Why Mopar ?

[Aarons Air]

Most of us have history of fathers having them, or us as teens. But what is it that really causes us to follow the penta star, instead of a blue oval or bow tie ? Is it because of Mopar's attitude, looks, & power ? Or is it Mopar appeals to a higher caliber customer ? Or is it simply because everybody & their brother has a stang. Why do we choose one of the most expensive of the 3 to build/ have ? Why are we, B ?

 

[bearman]

Because in my case I started with mopar and never wanted anything else. Not to mention the only true muscle car out there. From the early 60's to the mid 70's. Then the rebirth of true muscle later. They hold more drag records than any other brand and just love the sound and the looks.

 

[65-440]

In high school my buddies dad bought a 70 340 4spd swinger off a used car lot, that was my first mopar muscle ride. That car was fast and loud ! My fate was sealed ....

 

[Tim Chavez]

The charger was my first car back in 2004. At that point,being 15 I just wanted a muscle car, and happened upon the charger in a driveway around the corner from a friends house. So how 15 year old me was able to talk my parents into letting me use money left to me by my grandpa to buy it. Since then it’s been mopar all the way! Barring of course the beaters with heaters that were too cheap to pass up ( 01 Chevy cavalier that was free and a 98 Land Rover 4x4 that was only $1000 bucks)

 

[rlem1977]

My car memories begin with Rambler (sigh). My dad served in WWII with a fellow from Kearney, NE named Pete Peterson. Same guy who owned and built the Pete's Patriot AMX. They were friends since the war and my dad bought some cars from Pete (Rambler wagons, uck). My dad traded cars every 2 years becasue racked up a ton of miles every year. In '65 he switched to Plymouth (his cousin bought a C-P dealership); in '67 to Chrysler, drove Newports. When I began driving I started off on a '67 Valiant 225 /6. When I was buying my first, I went to Cousin Merle and bought a '71 Cuda. Hated the E-body size, so traded for a '72 Charger. Got married, kids came along, drove other stuff, pickups mainly. So now I decided I wanted to do non-race car project. Restore something. Was at a Good Guys event, looking around, everywhere, Camaros and Chevelles and Mustangs. A few other Fords, Olds, Pontiacs; and 7 Mopars. I was stunned. Right there I decided to go back in time a find something that wasn't common even by Mopar standards. Since I had already owned a Charger, I wanted something similar. Then I found a 1970 Super Bee. It'll take a few years to get it done, but that's what i wanted. Sorry for the long Ramblering.

 

[Bladecutter]

One thing, even though Chrysler was one of the legendary Detroit 'Big Three', their products were built in roughly a third of the numbers of either GM or Ford. Evidenced by today's scarcity of OEM parts & being much more expensive to rebuild than the 'other' two marques.

 

[FrnkNsteen]

Definitely wasn't my family. Parents always had GM cars and trucks.

My brother had friends who were known for dirt track racing. Their street cars were a '69 AMX and a '71 Challenger and they would come to see my brother and do burnouts down the hwy for me when they left. I thought it was cool.

Then when my parents split up. My Mom and I moved to the city into an apartment above my sister temporarily. My Mom traded in her Buick Skylark for a /6 3spd Dodge Dart Sport. I was 9 years old and a couple young guys down the street had a blue Notchback Barracuda and a Chevelle. They would do burnouts down the street, like most teenagers do! The next door neighbor had a 71 orange Dart. That started me liking the Mopars because they were different than the other cars most people had.

Guess it stuck with me because the first car I drove was my Mom's Dart Sport. First car I bought, with my Mom's help, was a '73 Satelite Sebring. First car I bought for myself was the '69 Charger I am currently having rebuilt.

 

[Budnicks]

My 1st MoPar was cheap, a 68 Charger,
with a big engine 440, is why I bought it, I was a teenager 15
yeah my dad & mom had them also...
Not really the org. reason why I was attracted to MoPars thou...
I think what molded me was Dave Hough
the driver of "Nanook of the North" fame
was pitted next to my step dad Bob {a Pontiac guy, that owned a couple Fords & MoPars}
at a race in Fremont, Sacramento, Riverside, Ontario, Orange Co.
where ever it was, in the many tracks of my youth here in Calif.
I saw them so much I can't remember exactly where or what track...
Anyway;
I was like only 6-7-8 y/o easily impressed/swayed by fast cars...
It was the baddest {as in best/fastest} class of cars ever...
I was standing by his car, that beautiful
23 Ford T AA/FA 'Chrysler Hemi Powered'
probably drooling with a Hotwheels in hand, I'm sure...
Mr. Hough asked me If I wanted to sit in it, "oh yes I did"
he picked me up & put me into the car, rocked it a bit, made me laugh
& told me about the Hemi/MoPar Power !!!
I'm sure it was meant more for my dad
& the rest of the Pontiac guys to hear
But, I was hooked from then on...
Every Hotwheels was a Hemi Powered, was my mantra

MoPars where the baddest at the track,
they were dominant in almost every class, I was swayed...

My Mom got her 1st new car a 1968 Sport Sat. 383 4bbl 4 speed
when I was 9, {I bought from my parents some 10 years later}
she also had a 57 Savoy 2 dr Wagon, I sort of grew up with
it was an old Shell Oil fleet/executive car, my Father {Harvey}
or my grandfather {Shell Oil Engineer Exec.} more like, got for her...
I was brought home from the hospital in the 57 Savoy
after I was born in July of 1959...
It was kismet...
My step dad Bob bought a used 'Pink' 60 Phoenix with a Long Ram
when I was really young, as his work commuter/car like 1967-ish
He didn't want to drive his 64 GTO to the power plants...
{he was a Union Pipefitter/Welder}
I was always out in the garage helping (getting in the way)
when he'd work on his or my Mom's cars...
I do remember him cussing, changing plugs always on that car...

My real father & rest of my family were more exclusive GM people really
Olds & Buicks mostly or a select few Ford & Chevy Trucks...

I was a little rebel, too maybe, that might have helped,
I wanted to be different...
MoPars were badass at the track, probably swayed my opinions more...

I must confess I've had as many {or more} GM products as MoPars too...
It was about affordability, cost affective & available inexpensive go fast parts...
Racing is expensive enough...
I'm an equal opportunity gearhead...
MoPar is & will always be my 1st LOVE...
Thank goodness there's parts for MoPars today,
far better availability/affordability today than 20-30-40 years ago...

 

[Darter6]

Because they are just plain bad ***...That's why.

 

[Billccm]

My father was pretty much GM only. I had worked hard saving money from about the time I was 8 years old solely for my first car. Cutting grass, washing and waxing cars, speaker and stereo installs, etc. About 5 months before I turned 16 (May 1979) I had a little over $800 saved drawing about 5% interest. My dad wanted me to buy a 67 Camaro with 250 straight 6, three speed on the floor, cream puff that the original owners was asking a whopping $675, but willing to drop. My friends all had V8 Dusters, Coronets, Satellites, and a few Novas and Camaros. I resisted on the Camaro and argued that I saved my own money I will select my own car.

My next door neighbors were a middle aged MOPAR couple. They had just bought a Cordoba, had a Monaco, and their one owner 69 Coronet had to go. It was a garage kept solid daily driver that had 104K miles, never in an accident, and just for me $475. I bought the car immediately.

Put another 100K really hard miles on the car, and sold it for a Duster. Not really thinking about it, I just sort of migrated to MOPAR, or NO CAR for about 20 years.

From there I had a Plymouth Laser, two Shelby Chargers, a Shelby Lancer, and my last new MOPAR was a LeBaron Convertible in 1990. I stayed loyal to the brand until the 'merger of equals' and switch to the Blue Oval from there on out. I considered Chrysler the underdog fighting a good fight; they had their issues, but it sort of seemed the right thing to do to stay with the brand. When the Diamler deal was done, so was I with Chrysler.

 

[Hikin Mike]

Honestly, I'm more of a Pontiac guy than a Mopar guy.

I've always loved Mopars as my uncle bought a 68 Coronet new and sold it to my grandfather. Had a few guys in high school with b-bodies and can't forget the Duke's of Hazzard. In the end, I ended up with GM cars.

Had an opportunity to buy my grandfather's Coronet about 25 years ago, so that's why I'm here.

 

[69roadr]

Never owned a Mopar until age 45 when I got a call from my friend that said there is a 69 Plymouth Roadrunner for sale out in Pahrump Nevada. (All I could picture is the bullit charger lol). Drove all the way out there to look at it and wasn't really impressed until I drove it! owner let me take it for a test drive without him so I got to get on it and man I was sold!

 

[moparwacko]

My Dad was not a car guy by any means, but always a blue oval in the driveway.
I blame the neighbors down the road.
I used to hear some outrageous sounds coming from their place, father said " what a bunch of delinquents ". Rode my banana bike down to see a multiple carbed Mopar doing wheelstands and smoky burnouts.
Been hooked ever since

Oh and btw, they really were trouble later on.........

 

[Aarons Air]

In 78 i was 15. I had my temps. But no clue what i really wanted to drive. My parents came home one day & said, " we found a car for sale that we think you would like " ! I asked, what is it ? They said, a 71 challenger. I asked, whats that ? They took me to the car lot & it was love at 1st site !

 

[polywideblock]

I had Holden's for years until I saw the "light " in 1981, and have been into mopars for early(1960 still have it ) to now ( jeep V8 )

 

[GetX'd]

In my neighborhood there were lots of different muscle cars. Not many of them were Mopar. I was entranced by the 68 GTX right from the beginning. Wanted one if I could afford it. Then someone hit us one night and I got hurt in the accident. Settled for $1500 - waaaay to cheap even for those days. Had a collapsed lung, major head laceration etc etc. Bottom line I was only 17and my dad did the negotiating - he was a softy for the drunk that hit us. Anyway had the $1500 so back then that was all I needed to find my GTX and secure it. Think I paid $1100 for it in 1971. That baby roared. I was chicken to drive it and let it rip so I had my friend do so. Yeah I was hooked on Mopar from there on in. A bunch of my friends took notice to what a cool car it was and I guess I started something. Must have been at least 5 other friends that bought 68 GTX’s. It was a pretty cool time. Fast forward all these years and I still have the same car.

 

[tmaleck]

I started on GM as well. First car was a 69 Impala SS 396. I wandered through many Chevy full size for a few years until I saw a 70 Barracuda in that awful bronze/brown color. /6 3 speed, but I loved it. Sold it in the dark for more than I paid for it, bought a 68 Charger 383 Magnum. I went through 6-8 66-69 Chargers, and had a pair of 71 Challenger R/T's. Both 4 speed pistol grips. True 69 Charger R/T. Friggin DoH ruined the parts market for that car. Base 70 318 Challenger flat hood, etc. Ended up with a 67 Barracuda convertible. Sold it all except the 67 Barracuda to go back to college in '83. Back then nobody wanted this stuff. I bought both Challenger R/T's for $400, salvaged some parts and sold them for $500. I drove Dodge trucks until the early 2000's.

I got the muscle car bug after my divorce. I ended up with the 442, and fixed it up a bit at a time. Silly as it sounds, I got interested in Chargers after Tommy and Marc bought that 69 on Detroit Muscle last year. I've always regretted selling both the 68 and 69's and a reasonable deal came up on my current 68. Paid more for this project than my first three new trucks. No more $500 fix-r-uppers lol. Anyway, I've been lucky enough to be able to afford getting this one done right (I still can do some of the small stuff). I hope this is one of my last projects, but who knows. A Super Bee convertible sounds cool, just don't tell my wife.

 

[T2R9]

Its my wife's fault. I liked Chevelles as a kid and my first was a 72. Sold it when I joined the Navy at 19 and met and married my wife at 21. She had orders t San Diego so she went and got a place till I got my orders. While there she bought a Duster and we started fixing it up together. She taught me paint and body work and always told me about her 70 Cuda she used to have and one day I saw a 4-speed 70 for $1400. 318 4-speed red on red car. I got it for $1100. Had a blast in that thing and I have been Mopar ever since. Here she is circa 86.

 

[Frank Mopar]

HEMI!

 

[451Mopar]

Back in the late 1970's and early 1980's when I was a teen, Most were really inexpensive if it was a standard model (not R/T or GTX, SuperBee or Road Runner.) I had a few other brand cars and trucks, but for some reason or another parted with them and kept the Mopars.