Are our cars rare? Yes!

[callofthemopar]

I mainly lurk around and read posts and I get a little Sick when I read this car or that car is not rare. I know some of our cars are not 1 of 12 or anything close but how many do you see on any of your daily or weekend drives? all our cars are getting real rare especially after the high junk prices several years go. Every meth addict in the neighborhood junked everything they could get ahold of and I seen a lot of buildable cars head for the crusher, even great parts cars lost! I personally have a 73 charger and believe the 71 - 74 chargers/road runners will become some of the rarest since they were not thought highly of through the 80s and 90s. I am not saying they will demand high prices but they are not as plentiful as some of you remember especially if your over 50 in age.

I am not trying to get anyone heated at me but I just recently Woke up to the fact that these cars are either scrap or squirreled away in various forms of repair. Not many left on the roads. I am now 40 and must have been on the tail end of finding driver 60s-70s cars for hundreds of dollars when I was a teen here in northern Kentucky. All the cars of that era are now gone, bought up by people with large bank accounts and out of reach for average joe.

Sorry for the ramble but I do not want to discourage a young guy with a workable ride by saying your car is not very rare. I would rather say "you don't see these on the road anymore" and encourage them to have fun!

 

[ykf7b0]

Very good analysis of the big picture!

 

[hemi#1]

I'm doing my car that I fell in love with in 1968 when a neighbor did one for an Auto rama back then. 38 yrs. later mine is almost done. how many mid 60's Plymouths do you see? very few!! mine might not be perfect but it won't be sitting in the garage or on a car trailer. I'm driving it all over the area!!! 45 yrs. of showing cars and still gong. 62 +shows and many throphies to show for it.

 

[terzmo]

I'm satisfied with "it is what it is" and don't need to get rev'd up about "rare"

Rare is used so much it gives me the feeling it's a crutch for justifying an "inflated" value on a car.

 

[callofthemopar]

I thought posting this might get a few responses good or bad. Just wanted to bring up a point that the cars we love are only seen on rare occasion driving around. Admittedly there are probably more out west & south of Northern Kentucky that have survived thru the years but the Chrysler products Of my childhood memories were pretty rusty even in the early eighties. My dads 73 cuda was almost rusted beyond repair by 1982. Just wanted to remind the older fellers that dime a dozen is now a civic or Elantra.

 

[GetX'd]

I agree with above. When I restored my GTX of 44 years over the last several years I didn't worry about everything being perfect originality. Some guys critiqued me for not going pure stock - put I didn't want to. I did what I wanted to and have the car I want. I made the seats leather and changed the look some. I painted the car a Lexus Pearl burgundy. I put an a12 setup on it and the hood looks cool as well as the intake and carbs roaring. The dyno dr said she was violent. At the end of the day it's my car if that's not rare enough than what are you going to do.

it would also be nice if we could get more young people involved. I think they would be more inclined to if the cars weren't too expensive for them.

 

[callofthemopar]

getting younger people involved is getting harder. I have a 20 yr. old son who brings new friends over all the time and the friend says bad@ss car! what is it? and my son says after seeing it for 5 yrs. says yeah dad what is it again? When I was his age I could tell you the make of the car by just hearing the starter whine.

 

[drobertson]

I'm 17 and I'm like the only high school senior that loves these old mopars. My personal car is my 1973 Charger. I just work hard at my job, make some money, and put lots into my car. However, most of the "old" mopars in my part of the country are a bunch of 80's dodge trucks driven by idiots who think their truck has a hemi. Then all the 60's and 70's plymouths and dodges are owned by old men who want a ton of cash for their cars.

Heck,There is a 1968 Charger right outside of town, (in rough shape) It's a 318/904 car and the lunatic owner wants 10K for it. He's listed it for sale several times, but nobody wants to pay 10k for a rusty old 318 car.

Then of course there are the old men (no offense) that have a car sitting in their yard that they won't sell because they'll fix it up one day.

I was lucky enough to find a 73' Charger and buy it for $500. It's only a 318 car, but heck! It's a Dodge F-ing Charger! I had one idiot offer me 6k for it. But I ain't selling it because I'm fixing it and driving it.

 

[callofthemopar]

You said it drobertson! the only reason I have a 73 myself is because I could afford it! the former owner paid 12,000 for it and the 904 bit the dust and I traded him a small trailer and a 78 350 chev sb with like 200,000 miles on it. Even the older drag race guys I know say they never saw a Hemi around here in the 60's & 70's. Hemis are like unicorns to them. no one here could afford one back then! Just glad to here a young guy taking interest. I am willing to bet you have a hard time finding used parts for our not so rare cars! if I am wrong let me know but finding 73-74 dodge parts here is near impossible. I would love a 68 -70 dodge charger or road runner but making a little less than 50 grand a year puts the stop to that.

 

[69clone]

getting younger people involved is getting harder. I have a 20 yr. old son who brings new friends over all the time and the friend says bad@ss car! what is it? and my son says after seeing it for 5 yrs. says yeah dad what is it again? When I was his age I could tell you the make of the car by just hearing the starter whine.

Nothing like a mopar starter!

I agree but thats what happens over time they get wrecked or hit and junked instead of repaired (perhaps not today but they did). Every year it slowly decreases the number of cars from the prior year on the road.

 

[drobertson]

You said it drobertson! the only reason I have a 73 myself is because I could afford it! the former owner paid 12,000 for it and the 904 bit the dust and I traded him a small trailer and a 78 350 chev sb with like 200,000 miles on it. Even the older drag race guys I know say they never saw a Hemi around here in the 60's & 70's. Hemis are like unicorns to them. no one here could afford one back then! Just glad to here a young guy taking interest. I am willing to bet you have a hard time finding used parts for our not so rare cars! if I am wrong let me know but finding 73-74 dodge parts here is near impossible. I would love a 68 -70 dodge charger or road runner but making a little less than 50 grand a year puts the stop to that.

No kidding. I've got two 73 Chargers, a friend has a 73 Charger and 73 Satellite, and another friend has a 74 Charger. I have a cousin who has like 3 hundred old cars he parts out or fixes, and I get lots of parts from him.

 

[verdelaw]

Good post. Makes me feel good about my car.

I don't really think of the rarity too much.. usually only when I'm trying to justify to the wife that it's an appreciating asset. But then I downplay the rarity when I want to customize it to my taste.

Glad to read about drobertson enjoying his car. When a 33 year old guy like me is considered the "young" crowd in a hobby.. that means the hobby ain't getting stronger

 

[Echothunder]

I have to agree with the post over all and most of the comments following it. Rare its self is perspective, but compared to the amount of mustangs you see all over the road fixed up or sitting and rotted, or the amount of Camaro's you see at the track our Mopar's are at least not cookie cutter classics. In my opinion they represent the epitome of Muscle Car. Not every one appreciates the stangs and camaro's due to them being so common. But even non Mopar fans see our cars and appreciate their existence.

I remember almost getting my first charger in high school in the late 80's when a kid wanted to trade for my Baja Bug! What was I thinking not doing it! Took me 10 years after to finally get my first one for 1500.00. Now.. the hunt is just that a hunt... hoping to find one that is not priced out of my range and is actually road worthy.

 

[callofthemopar]

Camaro of any year is kinda getting rare here. I saw a mid 90's Camaro today and caught myself thinking I haven't seen one of those in a year or so. Mustangs are more common but I only see Fox bodies at the drag strip now.

drobertson you are lucky to have all those parts so close. I think it has to do with where you live. I was the only Mopar driving teen around here in the late eighties. I had to have that 383 4speed charger. I quickly realized all my buddies had novas, impalas, chevelles, and Camaros because they were cheap and easy to get speed goodies for. Meanwhile I struggled to find anything for my dodge.

 

[drobertson]

Camaro of any year is kinda getting rare here. I saw a mid 90's Camaro today and caught myself thinking I haven't seen one of those in a year or so. Mustangs are more common but I only see Fox bodies at the drag strip now.

drobertson you are lucky to have all those parts so close. I think it has to do with where you live. I was the only Mopar driving teen around here in the late eighties. I had to have that 383 4speed charger. I quickly realized all my buddies had novas, impalas, chevelles, and Camaros because they were cheap and easy to get speed goodies for. Meanwhile I struggled to find anything for my dodge.

It's still hard to find parts nonetheless. In wyoming (the least populated state), there isn't much of anything around besides a few people here and there. I get most of my stuff from Napa, Rockauto, Summit racing, year one, legendary, amd, etcetera. It's really a shame that some mopars don't even have reproduction parts available (especially c-bodies).

Half the stuff for my charger isn't even reproduced, so I have to go and find an original part from another car.

I think a lot of the reasons these cars are getting so rare is because the less valuable ones are used as parts cars.

For example, some guy might be restoring a gtx and uses another perfectly restorable gtx as a parts car. The results? 2 cars become 1 and the amount of cars left diminishes --- while also driving prices up.

However it's all worth it in the end. Everybody and their dog has a chevy 350 or a ford 302 under their hood, but a 318 is less common, let alone a 440 or hemi.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[hemi#1]

down here in TX. it's bow ties and ovals finding anything MOPAR is hard in the N.E. is MOPAR country! with the internet I can find some things to finish my 65 Satellite after 3+ years

 

[Budnicks]

There're still out there too, you just need to be creative or maybe look elsewhere

I'm by far not a brand-x hater, I've owned quite a few...
I consider myself an muscle car era enthusiast...

:iamwithstupid: I'm a gearhead period....

BUT Mopars are my 1st love... this is a Mopar site after-all...LOL
I'm certainly not rich by any means, I'm now on my 13th) 68-70 RR
{some 10 years later & it's still not done, life gets in the way}
I've owned 12) 68-70 Chargers too, also many various other Mopars...
I've had 26 racecars too, I busted my *** to get & keep all of them,
I did what ever it took, I bought, fixed &/or sold a few just to make ends meet also...

I'm also particularly glad that out here in Calif. we still have a ton of affordable,
& mostly non restored or mildly modified, great mostly survivor Mopars,
there most certainly are not "all show or fully restored big $$$ cars",
or the associated prices with fully professionally restored cars...

IMO it's still Chevy & Ford land even out here too...
Not often you see many Mopars in one place for sure & 60's 70's or what ever years,
we still have somewhat mostly rust free cars here still...

Seems like the older generation {I'm 56, end of the baby boom gen.} is into Mopars,
allot more than allot of the younger gen.'s are...

IMO, Popularity, Cost & availabilities have a big part in that too...
When I was young these cars were merely just old used cars,
they weren't really thought of as collector cars, back then, just older cars...
Mopars were dirt cheap in allot areas, far more affordable than allot of other cars,
maybe because they were somewhat, the angry bastard stepchildren of Muscle cars...
Cost is relative somewhat now too, I made $1.65 an/hr when I bought my 1st
68 Charger R/T for $350, from the hot single mother/lady down the street...
It ain't 1974 anymore either, I certainly make allot more than $1.65 an/hr now too...LOL
Cars even used cars, are 20+ times as expensive now too...

My point is it wasn't easy like some people think, it's all relative too,
many kid today go after types of different cars, different genera,
different era's of affordable used cars are available to them...
{Fast & Furious era so to speak}

What I consider "actually"rare & what others may consider rare,
are probably completely different things...

Mopars gen. 2 Hemi's are rare {most any Hemi Muscle cars},
440-6bbl/Six Pack's are relatively rare,
"real" Max Wedges are rare,
AAR Cuda's & T/A Challengers are rare...
68-69-70 & especially 71 Hemi anything, are rare...

Yes most the Mopars are more rare than the millions of Camaros & Mustangs produced...
Mopars are Rarer than others for damn sure, GM & Ford produced so damn many more...

Some people still think that rusty old relic is worth it's weight in gold too,
there's still plenty of deals out there, it's not the 60's, 70's or 80's either,
seemingly everything cost way more, today...

IMO people need to look away from where they live more,
these cars are still out there, yes in much smaller #'s, you may have to travel & ship it,
you also may have to look outside your area to find them, money well spent,
especially in todays -www- internet marketplace...
I know it's not feasible for most, or they say it's not, or it's outside their comfort levels...
I did it allot on a shoestring budget, all while raising 6 kids alone &
If I could do it, others should be able to, too...

68-70 is & probably always will be my favorite, it's what I grew up with,
I will do what ever it takes to keep, my current car 68 RR with 67k miles,
it was all there & it only cost $6000 in 2005, near the pinnacle/peak
of the muscle car price market...
Who knows how much I've got in it now, probably way too much,
but I build for me, not to resale...
Albeit it needed some body/dent/crease repairs, many would have tried to tackle,
but it was easy in comparison, to replacing all the panels with AMD stuff &
it wasn't the typical rust bucket, for that price from elsewhere...

Right now 72-74 especially Chargers & some A-Body cars even are {were?}
still extremely affordable for initial purchases anyway...

Satellites, Belvederes, Coronets etc. instead of the RR's, Bee's, R/T's etc.
There's nothing wrong with a nice Satty or Coronet,
they don't all need to be RR's, R/T's & Bee's...
I've never got that mentality either...

I don't mind even if they're cloned...
If that's what you want to do, than go for it...

There still out there, if there not in your area, spend a little money on shipping,
consider looking or to get a car from our west or southwest, less repairs to begin with...

Good luck what ever you chose, build what it is you like & IMO
sometime thinking outside the box will help too, especially if your budget limited...

 

[super-bee_ski]

X2
Well said Budnicks!

 

[callofthemopar]

What made me realize all this is my 19 year old son said he thought a 1980s chevy Malibu might be a cool car for him to get. I said to him should be plenty of those around for a fair price. WELL! much to my amazement they are not fairly priced or as many as I thought there might be. I forgot time had passed so fast and these were now nice platforms for all kinds of builds. And wow also realized I am now an old guy! Where did all the square body s10 trucks go? I guess I got busy with life and it all passed by unnoticed . I can not say a S10 is rare but I can remember a day that does not seem that long ago when every third vehicle to pass the garage was a S10. Now I only see them on the back of a scrap truck or at Thorn Hill Drags.

 

[Durandal25]

I can remember 89' like it was yesterday....I have most of the Auto Traders from that year because I was on the hunt for a Superbee, and believe it or not, they were hard to find even then......I've had my 69 for several years now....and have never thought of selling her....but ultimately you need to realize that these cars are far more rare due to demand and collecting. Barrett Jackson aside, most of these Mopars are going to be family treasures or barn remains.