 speed cars.So when a friend was in a bind financially,I asked if he would sell the 73 Dart Sport.The rest is history and I,m now hooked.:cheers:
 
Because they are the hardest car's to find parts for and getting mad is part of my nature--Steve
 
My Dad had a 67 Plymouth Belvedere that I got hooked on, and he just wouldn't give it up.

After I got out of the military I needed a good car and to find a job, so a 1969 almost perfect factory condition Roadrunner for $1,200 fit the bill for me.

I have had the Mopar thing pretty much since I was 10 years old, and by the time I was 15 I had 4-5 cars and pickups, but no Mopars.
3 wives and four kids later I got a Dart (Finally)
 
I was born into it. my dad was a wild man when I was grow'n up. we were originally from the eastcoast, where streetracing was big in the 60s and 70s. he had fast Mopars and fast bikes. I was a passenger on both at an early age. the rest is history.
to this day I thank my dad for being a wildman, good father,good provider and good husband to my mother. he is a great man
 
Dad had a 58 Dodge D-500 station wagon. For a heavy car the thing would go balls out. I really didn't pick up on Mopar until I got into early High School. Started watching the early Darts with 413's cross rams, got into the Ram chargers. By my Senior year I was a huge Landy fan ,he picked up His Hemi Darts that year. I've never looked back. Mopar has always been on the cutting edge. Look at all the things that are used in cars today that Chrysler developed or were the first to explore, IE torsion bars since the early 60's.
 
The Dodge Charger from the first Fast and Furious was an icon to me when I grew up. Every time I walked by it at Universal Studios, I had to take a picture with it. Then I saw a Wrecked to Riches episode of a 68 Dodge Dart and that's how those came to become my favorite A-bodies.
 
swifter said:
Because they are the hardest car's to find parts for and getting mad is part of my nature--Steve
Click to expand...

^^^^^^^
That's freakin hilarious!

Thanks for the laugh. I was first a fan in '77 when my dad pulled into the driveway with a '71 Challenger..didn't really know what it was back then (I was 6), but it was the coolest car I'd ever seen. I've wanted one ever since. Besides that....MOPAR folks are just better!!
 
Well that would be my mom and dad. Well I left the hospital in 79 it was in a 73 Duster. 6 months later our 66 Charger came home. Well that's how it started and won't end. You won't ever see a thread from me saying I'm getting out of Mopars.
 
My first car...a Chevy...got me into Mopars. I just got tired of fixing everything.
 
Dad was a GM (Chevy) Guy. But I have always liked all kinds of cars. Mostly had GM cars, Nova, Firebird, Malibu, Impala. Had, and blew up, a Mustang. One of my sisters liked Mopars, had a baby blue swing /6 and a 440 powered 69 Coronet. (This happened to be the first car I ever drive when I was 11 yo.) Loved my 350 powered Nova.One night I got my butt handed to me by a 340 Duster. From that day on, I always had a hankering for Duster with the "legendary" 340 in it. Some 35 years later I was fortunate enough to find and buy one. :burnout:
 
It was because my Dad always had Plymouths, which is why I still prefer them now, and the fact that the King was racing Plymouths when I was growing up in the 60s! It's as
simple as that!
 
My Grandfather always drove the land yacht c-bodies which had the power and the comfort. I remember always riding in the back just like I was sitting at home on the couch. Always liked mopars due to the fact you didn't see as many as gm and fords.
 
My PawPaw had a very highly optioned 71 318 Swinger. I think if it had one more option, it wouldda had to been a 340 car. It would melt the right rear tire into oblivion. I loved that car.

Now, what got me OUT of Mopars. Stupid bullcrap high prices and people wanting a fortune for 40 plus year old used parts.
 
Back in the day, used Plymouths had no resale value, even if they were fast. It was the easiest way to get into a hot car for a kid working in a gas station. I bought my first Roadrunner for $500. It was a complete 383, four speed car. It had had a hard life but could still be used as a driver while I was "fixing it up".
 
My first car was my late Grandpa's '61 Galaxy 500 because I was 17 and wanted wheels and it was offered to me by my grandma for $500 when he passed. I had the Mopar bug as stated earlier as a Richard Petty fan (Loved that Petty Blue RR). Back in '76 after six months of the Ford I tried to by a '71 BB Charger to replace the Galaxy but my dad wouldn't co-sign for a hotrod. Instead he did for a '72 318 Satellite Sebring Plus. Beautiful car but after a few months I was putting a 383 in it and he actually helped me manning the hoist. It was cool moment. I never asked him what changed but wish now I had. Thanks Dad- miss you every day.

View attachment satellite 383.jpg
 
Ronnie Sox and the first time I passed a Chrysler Dealer with my first 1970 340 4 speed Duster setting outside. I turned around and drove it home. Took a week to get the smile off my face and my girlfriend broke up with me swearing I had found a new girl. What a great trade. Gave up a chevy and a chick for a Brand new MOPAR hell I made out like a bandit..
 
I was born in to it ( thank god ) lol My family on both my dad & mom side had mopars. That's the only type of cars or trucks they would own. As of now my dad has a 67 gtx 440 4sp w/dana the he bought new,a 67 gtx auto 440, a 62 dodge polara, a 68 gtx 440 4spd had since 72, a 68 dart 340 4spd. MY uncle has a aar cuda & a 71 gtx 440 4spd w/ dana. There is a 73 dart sport 340 4spd in the family, a 64 valiant, 41 Plymouth coupe, & this is just on my dads side of the family. If I would sit here & tell you all what mopars my friends have I would be here a while lol About 95 % of my friends have mopars O & I have a 69 barracuda 383 4spd that I bought from one of my uncles that bought it new:supz:
 
demolition derbys and the fact that the mopars motors as well as bodys take and do great amounts of damage.
 

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Really the real story is I didn't even no what Mopar was and a group of friends was going to Mopar Nat's and I tagged along and BAM !!!! that was it I bought a Duster the next fall and that was 8 years ago and know I've got 7 !/2 Mopars to my name--Steve
 
I grew up in the late 1970s early 1980s my first car was a 1969 gto. my brother bought my 1969 dart in 1973. I was 12. he gave it to me when I was 17. got into some trouble the car was a well known street racer and the local cops new it. long story I kept that car and still have it today. restored it about 7 years ago. still race it once a year for fun. drive it work in the summer months.
 
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