Where did it start for you??? Moparing of Course!

steveo · Post by **steveo** » Tue Dec 14, 10 9:59 pm

got to be the late 70s saw dirty mary crazy larry , bullit , then my dad said watch this program on telly was on sunday night after 10 pm at first , was of course dukes of hazzard , i said to my mum & dad , i'm going to have one of them cars one day or words to that effect , buying street machine , i was really young , should of be reading batman & spiderman books haha , think it was the first issue had witts 69 Charger R/T {LFN7} at brands hatch

cant remember much more but would watch dukes every week then make monogram models of muscle cars , then because of dukes & dirty mary crazy larry , watching old us films looking out for mopars ! {still do} started reading up on these cars & mopar ,

then realising there were a few cars like that over here , thanks to the exchange & mart , cause street machine , /custom car , never really had any sort of stuff on mopars then !! , ordered some dodge & plymouth mopar books from customville , & done some serious reading & looking !! whent to my first meeting sort of at 1/8th mile down at manston in 85 , was blown away , after seeing and hearing 70 superbee running a 383 with uncorked headers the sound & smell !!!

started work not long after , saved up plus a bank loan !! got my charger 22 years ago ! & been broke ever since

couple of pictures of said superbee at manston 85 wern't a charger but close enough to get the effect of mopar muscle

Mick · Post by **Mick** » Tue Dec 14, 10 10:43 pm

When i was 16, the guy on the next street, used to drive round in a 68 Superbee, i thought it was absolutely awesome, my first yank was a 64 Galaxie, then a couple of mustang notchbacks and a Cougar.
Anyway a local guy bought a pristine 70 Challenger 318, it had to be the best looking car i'd ever seen. Later on i sold the Cougar for about £500 and bought the Challenger for £900. A year later i got made redundant and unfortunately had to sell the car to keep the rent up on my flat.
The guy i sold it to , pranged it, then instead of repairing it, he decide to customise it and welded a pontiac grand prix nose on it.
Broke my heart when i saw what he'd done.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Tue Dec 14, 10 11:07 pm

My 1st yank was a Chrysler, cant remember the year, but 64/65 comes to mind. It had a straight 6/ push button auto, swopped a Citroen 2CV for it.
I blew the engine to bits trying to keep up with a Ford Anglia on the way to sheppy. Towed it home & swopped it for a full tune up on my street racer motor bike with the foreman at Dresda's. Then had to pay real good money to have it done properly. Ive had 2 straight 6 mopars & blown both of them up

.

Post by **MattH** » Tue Dec 14, 10 11:33 pm

First saw a 68 Camaro racing at Lydden Hill in Classic Touring Cars about 1990 when I was racing Triumphs. Loved the shape so bought "The Great Book of Muscle Cars" and read it cover to cover. Couldn't help but keep coming back to the sublime T/A and plum R/T Challenger as the best of the best for muscle car shape, so had to have one.
3 years later I became the owner of a yellow T/A lookalike based on a 73 Chally and I've still got it. Its been in bits since 1995.
The Aussie Charger was meant to be a runabout Mopar whilst I finished the Chally but I've had that since 2002 and done zip on the Chally in that time.

VGVIP · Post by **VGVIP** » Wed Dec 15, 10 9:30 am

Bitten by a different Mopar bug to the rest of you I guess.
Being an Aussie and growing up around the Aussie Fords, Holdens and Valiants of the 60's & 70's they are what interests me.
My parents always had at least one Aussie Val somewhere.
All were hemi 6's. Sedans, wagons and I remember a Aussie Dodge ute on the farm. My Uncle had a Aussie Charger.
So I think everything except for a panelvan.

Got to say I love the US Mopars but I could not afford to have one and look after it properly. Even my long wheelbase VG is too long for the shed, but is unlikely to shift the Monaro from that space anyway!

The main boxes are ticked for me in being able to drive my Aussie Mopar as a daily and have something to put a spanner to that is never intended to be either a rocket ship or a show car.
Just enjoy driving the thing!

Adam · Post by **Adam** » Wed Dec 15, 10 10:50 am

In the early 70's Vanishing Point had a big influence on me, along with American Grafitti and Two Lane Blacktop. My first direct exposure to Mopars was at the Chelsea Cruise in the late 70's. I remember seeing Alan Gould's Superbird driving down the King's Rd, and it looked like it had landed from outer space amongst the mundane British cars.

I couldn't afford a 55 Chevy, so, in 1983, I bought a 68 Satellite with a 318 for £300, joined the MMA, and had it painted Petty blue. My cousin bought a 68 318 Barracuda, and painted it orange to look (a bit) like the Dukes' Charger. We hooned around the Brighton area, and staged impromptu drag races on the seafront unitl he wrapped the Barracuda round a lamp-post.

The Satellite was my only car right through the 80's, and I didn't sell it until 1999. I did finally get my 55 Chevy in 1990, but it was too late by then - the Mopar bug had bitten.

Jon · Post by **Jon** » Wed Dec 15, 10 10:55 am

Always liked musclecars due to watching too many film and TV car chases as a kid
my brother bought a 67 camaro at 19 and we started going to shows and the odd race...it was there I decided I wanted a roadrunner

We went to look at 'GBH' the 70 that Dunc eventually bought and after a ride around in that I was hooked, but it was a bit out of my price range..ended up with a 72 charger rallye with a 440 which I still have

guy whitwam · Post by **guy whitwam** » Wed Dec 15, 10 11:08 am

My 1st yank was a 68 Mustang with a 289 which I bought for £1300 and it was a real nice car,then having owned for 9 months started to customise it as was the norm,and after coming from a 1600cc Celica, boy I thought it was FAST!!
Then I met a bloke called Martin who lived in Attleborough who had a 72 Runner 440 with a 4 speed,he took me out in that and I really knew FAST,and this guy could drive too, think he used to race stock cars over at Swaffham raceway back in the day.That was 30 + years ago and after changing hands a few times and being 'lost',it turns up in Essex with Tim Furnell .It is now under going a complete nut and bolt job and its back in Norfolk with my mate Roel Bester ...see it finished next year.
Don't know what became of the Mustang EVG 221Y but used to be painted in blue candy and pearl flames and called 'Lazy 8' ,unfortunatly don't have any photos of the car anymore,so if anybody has any pictures would love to see some,anybody help please

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Wed Dec 15, 10 11:12 am

For us Southern Softees it was the Chelsea Cruise and the Brighton Run! Wall to Wall Superbirds on the street!!!

Landed a good job in 1980 and this allowed me to buy Mopars all through the 80's, for me the highlight of my Street driven Mopar Days!

I bought a RHD 318 Barracuda in the early 80's from a guy in Kings Cross, a real Mopar Nut.
Done the deal on the Cuda and then he showed me his 'Pride and Joy' Hemi Orange 70 Gtx, that he had hidden away. It was the most amazing car I had ever seen!!!

It was a street racer and last I heard it got pranged real bad?
Think the car was recently sold to someone in North London.

Those were the days my friend, I thought they'd never end? LOL.

Hi Road-Runner, thanx for the Alan Goulde update, the day I saw the Green-bird it actually made it outta Wandsworth LOL!

Bacca.

andyrob · Post by **andyrob** » Wed Dec 15, 10 11:46 am

my first mopar was bought early 90's (yes so im a slow learner- but rr & charger were hugh money like 7K !) was a early 60's pig ugly valient, 'more doors' complete with 'leaning tower of power' one owner 20k b5 blue type colour £700, bought locally @ darras hall, ponteland. bloke brought it over when he moved here from the us, hed bought loads of spares, in fact the boot was completly full of unopen mopar boxes, he'd then given up driven & car sat in garage for 10+ yrs till I got my paws on it, engine was siezed along with all brakes etc
wonder what happened to it ?

drewcrane · Post by **drewcrane** » Wed Dec 15, 10 12:57 pm

I love these stories

keep em coming

R.RUNNER · Post by **R.RUNNER** » Wed Dec 15, 10 2:11 pm

Philb wrote:I too remember seeing the Superbird in the front garden of a house on the north circular. Think i may have a photo of it somewhere with one of its headlight pods stuck up. Small world Bacca Im with Morgan though it was the Duke boys that hooked me with B bodies and the Mopar scene Yeeeee Haaarrr

Think you`ll find it was the SOUTH circular opposite Wandsworth Common just off Trinity road.

guy whitwam · Post by **guy whitwam** » Wed Dec 15, 10 2:17 pm

............as for buying my 1st Mopar well that was down to Rich Berry and Tim Holmes.
Tim had bought a 69 r/t Coronet ,dark blue with a tunnel ram and just MAD.I remember being driven around Sheffield in it ,sometimes in a straight line but oft as not with the arse end hanging out ,and thinking I gotta get me one of these................and so it came to pass after selling my 65 Buick Skylark convertable a 68 Coronet turned up , 440x6 and having one of the worst attitudes of any car owned.God that thing was horrible,broke down loades with fuel usually coming from one or more carbs at any given moment.It also had a habit of unsrewing its exhaust pipes ,the previous owner had made system that could be detachable with threaded pipe ends under the floor.
Still have some pics of both Tim's and my car going down Parkway side by side ahhh,happy day!
Most unlucky car for me, and even after painting it from the salmon orange to electric blue I couldn't get it right largly down to my own shortcomings I may add.Even just before selling it I remember it catching alight from end to end as burning petrol was thrown over it from a mate who was having trouble starting his bbq ,another cracking night at Pod.
So my first foray into Mopars left me scared mentally and financially, so went and bought a 57 Sport coupe from Luxury and Power and there lies another story

Jon Benn · Post by **Jon Benn** » Wed Dec 15, 10 2:26 pm

For me it was a wing car, think it was a Bird, being used as a push car at Long Marston in the late seventies / early eighties.

Jim · Post by **Jim** » Wed Dec 15, 10 2:35 pm

I started buying Hot Rod magazine from my local newsagent in 1967 when Plymouth were running the cartoon ad's. I thought they were great and took the pages out and pinned them to my bedroom wall.

My favourite ad's were the '68 Road Runner out in the desert with the cartoon Road Runner standing next to it, and the '68 GTX. A GTX was my fantasy car, but I thought I could never own one.

I started going to Santa Pod in 1968/9. There were a few US Air Force servicemen that used to race there all the time. The one I remember best was USAF Sergeant Doug Harler with his 68 Charger R/T. He was there every other weekend along with several other US Mopar guys.

Since I bought my first Mopar - a 6-pack 71 Cuda, in the 1970's I have owned more Mopars over the years than most people here in the UK including 4 hemi cars, 2 GTX's, 5 Road Runners, 3 Coronet R/T's, several Chargers, Challengers, Darts, and Super Bees. I've still got two Mopars, - I don't think I want any more.