Proving My Mopar Street Cred... now prove yours

The first three were in the 70's and 80's, I owned the green 68 in the early 90's. The brown 69 I owned for 25 years, and the Charger about 5 years now. All but the first 66 were street cars.

First Mopar I drove was my dad's '60 Valiant "Road Toad" when I was 14. First GTX I drove, in 1970, is in my garage today. First one I owned was my daily driver from 1977-79, could finally afford the insurance after I got married at age 24.

I rode up in the package tray... I still have the full wheel covers off of it!

Late to the party, 2008, 67 Formula S 383 4 speed.
Still have it.
Not too shabby for my first Mopar.

Bought out of a barn filled with Mopars.

Nice to know I wasn't the only one smart enough to jump cars.
High school, girlfriend's parents LTD wagon off a dirt bike jump, twice.
Went so well I jumped my sister's 78 Nova, twice.
People in the backseat experienced weightlessness.
Nova front subframe separated from car and it split in half on landing.

My first car, 74, this is summer of 1980.

My parents bought a 70 Charger R/T SE brand new when I was six years old. I bought my first Charger in 1980. I still have my 70 Charger from 1981. I have owned a couple hundred Mopars,and about 20 GM cars over the years. I currently have 22 Mopars,an AMX and a 454 Corvette. I do need no street cred,I got a Hemi!

My first HP (high compression) big block was this 67 GTX I bought in 76. How about the third new Dodge truck I bought, this photo was taken when it was 1 week old! I had taken the winch/bumper, lift kit and wheels and tires off my 77 W200 with factory 440 already.

Not sure if 1984 counts as "recent" as before that I was a B/O/P kid except for a 67 Newport my mom had that I absolutely LOVED.

1984 or 85-



The thick door tops on that Coronet reminded me of that Newport.
They both had PW, too which is extremely rare on 1966 440 models.

Mid seventies. Duuuuuuuude !

My new 1969 383, automatic SuperBee coupe, in the summer of 1969 at Grand Bend, Ontario. Local newspaper, The London Free Press snapped this shot at main intersection. Left hand turn likely means I was headed for Grand Bend Dragstrip. I saw this picture 50 years after it was taken. By this point, I had already built my first B-body; a '62 Dart 2-door that I put a 383, 4-speed in. Sold it when I bought the 'Bee. I was 22 at this time.

My first car in 1986 at 18 years old:



However, a few years later, I bought a cheap, rusty, low-compression 1968 Monaco with a 318 2-bbl winter beater. I probably learned more about working on Mopars with that car, when I didn't fully trust myself with work on the Charger. I put a 4-barrel manifold and carb on that Monaco and did other odd maintenance jobs on it. Years later, I bought a 1970 Monaco 383 2-bbl for $200. I cut my teeth on those Monacos.

My family bought a 318 Volare for my brother, but that car was nothing but problems. For a while, they had a 360 Cordoba too, and a late 70's Dodge van with a 360 for family road trips. We put a ton of memorable miles on that van. That Cordoba with the lean-burn was a worse gas guzzler than the van was.

My dad bought my mom a 1982 Chrysler LeBaron convertible, which she loved. It had the better 2.6L Mitsubishi engine, not the 2.2L. After many years with the LeBaron, Dad bought her a Chrysler Cirrus, that car put on well over 300K km.

My first new vehicle I bought was a 1998 Dodge Dakota Sport, special-ordered with the 5.2L and RWD. All the Dakotas on one dealership lot with V8's were 4WD but I wanted a RWD. The first dealership didn't want to accommodate me, so I went to another one, and they special-ordered exactly what I wanted.

I betrayed my Mopar loyalty for a few years buying a used 2008 Pontiac Torrent GXP, I wanted an SUV with a lot of power, and there wasn't much available, used, in my price range...until I discovered this model, which has 264 hp. It was fun to drive but a bear to work on with its transverse V6. When a lady ran a red light and T-boned it, totalling it, I replaced it with a 2005 Dodge Magnum RT AWD, which I still own as my DD.

I will update this post with some additional pics, they're just not on this computer.

EDIT: Added a few more pics, including my 1998 Dakota Sport...and pics of how my Charger looked like after a couple guys did a slap 'n' dash paint job on it; the emerald green was nice, but the bodywork only looked good on the outside...I wanted the olive green vinyl top dyed white to match the interior, but they screwed up the tail stripe by doing it black instead of white. Fortunately this time around, Grendel was done exactly how I wanted.

My affliction started in June 1987 when I got the first car I ever bought - 1967 Satellite. That grew to 4 67 Plymouths by the mid-90s and has since been whittled down to 2, not counting various newer Mopar daily drivers.

Not sure I have much 'cred' in most anything, but... here's me in my first car - 70 RoadRunner - Sept of 76, first day of school. Woulda been a junior [?] in high school.


That car got 'jumped' a couple of times too; not on purpose, and not nearly as much air as the examples given earlier, but it left the ground... thankfully, no damage either time.

Kern Dog said:

Anyone else jump their old Mopar?

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Bent leaf springs upon landing....

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Some front end work will be needed too....

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I was doing that to my Hillman Imp back in 1984. @33 IMP (not my car below)

4 Dodges I bought in the 1980's: (still have 2 of them)
Over the years, I have owned, as daily drivers:
1963 Dodge 440 Hardtop
1963 Dodge 440 convertible
1966 Dodge D100 pickup
1970 AMC Gremlin
1974 AMC Hornet
1978 Plymouth Caravelle
1979 Dodge Diplomat
1981 Chrysler Imperial
1987 Chrysler 5th. Ave.
1988 Dodge Dakota pickup
2000 Dodge 1500 Sport pickup
2004 Chrysler PT Cruiser
2005 Dodge Magnum R/T
2015 Dodge Durango
2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee

My dad was a "cars are just transportation" and he just ones that were cheap and dependable but I always like cool ones since my first Hot Wheels. My first car in `76 was a `68 Chevelle SS, real 396, 4 spd car that some previous owner slapped a 307/Poweglide into. I paid $500, it looked and sounded cool but was a dog. Second car was a `73 Satellite Sebring Plus, 318, Slap Stik that I "customized" with all the usual crap - headers, duals, slots, air shocks, Pioneer Super Tuner, road runner hood etc. It was a great car but eventually succumbed to my abusing the crap out of it. I learned a fair amount about basic maintenance and some performance stuff and dreame of owning a real muscle car. In 1980 I found a `70 road runner up the street from the family lake camp and bought it for $400. It was originally a 383, 4 spd air grabber car that someone had put a 727 in, I installed an A833 and drove it for a while till it had engine issues. I had to sell it after sitting in my parents driveway and them getting tired of looking at it, I hated to but I had litle money and nowhere to store or work on it. In 1982 I bought my `72 Barracuda for $1000, 318 car with a 340/727 installed - that is the car that really got me into Mopars and I still have it today. I also have another `70 road runner I`m restoring and have a number of other ones over the years.

A few more

Dave6T4 said:

My new 1969 383, automatic SuperBee coupe, in the summer of 1969 at Grand Bend, Ontario. Local newspaper, The London Free Press snapped this shot at main intersection. Left hand turn likely means I was headed for Grand Bend Dragstrip. I saw this picture 50 years after it was taken. By this point, I had already built my first B-body; a '62 Dart 2-door that I put a 383, 4-speed in. Sold it when I bought the 'Bee. I was 22 at this time.

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LOOK at all the colorful cars in that picture! That is nothing like a picture of all the gray, white and black cars on the road today.

kiwigtx said:

I was doing that to my Hillman Imp back in 1984. @33 IMP (not my car below)

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My non-Hillman Imp. Lol. Dad bought this one in the late 70s, another in the early 80s No jumping. Edit: During the move from CA to permanent home in AZ.
That Hillman Imp needs a Turbocharged Hyabusa in it!

I know Duesenbergs and Lincolns are the popular deal but those 30's Imperials were super classy IMO.