What Makes MoPar so Badda$$??

[66340SEDAN]

Why do you like Mopars so much.....what caught your eye or stole your heart? Why are they any different than other makes and models from brand-X companies? Was it the sexy styling of a Chrysler product? Was it a color or the way they were advertised? Maybe a certian engine or how they performed at the race track? I would love to hear more from you :glasses7:

I know for me it hapened at a young age....I liked all old cars but the Mopars were always very tuff and mean looking, in your face, don't "F" with me attitude! They always sounded better than any other car. When I was little I would stand behind dad's 66 Cuda Formula-S and listen to how cool the 273 sounded with its 3/4 racing cam and inhale in the exhaust fumes (dad would get mad at me for this lol) that 273 sounded way cooler than any big block Chevy or Ford ever could....dad still has the car and I still love that sound I remember so well rayer:

I also fell in love with the old Mopar advertising and the bright bold colors and names they used, little characters on the cars like the Demon devil, the Bumble Bee and the Duster Tornado to name a few. The Wings, Stripes, Shakers, the Pistol Grip.......I could go on and on why I am so passionate about Mopars, but I will stop and see what you all have to say.

The Mopar bug bit me hard when I was little and I am infected....there is no cure for me, and even if there was, I would run away from it.....as fast as I can......Mopar or No Car rayer:

 

[Tony Fields]

I don't know Keith....they just are

 

[Bulldozer]

body lines, wheel wells , tail lights , roof lines , grills
spoilers
wheels
scoops
graphics, badging, names and stripes
factory available options and engine/drivetrain packages
originality
racing history and racing programs
colors
designs
every single thing about them, most notable for me are the 68-74 B Bodies, but i love them all

i bleed mopar

 

[waggin]

one ride in a 340 car

 

[66340SEDAN]

Mopar has even spilled over from the garage into my home, check out my wall art! :glasses7:

 

[fanofpetty]

For me as a kid growing up in the sixties and seventies, I think it was the fact that mopars were so dominant in NHRA, and Grand National stock car racing, (now known as NASCAR). It always seemed a lot of the top teams ran mopars. Thats back when Chrysler invested heavily in racing development, unlike today. Anyway mopars were always the coolest lookin cars and the performance to back it up.

 

[66340SEDAN]

one ride in a 340 car

YES!!! 340's rule Waggs....especially with a 4-speed :burnout:

My uncle had a Hemi orange 69 Swinger 340 4-speed when he was young, dad had one ride in that car and he was hooked!!! When I was little he always said that was the fastest car he had ever rode in. When I got my Valiant done, the car was only done for a few days and dad hopped in it and drove it really hard, I was impressed (he babies all of his car's to the max). Dad said he found a faster car than his brothers Swinger....my Valiant 340

 

[goldfish65]

For me it started when the '66 Charger came out, at the time the fastback roofline, concealed headlights, full-width taillights and the console going to the back seat were sooooo cool.

Keith I love your 'Sgt.Pepper-style' Mopar artwork!

 

[Dart_Doctor]

It all started with my dad and his dart !

 

[ocdart]

For me it was because Mopar is different. All my friends in high school and after had Chevys and Fords and I always wanted to have something different. My parents were Oldsmobile people back then and my first automotive love were the Olds 442's, the Hurst Olds and the advertising Olds did with "Dr. Oldsmobile". My first car was a '64 Olds Cutlass. But I was drawn to Mopars from my very first time at the drags with the Super Stock cars from the mid-60s. Then the introduction of the Road Runner in '68 and the advertising they did from then on.
Shortly after getting married we decided we needed a 2nd car and I ran into a great deal on a 2-month old used '69 340 Swinger and I was hooked for life. I stupidly sold that car during a minor financial crisis and missed it for years.
I got back into Oldsmobiles for awhile when we bought a brand new '83 Hurst Olds but the Mopar bug never died. I started a restification project a few years ago on the H/O but always wanted my 340 Swinger back.
I spotted an unfinished '69 Dart project on eBay about 5 years ago and bought it. Then sold the unfinished H/O to help finance the build on my "new" Dart. It's still in 'build mode' but hope to have it finished soon.

 

[66340SEDAN]

"For me it was because Mopar is different."

Yes, another reason I love them, and another reason why my car is so different :glasses7:

 

[MoparDaddy]

Reliability, most of the time lol

Shorter list is, what doesn't?

 

[66340SEDAN]

Kewl :glasses7:

 

[Johnny Dart]

one ride in a 340 car

One ride in a Pistol Grip Hemi Road Runner. :glasses7:

Everything about them.
Colors,Stripes,Character Decals,Shaker Hoods,6 packs,Cross Ram's,Hemi's,the list goes on and on.
I think the number one thing for me though,is the "High Impact" colors.

 

[TrailBeast]

In 1974 my Dad offered to buy me a car to get back and forth in.
We stopped at this car lot, and way in the back of the lot I saw this absolutely beautiful car with a nice color and some badass lines.
I was a near factory perfect condition 1969 Roadrunner with a 383 and a 727 with Micky Thompson spokes and white lettered MT tires on it.
I HAD to have this car, and we picked it up for $1,200 bucks.
It had the Roadrunner on the dash, and on the sides behind the tires on the fenders, the original Roadrunner horn and the 383 call outs in the hood vents.

The Roadrunner died a pointless horrible death and I was devistated
A guy that I beat badly in a race the weekend before poured five gallons of gas on it and lit it.
It burned to the ground right there in the parking lot, and the cops didn't give a **** about how or why it happened. (They wouldn't even talk to the guy about it)
Somehow a few years later, the guy got run off the road on his Harley and almost died.
I visited him in the hospital and told him we were even now.

To answer the OP's question, the lines, the fact that not everyone has one.

 

[ESP47]

Mopar has personality that Chevy and Ford don't have.

Don't get me wrong, I love the looks of a 65 Chevelle or Mach 1 Mustang, but there's just something about the Mopar design that is cool to me. Plus we have way more models to choose from than they do.

 

[jabdusty57]

one ride in a 340 car

Age 17 and I pushed the pedal down to the floor on my 340 Duster. The road in front of the car disappeared. Haven't felt anything like it in the last 37 years.

 

[moparmanik]

for me it was my neighbour's 70 satellite sitting on staggered cragars and the bright orange paint job.been hooked eversince. ive had a feew since then.

 

[Bulldozer]

stuff like this ... i could go on and on....

 

[67Dart273]

The "thought" for me was getting tired of Chivvy breakage. That was back when a Muncie was hard to come by, so lots of us were "stuck" with 3 speeds or BW T-10s, the stock Chiv rear axle, and in the case of my buddy, later, a 10 bolt in his Chevelle.

NOW of course, I know that Ferd top loaders and 9" are pretty stout, but for some reason............

When "Dave" showed up with a brand new 69 383 RR, that pretty much did it. That was fall of 68, at Treasure Island, CA electronics "A" school.

Shortly after arriving at Miramar (San Diego) I bought a used 69 RR, and later, the 70 440-6

 

[DFX 340 Duster]

For me it was: watching the racing movies of the 1960s, seeing the Chrylser Firepowers on the rails, Richard Petty in his 1964 Plymouth Fury, my oldest brother's 1963 Dodge 330, my cousin's 1970 Lime Green Duster, Sox & Martin cars, the 1969 Dodge Daytona, the 1970 Plymouth Superbird, my Dad's 1969 Dodge Dart with a 273, the 426 Max Wedge, the 426 Hemi, Chrylser advertising.

All of that came together in my first car purchased in 1974. It was a 1964 Dodge Polara 500 with a 361 big block, 4 speed manual, console tach, and it was red with lots of chrome. I learned about cars by working on it. I was asked to join a Mopar car club and I did and had a blast with other muscle car outcasts. We weren't running the Chevy or Ford stuff that most everybody brought to the boulevard cruise and street races.

I eventually built the 361 with after market parts and it was a moderate fast and fun car. The Mopar Badass Bug bit me a big one when I then found and bought a complete 426 Max Wedge for $1000! I also acquired a complete Ramcharger exhaust system from manifolds to tips and a 4.56 rear end.

I got married before I could stab the Max Wedge into the car.

The first baby came before I could stab the Max Wedge into the car.

I had to dump all of my muscle cars to get me out of college and feed the baby but my Mopar Badass bug never left me.

I finally let the bug out about 8 years ago and bought a numbers matching 1969 Dodge Polara 500 Convertible with the HP 383. Then I was bit by a 1971 340 Duster a few years after that. Last year it bit me again when my Mazda truck died and I went out and brought home the 2007 Charger R/T instead of the 2007 Charger SRT8 from a CarMax lot (I needed a comfortable daily driver and the SRT8 sucked too much gas).

I don't even have a clue what I will bring home the next time I get bit.

 

[66340SEDAN]

Sounds like a few Road Runners and 340 Cars, good entry level cars back then, thats when you actually got "bang for the buck!" :glasses7:

 

[69 Cuda 440]

For me,,,,,,

In 1966, when my father took me with him to look at some 1962 Plymouth he wanted to buy.

It looked like some 'Old Man's Sedan.

I asked my father what was so special about the car. It had no sex appeal. I had wanted him to buy a new 66' Mustang GT.

He told me, it's a '413 Max-Wedge'. I had no idea of what he was talking about, but the name 'Max-Wedge' sounded cool, despite the car looking somewhat dull.

Then the owner of the car started it up.............:cheers:

 

[451Cuda]

I was a fan of all musclecars growing up, but when I bought my first Mopar I was hooked.

It was a '70 Charger R/T, FC7 car (repainted this hideous brown/gold), 440/727 on column. The lines on that car and all the cool features had me impressed, but when I discovered it was originally purple I about flipped out. I wanted to restore it, but getting laid off a job and having to move soon forced me to give it up, so I sold it and vowed to get it back someday.

I still like all makes, but focus on Mopar.

 

[jos51700]

Growing up in the late '70s' and early '80's, first it was the cartoon character cars, then the Dukes.