I grew up around Jeeps as my Dad was big into 4x4's, but I never really caught the bug. Always enjoyed tinkering and seeing what made things work, but this was mostly relegated to electronics. Ended up becoming a computer nerd fiddling with Apple II clones until I got my first PC in junior high. First car I got was a 1980 Buick Century that wound up getting totaled before I was even off of my learners permit. My second car and first Mopar is the Fifth Avenue I still have. Still wasn't terribly interested in cars until my best friend's Dad gave me a motor to pull apart. He was (still is) a big Mopar fan that goes back to the early 70's. His current drag car is a '65 Dart with an RB based 498 stroker.

Motor was a 360 that he said was loosing compression on #5. Had no idea what the hell that meant. So I tore it apart in my garage and found a hole in the #5 piston. With a pile of parts and nothing to do with it I bought a book and proceeded to rebuild it. Was a learning experience. Ended up putting it in my car and learning as I went.

Yeah, not much of a story, but I'm trying to get away from infolinks and wuflu posts.

What got you into Mopars?

My 1st car memories date from the mid-'50s in Chicago: Dad's black bullet-nose Stude coupe and green '50 Ford. I think the Stude predated the Ford.
I was fascinated by the various things that combined to allow going places, the sound, smell, shapes & colors, the sensory pleasure of their operation.
In 1956, Dad & Mom drove a new black T-bird for someone from Chicago to L.A. and I thought that was fantastic.
Won my 1st bet with a neighbor kid proving I could read "Powerglide" on the back of Dad's '53 Chevy.
In '57, having moved to SoCal in that Chevy, Dad ordered a Plymouth wagon; I was smitten by how different they looked, Dad was impressed with the engineering, and all that probably sealed it for Mopars.
Sometime in '57, some friends of Mom & Dad's took us to a sports car race in SoCal; between that and riding around in the same guy's Triumph TR3, I've been hopeless ever since.

I always loved cars. I could identify every car on the road by year, make and model by the time I was 6. My dad wasn't really into cars, he was a machinist and could make and fix anything. I of course had tons of Matchbox cars and models, my entire life was cars. Bought my first car at 13, couldn't drive it but I took them apart, put them back together, sometimes. I bought probably 20 cars before I could even get a license to drive them.

There was never any doubt what I wanted to do for a living. So I'm doing what I love, always have.

1967 or 68 and I’m nine years old. Older brothers had Jeep and an MGA, they were cool, but not real cool. Next door neighbor had a 65 GTO, but then he traded it in on a new 68 Vette, red. It was awesome...the flip up headlights were very cool.

8 years later and I bought my first car, a black 67 Camaro, 350SS 4 speed.

At 4 years old, mid 60's, we played in the garage while a family member built a Model A pickup hot rod. The adults would put my cousin and I in the bed and let us sand the rust off the cab. In reality they were drinking beer and could keep an eye on us. At about the same time a family friend bought a new Corvette coupe. I had many rides in that car and the shape and sound was like being in a space ship to a kid. In 68 I had all the original Hot Wheels and Tonka trucks. As a teenager the California Kid movie hooked me big time. In 69 I got to go with my grandma to pick up her new Crown Imperial at the dealership....then girls became interesting. All the hot girls were with the cool guys and their muscle cars. I became obsessed with both. Then some maturity and the quest for knowledge about how things work, Cars I got a handle on...girls not so much. I still have the old car bug and search daily for the next score. I just bought a 32 Chevy fire truck because it was cool. I have a Route 66 tattoo on my back with a Model T coupe hot rod and I named my first son Corvette. Ya I know but Belvidere just didn't seem like a good idea at the time.

In 1963 I was hitchhiking in Grosse pointe Mi. and got a ride with Al Eckstrand who was breaking in the Ramchargers super stocker. That 10mile ride hooked me on go fast Mopars.

1963-1966 Mom worked at a Ford and a Chrysler dealer as receptionist and housekeeper. She would get to try some of the lower level 'Econo' cars. We had a few Falcons and Valiants so she saved enough to buy a 65 Barracuda. It was ordered as a stripped down /6 4 speed but came in as a Formula S 273 4 speed.
My best friends dad worked as sales manager at the Ford dealer and he would bring home the newest hot car. I got rides in so many Mustangs, Shelby's and even a 289 GT40. Been hooked since.
1st car was a 65 Dart GT shell. Put so many different engines in that car. Last engine and trans was the numbers matching 273 and a 904 after my driveline broke and busted the A883 and bellhousing. Sold it in Augusta GA back in 1984 for a Shelby Charger.....

I had started with Matchbox and Corgi toys, then Hot Wheels came out in 1968 and started getting them for my birthday and Christmas. I then started building models and showing them. Then we moved to Bristol, VA and my boy scout troop went to Thunder Valley Dragway, and I saw my first Hemi Darts and Barracudas and I was hooked! I had always liked the looks of Mopars from my dad having gotten rid of his 61 Comet wagon and bought a 65 Satellite. When I was old enough to drive my first car was a 66 Satellite, then a 69 Fury III and both of those cars broke down, so I moved to a 69 Dart GTS 383 4-speed on June 28, 1978 which I still have. I had a 64 Rambler American inbetween the Satellite and Fury which I only drove twice because the twin stick overdrive broke, then a 71 Pinto and a 72 Vega at the same time, so that soured me on those brands, LOL...

Being a broke assed non-rate sailor not even clearing $400 a month. I could only "afford" cheap cars, then I couldn't afford to pay someone to fix the POS' so I had to learn how.

The Dukes of Hazzard - in first run episodes of course.

My Dad worked at Ford.. From what I understand he was a car guy in his early days, then became a family man?..He was pretty disappointed when my twin brother bought a 72 cutlass supreme about two weeks after we turned 16. It seems every car I looked at my dad would dropt he hammer and say NO. I finally said to Mom and Dad, fine you find me a car. My Mom called from work a few days later. "hey I just saw a cool car across from work for sale. I made a bee-line over there and it was gone. Oh well, My grandma lived about a half mile from moms work (sorry story longer then I thought). I went to visit her. There was the car. The kid that owned it was dating the girl across the street..I bought it. Had it three years and sold it. It would be 20 years before I bought my next "mopar muscle" car. 1st one 73 satellite sebring, 2nd one 67 gtx. Kevin

What REALLY got my attention? When did I catch the car bug? Probably had to be 1969 after the 1970 models were out - I first laid eyes on the 1970 Cudas & Barracudas. All I can say is they moved me! I was a 12 year-old kid & my parents were school teachers, so I really had no one pushing cars on me, & none of the friend's dads were gearheads, although most of them worked for Ford & a couple worked for GM, but they drove "regular" cars. Yep - it was the styling & sound of the Cudas. I remember seeing new Cudas driving around, & I remember there were a few with shaker hoods - I KNEW those were special - you hardly ever saw them! Also remember seeing the AAR's - those were REALLY special! To me, those seemed like the fastest ones because they looked like they were going 70 standing still. There was a guy in the area with a bug-juice green Hemicuda & I remember seeing (& hearing) it drive down our street several times. I remember it had a shaker hood. It wasn't until years later when I was in high school around 1975-6 that I learned it was a hemi. One of my buddies who lived about a half mile away said it had been his next door neighbors' car & he said "yep - it was a Hemicuda allright!" When I was 12, I was determined to own a 1970 Cuda one day. As each year went by, the dream of owning one kept fading. In July 1976, I looked for a couple months & finally found a nice one & bought it. F-8 green with black interior, 4-speed 340 car, & all original, complete with F&R elastomerics (see attached photo). $1300.00.

There was another guy in the area with a yellow Superbird - I remember seeing that car many times as it was often parked in his driveway - it had to be new or almost new because it was mint. In our area of the rust-belt, ALL of these musclecars started rusting-out when they were only 4-5 years old. There was a guy in the area with a 1969 Trans Am convertible (look up the rarity of that car!), & a guy down the street with a F-8 Green 1969 Dart Swinger 340, guy across the street from him had an ice blue metallic 1967-8 Camaro with a 427 that was BADASS - I remember that car having sidepipes, mags w/50's in the back, traction bars & jacked-up - THAT car sounded like it wanted to eat someone! There was another guy in the neighborhood that had an orange 1970 BOSS '9 Mustang that he still owns, but it is all apart. Gapp & Roush were about 1/4 mile from my house right on Schoolcraft Road & every once in awhile you'd hear them doing a test & tune on Schoolcraft road. By the time we pedaled 5 blocks on our bikes, they would already be back in their building with the doors closed! It was a fun time to be alive for sure, & there were SO many cool cars out there.

I think I was born into the "Mopar" hobby.

My dad right out of WW2 bought a new conv maroon Desoto, and my Mom on her words, she was impressed enough to marry him.
We moved to Fla in 1955 towing a Uhaul trailer in a 1948 9 Passenger Chrysler wagon ( later was sold to private grade school to transport students)
My Dad then bought a 1953 Ply w/OD, he was very proud of the mileage the flat head six got.
My Grandfather visited us from Missouri in his 300C.
My dad bought a 1959 Chrysler 9 passenger wagon with rear AC to drive to Seattle Worlds Fair in 1962.
My Mom bought a 1962 Slant six Valiant 3 on the tree.
My Dad bought a Bright red 1962 Polara 500. I borrowed the car from my dad to take my first DL test, I never returned it.
My Dad bought a 1960 Chrysler 300F, that was a fun highway car, we used to drive it to the Daytona races, quickly, before interstates, avg 100mph.
Decided girls were more fun, went to college, started my business, toured the world, got married, had kids, got divorced, bought 4 Polara 500's, and it starts all over again.

I was probably always going to be a car guy and leaned toward Mopars as my folks had Plymouths while I was growing up. I became a huge fan of the 300 letter cars, but also always liked the way Darts looked. I was hooked on Mopars when I went to work at a small electronics store in the spring of 1977. My coworker had a BEAT '66 Commando/four speed/disc brake/handling package Barracuda. When my boss hired me he told me that I wasn't going to like this guy...we're lifelong friends. That Barracuda became mine in late 1980. As most also know, I'm also a ragtop man. No reason to own a car with a fixed roof, in my opinion...

Born early 60s. Dad was always tinkering in the garage doing maintenance on the cars....no muscle stuff just daily drivers. He was always a Mopar guy. Fast forward to high school....tons of muscle cars running around. My 1st car was a 70 Chevelle with a tired 307. Had a 72 Cutlass Supreme and a 71 B'cuda 318 car as well. Took Auto 1,2 and 3 in high school and then Auto in tech school. Worked at a Goodyear store then a for a guy that raced circle track dirt cars and had a BB 4 spd Dana 67 B'cuda fastback.After driving that the bug hit.
Went to work for a buddy that is a huge Mopar guy and into drag racing so it kept going from there. He hooked me up with a 69 B'cuda at a great price and helped me put it together. Couple other jobs and I ended up teaching Automotive at the tech college I graduated from. 20 yrs later I'm still teaching and playing with cars. My dad and I with the B'cuda shortly after paint. It looks different now with Crager SS and a 470" stroker low deck but same car that my Dad really liked! Lost Dad in 2004. Still have the car.

I started working on engines as a kid(about 7 or 8) and then got into mini bikes... I finally built max16 on a old
frame I had.. I would take on 350 hondas and beat most of them.. later on I worked at a Buick dealership
as a mech.. I had a 62 Dodge Dart I put a hemi in.. that was my first Mopar.. after I got out of Nam
I had to buy another car.. my brother totaled my dart.. I picked up a very nice Olds 442 W30 4 speed.. sold
it down in Ft Being area and made a nice profit.. bought a 69 Dart GT 273 S.. then when I came home I started
working at Chrysler Engineering for the next 35 years... we wife and I) still own 8 mopars 2 are drag cars.. the
rest are either our daily drivers or street rods

Even though my Dad wasn't a 'car guy' I think it was inevitable for me. My Mom's birthday is 3/18 and my parents conceived me in the back of a '62(?) Plymouth Wagon...

But what really pushed me over the edge was back about '78 when I was 10 or 11. We lived in an apt in NW CT. One neighbor had a 'hot rod' '67 Camaro (primer black, jacked up with 50's out back) and another neighbor who owned a '70 Challenger R/T convertible (plum crazy, black top and interior, NO stripes or spoilers, 440, stone stock down to the mag style wheel covers). The owner was a Woman who had gotten the car in a divorce settlement. She only drove the car on nice days and usually with the top down. Never saw her beat on the car, just drove it normally, rumbling around town. I had eyes for the Camaro, and my young self thought the Challenger color was a little weird.....

Then it happened.

I was out by the street in front of the apts riding my bicycle one day when I heard the Challenger fire up. It caught my attention because this time the lady winged the throttle a few times rather than just leaving it idle for a moment. I stopped and watched her come down the driveway, and as soon as she got on the street she hammered it, going past me with smoke just POURING off the back tires and the 440 wailing at full song........

I sat there on my bike for a few moments engulfed in tire smoke, my mind blown, trying to process what I had just witnessed. It was a lot like discovering girls, just a lot less embarrassing.

I promptly went home and took all the Camaro pictures off my bedroom walls.

I don't remember the exact length of time, but not too long after she did the burnout, the Challenger disappeared, first replaced by a VW squareback, then soon after, a brand new Pinto.

I later found out through my parents that the smoke show had actually scared the heck out of the lady. She had gotten into a fight with her boyfriend and took it out on the car not expecting it to do that. If that is true, she was too scared to let up as she went well over 200 ft, smoke rolling, car cocked sideways.

Much, MUCH later, I think the car may have crossed my path twice with other owners (as a gutted shell) but I would have no way to prove it.

For how much of an impact that car had on me, I've never owned a '70 Challenger.

I got hooked on going fast in hot rods in 1962 after riding in fenderless roadster that a friends brother in law had made from a 1923 Dodge roadster pick up body shell, a handmade sheet metal bed mounted on a Model A frame that he had Z and added a 1957 Olsmoblile J2 motor and 3 speed stick shift trans with a 1949 Olds. rear end with twin beam trailing arm rear suspension mounted to the model A frame and stock model A buggy springs front and rear, it probably had a drop front axle also.
That was in 29 Palms, CA back before the great society got started later, he floored it in 1st gear and it starting spinning the recap 8.20x15 rear tires making it fishtail back and forth in every gear, not much traction but it impress me
I've been hook every since (I was 17 years old that year)
The first two cars I bought(1952 ford 2 door sedan and a 1950 Pontiac 2 door Coupe)) had 303 C.I. Olsmoblile motors in them.
My fourth car, first Hemi powered, was a 1933 Ford Pickup that had been chopped and channeled with a hand made short pick up bed with a stock 1955 Chrysler New Yorker motor. That truck still had the early Ford enclosed drivetrain in it with 4.89 gears and a really garbaged up exhaust system that was probably 1 3/4 or even maybe 1 12/inch pipes
I had my Father In Law makes me a set of tube headers with built in muffs in the 3.5 inch collectors, that really woke that monster up I whup a lot of the local street racers with that hot rod It might have been a mid to low 14 second or on a good night maybe high 13. seconds on the Casler 7 inch recap cheater slick I bought for it.
Those tires broke a lot of drive train parts, clutches, pinion gears, axles and so on, in my old hot rod

Day-ummm.... there are some real seasoned citizens on here !

I should learn to respect my eLdErS ....

If you live long enough you will get old also have fun while your aging