Steve McQueen
Member
Hi Everyone -
After 33 years of not owning a Mopar, I decided to return to my roots.
Having been in high school during the late-'70s / early-'80s.... and being one of those guys who only graduated due to the fact we had an auto shop.... my friends and I all had access to a wonderful assortment of great muscle cars at incredibly low prices. Just in my close circle, there were two '69 Charger R/Ts (both with 440 - one auto and one manual), a '68 Charger (383 auto), a '68 Barracuda (318 auto), and bunch of Mustangs, Camaros, and other assorted hooligan machines. I'm sure our parents had no idea the weight, power, and lack of brakes that us kids were playing with out on the highways!
I bought my first Mopar (and first car) when I was 15-1/2 yrs old - without telling my parents. It was a '69 Charger SE (383 auto) in T5 Copper Poly with tan interior and a white vinyl roof. The kicker - I paid all of $175 for it with just a little rust in the lower quarters. Shortly after that, I added a '68 Charger (base) as a parts car, then a '73 Duster (slant-six with three speed manual on the floor), and years later a re-do of the long-gone-by-then Charger when I picked up a '69 Charger R/T clone with a bench seat, column shift, and transplanted 440.
Sadly, all of those Mopars are now gone, though I'd love to find that first car someday. But, the good news is that I'm finally in a position where I can begin the search for a new-to-me Charger. Although my first love was that '69, I've always been partial to some of the unique features of the '68, so I'm looking at both years. My hope is to find a decent survivor, but I won't rule out the right restored example.
Anyway, looking forward to lurking around here a bit and getting up-to-speed on the market and the aftermarket support available, along with scouring the classifieds here and elsewhere for my dream car.
After 33 years of not owning a Mopar, I decided to return to my roots.
Having been in high school during the late-'70s / early-'80s.... and being one of those guys who only graduated due to the fact we had an auto shop.... my friends and I all had access to a wonderful assortment of great muscle cars at incredibly low prices. Just in my close circle, there were two '69 Charger R/Ts (both with 440 - one auto and one manual), a '68 Charger (383 auto), a '68 Barracuda (318 auto), and bunch of Mustangs, Camaros, and other assorted hooligan machines. I'm sure our parents had no idea the weight, power, and lack of brakes that us kids were playing with out on the highways!
I bought my first Mopar (and first car) when I was 15-1/2 yrs old - without telling my parents. It was a '69 Charger SE (383 auto) in T5 Copper Poly with tan interior and a white vinyl roof. The kicker - I paid all of $175 for it with just a little rust in the lower quarters. Shortly after that, I added a '68 Charger (base) as a parts car, then a '73 Duster (slant-six with three speed manual on the floor), and years later a re-do of the long-gone-by-then Charger when I picked up a '69 Charger R/T clone with a bench seat, column shift, and transplanted 440.
Sadly, all of those Mopars are now gone, though I'd love to find that first car someday. But, the good news is that I'm finally in a position where I can begin the search for a new-to-me Charger. Although my first love was that '69, I've always been partial to some of the unique features of the '68, so I'm looking at both years. My hope is to find a decent survivor, but I won't rule out the right restored example.
Anyway, looking forward to lurking around here a bit and getting up-to-speed on the market and the aftermarket support available, along with scouring the classifieds here and elsewhere for my dream car.
Start pickin'!
