Any old Mopar guys out there?

[gcsprayjr]

My first car was a 66 GTX, 440, 4 speed. Bought it used in 72 for $650.00. My parents did not know a slant 6 from a 440, so I used their lack of knowledge to my advantage. I had saved the money working summer jobs, delivering newspapers, and cutting grass around the neighborhood nearby. Dad want me to have a small car as a first car, something like a Datsun wagon, or something c***y like that. I wanted a muscle car, and my first pick was a 67 GTO, 389, 4 speed, vert, however Mom and Dad knew that GTO's were powerful and fast, so it was vetoed quickly. Hence the GTX, a plain box of a car with minimal decorations. The dealer and I worked out a plan. We carefully removed the GTX emblems from the rocker panels, and the 440 Comando badge on the breather, and magically the car looked like a plain yellow Belvedere. I told Mom and Dad that it was a 318. At first they did not want me to have a V8 period, and gave me a 1957 BMW Isetta to shut me up. The Isetta was cute, but really nerdy, so I continued to ride my motorcycle rather then be seen at highschool in the Isetta. My sister and I had a lot of fun drivng the Isetta around on the farm and in the woods, however I was not about to be seen at school or in town in that thing. I wish that I had it now.

Finally Mom and Dad relented, and let me have the GTX, er ... Belvedere. Dad made the comment that he had never heard a 318 that sounded like that, and I think that he caught on pretty fast that he had been fooled, but he did not say anthing to mom about it. He warned me that one ticket, or bad grades would result in the car being sold and my riding the school bus. It must have worked, because I was very careful, and did not get a ticket until my second year of driving. It was for 41 in a 35 in a rural area, I pleaded guilty as charged, got a reduced fine, and no points. Dad did not push it, and I did not get another ticket until I was grown and married in 1977.

All though I really was a nerd, I did get to maintain my gear-head reputation at high school driving a GTX, and over the years added the GTX emblems back on the car. I bought a set of Crager SS wheels and Redline tires, and it looked great with the pale yellow paint. The car got to show it's stuff at the local drag strip a few times, but proved to be too light of a body for 375 HP. I sold it a few years later, when I found a cream puff 1970 Shelby GT-350 that I thought that I could not live without. One could buy a nice Shelby in the 1970's for less then 4K. This is before the prices went through the roof. I wonder if the old GTX still exists? So yeah, I have a Mopar story...

[WA4SLC]

These are the Mopars that I have owned.
1967 Barracuda fastback Formula S
1965 Barracuda fastback
1969 Plymouth Road Runner
1973 Duster Twister
1975 Plymouth Van
1978 Dodge Aspen Wagon
1989 Plymouth Voyager mini van
1995 Dodge Ram 1500
2001 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins
2004 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins

My favorite of all was the 67 Barracuda. It was fun to drive. It had just enough power with the 273 high performance engine to hold its on with with some of the other hot cars of that day. That engine with its short stroke, solid lifters and dual point distributor would wind up really fast. The second night I had it I raced a 390 Mustang and stayed right next to it up to 100 mph. I took it to the drag strip in Kinston NC and had beat everything in my class until a guy with a 273 HP Valiant came to race. He had done several things to his car so he beat me for the trophy. Famous drag racer Ronnie Socks was there that day and drove the Valiant during time trials and I pulled up to the line beside him, of course he beat me, but I got to race Ronnie Socks!
I only got to keep the Barracuda 6 months before I got drafted and my Dad sold it while I was in basic training.

[hondo122]

My best friends brother had a 64' Polara with the interior stripped down with 426 wedge with crossram intake functional scoop. The headers had outlets behind the front wheels, with cutout plates. We raced up and down the mid atlantic drag strips. We raced and won against the Pink Panther Plymouth, Grumpy Jenkins worked on the engine before he became strictly a Chevy guy. Boy those were the days.

[wnytaxman]

My Mopars were all in my kid years. First one was '64 Dart with the 273 V-8. It was the first Dart V-8 sold in WNY. Second one was a '66 Charger with a 383 2 barrell. Nice looking car, but a real dog off the line. Last one was a '68 Charger with 383 4 barrell automatic. Hottest car I ever owned. Only two cars that ever took me off the line were a Vette and a '55 Chevy with tires on it the size of my desk! Many others after that, but all very mundane like Durangos and even a Diplomat!

[Mochisme]

My mostly Mopars:

1st drivable Car = 1953 Dodge Cornet with a Hemi (did not really know what it was until later) ( had a 1948 Mercury Coupe, but did not get an engine in it, sold the one I built for it to a hardtop racer I pitted for)
1955 Plymouth 2 door (don't recall the engine)
1959 Plymouth Station Wagon (don't recall the engine)
1956 Plymouth 2 door
1963 Jeep Wagoner
1968 Dodge Charger R/T 440 Magnum, Auto factory order $4,300 out the door
Then over about 10 years I owned 12 other 1968 Dodge Chargers, about even between 383 and 318 engines, all were Auto except the last which was a 4 speed
Four 1968 Chrysler Newport (Mostly Parts cars, Engines and Transmissions for swaps I did)
1980 Dodge Shorty Van 318 auto
1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee (highly modified for off road, for sale right now)
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee (Wife’s car, traded for a 2008 Town & Country Van)
1995 Dodge 2500 Turbo Cummins 4x4 pickup (also for sale right now)
2003 PT Cruiser, my current Daily Driver

Also has a few odd balls in the mix 1957 Ford Fairlane 2 door, 1963 Carman Giea, 1965 Tempest Lemans, 1965 GTO, 1970 Ford Pickup, 1974 Ford 4x4 Conversion 12 pass Van

Down to only 4 at the moment (1995 Dodge, 1998 Jeep CG, 2003 PTC, 2008 T&C Van)

[Paul R. Haller]

Lets see, 68 Dodge van with a 318. 69 cuda with a 340. Crappy Polara with a 318, Satellite Sebring with a 318, finally a 70 Challenger with a 440. That was a fast car. My buddy had a road runner stripped down. That thing was scary fast. I mean SCARY fast. If you punched it on the street it would just go sideways and the air would turn black and grey. We pealed 4 sets of rear tires off of it. Then, I had a 67 GTO tri power. It was not as fast as that road runner but it was fast enough to conquer almost anything else out there. I miss that 67 GTO. Now, sitting in my garage is a 71, 455, GTO, Ram Air 4, judge, fully restored in hemi orange with a white interior and a white vinyl top. I am afraid to get on it for fear of screwing it up. It took 12 years of hard work and sweat and bucket loads of cash to get it where it is now. Too bad too. They are meant to be driven hard like you stole it. That's when they are at their best with black smoke and a screaming big block. No sound quite like a big block and squealing tires. My daily driver... a hemi Prius. I got some hemi badges off a GTX on Ebay. Glued them down on my Prius. Yea right, a Hemi Prius?!?
-Paul R. Haller-

[Alan_Hepburn]

Mine was a '64 Dodge 330 sedan with the 383 Interceptor engine, mated to a 3 speed manual tranny - around town I would get about 10 mpg but wind it out on the freeway around 100 mph I'd get a respectable 16 mpg! The Highway Patrol sure knew how to spec their engines and drivetrains!

I bought it for $600 in 1970 from the original owner - the proverbial little old lady. Her husband had originally bought it for towing a trailer but then never got around to buying the trailer! Their son drove it until he bought a Saab Sonnet (anyone remember them?) and sold the Dodge to me.

[Midniteoyl]

Still got a '78 Dodge Magnum.. And '85 D250 Custom.

Go Mopar or Go Home..

[hondo122]

Forgot about my 75' Chrysler Cordoba, with fine Corinthian Leather LOL, had a 360 that was a dog. Also equipped with the famous lousy mopar braking system, my first new car. went through brake pads and shoes once a month. Kept going back to the dealer, after the fifth complete brake system they came out with a fix, larger vented rotors and finned drums on the rear. Didn't wear out after that, but squealed like a pig at slaughter. Back I went, by this time they were getting sick of my smiling face. Took the service manager for a test ride brake sang every time I touched them. The manager said all disk brakes squeal, I replied OH! so they are engineered that way to let dumb folks know they're working, that's when they put the sixth complete system on and solved the problem

[okgc]

mahon1993

I noticed you are in Fowlerville, Michigan, thought you might like to know that every July there is a "Mopars at the Red Barns" car show at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners. You are not very far away and there are some very nice Mopar muscle cars in attendance every year.

Welcome to the Gilmore Car Museum
Located midway between Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Battle Creek, and Lansing, MI - just minutes from I-94 and US-131

As a Mopar fan do you remember these?

[hondo122]

Originally Posted by okgc

mahon1993

I noticed you are in Fowlerville, Michigan, thought you might like to know that every July there is a "Mopars at the Red Barns" car show at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners. You are not very far away and there are some very nice Mopar muscle cars in attendance every year.

Welcome to the Gilmore Car Museum
Located midway between Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Battle Creek, and Lansing, MI - just minutes from I-94 and US-131

As a Mopar fan do you remember these?

Is that the turbine powered car?

[tncruiser]

Originally Posted by hondo122

Is that the turbine powered car?

yep thats a turbine i remember as a kid driving next to one on Conner
i also use to walk by the jefferson plant on the way home from high school and see the new chryslers coming out the front door they built the 300,s there later on when i got my DL 1962 we would go to hamtramck and wathe the "b" bodies roll out of lynch rd
brianj

[beachboy27]

Had a '67 Plymouth Satellite 3 door hardtop with a 383, 4 barrel, 4 speed. Very fast car and fun to drive.
'92 Dodge Stealth, twin turbo, 5 speed. Also a fast car and fun to drive. Sold it two months before they stopped production and kick my ass ever since.

[historyljc]

I learned to drive in a '52 Dodge 6 cylinder 4 dr with a fluid drive transmission. That was the most forgiving stick transmission ever made. You could't stall it if you tried.
That was my mother's car, but I've owned a '61 Valiant wagon, '64 Valiant 2 dr hard top, a '65 Valiant convertable, '70 Plymouth Fury III 4 dr, and a '71 Plymouth Surburban station wagon. All the Valiants had the slant 6 with push button drive. Great driving & riding cars. Got rid of the '64 because I wanted the convertable. Mistake, should have kept the '64. Same thing on the '70 Fury and '71 Surburban wagon, should have kept the Fury. The Fury had the 318 and the wagon came with the 360 with all the new anti-pollution junk on it. It got about the same mileage as an M-60 tank. However, it was actually my intro into RVing. I pulled my first travel trailer, a '70 Serro Scotty 15', from Tallahassee, FL across the US to Vancouver and back with it. What a wonderful trip that was with some great lifetime memories. My last MoPar was a '97 Chrysler Concorde that I finally gave to my youngest daughter who at time was commuting 100 miles going to nursing school. It had about 150,000 miles on it when she finally sold it. Not actually mine, but the wife bought a '02 Chrysler 300. It was a nice car but the 6 is all that came in them at the time and she really wanted a little more pep. She traded it in on an '05 turbo charged Mercedes SLK which she still has. None of my MoPars were the "hot" versions, but they all good driving comfortable cars that served me well.