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Southern Mopars, Where did they go?

Lowhound

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I know over the years many older cars have been scrapped, crushed, parted ect. I remember the days when I saw Mopars & other muscle cars on a daily basis here in Alabama. But now you hardly ever see any, especially a Mopar. I was just curious as to where or what part of the country you are from & if known what part of the country your car originated. By this I don't mean where it was manufactured.
 
My car originally sold in Bowling Green, KY, went to MI, to FL, back to KY and TN.

These cars are over 40 years old, you just don't see any old cars on the road anymore. People only take them to shows/cruises for the most part.
 
I know over the years many older cars have been scrapped, crushed, parted ect. I remember the days when I saw Mopars & other muscle cars on a daily basis here in Alabama. But now you hardly ever see any, especially a Mopar. I was just curious as to where or what part of the country you are from & if known what part of the country your car originated. By this I don't mean where it was manufactured.

I live in North Central Florida…..my 67 Satellite was originally sold in Chattanooga. From the Tennessee area it went to Georgia. From there to Minneapolis (maybe two years there). I found it on Craigslist doing the "Tempest" search method. Flew to Minneapolis from Florida and drove it back…it was an adventure!
 
I don't see many either normally unless it's summer and a weekend when people are heading to or from car shows. There are few non Mopars I see every day in the parking lot though in the nicer months. There is a 68 Chevelle, 69 Camaro, ~68 Impala wagon, ~69 Nova, and maybe another that are regularly driven. I'm hoping to have my 68 R/T in the lot with them this summer. There's also a guy here in my small town that get's his and his wifes 2nd gen Chargers out fairly often that I see once in a while
 
I purchased my car through ebay from a restro shop in Georgia called Dixie Dream Cars it had been listed for quite some time untill i made the deal n brought it to CANADA. It was owned by gentelman there n i suspect it lived its life there until 1980 witch was last year it was plated.The issue date on title is 04 26 69.
 
I still don't know the total lineage of my 70 RR. I know it was built in St Louis and lived in South Carolina and Georgia. That may be it. My brother's 70 RR was a single owner car, owned by our grandmother. Around here in Augusta, Ga I see a fair amount of older cars on the road- mostly GM: Camaros, Impalas, Monte Carlos and a lot of older Mustangs. I saw my first Pinto yesterday for the first time probably 15 years that wasn't at a drag strip. As a matter of fact, I see more Mopars at the strips than anywhere. My neighbor a few doors down has an old sweep side Dodge pickup that's currently dressed as Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer. I see a bunch of 70's and 80's Rams. It seems like 76 and beyond has become very rare for Mopars on the roads around here. They show up in Craigslist often enough, but they never run. It may be that so many need to get fixed and put back on the road.
 
My 67 Belvedere was originally purchased at Economy Chrysler in Cornelia Georgia. It stayed in Conyers Georgia until 2008. There is something to be said about the Georgia cars, I couldn't believe how rust free this car was...
 
well, i'm 65, been in Mopar hobby since mid 80's, raised in S. Ga, moved to Missouri in 79. to find an old mopar out in the sticks has gotten really hard, so many went to the crusher since price od scrap went up. most people that have an old one sittin out behind the barn thry wo( already rotted into the ground!)nt sell cause one day they're gonna fix it up! or price it like a new Dodge Ram!! LOL most cars i think are in the hands of entrusiasts. i have a couple of dusters (/6) i drove to work last year ( 65 mi trip) every day. retired now, one car i got off Ebay and Al, other was Mo car.
MY joke about us REAL Mopars guys is " hwo ya tell a real Mopar guy? he has 7 or 8 of them, only one runs, and none are completely restored! LOL! and he has enough spare junk parts in the gargage to biuld 10 partial cars!!!! Merry X ms!
 
I bought the a12 rr that was in Killen , the white AAR that was in Gadsden and the 70 340 Cuda convertible that was near Albertville among about 5 other cars from Alabama that I brought to Ga.
 
Well I got a couple of 'em. I kinda have to agree with barbee6043 on his "How to tell a real Mapar guy". Pretty much like most of the guys I know that have more than just one of these fine cars. And trust me we will sell some of them, we just aren't gonna give them away. We're not gonna give the spare parts away either. Most of us don't want to rip anyone off, but a lot of folks do not know about or understand "Fair Market Value" and that does at times make it difficult to make a deal. I really never collected my cars for anyone other than myself so I reckon that makes me pretty stingy when the tire kickers come to my place. I get ill when someone comes to my place and starts telling all that they are gonna have to repair on a car they are trying to get "cheep" from me. Like I have no idea of what the costs are to build a car after I have been doing that very same thing for nearly fifty years.
 
I have had a few over the years myself. But Im down to 1 at this time. Im just curious how far away some of my past owned Mopars may have traveled since. I forgot about Trimmer owning a few in my area. Seems everyone I know has mentioned a person from the northern U.S. purchasing some of their previous Mopars. I sold a 70 Coronet to a guy in New Hampshire a few years ago myself. And(GASP) even junked out a 69 Road Runner(4 speed car) at one time. Live & learn I guess.
 
I would say, allot of them from down your way, have rotted away in some peoples yards or fields... In my many travels Racing all around our great country, 1981-2005 west to east north to south & part time mostly just here in the west after that... I use to see allot of cool Mopar cars, just wasting/rotting away in yards/fields, many of them several cars at a time, pass them year after year after years & they never would do anything with them, they never would sell any of them either... I actually quit even asking, people seemed to get really offended by people asking about if they want to sell that car out yonder {that car just rotting away in the yard or fields}... My current project car & was nearly rust free 63k mile, 68 RR RM23 383ci/727tf, was born/came from the St. Louis Mo. Assembly plant originally, it's lived its whole life in Northern Calif., she was bought 1st new in Sacramento July 1968 & spent it's 1st 37 years in Rio Linda Calif., just outside of Sacramento Ca., owned by an ol' carpenter, until I purchased her in Dec. 2005, from his son... So you could say, she started out as a sweet Southern Bell, from Missouri...LOL... Remember these cars weren't as popular or sold in #'s like the GM's or Fords of that era, that's why they are so rare & part of why I like them so much, not every Tom, Dick & Harry owns them... Very few in my neck of the woods, you can count them on one hand... Allot more down Sacramento way or the East Bay Area & SoCal, nowhere near a prevalent as the Chevy or Fords thou, but we have much less rust/rot or snow/salt problem here, great dry weather for the most part, 300+ days of sunshine, all but the higher elevation have year round show & driving these beauties... We have allot of great old cars out west, that end up all over the USA & even some end up in the Deep South I would imagine... I know of at-least 12 Chargers & 13 RR's about a dozen more various A-bodies too, many more of the Brand-X cars too, my personal cars that have stayed in Northern Calif., for most all of their existence, from 1974 to now, I had only 3 cars from other states, a 68 GTS 383 car from Indiana, 78 Trailduster 400ci from Alaska, a 73 CJ-5 304ci v8 {kind of a Mopar} from Oregon, all the rest from sunny Calif.... Merry Christmas
 
My 66 Barracuda was sold in St. Petersburg Fla. [23 miles from me] went to Colorado [?] returned to Florida [3 miles from me] in 2006 when I purchased it from the third owner. There are quite a few Mopars in the three county area around me, some are only 5 miles from our Friday night cruise in but rarely are seen, I'm one of only 3-4 Mopars that attend that cruise in on Friday nights!!
 
I wish I knew the complete history on my car,I brought it to Maryland from way down in North Carolina and the guy I got it from said it had been a North Carolina Georgia car from what he knew.no rust underneath so that says something for southern cars.Most anything you can find here is rusted from the salt they put on the roads.
 
My Belvedere was sold new in Florida. As far as I know it lived there all its life until I brought it to WI in 2009.
 
People tend to look for southern cars because many are rust free. But if they sit in fields for 20-30 years like Budniks referred to in his post anything will rot. You have to be in the rite place at the rite time. I got lucky purchasing my 70 bee. From the road I was traveling all I could see was the roofline. Pulled into the yard to ask about it. A guy runs out saying, "I was starting to think that you were not coming, the car is around back." I went to inspect it. Then I asked ,What are you asking for it? He said, Didn't I say $800? But if you are really wanting it today I guess I can take $600. I flew to the bank, got the money & paid the man. To this day I don't know if the person that was supposed to come check out the Bee showed up or not. Right place, right time.
 
People tend to look for southern cars because many are rust free. But if they sit in fields for 20-30 years like Budniks referred to in his post anything will rot. ..

My 70 RR is a good example of this. The driver's window wouldn't stay up and squirrels moved in. After 34 years, more than 80 points of black walnut shells, and South Carolina rains, the interior and trunk floor and the gas tank are all rusted through. The frame rails and other exterior parts are solid, but the floors and quarters all need typical repair.
 
My car was originally sold in by R.M. Davis Motors, Inc. in Charlottesville, VA on 9/1/72. The car was in VA until 2008 and then it was sold to the previous owner who lived in Alabama. I purchased the car in 2011 and brought it to South Carolina. I always keep my eyes open for Mopars while driving the country side but really do not see many old Mopars anymore.

I'm sure we all have stories of the Mopars we couldn't buy or ones that just got away. This post got me thinking back in the late 80's my cousin and I heard about a Hemi Cuda sitting in Deshler, Ohio. We drove to that small town, while I was visiting my cousin who lives in Ohio, and drove up and down every street looking for the car. We finally found the car sitting next to a mobile home. The car was sunk in the ground and the floor was almost touching the dirt. The car was an original 70 Hemi Cuda, Rallye Red, and the guy would not sell the car. The car had been wrecked in the back quarter panel. We tried and tried to purchase that car even willing to trade a fully restored 340 Duster with some additional cash but we came home empty handed. I often wonder what happened to that Cuda????
 
Even then a 340 duster was a crazy trade, of course it really matters about how much you offered him along with the car. A duster was only worth 10-15K tops, while a HEMI cuda was already worth close to 20K in really crappy condition, with value rising daily. That was the time when muscle cars were really becoming high value cars, and people knew what they were worth
 
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