What made you a MOPAR guy (or gal)?

[SIPLOWGUY]

And one more:

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/reminiscing-my-first-mopar/

 

[SgtSuperbird]

My dad bought a '66 Mauve Poly Coronet 440, with a 318. We literally went up to the local Sunoco service station, twice a month in Detroit. Harry & Frank Farr Sunoco. That's what hooked me, watching them service the cars. Apparently, earlier, the owner bought my dad's cars to race them in Mt.Clemens (MI). Not with a 318, though.

 

[jimbosride]

A childhood friend's dad gave him a 66 coronet when we were young. This sleeper look with performance under the hood was the appeal.

The chrome wheels and fancy paint mustangs and Chevy's on the PCH in California is where I rode in a Mopar that pegged the 120 speedo and gained respect.

Bought my Road Runner 4 years later(1982) and my 65 in 1986. The 65 had no motor and was put in dry storage for over 28 years. The Road runner is now being restored from storage since 1997

Meeting a Mopar enthusiast under the age of 30 is rare these days.

Oh ,,, And this also helped

 

[Scott Engelhardt]

One day it just hit me or should I say I hit it. I ran into a 70 Roadrunner with my Schwinn bicycle. Fell in love with all things Mopar.

 

[MoparLeo]

My Grandfather was a Dodge man. New car or truck every couple of years until he retired.
Grew up close to where he lived so visited a lot. Lots of stories about how fast Dodge cars were growing up there in the 50's & 60's. He went nuts when the Hemi Charger came out. Said even CHP interceptors couldn't catch it !

 

[Jerry Hall]

I went shopping for my first new car in 1967 with the intention of buying a 67 SS 396 Chevelle. I had located one about 30 miles north of home. Dad and I went there to make the deal as I had no idea of what was involved. I also still lived at home and had to live by the house rules, even though I was paying my own way. I fell in love with that SS, but after a few hours of negotiations and back and forth, my dad told the salesman that the car was $200 to high and if he came down $200 we would take it home. That didn't happen and I was forced to leave. I wasn't happy but on the way home my dad said, I saw a pretty good looking Plymouth in Wetumpka the other day. My comment was "sure you did" in a sarcastic tone. When we got back to the turnoff to the house, dad just drove on by. I said dad you missed the turnoff, to which he said we aren't going home. He drove on to Wetumpka and pulled up at the Chrysler Plymouth dealership. In the showroom sat a black on black 67 GTX 440 4-speed. I had to admit it was a good looking car. After looking it over, I thought it was great. He said I don't think you need that big of an engine. While we were looking, I picked up a brochure and actually liked the Satellite trim better than the GTX, other than the hood scoops and gas cap. I ended up ordering a 67 Satellite 383 HP, 4-speed, sure grip, buckets and console with tachometer, AM radio and remote mirror. It was $2995.00 tax, and tag out the door, some $400 cheaper than the SS.
The car came in and I was working out of town, so dad picked it up and bought it home. Two days later I was scheduled for a safety meeting where I worked, so dad brought the car there and took my other car home. After work that entire week I tried to drive the wheels off my new car. I learned how drive it and shift it, to the point of being very comfortable with it. When I got home the next weekend, I drove up to the local hangout. My best high-school friend pulled up shortly later, and looked it over. His next words were have you got that thing about broke in. I answered with its about as broke in as it will get. He said let's go see what it's made out of. He had a 66 SS 396 Chevelle. Long story short we ran three times that evening. I won the first one by 3 car lengths. His excuse was no traction. The second time I won by 3 lengths again and his excuse was he missed a gear. The third time I also won by 3 lengths and he didn't stop to offer an excuse. I've been a Mopar guy ever since. Lots of stories and great times with that Satellite.

This is as close as I have to it at present.

 

[Curiousyellow71]

I would guess it was 1985..A neighbor's grandson happened to be visiting when Dad stopped by for a visit. Dad liked cars stories and struck up a friendship with the grandson that day. Shortly after the grandson asked Dad if he would store the car for him that he had at his grandfathers. Dad said he would, and my brother and I went over to help tow it home. I instantly fell in love w the car.
A few years later Dad bought this particular car for my brother and I as a birthday gift.. I was 17. Picture is when we started taking it apart. The black stripes and 340 call out on the curious yellow paint started my love of mopars. By the time Dad gave us the 71 340 duster we had painted our 71 chevelle along w our 69 charger and 72 satellite. But it started w this car.

 

[polywideblock]

I started with Holdens, but got my first MOPAR in 1985

a 1960 Dodge Phoenix(still got it ), and haven't looked back

 

[chargervert]

The Old Man's 2nd Mopar, a 70 R/T bought new in August of 70, still have the car. His first I remember was a 67 Satellite with a 383/4 speed, triple blue.View attachment 1985836

My parents bought a 70 Charger R/T SE new too. My brother in law had a 440 Sixpack 70 Challenger R/T, that was the car that I got my first triple digit ride in! 140 MPH,I was hooked. I have owned over 200 Mopars,mostly Chargers. I have 20 of them right now.

 

[SteveSS]

My 30 YO son got his ME degree got married and bought a big house. He has the '71 Sublime Challenger in his garage. The young neighbors were very impressed last time we unloaded it after racing. Millennials like old Mopars too. Yes, that's the Colorado tag from Vanishing Point.

 

[YY1]

As previously stated-

I was a non-chevy gm guy until the age of 16.5, when my mom was in need of a replacement car.
We saw a 66 Coronet for sale across the street from the movie theater one day.
As soon as we crossed the street, I was in love.
We called the owner, went for a test drive, and my infatuation only got worse.
I begged mom to buy it, and asked that it be mine and I would pay her back, and we could both use it.
....so that's what we did.

Previously she had, in order- 1959 pontiac bonneville (with 389 and 8 lug wheels- that was a cool car), 1967 Chrysler Newport (383-2 and all sorts of features that I LOVED like the thick doors I could rest my arm on, the PW switches, the oddly colored steering wheel center that inverted your reflection), and a 1971 buick lesabre (350-4, which was the first car I ever actually worked on starting at age 12).

After working on that buick, I found the Dodge MUCH easier to work on for some reason, especially the electrical stuff, as well as access to things under the hood and under the dash, despite it being a smaller car. I also found I fit better in the Dodge, again despite being a smaller car. I've been over six feet tall since I was 13, and the Dodge had more headroom, even more when I discovered i could remove the spacers under the seat tracks. I was also an instant fan of the adjustable torsion bar front suspension.

I did own or partially own 2 more gm cars at the same time and/or shortly thereafter- a 1966 olds 98 (425 rocket and that car was FUN), and a 1972 buick skylark (350-2, which was an extremely clean car for Ohio). Mom bought both of those to be her cars, but I ended up driving them most of the time. The olds was $100 and after a year the trans went out so we bought the buick.
Had I known then that all gm engines and trans interchanged, I'd have put that 425 in that skylark, and hoo boy, would that ave been fun. DIY crossbreed gs-442!

But after that, I've only ever owned ONE more gm (1985 s-10 ext cab 4 cyl, the worst vehicle I've ever owned) and ONE ford (1971 torino gt 351c 4v one of the nicest survivor cars I've ever owned), the rest of my 32 cars since then have been Mopar.

 

[AR67GTX]

I went shopping for my first new car in 1967 with the intention of buying a 67 SS 396 Chevelle. I had located one about 30 miles north of home. Dad and I went there to make the deal as I had no idea of what was involved. I also still lived at home and had to live by the house rules, even though I was paying my own way. I fell in love with that SS, but after a few hours of negotiations and back and forth, my dad told the salesman that the car was $200 to high and if he came down $200 we would take it home. That didn't happen and I was forced to leave. I wasn't happy but on the way home my dad said, I saw a pretty good looking Plymouth in Wetumpka the other day. My comment was "sure you did" in a sarcastic tone. When we got back to the turnoff to the house, dad just drove on by. I said dad you missed the turnoff, to which he said we aren't going home. He drove on to Wetumpka and pulled up at the Chrysler Plymouth dealership. In the showroom sat a black on black 67 GTX 440 4-speed. I had to admit it was a good looking car. After looking it over, I thought it was great. He said I don't think you need that big of an engine. While we were looking, I picked up a brochure and actually liked the Satellite trim better than the GTX, other than the hood scoops and gas cap. I ended up ordering a 67 Satellite 383 HP, 4-speed, sure grip, buckets and console with tachometer, AM radio and remote mirror. It was $2995.00 tax, and tag out the door, some $400 cheaper than the SS.
The car came in and I was working out of town, so dad picked it up and bought it home. Two days later I was scheduled for a safety meeting where I worked, so dad brought the car there and took my other car home. After work that entire week I tried to drive the wheels off my new car. I learned how drive it and shift it, to the point of being very comfortable with it. When I got home the next weekend, I drove up to the local hangout. My best high-school friend pulled up shortly later, and looked it over. His next words were have you got that thing about broke in. I answered with its about as broke in as it will get. He said let's go see what it's made out of. He had a 66 SS 396 Chevelle. Long story short we ran three times that evening. I won the first one by 3 car lengths. His excuse was no traction. The second time I won by 3 lengths again and his excuse was he missed a gear. The third time I also won by 3 lengths and he didn't stop to offer an excuse. I've been a Mopar guy ever since. Lots of stories and great times with that Satellite. View attachment 1985906
This is as close as I have to it at present.

Those 383s seemed to be a lot faster than you expected. As I started to come of driving age I focused on fairly late model used cars and first lusted for (I know, I know) a 64 390 Galaxie XL 4 speed. After that it was 66 GTOs with tri-power. Then somehow I ended up wandering through a Plymouth lot trying to figure out how to get Dad to help me out on the newly introduced Roadrunner. I mean it was marketed as a budget muscle car so it couldn’t cost too much could it? Unfortunately, with a grocery sackers income and college coming up a year away that plan wasn’t coming together. But in the used car lot I spied 2 64 Sport Fury’s sitting side by side, both 383s, a black on black one with TF and a champagne colored (don’t recall exact name) with 4-speed, both with 36k miles. I really wanted the 4-speed but the color didn’t really grab me and the black looked spectacular. $1350 - take my choice.

So, I bought my first car - a 383 TF 64 Sport Fury in 1968 with 36,000 miles on it. It ate up 396 Chevelles and 327 Corvettes and a lot of others up with ease except for one friend at college whose 66 SS396/360 with 4.11 gears would out run me. Loved that car but sold it to a cop 4 years later. I got away from Mopar after that for a while with Pontiacs and Corvettes but got back to my roots about 25 years ago with my 67 GTX and later my 66 Satellite. Would still like to have another 64 but quality ones are hard to find.

 

[Outlaw525]

A brand new '71 In Violet Road Runner parked on the street when I was 8 and reading about Steve Lisk's Challenger in Car and Driver and Hot Rod in the school library during detention.

 

[0DegreeEngineer]

My older sisters 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee it was a June of 1992 build my dad (passed 2024) had bought her a black 2001 Sebring convertible and traded her for it she lived in Ft. Meyers Beach at the time. My dad and I did body work on it and got it fixed up and drove all through high school, then it was A '94 Cherokee, a 68' Commando, a '97 Grand Cherokee (still Own), then the '69 GTX (currently own), Then a '18 Ram 1500, then a '20 Ram 2500, and currently a , '17 Ram 2500 (currently own). We ended up getting the GTX after being out bid on a 69 Coronet 500 with a 383 light blue was a clone of the one my dad had owned in high school that grandpa sold after he got to many speeding tickets in grandmas pinto heading to the parts store for parts for the coronet. "accelerated too slow" was his reasoning.

 

[Dave6T4]

I think I was born that way! My Dad had an almost new 1939 Plymouth when he married Mom. My grandfather had a 1940 Plymouth coupe at the time. I bought my first Dodge in 1967, and have had quite a few Mopars since then. I strayed with a 1970 Buick Wildcat ( great car ), and a 1977 GMC Suburban.( lousy truck ). Nothing but Mopars since that pitiful GMC.

 

[Austin Charger]

Late summer 1969, neighbor bought a new '70 Challenger. 383, 727 on floor, lime green. I was 13 and got a ride in it. I was already into cars, but this was a pivotal moment and forever influenced my choice of cars. It was like getting a ride in a B17.

 

[T2R9]

This woman.

 

[cr8crshr]

I liked all the muscle cars during the 60s and 70s, so it was only a matter of falling into one when the time came to own one. And of course it turned out to be a MOPAR!!! It could have been a Ford or GM...NO BOW TIES!!!...as well, but my first was a 1961 Chrysler Windsor with a 413 Cross Ram that I bought used in 1970. Juke Box transmission with the bubble dash, which was really trick back then!!! My First Sergeant at the time was selling it. After a long lapse, I got back into MOPARS and the rest is history, as they say...cr8crshr/Bill

 

[Armyvet25]

My Grandfather and my Dad both retired from Chevy Brookpark Parma, OH so you'd think I'd be a chevy guy...but my third car ever was a 74 Dodge Challenger, was hooked from that point on.
not mine but same car

 

[Budnicks]

So I see many of you were inspired by your Dad. Me too. Here is an article Hemmings ran. I wrote it.

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/reminiscing-my-fathers-cars/

Wow that's an eclectic car family history, well written story