Trust me you don`t want to know. They were way
too vmuch fun.....

Cool stories guys! I'm gonna save these so I can keep them for future reference, just for the heck of it.
I was inspired to take my R/T out today and imagined what it must have been like to have it when it was a new car. The car has about 131,000 miles on it and has never been "restored"-it got a new paint job in 1987 and new upholstery soon thereafter, so the doors, body panels, windows, etc. are still in their original places. There are no wind leaks (and that annoys the hell out of me-my '99 Crown Vic cruiser sounds like you're driving in an infinite wind tunnel) the doors have that sweet "ka-thunk" when they close, the heater takes a while to get going, but when it does, it's like driving a sauna. That big old thin steering wheel just feels so "right" in my hands, and the 4-speed shifter is in just the right place(in 2nd and 4th, anyway)

Another thing about the old cars-I never bump my noggin on the A-pillar. They're swept back too far on new cars, and there never seems to be enough leg room in late models. Even my '68 Dart was a roomy car up front.

I guess you really had to "drive" these cars back then, to compensate for what is now referred to as their shortcomings, whereas new cars are so much more user-friendly, that I think the thrill of driving is diminished somewhat, and probably has contributed to modern drivers' being less-skilled behind the wheel.

if a tree falls in the...........
we didnt know they were shortcomings.
they were the latest, greatest!
most people didnt scrutinize the paint or body that closely, we wanted power, looks and coolness; besides everyone was to stoned to notice!
this wasnt just the era of 'cars of the day'. this was also, and probably one of the best time period's ever, the era know more for sex and drugs and rock and roll as well as muscle. abundant jobs, cheap gas, woodstock, cheap horsepower, long hair, granny dresses, cheap drugs, great music, go-go boots and free love ruled the day. and then along came vietnam and carpet bombing and protests.
p.s. i dont remeber any of the above! i have it all written down!

you aint lived till your sitting in your 383 gts at big boy at 9 mile and gratiot eating a burger and shake, rocking to hendrix, joplin or led zep and the car next to ya is your buddies 69 r/t charger and on the other side is your other bud who has the 68 hemi rr. either side of them your likely to see the 70 ss camaro and a judge. either side of them and further down the row could be a hot 55 chevy with a glass front end and straight axle and a hurst 442 and a triple black 67 440 4sp gtx and a couple 396 nova's and 454 chevelles and a 69 351 stang and so on.
all of a sudden a built 455 trans am comes rumbling through and produces a few short bursts of hi glasspack rpm trying to drum up some action. lo and behold a 427 tri power vette cranks it up and follows him out. 5 or 7 seven others follow suit and the drive in rocks with thunder and vibration as the procession heads out for some action. as we head up gratiot we observe several cars full of chicks! luckily we find one with 3 and convince them to pull over so we can talk! after doing up some XXX stick we find they know where a party is so we all match up and head out. the party is cranking! schlitz, coke, reds, boonesfarm, roars, hash, speed, mesc, columbian: you name it, they got it. we are pretty mellow so we move on and head out to telegraph looking for the silver bullitt! 5 bucks fills the tank with 100+ octane and we head up to teds where we proceed to do it all over again. we were ing fools!

actually i guess its good those days are long gone.

I come from a MOPAR family on both sides. All of my uncles, grandparents had MOPARS till (gasp) the mid 80's. There was always someone getting a new one and we would check it out and take it for a ride. The carbs were fussy from day one. Mis- adjusted air doors on all 4bbls meant they bog or pop when stomped on, hot or cold. Chokes out of whack meant all would stall, die, wheeze when cold. Runs and drips a plenty on the finish. The fenders would rust out before the cars were paid for- and loans were 3 years back then! Drum brakes were scarry but the bias tires werent that bad. I was more worried with my first set of those "new" radials. After all, who knew how they would handle! Dealer "back row" cars were 5-6 year old with 80k and unsellable.

Cars I owned when new:
64 1/2 Mustang coupe (no fastback til '65), 289 4 BBl 4 speed
67 Mustange FB, 289 4 speed in "Bullitt" Green
'68 Fury II 318, certainly not a musclecar
'69 Dart Swinger 340
Fit and finish was poor, paint poor, point ignition was troublesome, lots of squeeks and rattles, not nearly as reliable as today's cars.
BUT, they had character, you could understand the technology and fix them with hand tools not $10,000 worth of diagnostic equipment.
And there were our everyday drivers.
I used my 340 Dart to go to work daily, my wife drove it with two kids in carseats in the back yelling "Go Mom go, get him". She was the stoplight racer, not me.
I remember using the Dart to go hunting thru Manitoba's interlake after upland game birds. By time I got home I needed two new mufflers and a battery. An expensive day for a few sharptails. When I complained to my neighbor about having to replace the mufflers, his response was "I didn't know that car had mufflers."

Oh, I almost forgot...The bias ply tires were really bad....scary bad!

When I was a wee little lad of five or six, the old man bought Momma a brand new Mustang convertible, a 1973. They hadn't gone to the pony body yet and the convertibles were reinforced at the factory. This one had been ordered with the 'Cleveland' engine, that I later found out was the infamous 351 Cleveland.

Long story short: Momma was a lead-foot from way back and spun the tires more than once. On one particular day, she was mad about something before she ever picked me up from little league. Then on the way home, I was winding her up even tighter about something. I remember sitting in those white buckets with my back against the door. (no belt laws in those days) We were first in line, stopped at the crested intersection of the main drag. I was whinning, Mom was focussed, the light turned green and she dropped the hammer! The 'Stang pulled so hard across the intersection that the front wheels came off the ground at the crest and came down with a SMACK on the other side! I was pinned straight back in the seat until the scenery caught up with us. She never let off or flinched. Needless to say, I didn't have anything to whine about, my eyes must have been as big as saucers and I'm sure I begged Mom to do it again.
I still tell the story at holidays. Mom just grins a little and says, 'That was a great car.'

I was a little late for the era - graduated HS in 1976. But, I sure remember the cars when I was 12 years old in 1970. Here's a few "snapshots" from my memory from when they were new here in the Motor City:

- '69 Mach 1's were all over the place & I loved them - my favorite color was the metallic turquoise green. I loved the hood blackout on them!
- Boss 429 'Stangs were like hen's teeth - if you saw one, it was like seeing a UFO. You knew when you saw one, cause it had that huge hood scoop.
- There was a guy in our neighborhood just north of Lyndon Rd. (Livonia) with a bug-juice green Hemicuda HT. I LOVED seeing that car.
- I quickly learned that SHAKER hoods on '70 Cudas & Challengers were rare to see, & if you spotted one with it, it had a special motor in it! BIG MOTOR!
- Then I started seeing '71 Cudas with shakers & 340's??? That was my turn-off about the '71 Cudas. The shaker used to mean big-block, fire-breathing engine! The '71 Cudas seemed a little "showy" to me, plus they were seldom seen - seeing a '71 Cuda was uncommon.
- I loved two things about the '70 Cudas when I was a kid: They had a distinct "whistle" when they drove by (still a mystery to me today) - an actual wind noise that came off the cars' front end, & I really liked the way the front parking lights looked in the grilles. You could always tell when a '70 Barracuda/Cuda was approaching at night.
- Cudas & Challengers sounded AWESOME! A very distinctly different sounding exhaust, plus coming through the rear valances like they did looked too cool.
- Superbirds were RARE - seldom seen. Daytonas were friggin' UFO's! When you saw one, you remembered.
- These cars were right in my neighborhood: Dark Green '68 Dart GTS 340, Light Blue metallic '67 or 8 Camaro with a 427 (that car would always go down our street slow in 1st gear with a rumble that would shake the earth), '70 Orange Boss 429 Mustang (that guy still owns it but I haven't seen it in about 22 years), an F-8 AAR, a '70 AMX 390 Big Bad Orange, the Limelight Hemicuda, and an orange '71 Challenger R/T 383 w/elastomeric F/R bumpers.
- Our family was going somewhere in the summertime & we pulled up alongside some guy in a 69-1/2 Super Bee six-pack car. We all started joking about the car: "Ha-ha, six-pack of Beer........" My parents took part in the ridicule.

My first car was an F-8 '70 Cuda 340 4-speed, 3:55 Sure-Grip, PS, PDB, Rallye Gauges, 44,000 miles. I bought it in July 1976 from the original owner, a Chrysler accountant. The car was rusty in all four corners already in only 6 winters, plus it had been rustproofed when new by Tuff-Coat. BUT, the car was in excellent condition - the original paint was super shiny & it was a VERY sharp car! The car was equipped with F/R elastomeric bumbers also, which made the dark-colored Cuda look even more sinister. I could break a new LH motor mount in one day simply by grabbing gears, not speed shifting (I never speed shifted any 4-speed cars I've owned). One day a buddy & I were on the way to work & I decided to see the top-end of the Cuda. I STOOD on it going south on I-275 from the Jeffries to the Plymouth road exit - the car would go no faster than 125. I then decelerated only to hear some pretty loud valvetrain noise! My buddy (Brad) started laughing: "You lunched the motor, ha-ha-ha." We pulled into work about 2 miles down the road after we got off the highway, & I checked the oil. Dipstick was DRY! I filled back to the top with 4 quarts of oil & the bulletproof 340 was just fine.

It was also a small back seat, but you could get the job done - JUST FINE!

I also graduated high school in 1969.

In my area (Washington DC, DC Suburbs), muscle cars everywhere. My next door neighbor had a 1969 Dodge Dart 340 Swinger, B5 exterior, black vinyl roof, 3.23 Sure Grip, 727, dog dishes.
I loved that car!

My older brother was a car salesman for Bob Banning Chrysler-Plymouth-Dodge in Maryland, from 1968 through 1972. He sold Mopars from taxi cabs to a 1970 all black Hemi 'Cuda.

In early 1970, I factory special ordered a 1970 Plymouth Duster 340, B7 Jamaica Blue Metallic, deluxe interior with bench/center arm rest, 3.55 Sure Grip, stripe delete option, body side moldings, ralleye wheels with E70 - 14 GoodYear raised white letter tires, heavy duty cooling and electrical systems, AM MusicMaster thumbwheel radio. GREAT CAR for $2,870 delivered price!

I sold this car in 1973 to pay my college bills!
Sold for $1,450 with American Racing equipment Torque Thrust D wheels and aftermarket G60 -14 on the back!

Wish I still had the car!

The car had it's share of problems new (bent distributor shaft, rough idle, poor exterior paint) but its was a BLAST to drive!

And I Dusted all those Chevy SS 350 Novas, the 343 Javelins, and the 351 Mustangs!