Why Mopar?

[morgan]

Chargers happen to be mopars is all.
I wanted a charger. That orange 69 charger. That black 68 charger. You know the ones If chargers had been ford or pontiac or buick it wasnt important to me. This club has helped to educate me though.
Dont get me wrong, its still Charger first. But I now appreciate what mopar is too...

[Captain Chaos]

Great Thread.

My route to Mopar ownership has been a convoluted one.

I too started out with Bikes as my Father was into old British machines and I have very fond memories of riding his Matchless. I competed at a junior level in Trials on the obligitary TY 175 finally graduating to a Beamish Suzuki.

After passing my test in 1982 my first car was a Mini,which served me well but I always had eyes on other things and I developed a bit of a fascination for all things Air Cooled owning a Beetle and a Purple flake Beach Buggy.

Shortly after this I landed a job selling new Lada Cars,yes really,and though I had the pleasure of a company Riva 1600slx in poo brown one thing this job did do was allow me access cheap part exchange cars that arrived at the dealership,I absolutely gorged myself on countless crusty old relics from the seventies many of the usual suspects,Cortinas,Escorts,over ten Capris and so on. There were some notable vehicles that passed through too.At one point I was offered a six wheeled custom Transit that I recognised from one of the Magazines and we all had an absolute blast in 302cu equipped Capri too.

After leaving the Lada dealership I went self employed and spent a great deal of time collecting all the Rivas and Samaras I had sold previously as there was a fertile market for the in the recently deregulated Soviet Union,during this period I bought a poo brown Riva 1600slx that I had originally sold and the owner had spent close to 20k on mechanical modifications whilst retaining the original looks,it was a lot of fun seeing peoples faces as you blew by them and the car also gave me my fifteen minutes of fame on Quentin Willson's Cars the Star way back.

I was relatively late to Yanks buying my first in 2003 and after much goading from a Friend as to why would I drive around in a fake yank,MK3 Zodiac,I took the plunge and bought a 67 Convertible Caddy.Since then I have gone a bit overboard sometimes owning several at a time but one thing has remained constant which is a love of full size,full fat yanks. When contemplating the purchase of the Fury I had a loose remit which was hide away lights,two door and the biggest possible engine and body,well I think I found nirvana,with the possible exception of a 300H .

[Dave81]

Easy one for me.

Always like cars from the Muscle era due to films and TV programmes growing up. Decided that I wanted a yank and attended the NATS in 2009. That was it!!!

If i'm being completely honest it was a finance thing that led me to A bodies.

Other cars I considered: Mustangs, Torino's, Nova's, Chevelle's, E & B Bods, Olds 442s & Pontiac Le Mans/GTO's by 2009 were all 5 figure cars (with a V8).

Darts could be had for around 6-8.

Found this place and the rest is History, and i'm rapidly approaching 6 years of ownership.

The car scene and MMA membership has opened my mind to a lot more cars for the 60/70s. I have a long list and a short pocket though, so lots will never happen.

I love most of the cars form this era, so not really a one make fan. Would have a 70 Monte Carlo or 68 Le Mans tomorrow if cash was available. Only sad thing for me is that i'll never own my dream car (70 RR). Prices are now past the point where I could justify it!

I think Mopar got the styling right back in the day to a point where most from 65-73 are beautiful looking cars. Get the right wheels and setup and most look hard as nails!! That's one thing I believe the other marques cant match!

[Hemimad]

I was always mad on cars as a kid, used to strip Dinkys and Corgis down to see how the suspension worked, still do. Moved on to models and became fixated with black Trans Ams curtesy of the MPC Blackbird and the photos of the real car on the box (tracked down boxed unbuilt example). Then my Uncle's mate got a new 78 Skybird and that was amazing to a 9 year old! My mum used to have old cars 63 Herald, 69 Morris Traveller, 62 Mini, 69 Triumph 1300, my dad had a TR5 then a 70 Capri 3.0 GT. I started messing with Triumphs and MG's. Then saw a film that featured an orange 70 RR with an air grabber, that was my head turned. Didn't know where to get one from or what the car was until much later in life. In the meantime I had loads of Vitesse's, TR's, MG's and a single Stag latter for 20 years. Restored loads of them along the way, still have a Vit and a TR6. The RR was the most expensive project ever undertaken, but mainly because I wanted it right and to fit my imagination. It wasn't Vit C, but factory Tor-red is just as nice and it didn't come with an air grabber from the factory, but it does have one now. I had never had a yank before and I like seeing it in the garage and pinching myself that its mine. I feel honoured to be its custodian, the car is everything I wanted it to be and people who don't know me say it was a midlife crisis car, but the people closest know different. I think Mopar had fun with the whole concept with the Rapid Transit System and I think the 68-70 period was the wackiest part of the muscle car saga.

[cadboy]

Grow up with American cars as they were everyday cars for people and never thought anything about it.

My dad had Dodge and Plymouth when I was 10 to 15 and remember driving his 73 Satellite when I was 14, only to turn it around and park it for him when he got home, but loved that gold Satellite.

Time moved and country changed and as student cars were luxuries that didn't happen.

Time was 2002 when someone asked me to go to Billings to the American car show, what American cars in the UK, never seen one, so yes.

It brought back the young in me and the love of American cars, compare to other cars here on the road, so I had to have one.

Like everyone money was important so went for what I could get.

Love of MOPARS was there but cost of mopars was higher so had to wait and save.

Now I have my mopar and there are others I love to have.

Basic car, great shape and a lot of power.....................

that is a mopar for me.

[Black Country Nailer]

In late 1969 I bought a copy of Car and Driver which had a multi page article on the "New for 1970" Dodge / Plymouth range. That was it! Had to have one of those, the Cuda 340 looked the pick but the Superbird was just outrageous and the brutish Superbee something else. I now have a 70 Superbee, OK in bits, but I'm getting there with it.

[Adam]

As a kid in the 60's, I used to collect Corgi/Dinky cars etc, and I was always drawn to the American models over their dull British contemporaries. Then I saw American Graffiti and Two Lane Blacktop in the early 70's and set my heart on a 55 Chevy 2 door sedan.

But I couldn't afford one, so I bought a rusty old 68 Satellite for £300 and used it as a daily driver through the 80's. I had a lot of fun with that car. Finally got my dream 55 Chevy in 1990, but by that time ol' blue had cast its Mopar spell, and I swapped the 55 for my 70 Coronet a few years later.

Why Mopar? They have something about them which other musclecars just don't have, at least for me. They look meaner, sound different, smell different! I love them all, but the B bodies really blow my frock up. The coke bottle styling, the big trunk.

The Mopar "family" is different too, both here and in the States. Perhaps its because there aren't so many of them, but Mopar folks are generally much more friendly and supportive of eachother. You couldn't meet nicer people.

[XP29]

As a kid of the '70s I loved the American cars I saw in the films. When I started driving and hot some money together I ended up going the VW route, had a few Bugs and vans and a 49 Anglia. Then in 2014 I started looking for something American, at first it was anything so long as it had a V8, as I looked at 68-70 Chargers all were over our budget, then I saw the 66 we have now on Car and Classic site and went to have a look, glad I did as couldn't be happier!

[octanejunkie]

The aggressive styling, the sinister hideaway lights, the loud paint, the loud exhausts.
The names: Challenger, Charger, Roadrunner, Demon, GTX etc.
Other people do muscle, but nobody does it better.

Plus, i grew up with the General Lee every Saturday tea time when i was a lad.
In TV and movies Mopars are just so damn cool.