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The One I Loved Back Then Is Available

I just went to my 50 year reunion, and it wasn't pretty. Surprisingly though, the one back then (very first date, before I met my wife, same year I drove the Demonstrator) still looks like she did, and has never attended a reunion. My main mission in seeing the car is to put this thing to rest after 50 years. It is significant that in 1983, Bill and Julie Clark told me to buy Baby Blue rather than their car. View attachment 1303894



When I went to my 50th high school reunion I walked in and left. All I saw was a bunch of old people.
 
So, when do we get to see it up close? Great read by the way, I was full of angst trying to decide which I would do!
 
So, when do we get to see it up close? Great read by the way, I was full of angst trying to decide which I would do!
You will see it up close and then some when I get her looking exactly like back in the day. Current realities have delayed shipment of the G70 red lines. Retro black and white photos at the dealership and downtown State College are coming when the car is up to my standards.
 
When I went to my 50th high school reunion I walked in and left. All I saw was a bunch of old people.
Well, I felt the same way at mine, but wife looked better than the former prom queens, and I had a GTX, so I stayed.

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Maybe I missed it. What's the verdict on the '69? If it's a 4-speed vs a hemi auto? And I like '69s over 68's. Functional air grabber hood. I like indented tail light designs better too than '68. As well as black under body paint scheme vs the '68s black stripes. That closes the gap in my book. But Hemi still triumphs. And of course no real contest dollar to dollar. Hemi just too special.
 
Alas, not an option in my restrictive covenants ridden, snooty neighborhood. My wife liked it for the proximity to PSU. You can guess the culture and the attitude toward my cars.


Easy solution. Move out to the country
 
Maybe I missed it. What's the verdict on the '69? If it's a 4-speed vs a hemi auto? And I like '69s over 68's. Functional air grabber hood. I like indented tail light designs better too than '68. As well as black under body paint scheme vs the '68s black stripes. That closes the gap in my book. But Hemi still triumphs. And of course no real contest dollar to dollar. Hemi just too special.
Each of my seven GTXs has been the appropriate version for that chapter of my life, from daily driver, to show cars. The Hemi mystique can't be topped in my book, totally living up to it's billing, based on my personal experience. But in retirement, I'm really not a Hemi kind of guy anymore, and my choice reflects that. The Demonstrator has every available luxury option, and had a station wagon camshaft installed back in the day to make it even smoother.
 
Each of my seven GTXs has been the appropriate version for that chapter of my life, from daily driver, to show cars. The Hemi mystique can't be topped in my book, totally living up to it's billing, based on my personal experience. But in retirement, I'm really not a Hemi kind of guy anymore, and my choice reflects that. The Demonstrator has every available luxury option, and had a station wagon camshaft installed back in the day to make it even smoother.
Riding off into the sunset in retirement by going full circle to the car that started it all is just about as good as it can get IMO.
How many of us are, or would like to be doing the same thing?
Count me as one of them!
Congratulations Adam, not everyone gets that chance and you made it happen!
 
I'm really not a Hemi kind of guy anymore.
I don't understand. Lol. I've never owned a Gen II hemi. And I'm still trying to get this figured out. A more advanced 4 valve design of pent roof DOHC.

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I don't understand. Lol. I've never owned a Gen II hemi. And I'm still trying to get this figured out. A more advanced 4 valve design of pent roof DOHC.

View attachment 1369828
I was blessed to experience the Gen II Hemi during my lifetime. The new owner has fine tuned the car to a new level, and is pleased with the results. I was driving the Demonstrator today, and savoring the smooth take off with the stock 440 and a milder camshaft, with the gentle shifts of a stock 727 automatic. I made the right choice. Younger people don't want to hear this, but I've traveled the road of life to the point where I'm more concerned about the absolute performance of my mobility aids than my cars. You should see what my titanium wheelchair will do.
 
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I was blessed to experience the Gen II Hemi during my lifetime. The new owner has fined tuned the car to a new level, and is pleased with the results. I was driving the Demonstrator today, and savoring the smooth take off with the stock 440 and a milder camshaft, with the gentle shifts of a stock 727 automatic. I made the right choice. Younger people don't want to hear this, but I've traveled the road of life to the point where I'm more concerned about the absolute performance of my mobility aids than my cars. You should see what my titanium wheelchair will do.
You didn't answer the transmissions? It's sounding like auto's? I honestly believe. One misses alot of the experience with an automatic transmission.
 
You didn't answer the transmissions? It's sounding like auto's? I honestly believe. One misses alot of the experience with an automatic transmission.
When I drove the Demonstrator 52 years ago, I felt that A/C, and an automatic were a waste of power. I wanted the same car in a 4-speed. So when the opportunity came up 45 years later, I bought the exact car I would have ordered in 1969. I found out the 16 year old in me was long gone, and went full circle to the luxury car the successful older gentleman drove back in the day. My former 4-speed car is on the right, the Demonstrator on the left.
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You didn't answer the transmissions? It's sounding like auto's? I honestly believe. One misses alot of the experience with an automatic transmission.
“...with the gentle shifts of a stock 727 automatic“ (He answered it)

It’s personal preference 4spd vs auto. Having owned both, I‘d rather have the automatics.
I missed more of the positive experience with the 4spd and frankly had enough negative experiences that I vowed to never own one again!
 
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‘69 GTX Question:
Did they come from the factory with chrome valve covers?

This ‘69 GTX was bought new by the current owner who added the six pack and fiberglass LOH. He says yes.

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‘69 GTX Question:
Did they come from the factory with chrome valve covers?

This ‘69 GTX was bought new by the current owner who added the six pack and fiberglass LOH. He says yes.

View attachment 1370166

View attachment 1370167
My car did NOT come with chrome valve covers. They are direct connection pieces that were added by the first registered owner in the 80s. My one owner survivor car had valve covers painted to match the engine, same as the Demonstrator when I looked under the hood back in the day. Like the wheels on the Demonstrator, and your Super Bee, there is always the possibility the dealer put them on prior to sale.
 
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My car did NOT come with chrome valve covers. They are direct connection pieces that were added by the first registered owner in the 80s. My one owner survivor car had valve covers painted to match the engine, same as the Demonstrator when I looked under the hood back in the day. Like the wheels on the Demonstrator, and your Super Bee, there is always the possibility the dealer put them on prior to sale.
That was the case with my bee, the dealer added the chrome road wheels and chrome valve covers to dress it up while it was still on the showroom floor.
 
Fifty two years after the fact, the Demonstrator is finally looking like the day I took the test drive. A true time machine, and absolutely worth waiting for. Chrome magnums were dealer installed in the fall of '68. I still can't bring myself to drill the original hood to install the Imperial hood ornament, but that may change.
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