• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Hiyas and a question =)

meghanhetrick

New Member
Local time
12:51 PM
Joined
Apr 14, 2011
Messages
2
Reaction score
4
Location
Atlanta, GA
Hey everyone =)

Obviously, i'm very very new here (first post!) so i'm not sure if i'm posting this in the right spot or not... hopefully i am, but if not, please feel free to move!

Here's a bit of backstory. My father died when i was 3 years old, and i have very little information about him (aside from him worshipping the ground that i haphazardly walked on). I was told a few stories about him though, and one that was repeated to me over and over again was about his first REAL car, which he called the Purple People Eater (one of his fave songs too, lol), and which he had to sell before he went to Vietnam. I found his letters home a few years ago, and in practically every one it was asked if anyone had seen his car, and if so, how was it being treated. It was a teenage boy's first real love, and it was sweet to read about. So, with the stories in mind, and just the knowledge of how much his car had meant to him, i've wanted to find a car like he had, and restore it in honor of him (my husband and father in law are both excellent mechanics and have offered their full support and assistance in this... even though they both own Camaros, lol).

I have very little to go on, besides the facts that it was purple (plum crazy i'm guessing), very very fast and very very loud. I also found one photo of it, which will probably end up being the most help. My dad was primarily a Dodge guy (he had a '69 charger as well, but the Purple People Eater was his baby), but going by the photo, i'm not sure if it was Dodge, Plymouth or Chrysler... So far, my best guess is a 65'ish Coronet, but the details seem a bit off overall. I am fairly certain it is a B Body though, but if not, you're more than welcome to call me a complete and total idiot =)

If any of you guys or gals have any ideas as to what this might be, it would be greatly appreciated. Any help would be better than what i have at the moment, which is pretty much nothing, lol.

dad__s_car_by_meghanhetrick-d3dysch.jpg
 
Welcome to the site! Cool story, looks to me like a 64 Dodge Polara
 
Welcome aboard young mopar girl!!You can find the car of your goal,but ya better let us supervise the engine build so we can make sure your car is faster then them GM's.GOOD LUCK!!!!
 
Great story and memories-Thx for sharing and good luck with your search..very nice way to remember your dad.
 
In this economic climate you will be much better off looking for and finding a complete car and just repainting it. Even with the mechanical people in the family doing things for free you will likely come out ahead just buying a done car.

Check the for sale section here and on Moparts.com as well as carsonline.com

Good luck with your "daddy's tribute."
 
Your Dad had good taste in cars!!!!It should be pretty easy to find a car like the one your dad had...Paint her up like the pic and you,ll have a reminder of your father every day..We call it a tribute car...Thanks for the story!!!
Petty Blue 67 GTX
 
Awesome. Totally awesome. Welcome aboard and we'll surely help and enjoy your helping hubby and dad in law see what your old man knew to be true.
 
Cool car, and even cooler idea. I like it.

Anyway, assuming that you want one like that, you are better off buying one and painting it purple. I do not know much about Polara's, but Plum Crazy was one of the high impact colors and it was probably a repaint anyway.
 
Welcome to the site from the Motor City! Nice to have you here, hope we can continue to help.
 
Welcome. You have in that picture a 64 Dodge 440 2 door sedan. Wonder what engine was in it?
 
Welcome. Cool car. My dad had one just like it in red.

It looks to be a '64 Dodge. The trim on the side of the car tells me it's a 440 (model, not engine). The rear window & roof says it's a hardtop.

Good luck!
 
Great story, welcome aboard, there are a whole bunch of nice guys and girls on this site that for sure are willing to help you with your "tribute car". Reminds me of my dad, his was a '31 Ford Model A Roadster his first car, learned to drive on etc. He passed it on to his brothers when he went into service in WWII. That's all he talked about and wanted another one, so we decided as father son we would find one for him again, with his health, could not restore one himself, so we found one finished. He loved that car, I even learned to drive a non-syncro trans, what a trip. Sadly he passed away about a year after we purchased the car, but like you in your memory of your dad, I will never sell it and I enjoy it to this day thinking of him. I know this is a Mopar site, but wanted to share that story.
 

Attachments

  • modelAtrib.jpg
    modelAtrib.jpg
    63.9 KB · Views: 198
Welcome. Cool car. My dad had one just like it in red.

It looks to be a '64 Dodge. The trim on the side of the car tells me it's a 440 (model, not engine). The rear window & roof says it's a hardtop.

Good luck!

Correct (and Joe Mopar also).

One of my best friends in HS had one almost exactly like it, but his was Blue. We tried over and over to find anything on it or on the paperwork that declared what it "was", and all we could find for certain was that it was a 1964 Dodge 440.
 
Cool story forsure! Great car and good luck on the venture of honoring your father! Updates are a forsure need!
 
Welcome to da family Meghan!!! Awesome story, good luck with the build!

Your husband and father-in-law will eventually see the light...
 
Auto Transport Service
Back
Top