Why A Mopar ??

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On a Mopar site you ask that question, "why a mopar"! Of course your going to get tons of bias answers.
I'm a mopar fan myself. I bought my first mopar in 76 while a Junior in high school and it blew up on my graduation night in 77. It was and to this day still is the favorite car I've ever owned. A 70 Cuda big block. Even today I always tell my wife if we ever see one sitting out for sale I would sell the house, throw her and the kids in the deal so I could have another 70 Cuda. Well, shes still with me and Im still living in the same place 35 yrs later. I've owned about a dozen mopars since then but only have my 66 Dart and 98 1500 truck now.
With all that said now comes the dark side of my life with mopars. My dad had a garage that I was brought up in during the 70's an 80's. Its apparent that some here dont remember having to spiders and bearings go out of the rears, the oil leaks they all seemed to have, the timing chains jumping on the small blocks, the carb problems they had compared to other cars, the choke issues and fouling out plugs from both from rich carbs or excessive oil usage. And probably the worst thing is that mopars rusted away as they sat in front of you compared to other vehicles. Yes I know, most spider and bearing issues were on 7 1/4 rears but there were tons of duster and darts out there. Yes, other cars had their share of issues as well. But can anyone say that changing the plugs on a 383 or 440 after the car was driven in for a tuneup was something you enjoyed? I know I cant and I probably did at least one set a day for many years because we worked on a ton of them. That good thing was many worn out chrysler New Yorkers with 440's ended up being left for sale for $50- $100 bucks where I could yank the motor and trans and rear and have many spare parts for my collection!
Yes as I said I am a mopar fan, but over my years of driving and working on cars Ive found that all brands suck when you have issues and when they run, they all run good.
As for body styles, they can be liked or hated but a few years later you can fall in love with the same car you hated. Yes, I can say that as I use to hate the corvettes. Then I ended up working on a friends while he was away for a month. Fell in love with the way it handled and bought one for myself. Did a total resto mod and it has become one of my all time favorites.
PA270396.JPG

Then there was the time I was at the Beach and decided to check out the fall car show in OC Md and saw a Pontiac that for some reason I couldnt get out of my head. Found one within a year and its the car I take whenever I do the hot rod power tour or an over night car trip.
P6060836.JPG

Now dont mistake what Im saying. I love the mopar line but there are other cars that are as nice or even nicer that I have opened myself up to that I enjoy.
As for those that say I never got beat racing in their mopar, well maybe you were and still are a hell of a driver or maybe your opponents were very bad! lol. I grew up in an area that had a ton of Ford and Chevy garages that had some super fast cars that were on both the street and strip.
I guess what Im really trying to say is that the love of cars should be just that. A love of cars. Yes when you go to a show there will be 30 camera's for every Mopar, but thats because the mopars rusted away! lol And yes theres a ton of Mustangs but have you checked out how many new challengers are out here now. Years from now they will be everywhere as the cameras and mustangs of the past are now and everyone will be complaining about them! Actually probably not as cars wont be a hobby anymore!
So to wrap this somewhat of a rant up, I think cars are all the same and it comes down to a personal preference.
Thats my story and Im sticking to it!
Rod
 
Well when I was a kid my mom had a '66 Plymouth furyIII wagon with a 383. First time I went 100mph (with my older brother at the wheel). Was a great car.
Also my older brother had a '57 Plymouth with a 413 that he would work on all week, and race on the weekends. It had the little buddy seat in the middle, I think it was broken or something. He would put me in the buddy seat, then nail the gas and it would throw me into the back seat.
Guess it was just natural for me to gravitate towards mopars. They are the best looking cars of the muscle car era, and had the coolest colors, and the coolest names.
 
rod7515 said:
On a Mopar site you ask that question, "why a mopar"! Of course your going to get tons of bias answers.
Click to expand...
I dunno, I think you read too much into the simple question.

It was ”Why a Mopar?”...not “Why is a Mopar better than everything else?”

The question is about why people chose a Mopar. There are no biased answers, just explanations of why.
 
Hahaha... the question 'why mopar' brings back fond memories!
My dad had a 66 Canso and then a 67 Firebird, one uncle had a 66 Mustang, another an early TVR so there were some cool cars in the family. Well my oldest uncle decides he wants in on the fun and he bought a 70 Challenger RT 440 4speed. You never forget a full throttle ride in those cars. It was so much faster than anything I'd ever been in. He would come over for family dinners and when he left we all went out on the front porch to watch him leave. He'd start it up and let it 'lope away' then burn the tires off the car all the way down the street... and smoke the whole neighborhood out.
Our neighbors a couple houses up would call the cops every time and they'd knock on our door. My dad would calmly play dumb... 'no idea why there's rubber marks in front of our house again'! hahaha
At that point I learned 2 things;
1. You can lie to the cops.
2. Mopars sound awesome and do the best burnouts ever.
That was it for me...

... 40 years later that uncle drives a Hellcat.
70 440 rt.jpg
 
Ddaddy said:
I can understand that!

My car is a near twin to the one I put together over 30 years ago. That one was a Dart GT with a 340 and I always said if I found another one, I would buy it. When I found this GTS 3 years ago, I had to make it mine. Of course, I had to do a bunch of work to it to make it right...but that was half the fun!

View attachment 1715147257
Click to expand...
Awesome Dija Vue deal!
 
rod7515 said:
On a Mopar site you ask that question, "why a mopar"! Of course your going to get tons of bias answers.
I'm a mopar fan myself. I bought my first mopar in 76 while a Junior in high school and it blew up on my graduation night in 77. It was and to this day still is the favorite car I've ever owned. A 70 Cuda big block. Even today I always tell my wife if we ever see one sitting out for sale I would sell the house, throw her and the kids in the deal so I could have another 70 Cuda. Well, shes still with me and Im still living in the same place 35 yrs later. I've owned about a dozen mopars since then but only have my 66 Dart and 98 1500 truck now.
With all that said now comes the dark side of my life with mopars. My dad had a garage that I was brought up in during the 70's an 80's. Its apparent that some here dont remember having to spiders and bearings go out of the rears, the oil leaks they all seemed to have, the timing chains jumping on the small blocks, the carb problems they had compared to other cars, the choke issues and fouling out plugs from both from rich carbs or excessive oil usage. And probably the worst thing is that mopars rusted away as they sat in front of you compared to other vehicles. Yes I know, most spider and bearing issues were on 7 1/4 rears but there were tons of duster and darts out there. Yes, other cars had their share of issues as well. But can anyone say that changing the plugs on a 383 or 440 after the car was driven in for a tuneup was something you enjoyed? I know I cant and I probably did at least one set a day for many years because we worked on a ton of them. That good thing was many worn out chrysler New Yorkers with 440's ended up being left for sale for $50- $100 bucks where I could yank the motor and trans and rear and have many spare parts for my collection!
Yes as I said I am a mopar fan, but over my years of driving and working on cars Ive found that all brands suck when you have issues and when they run, they all run good.
As for body styles, they can be liked or hated but a few years later you can fall in love with the same car you hated. Yes, I can say that as I use to hate the corvettes. Then I ended up working on a friends while he was away for a month. Fell in love with the way it handled and bought one for myself. Did a total resto mod and it has become one of my all time favorites.
View attachment 1715148691
Then there was the time I was at the Beach and decided to check out the fall car show in OC Md and saw a Pontiac that for some reason I couldnt get out of my head. Found one within a year and its the car I take whenever I do the hot rod power tour or an over night car trip.
View attachment 1715148696
Now dont mistake what Im saying. I love the mopar line but there are other cars that are as nice or even nicer that I have opened myself up to that I enjoy.
As for those that say I never got beat racing in their mopar, well maybe you were and still are a hell of a driver or maybe your opponents were very bad! lol. I grew up in an area that had a ton of Ford and Chevy garages that had some super fast cars that were on both the street and strip.
I guess what Im really trying to say is that the love of cars should be just that. A love of cars. Yes when you go to a show there will be 30 camera's for every Mopar, but thats because the mopars rusted away! lol And yes theres a ton of Mustangs but have you checked out how many new challengers are out here now. Years from now they will be everywhere as the cameras and mustangs of the past are now and everyone will be complaining about them! Actually probably not as cars wont be a hobby anymore!
So to wrap this somewhat of a rant up, I think cars are all the same and it comes down to a personal preference.
Thats my story and Im sticking to it!
Rod
Click to expand...
I always look at the service pov also- how easy? The F body Gm's that you're talking about are major pia's. Sexy? Yes, but only if you don't have to work on them!
 
rod7515 said:
On a Mopar site you ask that question, "why a mopar"! Of course your going to get tons of bias answers.
I'm a mopar fan myself. I bought my first mopar in 76 while a Junior in high school and it blew up on my graduation night in 77. It was and to this day still is the favorite car I've ever owned. A 70 Cuda big block. Even today I always tell my wife if we ever see one sitting out for sale I would sell the house, throw her and the kids in the deal so I could have another 70 Cuda. Well, shes still with me and Im still living in the same place 35 yrs later. I've owned about a dozen mopars since then but only have my 66 Dart and 98 1500 truck now.
With all that said now comes the dark side of my life with mopars. My dad had a garage that I was brought up in during the 70's an 80's. Its apparent that some here dont remember having to spiders and bearings go out of the rears, the oil leaks they all seemed to have, the timing chains jumping on the small blocks, the carb problems they had compared to other cars, the choke issues and fouling out plugs from both from rich carbs or excessive oil usage. And probably the worst thing is that mopars rusted away as they sat in front of you compared to other vehicles. Yes I know, most spider and bearing issues were on 7 1/4 rears but there were tons of duster and darts out there. Yes, other cars had their share of issues as well. But can anyone say that changing the plugs on a 383 or 440 after the car was driven in for a tuneup was something you enjoyed? I know I cant and I probably did at least one set a day for many years because we worked on a ton of them. That good thing was many worn out chrysler New Yorkers with 440's ended up being left for sale for $50- $100 bucks where I could yank the motor and trans and rear and have many spare parts for my collection!
Yes as I said I am a mopar fan, but over my years of driving and working on cars Ive found that all brands suck when you have issues and when they run, they all run good.
As for body styles, they can be liked or hated but a few years later you can fall in love with the same car you hated. Yes, I can say that as I use to hate the corvettes. Then I ended up working on a friends while he was away for a month. Fell in love with the way it handled and bought one for myself. Did a total resto mod and it has become one of my all time favorites.
View attachment 1715148691
Then there was the time I was at the Beach and decided to check out the fall car show in OC Md and saw a Pontiac that for some reason I couldnt get out of my head. Found one within a year and its the car I take whenever I do the hot rod power tour or an over night car trip.
View attachment 1715148696
Now dont mistake what Im saying. I love the mopar line but there are other cars that are as nice or even nicer that I have opened myself up to that I enjoy.
As for those that say I never got beat racing in their mopar, well maybe you were and still are a hell of a driver or maybe your opponents were very bad! lol. I grew up in an area that had a ton of Ford and Chevy garages that had some super fast cars that were on both the street and strip.
I guess what Im really trying to say is that the love of cars should be just that. A love of cars. Yes when you go to a show there will be 30 camera's for every Mopar, but thats because the mopars rusted away! lol And yes theres a ton of Mustangs but have you checked out how many new challengers are out here now. Years from now they will be everywhere as the cameras and mustangs of the past are now and everyone will be complaining about them! Actually probably not as cars wont be a hobby anymore!
So to wrap this somewhat of a rant up, I think cars are all the same and it comes down to a personal preference.
Thats my story and Im sticking to it!
Rod[/QUOT
Click to expand...
rod7515 said:
On a Mopar site you ask that question, "why a mopar"! Of course your going to get tons of bias answers.
I'm a mopar fan myself. I bought my first mopar in 76 while a Junior in high school and it blew up on my graduation night in 77. It was and to this day still is the favorite car I've ever owned. A 70 Cuda big block. Even today I always tell my wife if we ever see one sitting out for sale I would sell the house, throw her and the kids in the deal so I could have another 70 Cuda. Well, shes still with me and Im still living in the same place 35 yrs later. I've owned about a dozen mopars since then but only have my 66 Dart and 98 1500 truck now.
With all that said now comes the dark side of my life with mopars. My dad had a garage that I was brought up in during the 70's an 80's. Its apparent that some here dont remember having to spiders and bearings go out of the rears, the oil leaks they all seemed to have, the timing chains jumping on the small blocks, the carb problems they had compared to other cars, the choke issues and fouling out plugs from both from rich carbs or excessive oil usage. And probably the worst thing is that mopars rusted away as they sat in front of you compared to other vehicles. Yes I know, most spider and bearing issues were on 7 1/4 rears but there were tons of duster and darts out there. Yes, other cars had their share of issues as well. But can anyone say that changing the plugs on a 383 or 440 after the car was driven in for a tuneup was something you enjoyed? I know I cant and I probably did at least one set a day for many years because we worked on a ton of them. That good thing was many worn out chrysler New Yorkers with 440's ended up being left for sale for $50- $100 bucks where I could yank the motor and trans and rear and have many spare parts for my collection!
Yes as I said I am a mopar fan, but over my years of driving and working on cars Ive found that all brands suck when you have issues and when they run, they all run good.
As for body styles, they can be liked or hated but a few years later you can fall in love with the same car you hated. Yes, I can say that as I use to hate the corvettes. Then I ended up working on a friends while he was away for a month. Fell in love with the way it handled and bought one for myself. Did a total resto mod and it has become one of my all time favorites.
View attachment 1715148691
Then there was the time I was at the Beach and decided to check out the fall car show in OC Md and saw a Pontiac that for some reason I couldnt get out of my head. Found one within a year and its the car I take whenever I do the hot rod power tour or an over night car trip.
View attachment 1715148696
Now dont mistake what Im saying. I love the mopar line but there are other cars that are as nice or even nicer that I have opened myself up to that I enjoy.
As for those that say I never got beat racing in their mopar, well maybe you were and still are a hell of a driver or maybe your opponents were very bad! lol. I grew up in an area that had a ton of Ford and Chevy garages that had some super fast cars that were on both the street and strip.
I guess what Im really trying to say is that the love of cars should be just that. A love of cars. Yes when you go to a show there will be 30 camera's for every Mopar, but thats because the mopars rusted away! lol And yes theres a ton of Mustangs but have you checked out how many new challengers are out here now. Years from now they will be everywhere as the cameras and mustangs of the past are now and everyone will be complaining about them! Actually probably not as cars wont be a hobby anymore!
So to wrap this somewhat of a rant up, I think cars are all the same and it comes down to a personal preference.
Thats my story and Im sticking to it!
Rod
Click to expand...

Those are a dime a dozen.... But not the Mopars anymore... :)
 
Mechanical innovations like adjustable torsion bars, rocker shafts, hemispherical heads, companies like Ramchargers just down the block, Mancini Racing back in the day. Besides my 1 buddy had a Camero, my other good friend had a 4bbl Pinto that would eat v8 Mustangs so I had to go Mopar. My Dad always had em and I learned car repair on em so hopping them up was easy. I also kinda liked the challenge when performance shops had catalogues with pages and pages of Chevy and Ford parts and 2 pages of all the Mopar parts. Saw a light to light race once as a kid, with a 340 Duster, 396 Chevelle and Vette and the Duster smoked em all. I could go on.
 
Imagine being banned from racing cause you were too fast!!!!
 
wow you all, good stories I really like what you posted,it all brings back good memories. and don't get me wrong I like all old cars even the **** cheap ones.
as a kid my friends in the neighborhood we had a 5 acre field ware we would jump cars and a ramp, where we rolled them. yea still alive. but out on the street I had a 68 dart 340 4 speed and my brother had a 70 440 six pack cuda no one would race us, and the ones that did got beat, lots of fun. My old man had a body shop where he would fix totaled out cars that were big money cars I remember the lotus, BMW, and so on. But the car I remember most is a 1972 Pantera. My dad let me drive it after it was fixed back to the guy that bought it from him, that was a 50 mile drive. what a sweet car that was and never been at that speed again 150 mph when my dad said to shut it down. God I miss my Dad and driving that fast.
So the reason I like mopar A bodies were light if I remember the dry weight was 2800 lbs and that is pretty light even most cars today weigh more than that. And mopar was more into speed than all the others. I just like my Mopar
 
Ive got a little of both a great looking old Fairlane that was the last project my dad and I did together. Now currently doing the Duster which is the first one my wife and are doing together

DCP01659.jpg


23167793_10215336310066703_8154107433728757624_n.jpg
 
rod7515 said:
On a Mopar site you ask that question, "why a mopar"! Of course your going to get tons of bias answers.
I'm a mopar fan myself. I bought my first mopar in 76 while a Junior in high school and it blew up on my graduation night in 77. It was and to this day still is the favorite car I've ever owned. A 70 Cuda big block. Even today I always tell my wife if we ever see one sitting out for sale I would sell the house, throw her and the kids in the deal so I could have another 70 Cuda. Well, shes still with me and Im still living in the same place 35 yrs later. I've owned about a dozen mopars since then but only have my 66 Dart and 98 1500 truck now.
With all that said now comes the dark side of my life with mopars. My dad had a garage that I was brought up in during the 70's an 80's. Its apparent that some here dont remember having to spiders and bearings go out of the rears, the oil leaks they all seemed to have, the timing chains jumping on the small blocks, the carb problems they had compared to other cars, the choke issues and fouling out plugs from both from rich carbs or excessive oil usage. And probably the worst thing is that mopars rusted away as they sat in front of you compared to other vehicles. Yes I know, most spider and bearing issues were on 7 1/4 rears but there were tons of duster and darts out there. Yes, other cars had their share of issues as well. But can anyone say that changing the plugs on a 383 or 440 after the car was driven in for a tuneup was something you enjoyed? I know I cant and I probably did at least one set a day for many years because we worked on a ton of them. That good thing was many worn out chrysler New Yorkers with 440's ended up being left for sale for $50- $100 bucks where I could yank the motor and trans and rear and have many spare parts for my collection!
Yes as I said I am a mopar fan, but over my years of driving and working on cars Ive found that all brands suck when you have issues and when they run, they all run good.
As for body styles, they can be liked or hated but a few years later you can fall in love with the same car you hated. Yes, I can say that as I use to hate the corvettes. Then I ended up working on a friends while he was away for a month. Fell in love with the way it handled and bought one for myself. Did a total resto mod and it has become one of my all time favorites.
View attachment 1715148691
Then there was the time I was at the Beach and decided to check out the fall car show in OC Md and saw a Pontiac that for some reason I couldnt get out of my head. Found one within a year and its the car I take whenever I do the hot rod power tour or an over night car trip.
View attachment 1715148696
Now dont mistake what Im saying. I love the mopar line but there are other cars that are as nice or even nicer that I have opened myself up to that I enjoy.
As for those that say I never got beat racing in their mopar, well maybe you were and still are a hell of a driver or maybe your opponents were very bad! lol. I grew up in an area that had a ton of Ford and Chevy garages that had some super fast cars that were on both the street and strip.
I guess what Im really trying to say is that the love of cars should be just that. A love of cars. Yes when you go to a show there will be 30 camera's for every Mopar, but thats because the mopars rusted away! lol And yes theres a ton of Mustangs but have you checked out how many new challengers are out here now. Years from now they will be everywhere as the cameras and mustangs of the past are now and everyone will be complaining about them! Actually probably not as cars wont be a hobby anymore!
So to wrap this somewhat of a rant up, I think cars are all the same and it comes down to a personal preference.
Thats my story and Im sticking to it!
Rod
Click to expand...

Not so much. I rebuilt engines for a living. Not even close. Chevrolet kept me in money, but I did feel sorry for people that bought them. Growing up in Orlando, FL during the 70’s my best friend had a 70 1/2 Camero and still does. We would drive to Daytona Beach with a case of beer every Saturday at 100 mph. Either would do it and both the Camero and my Formula S Barracuda would do just fine. Steve went through three 350’s, three turbo 350’s, and two or three 10 bolt rears. The 327 he put in last has been good. The 66 4 speed Barracuda 273 is still running, as is my brothers 67 273 automatic Barracuda 400,000 miles on it. Original trans and rear. I rebuilt the engine 300,000 miles ago. Still runs like new. Never babied, go anywhere do anything, cruise at 100 mph all day long. Why do you think 350’s are so cheap, they sell so many. Everybody is different, but don’t tell me your Corvette handles so much better, go tell that to your rich buddies that have’nt driven a lot of good cars hard. As for Camero’s, check out how many were sold, compared to Barracudas and Challengers. All 60’s and 70’s cars rusted out. I myself like all American cars through the 70’s and I have my favorites, but I will only own a Chrysler product.
 
I had them all. B-bodies E-bodies , GTO's, Camaros, Chevelles, Mustangs , Firebirds, Torinos, 60's mopar HP cars, My Dad was car crazy. Mostly all big block cars.

Then my friend pulled up with a beat up 69 swinger with a W-2 340 4spd. with 456's. It was a 70's street racer someone traded in at Rothrock Dodge on a 77 Aspen R/T.

The guy was a member of the "A-town Hustlers" I never looked back its been 340 A-bodies since. That was the scariest street car I was ever in at the time.
Strictly MOPARS since
 
When I was about 10 and long ago bitten by the motor head bug, our neighbor, my older brothers friend had a 56' Dodge two tone like a burgundy and light gray maybe, and he used to say if a dog pisses on my tire, this car won't start.. later I found out he meant when it rained that car wouldn't start .. some ignition problem .. he was the cool guy in the neighborhood and his car was great looking and sounding with some glass packs.. and his sister was real nice, REALLY nice. He worked at the Chevy engine plant but always bought Mopars.. I asked him once why he always bought Dodge's if they didn't start, and he worked for Chevy, he said "because they're so friggin cool". If the Marlon Brando of the neighborhood said so, that was good enough for me. I see him once in a while , he's in his late 70's and still drive a Dodge ,.. truck now.
 
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