...and she's gone....

Well guys... I sold her.. .she went from warm and sunny CA to the bitter cold state of Iowa. The new owner is super excited, and has his own plans for what he wants to do with her.. we had good negotiations and communications, we used www.escrow.com to handle the transfer of funds while the car was in transport, and it worked out really well. Man, this is a bittersweet feeling, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't get choked up a bit when she left on the trailer Thursday night. I've had the car since 2003, and with the help of a lot of people on this forum, spent 11 years making her look good and run well ... but over the last few years, I've just had no desire to drive her or do anything with her, so it's time to let her go to someone new. Thanks to everyone who helped me along this journey, it was a great learning experience, and something I took an immense amount of pride in finishing. I'll miss her for sure, but it's good to know she's with someone who's excited to have her and get into the world of classic cars.

I'll probably be around here for a bit in the classifieds section selling off any spare parts and stuff I may have in the garage (which I need to go inventory)..


[img]https://videos.smugmug.com/photos/i-wsspzSD/0/SMIL/wsspzSD.smil/master.m3u8[/img]

It's about 15* here in Iowa...What part of the state is it going to?

Wow...that's a big change. I know selling my cars has been hard even when I knew it was the right thing at the time. I sold my green on green 69 Coronet to a father and son who were going to fix her up for the son to drive in high school. I wish I could see how it turned out.

Any plans for new project?

She went to Iowa City... I'm happy to know she's getting a garage to sleep in

New project? nah... gonna get my wife's '66 Mustang running for her, and the remaining funds will go towards my new Bronco (which I've had reserved since July 2020, LOL) .. hopefully it'll be getting built around March and delivered around April (fingers crossed)... but no desire to get any more old cars

That's where I go to the doctor. Little over 100 miles south of me. Congrats on the sale!

Pretty car, shame you had to let it go.

Home of the Iowa Hawkeyes! It's the perfect color combo for residence there.

70 miles from my hometown, and where my younger sister went to school.

Wow, this seems like a LONG time ago already!

I liked that car & remember the build.
Sometimes the build is the best part, just because it's done and the mental stimulation eases off.
I know the pain of releasing one's "offspring" into the world, but life does evolve sometimes.

But yikes, open trailer...

I remember the build. The memory that stands out is the fireball from the carburetor during first fireup when the timing was off.
Good times, enjoyed it.

Not everyone is cut out to be a lifer, and it's cool to move on to other stuff.

I grew up in Iowa City still live in the area. There are alot of good Mopar people in the area.

Saw a post on Farcebook from a guy who says he bought an FY1 Dart in Cali, figured it was your car, my condolences...

must be someone else .. .mine was GY3 ... the guy who bought mine is named Ben ... seems like a super nice dude, and he's genuinely really excited about it, which makes me feel a little better about letting her go
and yep.. the carburetor fireball will live on in infamy
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-gpwcc8L/0/04ab8384/O/i-gpwcc8L.gif

My bad, too many drugs effecting my brain as I get over Covid, yes it is GY3...

My condolances.

We all move on from cars and such. It's part of growing with hobbies and hopefully enjoying so fun along the way. Making friends always a great thing with hobbies and you made many while doing it. Your ca may be gone, but your friends will be there when your bored. Just because you don't have a mopa muscle car anymore, does not mean you can't still be apart of the forum. If anything, just come by from time to time and enjoy the bench racing.

Hope you stick around here and keep us updated on your next adventures..

..and as usual Thanks, for your post is accompanied by fantastic photos...

Cheers,
- Art

Hawkeye Downs swap meet… actually in Cedar Rapids.

The steering wheel on my car for last 25 years was from they swap. Still got other parts I bought there.

Hey guys... while it's been nearly a year now that I've been Mopar-less, I like to come back here every now and then to see what's been going on - I finally took delivery of my 2022 Bronco just over a month ago after waiting 814 days from the date I reserved it. Having a blast with it so far, exploring some beautiful places up in the mountains of CA, and meeting some cool people too.

Hope you are all doing well, staying safe, and enjoying the holidays

Nice photography - sounds like you're enjoying things, good deal.

OP is a nice guy but I suspect that when the shine wears off on the Bronco, he will move on to something else the same as he did with the car.
Some people find something that they enjoy and it sticks with them for life.
Others will shift from one interest to another.

Not all of us, Miguel.
I am a lifer. This is what I do and have done since I was crawling. I love cars.

Awesome framing on those shots. Those could easily be in a sales brochure.

I also enjoy cars - I immediately started modifying the Bronco as soon as I got it, and we still have my wife's '66 Mustang - I just don't have any desire to crawl around under an old crusty car any more just to keep it running .. I feel like I've just started down a new tangent of the car culture. I can never keep a vehicle stock, LOL .. I did have the Dart for a long time (18 years), and Moparts was a big part of that journey.

Uhhh....the Mustang is older than the Dart was. Did it somehow avoid getting crusty?

LOL... that's part of why it's just sitting in the garage ... I'm waiting for a shop to get time/room to do an engine swap for me.. it's my wife's dream car - so it's for her, not for me.

Good to hear from you cal. Have fun with the new toy. I'm thinking of moving my old iron along also; like you I've tired of messing with them.

Good to read from you, and glad you are doing well and enjoying the new truck! Looks like you're all having fun! I have to admit, I've been looking at the new Bronco as well... it's offered in a 2door, closest I can get to a new Ramcharger!

You're not too old to learn how to do it yourself.
The biggest risk is taking no risk at all.

We live on some of the best water/weather you could ever ask for as a boat owner and we just sold ours after 25 years. Honestly….. we don’t really miss it. Made a ton of great memories, and it’s kinda nice having some more garage space. I really don’t think I’d miss the race car much anymore either. I haven’t missed a season since 91. Sometimes we put a ton of passes on, sometimes 1-2 events a year. Seems like since 2016 it’s really slowed. Personally I enjoy the people I see at the tracks probably as much as trying to go rounds. We’ve always had to split time between boating, racing, or off roading in the desert with the Jeep or now the RZR we bought a year ago. Interests can definitely change over the years.

You going to do some Overlanding?

Were you here during the buildup of his car? The fireball was EPIC......if I remember correctly, someone made a meme out of it.

To cal_gecko glad you checked in and are doing well.

That was one of the cars I most remember from moparts over the years along with Daves duster. My how time really flies. Good luck in your adventures.

Always loved that car.

We tried to get one but couldn’t afford it after the sticker plus the adjusted add on price upwards of $88000

I took delivery of my Bronco Raptor a couple a couple weeks ago. Unbelievable truck! My two door sasquatch was built two weeks back. Waiting for it to show up at the dealer. I work at the Bronco plant. They are Awesome!
The up and coming heritage editions look really cool! Available in a baby blue which I usually hate, but looks great with the white.
KID

Has this evolved to a Ford site now? The soft tops make me laugh. Ford (and their supplier) have struggled since pre-release to make something that does not leak in a hardtop....not sure they will ever get it right.

I know that it is good manners to be polite but I find it sad to see people abandon the classics and own only late model stuff.
Old classics can be reliable if you have any skills. If you don't and you have to pay others to do all the work, it gets pricey. I see some of these enthusiasts like I do sports fans that love the sport from the stands but never actually play the sport themselves.

Right on, man .. congrats on the Raptor - those things are beasts. I'm super happy with my Badlands Sasquatch (I opted for the 2.7) - rides great, has all the bells and whistles I want, and is super capable. I went with a dealer that gave X plan pricing equivalent, so close to $2k below MSRP, and the sale of the Dart, plus saving 2 years worth of photo job income allowed me to put a nice down payment. It's interesting, with every car/vehicle there is a whole community of enthusiasts, and then sub-genres within that group. When I first got into off-roading, I didn't realize that there's so many sub-groups - there's the mud-baggers, the sand dune lovers, the rock-crawlers, the overlanders, the snow-wheelers, etc.

I appreciate the kind comments about the Dart, and it's flattering to hear people mention that they remember it (and the .gif of the carb explosion with Primerdust and I when we were firing it up for the first time MANY years ago) - I figured amongst all the E and B bodies, that little A-Body wouldn't be much to be remembered - so thanks ... that put a smile on my face.

I always regarded Cal a standup guy. Really liked that car. Seems if I remember correctly members on this site were giving him grief so he pretty much stoped participating. I think I bought a duel 4 intake for a small block back in the day. Anyway, good luck with your new toy and enjoy.

Dodge is being silly to not offer a new RamCharger. Not everyone wants a Jeep Wrangler as noticed by the sheer amount of Broncos I see on a daily basis. Its like every 5th person in town has one.

One of the number 1 vehicles that gets traded for from mustangs, challengers, chargers and camaros is the wrangler and bronco. It would be a lot easier to flip them into a RamCharger that uses the same Dodge muscle marketing

I am one of those who just always played with old Mopars.
And I hope I can continue that way till the end.

Carsten

Same here, As long as Im breathing there will be an old car in the garage. I think both my daughters will make sure of that

I have nothing against the modern toys, but they've become far too complicated to maintain without a lot of fancy gadget tools

I can fix just about anything and everything on the vintage iron with tools I have


I plan to retire Sept 2023 and tinker with the toys, both life size and 1/25th scale stuff.. My hemi car is still points ignition and manual drum brakes . And as long as I can get parts, I plan to keep it that way ( ive already started stashing away service parts )

Might get a part time job after a while to keep from getting bored and to keep from sedentary. Plus get me out of the house once in a while

get a part time job ?




if you are anything like most guys, including me, there will be so many things needing attention after you retire, you will wonder how you found time to work.

You got that right!

I said might.

I do have plans to do some updates on the house post retirement , update master bath and tile floors thruout main living area. I just had new carpet installed in bedrooms last spring

Cool story, Cal. I know the feeling. When I sold my `71 Challenger R/T back in 2017 after 30 years of ownership... I was quite literally choked up. Like me, you probably had a ton of great times in your car and none will be forgotten. Big time congrats on taking delivery of your beautiful Bronco. I worked on the exterior development of that vehicle in Ford's Design Studio. Such a cool machine. I'm sure you're gonna' love it.

I am not on this site as much as I once was but I do remember your Dart build Cal. I am also a "switcher". Went from old MOPARS and drag racing to firearm collecting, to Harley Davidsons, to firearm collecting again, Jet Ski's, back to MOPAR drag racing, then back to firearms, then took a break from everything. Sold the guns, stashed some money, remodeled some stuff on the house, bought some newer cars, and now am looking for another old MOPAR. A 1968 Barracuda Fastback is on the short list, but this time I want a NICE numbers matching cruiser that the wife and I both can enjoy. Nice Bronco by the way!!

Wow, no kidding? Awesome that you got to work on the development of it! I'm absolutely loving it so far- in 2.5 months, I've already put 5000 miles on it, and love everything about it. It's such a well-designed and thought out vehicle. Yep, lots of great memories with the Dart, and it was emotional to get rid of it, but it's great to see the new owner enjoying it. I took the liberty to use some Ford cues in editing this photo I took at Trona Pinnacles last month.