Whe the low love for the 4 door mopars?
- Thread starter thomas93254
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Plucked Chicken
Well-Known Member
Last summer two different people seriously looked at our 4 door wagon and said "I thought they crushed all those". Think they meant Dodge Darts in general though. :icon_surprised:
They only made the '62 wagons in 4 doors....... Being empty nesters we know the versatility of it. Bringing people and picnic gear along to shows - no problemo.....
And did I mentioned she won first place unfinished at the all Mopar Sunbust show in Graham this year - against 2 door Chargers and the like you see here. People love the old wagons, reminds them of riding in the back as kids.
They only made the '62 wagons in 4 doors....... Being empty nesters we know the versatility of it. Bringing people and picnic gear along to shows - no problemo.....
And did I mentioned she won first place unfinished at the all Mopar Sunbust show in Graham this year - against 2 door Chargers and the like you see here. People love the old wagons, reminds them of riding in the back as kids.
barnfind
Well-Known Member
The beauty of the 4 dr or wagon is A its a mopar (great sleepers). B There still around so using as a daily driver or getting caught in bad weather is not that big of a deal. C. You can drive em like you stole em. D its all in the attitude, Go ahead hit my all steel American pig of a car with your ricer (it only adds character)
Its really a silly old bias that many of us who grew up in the era hold onto. Some cars don't look right with 4 doors, some do. A couple years back we had a bunch of guys at a local Mopar event compare my 4 door 62' to a very similar 2 door and more actually admitted to liking the appearance of the 4 door better - but they still would still prefer the 2 door over the 4 door, just because....... The stigma is hard to get over...
kb73rr
Well-Known Member
Hey Thomas
It sounds like you got an awesome deal on your Coronet. Obviously you saw the value in it. So what if you didn't pay more to get something more in demand? At least YOU got something cool that you like - and can have a hell of a lot of fun with all the money you saved.
2-door, 4-door, whatever, it's a cool old classic car and even better yet it's a Mopar. I would sure give you the big thumbs up if I saw you on the road.
And by the way, welcome to the family.
It sounds like you got an awesome deal on your Coronet. Obviously you saw the value in it. So what if you didn't pay more to get something more in demand? At least YOU got something cool that you like - and can have a hell of a lot of fun with all the money you saved.
2-door, 4-door, whatever, it's a cool old classic car and even better yet it's a Mopar. I would sure give you the big thumbs up if I saw you on the road.
And by the way, welcome to the family.
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To each their own... I do like some 4dr wagons & a few crew cabs trucks, but not many cars with 4 drs, I just don't like the lines & proportions myself... But some hard top 4drs are ok, but I don't care for the sedans, but that's just my personal preferences... I wonder honestly how many people that have 4drs, that really want a 2dr, but couldn't afford them &/or find one & then settled for a 4dr ?? {Now defending their purchases or decisions}... probably 95% of the collector car market prefers 2 dr cars... I do remember having a 65 4dr Gallaxie Custom 6 cly., 3 on the tree, bench cloth seats, maroon colored, AM radio base grandpa/grandma's or businessman's basic transportation type car {at-least in my day}... I paid $100 for it, while I was saving my hard earned money, to fix up, a much cooler car {IMHO}... I needed motorized covered transportation, I lived out in the sticks, you can't ride a bike or motorcycle all the time {my parents didn't give me a car, I had to buy & earn my own, pay my own insurance, do & pay for it's maintenance & gas costs, thank god it got good mileage}.... So I got the POS 4dr Gallaxie, just before I got my 1st Charger, my 1st truly cool car... With that 4dr you could leave it anywhere & nobody would mess with it {that was kind of nice}, but no "attractive or popular girls" wanted to ride in it either & no friends wanted to ride in it & absolutely no-one wanted to go to the cruise in it, unless it was, the absolute last resort {I know it's a shallow mentality, of HS kids in the 70's}, it was HS & I was a jock, we all were supposed to be cool & drive cool cars... It was an earlier time, when the 4drs were just throwaway cars, just basic transportation, for mom & pop/families, there were very few cool ones... When I 1st got, my 1st cool 2dr of my own... My 68 Charger R/T or my RR's etc., "2dr actually performance based Muscle cars", people constantly leaned against them, hung around them, wanted to go out ride & cruise in them, of course me buying all the gas & supplying the cool ride... You know that really makes a lasting impression, especially on a young adolescent 15-16 y/o male... I still love wagons {& select 4dr trucks}, I haven't owned a wagon in quite a while now & I actually prefer a 2dr over a 4dr versions but, would buy another 4dr, if I liked the style... My personal opinion is a 4dr just has "2 too many doors" & really don't have the cool factor of the 2dr Muscle or performance based cars of the same time period... My biggest appeal to the 2drs was the performance appeal, cool lines & styling, stripes, hood scoops, dual exhaust, BB engine call out badging, 4 speed, bucket seats & a console etc. {all the things most teenage boys, want in a car}... If they had actually made a truly fast & performance oriented 4dr car, with some of those styling features, like some of the cool ones today, something like the Magnum Wagons, the 300C & the newer Chargers, that had the same actual cool factor... I'm sure, I would have bought 1 & drove the piss out of it... Like I said before, "To each their own if you like 4drs more power to ya, if you only like 2drs more power to ya"... The important thing is you are a car enthusiast, your keeping the hobby alive... Your choice in a car, only has to make you feel good & no-one else, buy it & build it, how you want it, drive it like you stole it & damn the rest, who cares what someone else thinks... after all these years in the hobby, that's just my $0.02 cents... I must admit I grew up in a house with a step dad, that was a drag racer & die hard car guy too...
dsd1967
Well-Known Member
I'm in the process of building a 67 4 door belvedere with a 512, 4 speed, 354 dana, caltracs monoleaf system, RO fiberglass hood, buckets, console, all new PST polygraphite suspension kit and TTI exhaust and headers. Why would I put so much money into such a car????
1. Because I got a beautiful body needing no work, for dirt cheap
2. I don't have a shop to tear down a car and do body work
3. It will be on the road as soon as the drivetrain is complete
I look at it this way. I can put all that money into all the underneath stuff, and if a workshop and the ideal 66-70 body comes along someday, I can transfer nearly everything from the driveline to underneath sheet metal to the project. In the interim I get to go out and have fun. Besides....a 67 4 door and 2 door sedan look identical when you are staring at the tail lights
1. Because I got a beautiful body needing no work, for dirt cheap
2. I don't have a shop to tear down a car and do body work
3. It will be on the road as soon as the drivetrain is complete
I look at it this way. I can put all that money into all the underneath stuff, and if a workshop and the ideal 66-70 body comes along someday, I can transfer nearly everything from the driveline to underneath sheet metal to the project. In the interim I get to go out and have fun. Besides....a 67 4 door and 2 door sedan look identical when you are staring at the tail lights
bigaadams
Well-Known Member
while basically they the same car mechanically or can be pumped the same as the two door..face it, the two door is now and always been considered a personal car and not a family car. The resale value is much less than the 2 door...evident by the very fact you bought it for a low cost...expect the same when you resell.
barnfind
Well-Known Member
Absolutely bigaadams, sometimes its worth a lot more to part out when you've found that 2dr. I didn't own 4drs in high school. I stayed away from those family mobiles as I was single. Now I like em because you don't see them much. I know when driving my 2dr I get a lot of thumbs up or that's a cool car. When cruising a 4 dr you might get a thumbs up but a lot more quizzical looks, even from the mopar crowd and that makes it even better. I don't do much cosmetically to a 4dr other than making it presentable. But maybe that's just me being weird
dsd1967
Well-Known Member
I'm not expecting to ever resell it....except for pieces. I bought the car for $1500 and drove it 60 miles home. After selling the motor,tranny and differential for $700, I have $800 left in the shell.
If you look at all that will interchange on these cars from 66-70, you can easily justify the purchase price for clean front frame rails, inner fenders, radiator support, firewall, upper and lower cowl, inner and outer door hinge plates, front and rear floor pans, under seat pan and rear frame rails door hinges and latches. Try buying that list of items from AMD and see where you end up. Stay with the 66-67 belvedere, you get the bonus of trunk floor, inner and outer wheel tubs, trunk extension, front sheet metal, bumpers, trunk lid, quarter panel repair patches and grille.
Now I will have a go fast car that I really don't care about beating on, and can bide my time in finding the B body that I want to fix up.
Honestly....I went the 2 door route on a 69 dart swinger 340 and poured my heart into making it nearly perfect. The problem was that I was paranoid that something would happen to it every time I took it out. At the same time I had a beater jeep wrangler that was lifted and never had a top on it...paint peeling and "character" dings and dents all over. I found I enjoyed that much more because it was fun to drive and I really didn't care if something happened to it. This 4 door is my plymouth version of the jeep. If it gets a dent or scratch....it adds to the patina. If I have enough fun with it...I may never pursue another 2 door project.
If you look at all that will interchange on these cars from 66-70, you can easily justify the purchase price for clean front frame rails, inner fenders, radiator support, firewall, upper and lower cowl, inner and outer door hinge plates, front and rear floor pans, under seat pan and rear frame rails door hinges and latches. Try buying that list of items from AMD and see where you end up. Stay with the 66-67 belvedere, you get the bonus of trunk floor, inner and outer wheel tubs, trunk extension, front sheet metal, bumpers, trunk lid, quarter panel repair patches and grille.
Now I will have a go fast car that I really don't care about beating on, and can bide my time in finding the B body that I want to fix up.
Honestly....I went the 2 door route on a 69 dart swinger 340 and poured my heart into making it nearly perfect. The problem was that I was paranoid that something would happen to it every time I took it out. At the same time I had a beater jeep wrangler that was lifted and never had a top on it...paint peeling and "character" dings and dents all over. I found I enjoyed that much more because it was fun to drive and I really didn't care if something happened to it. This 4 door is my plymouth version of the jeep. If it gets a dent or scratch....it adds to the patina. If I have enough fun with it...I may never pursue another 2 door project.
bigaadams
Well-Known Member
What you say rings true and if you are happy with your purchase then it makes no difference either way..so I guess I missed the very point of the question if you personally are happy with a four door...
AMX364
Well-Known Member
The B-body that I have was my grandfathers, that he bought new in 65. I do know that it was driven from east Mississippi to Dallas TX and back in 10 hours time. My uncle had a toothache and put it at 100 for the drive to drop off us kids and get back to his dentist. Yes I wish it was a 2 door or a wagon, but its not.
62MAX
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Plucked Chicken
Well-Known Member
:headbang:
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I love the greens from Mopar, :iamwithstupid: they sold a crap load of green cars in the 60's & early 70's... It was probably, {guessing} the most sold of any shade/color... I read somewhere, "people that choose "green cars", are supposed to be of higher level in intelligence", I'm not sure how true that is either.... My 1st 68 Charger R/T was GG-1 Racing Green Poly... :headbang: my current Dakota is Emerald Green Pearl too...LOL...
- - - Updated - - -
very cool wagon by the way
bigaadams
Well-Known Member
IN PART I read somewhere said:
Sonny Black
Well-Known Member
Its really a silly old bias that many of us who grew up in the era hold onto. Some cars don't look right with 4 doors, some do. A couple years back we had a bunch of guys at a local Mopar event compare my 4 door 62' to a very similar 2 door and more actually admitted to liking the appearance of the 4 door better - but they still would still prefer the 2 door over the 4 door, just because....... The stigma is hard to get over...
Sonny says; Your '62 is stellar! It's a STAR!
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