What made you choose the Mopar that you race or drive ?

The movie Vanishing Point, saw it when it came out, I was 12-13 years old.That's why I'm here today.
Have never raced a door car but have raced a blown hemi!!

The first drag race I ever saw was in April, 1965, at old Pittsburgh International Dragway. My dad had always drove Chryslers, so that was the direction I was pulled in.

Anyway, it was a NASCAR drag division track then, and the NASCAR "Ultra Stock" circuit was in town. There was Bud Faubel, Al Joniec, Bill Lawton, etc., but the winner was Melvin Yow with the Big #1 65 Hemi Dodge S/US-2 from NC. He was also the NASCAR champ that year. Anyway, I fell in love with that car and promised myself that one day I would race one like it.

So, I bought my 65 in March 1969, and have been racing the car I was inspired by since then...

Easy answer....

I like the look of the 70' Cuda' and 70' Dart.

Had every mopar muscle car brochure out there from the mid 60's thru the early 70's......go figure my first new car would be a 70 Hemi Cuda & race car a 72 Challenger

Rickster

Max wedge cars are some of the coolest cars ever built. I always wanted one just never happened. I also like but have never owned the 69 A12 cars. I have mostly owned 340 Darts and Barracudas. I did build a 71 440 Challenger street driven and raced high 11s on pump gas. I now have a 340s fastback Barracuda runs 12:50s street car and a 71 340 Duster runs 11:70s. If I get a chance and can afford it I would like to turn my Barracuda into a Hemi car,as it is not numbers matching and missing the fender tag. As I get older 50 plus I see greatness in all the mopars of the sixties and early 70s. I now would like to build a D dart clone. Any Mopar is cool. Keep it up all.

my 1st car was a 68 340 gts 4 spd. at 18, it was bad azz. like mopars ever since. besides that, camaros & mustangs are a dime a dozen. mopars just have that cool factor. stay safe, seeya.

I wanted something different and LIGHT.. you see
plenty of A and B bodies... I could have built any
body style I wanted but I went with the P-body because
you dont see many out there... the only other car
would have been a G-body(Daytona)

my 1st car was a 1970 dart-------


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o'yea,i still have it 33 years now--i cant divorce her and scrap her or crush her------so i made her go fast---8.90s@152mph TT5 all-motor

When I was 19, the year was 1975 I traded for a r4 white interior A12 Bee. I truly loved that car but a fellow racer Ed West had a black 1963 Savoy with black and white interior that I would have traded my bee for in a second. It was a 12 year old car but looked brand new. Hopefully my 63 Savoy will meet all my expectations.

I was Mopar from day one learning to drive in a 64 Chrysler (and a chev truck) first car was a 64 Valiant 273 then a 65 Fury III vert 383 then a slant six valiant to a 66 Coronet 500 440 car. Then a 66 slant six Monaco. Then in 1976 a friend working at a GM dealer said we have this traded in perfect for you right colour and everything!!!

then

then mine.

Have had the Rampage so long, as a part chaser.
Hated to get rid of it.


once the uni-body started splitting, time for a change.

light-

First drag race I ever went to was in 1964 at the now closed Maryville Dragstrip. The one Don Garlits set the speed record (as the time) at. I went with my cousin to a match race. Did not know what it meant as I had never been to a drag race. There was a 64 Chevelle (The Fugitive) a 64 Red Falcon (Daddy Warbucks) and a red no name 64 Dodge with onl 2 head lights. IT sounded different, louder/badder than the ford and chevy. It outran both of them twice each and after that I was hooked on anything MOPAR. I don't know if it was HEMI or Max Wedge car, but it was fast.
Some guys got shot when the fence/rail birds had a shootout just before the finals. They were arguing over some $5.00 bet and they closed the track after that for the rest of the year. BUT it was too late, I was hooked for life on drag racing.

because the starter fit all motors. i would laugh at my friends that made endless trips to the parts stors with their chevy starters and shims or the ford guys that couldnt figure out what water pump is supposed to be on their engine. hell, they couldnt even figure out what their engine was. and fords firing order is retarded also.


i do like ponchos though

When I was 12 my uncle had this 1960 2dr. New Yorker. He would take me everywhere in that car. It was awesome. It had a 413 with the long ram induction and a push button trans. What a car! Well that was the first car I remember that had some get up and go. When I could drive my first rig was a 1960 Cubby pu. My uncle laughed at me and said we could make it run way better than it did. So I bought a 69 383 and torqueflite for $10 and put it in my pick up. When we were done it was running 14.00 at 80MPH. Not bad for a brick. Any way that was what made me fall in love with mopars. 30 plus years latter and many mopars later I still have the first mopar I loved. Yep, my uncle sold me the 1960 New Yorker. Of all the mopars I have and did have, it is still my favorite one of all!

Mike

71 roadrunner was my first ride ,a freind down the block had one ,me and a freind would hang out with him we where 15 years old at the time ,early 1980s he was older than us by 5-6 years


good old days





we drive plymouths !

My Grandfather! He made me trade a Mercury Cougar for a '68 GTX when I was 16, best thing I could have ever done.

GTX kicked a lot of ass so I bought a '69 Roadrunner when I was 18.

Now I'm 43 and I have added a '72 340 Duster (Race Car) and a '71 Demon soon to be a serious street car (more kicking ass!)

We always had Mopars in the driveway as far as I can recall,save for 2 or 3 Chevy's along the way and a Ford Fairlane,but we always raced Mopars.The car I have now my Dad and I built and when he retired from racing,he put the car up for sale and had a lot of tire kickers.I was starting to put together a 69 Dart for stock eliminator and he offered me the Demon for a good price,in reality he pretty much gave it to me,so I sold the Dart and a few other cars,and got the Demon.

Always was a mopar guy. I didn't want to keep racing my street car (73 Challenger) so I started looking for a mopar body. This is all I could find for a decent price at the time I started looking. Seen a lot of s-10s at the track but not a dakota, so I built one.

My older brother, in the spring of 1969 bought a 1969 Hemi RR. 4-speed, 4.10 Dana, PS, PDB, Air grabber...

That car, started it all with me (and him, too) and Mopar!

Funny to think about now, but we went car shopping that day and he was originally looking for a 427 Vette. Three Chevy dealers later had nothing, and it was too late in the year to order a 69 with the 427. Test drove a Hugger Orange 69 'maro with a 375hp/396...4 speed it was impressive. THEN he test drove the RR, and it was a different league than that Chevy!

Would LOVE to know where that RR is today. He sold it as a roller in 1974 for $3,000 with about 36K on the clock.

One other little fun factoid: Before personalized plates, it had black and yellow CA plates that read YUF 426!! (Yes, we had a few acronyms for what "YUF" meant!

This is the Dart I bracket raced and drove on the street from 1975 until I rolled it in 1982. Ron

When I was a teenager my friend's older brothers car was a 70 Cuda 340, his friends was a 70 Camaro, after 4-5 engine changes on the Camaro and none on his, esp. going sideways in the Cuda, I was hooked.

-Daty

pure stupidity but i have 6 of them now.

here's another one of mine

Growing up in a family of Ford owners here in Australia, my only exposure to Mopar muscle was the locally produced hemi 6 Chargers. Then one day in the mid 80's, when I was 18, I bought a copy of Car Craft and they had an engineering cut away line drawing of a 63 Max Wedge Dodge in it. That drawing literally blew my mind. How could any car have such amazing design as the front end of the 63 Dodge, or that crossram intake, or those wild exhaust manifolds with factory cut outs? And 13 to 1 compression. And push button transmission. So, while the majority of cars that I have owned were Fords, I now have a 63 Dodge max wedge clone in my collection. It still blows my mind when a look at the design of that whole package.

My first car was a '65 Dart GT 273. I still have it but it's way on the backburner. I'm building a '67 Dart drag car to race with as I did not want to cut up the '65, it was my parents car originally bought from my great uncle. I also have an '89 Shelby CSX that I would really like to see clean and neat again. I love so many different Mopars and I'm the kind of guy that wants to save them all. I think these may be the only ones I will keep in the stable for as long as I can. When my Dad and Mom started dating (I don't like to call him my Step Dad, he has always been my Dad.) he had a Javelin with a 390 and sidepipes that I really thought was the baddest. It was in an accident. I don't know a whole ton about cars and I'm enjoying just being able to learn at my pace. So I guess in answer to the question, I race the '67 because I have always like the 67-69 body style and have always wanted a dedicated race car. The '65 has been in the family forever and I have always thought the CSX was bitchin' since I was in high school so I convinced my friend to sell it to me. Take care.

My friend took me 4 a ride in a 67 fastback cuda and that's it took

I developed an interest in Valiants when I was in my teens, an article about the 340 was in the April/May issue of Performance Street Car magazine which is no longer in print. This article put mopar onto my radar and I bought my first Valiant, a 66 VC Valiant sedan when I was 14. I've owned about 20 since, I wonder why sometimes, but it's been fun. I have had more fun helping friends with their projects and getting down the track, but am yet to finish something for myself. I have a 65 Valiant Station wagon now that should receive it's R5 powerplant next year. Should be fun to drive!

Dad had actually bought a 1969 dart for me before I can remember. It was a 318 4 speed b5 blue GT car with a 340 hood on it. Maybe it was a 340 car originally or just had the hood. Anyway, it was kind of rusty, and ended up getting flipped for a few bucks instead. Dad had a 1970 340 that he had since 1978 that he pulled out of a 1971 duster. It had a blown head gasket. He put a different 340 in it and sold that car.

So, that brings us to my early teens. We were set on building a car using this 340 dad had. We looked around a bit, my favorite a body, as was my dads, was a fast back barracuda. They were out of my price range at that age though. We happened to find a 1976 dodge aspen slant 6 car with 20 000 miles on the clock. We offered $800 for it, and someone else bought it for $1000. Turns out the buyer wanted the low mile powertrain for a resto he was doing. My parents bought the car for $200 for my 15th birthday and that's where it started.

It was a cream colored car with no options. True granny car. I always liked the paint scheme on the dusters using the flat black and the 340 wedge decal on the hood. My first job was at a decal shop. So, I drew up some stripes, and went down to Canadian Tire and bought some flat black cans of paint and some masking tape.

Here is a picture on the return road, picking up a timeslip and my girlfriend at the time (now my wife) and yes, she is wearing a winter jacket. Gets cold up here at the end of the season haha.



The car ran a best of 12.32 @ 111mph with the 340.


A couple years later, I painted the car at my high school with another mopar buddy



Of course, the natural progression took place, it's caged now, and it's an R3/W2 small block now. Still my leaf spring street car! Always will be.


-Kenny

My Dad drove Aussie Valiants for years, probably for all the years I was at school and some. I got into Hotrodding with Chevs then drove an Aussie Holden V8 for quite a while but sold it 18 years ago to buy a '70 383 Barracuda. I rebuilt it keeping it quite stock but just love to drive it, race it & will probably keep it forever.



The next big Mopar influences for me were the Sox & Martin Pro Stock Cuda & the Motown Missile Cuda which have convinced me to update my Barracuda with a bunch of old period gear including a magnesium tunnel rammed, dual plug Hemi.

While searching for a 68-70 Charger or Roadrunner, I found this 67 Dart GT. It was rust free and had only 2 previous owners. It was being driven daily by a elderly gentleman. It still had the original bucket seats and console. The original 273 had been replaced by a 318. What really impressed me was that all the electrical items still worked. The fender turn signal indicators, the back up lights, and even the glove compartment and trunk light. That was 21 years ago, and it has been a slow but continual upgrade process. I don't regret paying the owner's $700.00 asking price.

One look at a set of Hemi valve covers. It was like the first time I saw a girl with just a bra on. HAD to see what was underneath. Been after both ever since.

I never chose ANY of my Mopars....THEY CHOSE ME!!

Me and Ol' blue in 1989 (it was ol' Yeller originally and was painted Darth Vader Black when I bought her in 1982.) Was a 'flip of the coin' junkyard candidate when I resuced it 'cause the guy blew the clutch and didn't have the coin to fix it.

We've been together ever since although a number of mistresses (mostly Mopars but also several other 'distractions') have come and mostly gone....and (unlike a biological mate) this girl never gets Jealous

Ronnie Sox need I say anything else...RIP BOSS

My Grandfather always drove New Yorkers,my grandmother had a 68 Dart GT, my uncles had 68 Formula S 340, 68 Coronet R/T,my aunt had a red 67 Coronet and my mom bought a blue 67 Coronet. Both uncles drag raced and took us boys with them so my cousin and I both have the SICKNESS!

I have had them all as racecars. A, B and E bodies. I have had more A bodies than any other but my favorite is still my 65 Belvedere. It was just a fin car and it was not a race car it was a street car we ran at the track. Had a blast with that car. Started getting more seious about the racing and it has been all down hill from there. I had built every car I owned until the lat two, just cheaper to buy then build. We buy them tear em apart and redo them to the way I like to have things. Ends up being a lot less money in the long run.

A friend of mine lived across the street from a car lot owner. They were pretty good friends.

One Friday night I was at my buddies house and the car lot guy called to see if I wanted to buy the charger. At that time it was a street car with a roll bar and had been run in Heavy Bracket a little.

It was pretty much a rat but had a new 440 "race" motor, new 727, new 10" Continental converter and new Dana 60 456 gears.

Basically lots of new high dollar parts in a used up body.

I said no, I wasn't interested. I already had a 58 Studdy two door wagon I was building for a race car.

The guy was asking $8500.

So a half hour or so goes by and he calls back with a lower price (induced by a few beers).


Well, this goes on for a couple hours and, long story short I finally bought the thing that night for $1500. Twenty four years later I'm still the proud owner of a pretty fast '66 Charger.

Tripped over a pile of junk in the back end of a Ford dealership used car lot, some how it grabbed my leg and followed me home, been attached to my billfold ever since.

It had to be a Mopar because they are the only one who makes the Asphalt Elephant!

It had to be a 67 GTX because I like the crisp angular styling of the hardtop, the hood scoops, and the racing stripes.

It had to be a 4 speed because I like to have fun rowing gears!

my high school shop teacher was big into mopars and he was friends with Dick Landy. they ran some cars at bonneville back in the day. he was a big influence on my life and a few of my good friends had mopars as well. just love the way the b bodies looked, drove and handled. hooked ever since.

My Father is to blame for my Sickness... he always had a Dodge,Desoto,Plymouth or Chrysler he worked in the old Dodge main for a short length of time, and then in the old Chrysler parts plant in Marysville, MI. which is still there.
Now my Girlfriends Family are all Chrysler people, her dad worked with Dealers orders. her brother is in finance and aquisitions and her nephew in an engineer in Auburn Hills.
I had a couple of chances to work their turned them down 3 times. too many hours for my taste.

Currently we have a 2011 Ram 1500, 2008 Avenger, 2004 Stratus RT, and My soon to be completed 93 Dakota W 420 Inch W9 Motor, we also have the Black Sheep 96 Saleen Mustang Convertable.

Chose a duster because they are light and I couldn't afford a cuda.
Also I grew up around mopars. My dad had a 340 4 speed 3.91 geared orange twister duster.
He beat the living tar outta that car, power shifting at 7k and driving it daily.
He ran it for years and years and that car never broke.
All my friends and friends dads being chevy guys were always breaking their stuff or blowing it up.
That 340 car wasn't the fastest car back then but it is still the funnest car I've ever ridden in.

It was a good deal! back in 1982 I was involved in a minor fender bender and I recieved a call from an insurance adjuster and during the conversation it came up that he had a 68 Dart for sale, $400 later it was mine and still is. My Dodge trucks because I`m a Mopar guy!

I have made this choice at a very early age, my grandfather was a Chrysler man and my Aunt and Uncle owned a '67 Coronet R/T and '67 383 4-speed charger new, and the rest of the push came as a kid seeing a '68 Road Runner going by me and reading the hood inserts (Hemi) I was hooked.
My first Mopar (mid '70s) was a '69 Coronet 500, 2nd was an X drag car '69 RR 383 4-spd b5 blue and the rest is history.
I currently own a '68 RR "And the beat goes on"

It came from my Dad. He was a stylist at Chrysler. His early works included the 63-64 B-Bodys,the triangle shaped Dodge emblem, the Hurst package Chysler 300. When I was kid I'd ask him to draw me a picture of a car. He could draw any kind I wanted. Of course it was always a Mopar. My dad had lease cars from Chrysler that included a 64 Chrysler 300K 4 speed, 65 Baracuda Formula S, 70 Challenger R/T S.E. Hemi (The car I took my road test in), 78 Little Red Express.
Doug

Maybe sorta like the girl you always liked, was always around but it just didnt click that maybe she was the right one.

The R/T was a parts runner/winter beater. While I was messing with bees and my RR my lil brother said hey, build me a 360 for the R/T so I can bracket race it....so I did.

Sold my cars went into the military, parked several f bodies in the pole barn for later...got out of the military and it was like ...."Hey girl, where you been all my life"....

And thats that, when behind the wheel of a modified F body its no different then being in older iron.....

After wanting to go faster then my old 13 second Charger would go I found my '68 RR in a barn which I quickly remembered from seeing at the track in the early 80's. Had to have it and it really got the ball rolling for me. We have improved it over the years and hope I never have to part with it. Right now it sits in hibernation since racing the Challenger. We do drive it on the street a bit now and it is an honest 10.50 car in street legal trim.

The wife and I bought the Challenger after seeing it at 2003 Mats (1st one) made the deal on the last day as we had to have it as we wanted a lighter/faster car it has been a great car and has made enough money to pay for itself over the years.

I absolutely fell head over manifolds for the 2% cars of which only 4 were ever made. These cars had the most light weight factory parts on them with out using fiberglass parts.

Grew up around Mopars as dad was a Service Manager for a dealership in suburbs of Philly throughout 60's and 70's. Brother-in-laws 69 GTX was a big influence too. As was my best buds 72 Challenger in the teen years. With that foundation built, came across this A-Body some 15 years ago and still have it today. Funny, but I guess this cars like a looking glass that keeps all those old memories afloat....

At time of purchase:



Today:

My Mopar stories are much different. Not many muscle cars around where I was raised. However dad had a 77 Dodge W200 with a 400 4 spd, 4x4. He farmed with a friend that had a 454 Chevy 4x4, and the 400 would out pull it any day. I learned to drive that truck. The next farm down the road from us was the home for a 75 or so Dodge W200 that the 360 was swapped out for a TNT 440, hooked to the 4 speed. That thing went screaming by everyday. It still resides at that farm, and even though the floorboards are gone, the TNT 440 has been replaced by a rebuilt 440, I still long to add it to my herd. I can't remember it, but dad had a 72 RR with a 340, when I was born. It was traded on a van. I do have the second Dodge truck my dad owned, its the 93 down below. Still my daily driver, just like it has been since 1995.

I someday hope to have a nice B body from 67-70, with a big inch wedge, 4 speed, a sort of resto mod to drive anywhere. For now, I still play with trucks. Starting the buildup of a new bullit for the pulling truck.


Michael

It was all I could afford when I was 17 (man I cant believe its been 3 years since I got this thing)

Ive grown up around A bodies so naturally I love 'em.

MAYBE working 35 years at Chrysler Engineering had
something to do with it

Bill got any more pics of the sweet Dart ? I have a weekness for the 70-72 Darts. This is my sons that I used to own. Ron

I am not exactly sure what was the first mopar influence was, but I am pretty sure I came home from being born in dad's 65 Satellite. He still has it today. So that may be it. My older brother has always had cool cars as well as his friends. All brands, though when he bought his first mopar a 70 v code road runner, I fell in love with the body style. 4 years later I am looking for my first car and we looked for old mopars. 68 formula s 340/4 spd, 68 road runner, 65 coronet convertible, 72 barracuda. I ended up with a 71 Satellite with a 318/904. Painted it like a road runner and have never had second thought about which cars to drive. Next car was my 69 340/4 spd Swinger. Still have that one and more. Only problem with loving mopars is I want at least one of each!

Beep

Sox & Martin,what else is there but a Cuda`.?
LUST at 1st sight.

In 2006 I sold a 74 Duster I had, on my way to the bank for deposit, I stop by a friend's and saw this car......and bought it.

Put a 360 injected magnum in it, then a 408, and race the car since then........and been poor too ! loll

Guess this one chose me !!

At the Track

The Kuda I had was a survivor w/ original paint and I couldn't mod it or beat it. So I sold it, and moved into a big block A body which always interested me. 5 years later and I'm still happy.

in 1991 before i got out of the navy my friend overheated his 76 dusters 6 banger for the last time and it would not start. 175 bucks later and 20 years i still love it.

first off let me say great post ron.growing up my dad raced fords.68 mustang,390 four speed car.i went with him almost every time he raced.people always ask me why i dont have fords.well if i didnt have my 64 and 65 dodges i would have a 64 fairlane 427 four speed car.back then the max wedge and hemi cars were the top dogs. i remember watching them beat up on all the other brands in stock and super stock.i was hooked at a early age on 62-65 b-body cars.in my eyes they are the first true muscle cars.

I was stationed in Elizabeth City, NC in early 1970. A guy on the base there had a 61 or 61 Valiant 4 door that he'd put a 413 in. The car looked stock on the outside. It was a nightmare to work on and he himself would admit it handled terribly, but the concept had me hooked. That was my ultimate vision of a drag car.

A year and a half later I saw this one sitting in a parking lot for sale in the San Francisco bay area and I had to have the car. The purchase even broke up my engagement to my sweetheart back home (who it turned out was living with some burn out draft dodger anyway)

Different, yes: crude, yes: practical, hell no. I still have it. Learned a lot racing it. It hasn't turned a wheel in 20 years I'm sorry to say. I really want to get it going for one of these nostalgia events around the country.

born and bred... Dad has worked for Chrysler since '68 and started racing in '65. I started in a challenger in '90 which I still have and Dad and I built the 'cuda in '92. Guess it's just our thing.

Riding in my brothers new 71 Road Runner for the
first time at the age of 5 was all I needed to
know. The family photo books from 1969 to 1974
was loaded with Road Runners, Challangers, Cudas,
Darts, GTX's and so on!!!

My excuse?

I went to high school with Ehrenberg.

I had a real nice 383 Super Bee as a teenager..... got my clock cleaned by more 340 Dusters than I care to admit. That was my first lesson in hp vs weight. Years later when I decided to have a full on race car, I remembered my lesson.

I miss having a street car though. If I get another one it will be a B body, hopefully a Charger, because I can fit my wife and kids in it.

I could write an encyclopedia...

In the fall of ‘56, my father switched from Dynaflow Buicks to a ‘57 Chrysler (Hemi / T-flite). He wasn’t a car guy but his mind was blown!

I grew up in a middle-class apartment-house NYC neighborhood. All the guys were “jocks”. I needed to know how stuff worked, so I started to hang out on the wrong side of the “tracks” (actually, the Horace Harding Expressway) with the Italian kids who grew up in houses with driveways and even garages! They introduced me to pizza and Italian ices.

Two guys in particular were my real mentors, taught me wrench-twisting and took me to Westhampton drag strip. Louis Macari drove a stick Corsair Monza, and Joseph Brancaccio drove a worked I-6 full-size Ford. I, thanks to dad’s ‘57, was already a Mopar guy. (Then he bought a ‘62, and the real fun started....)

But I digress. Neither of the guys would teach me how to drive stick (it woulda had to be one of their cars!) But I was determined. In ‘62, I turned 18 and saved up a few bucks. I saw a ‘60 Valiant 4-door (dull silver V-200, 170, three-on-the-floor) advertised in the paper at a dealer in Queens. I took the subway over and checked it out, and wound up leaving a deposit.

Friday after work, I again took mass transit to the dealer, and completed the purchase. The salesman walked me out to the car to give me a quick explanation of the “features” (AM radio, heater...). When he was done, I casually said “oh, by the way, can you show me how to drive stick...?” After he came down from the ceiling, he did give me a reasonably decent explanation of the concepts, and drove around the block once with me riding shotgun. With that under my belt, I pulled out into Friday afternoon NYC rush hour traffic. I stalled exactly once.

I went home, showed my parents, and gulped down some food, then headed out to hone my M.T. skills. By 10PM I was ready.

I pulled into White Castle. As expected, Louie and Joe were hanging out with their cars. When they saw my “old man’s” silver 4-door Valiant, they laughed their butts off. By 10:30, however, they were all over the little A-body’s engine compartment. “How can that thing be so fast....?” To say that I cleaned their clocks would be an understatement. And we knew some cool twisty roads out in Nassau county, and the ultimate: Storm King Highway up in Orange county. The Valiant absolutely ran away and hid from the Ford and Chevy on those roads.

49 years later, and I’m still discovering countless ways why Mopars are #1! I should write that book....

Rick

Let's see... I'm 16 years old and looking for a first car with my Dad in 1983. It comes down to a cherry (driven only on Sundays by a little old lady) '57 chevy with a straight 6... or a '73 Cuda small block V8 car. My Dad is talking about restoring the chevy with the 6, or there is the Cuda. I chose the V8 Cuda.



In '96 I came across a deal on the Challenger drag car and decided to take it a different direction than the previous owner. I actually took out a loan on my fiance's car to buy the Challenger. It was idle for a long time before I started working on my vision... it still has a ways to go.

I stole my car from my dad
That is actually somewhat true. When dad went on permanent disability because of his back; I took over the driving and soon after took over the financing of the car as well. Its been in the family since 1986.
On a side note, I actually found a trophy that I won in high school eliminator in 1990. Wanna take a guess what car I was driving??

I bought my first car from my aunt for $175 when I was 14 years old. It was a 1967 Coronet 440 4-door with 318, 727, and 8-3/4". My aunt was the only person I knew who drove Mopars. She bought a '76 Aspen after selling me her Coronet.
Then when I was around 16 or 17, I bought a 1973 Snowfighter power wagon truck for $1,000. I dropped in a mildly built 360 and it was a great truck.
At the time, my family had a '73 Mercury Montego, a '76 Chevy van, and later a '80 Pontiac Citation. The mercury was falling apart, and the Citation was totally gutless. The van ran well, till it threw a rod, plus I did a bunch of fleet service on chevy stuff and changed out many nylon timing sets. Anyhow, by comparison to the other vehicles I had access to the Dodges were great.
The '71 Charger 500, originally a 383-4bbl, was my first 2-door car. Bought it for $550. I actually went to look at a '73 Charger that was for sale for $150, but it was sold when I got there, and drove past the '71 charger on the way back home.
It was sitting on the street with flat tires, but no for sale sign. I stopped and asked if they wanted to sell it, and they said sure

Been around Mopars all my life. Paid $900 for this
72 Charger R/T back in high school.
It was blowin' oil out the carb, I hitchiked all summer while rebuilding the 340magnum!
And you can see Mom's 69 Valient in the garage!
Once it's in your blood in never leaves.
Oh and the hot lil' blonde has been my wife for 26 years now!!

Although my car is chevy powered Mopes are still my fav, the fast ones anyway.
I must say most Mopar dudes are a VERY strange bunch...
Why I chose what I have? It was different, within my budget, and within a days drive for me to purchase.
Oh, and I really liked it too!!
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My sister dated and later married a street racer back in the 60's my Mother would not let my sister go on a date without taking me I was 5 or 6 My now Brother in Law would race his Road Runner or What ever Mopar he had at the time with me in the back seat, He was a legend back then. I have owned a 69 Newport 440, a Little Red Express, Shelby GLHS, and currently race a 68 Barracuda R3 W8 car best time 9.00 at 149 MPH but not interested in any of the Mopar crap out now.

I was just looking for a car, not a Mopar. I looked at a 55 Chevy and <gasp> a Mustang the day I found the Coronet and it wasn't a car I went to look at.

It was just sitting beside the road for sale.

I had Mopars, Fords and Pontiacs in the past, didn't matter as long as I liked it.

How could I resist? This was a week after I bought it.

Sobered up in 1980, decided to pick either the 65 Dart or the 63 Fury I had to build into a race car to better occupy my time. I figured since I had not finished many projects, I would stick with my choice till done. Still working on it!

Void in my life that needed filled after my divorce........

I came from wrenching on bikes- my 73 swinger was my first project car (I'm still polishing that turd shoulda said no )

Then I got my demon a few years later- already had a garage full of a-body parts!

Plus what other car maker has such subversive names- a swinger and a demon sounds like a busy weekend, right?

Because I can put a pinto steering rack, a 57 crown vic rear, a 350 engine and powerglide in it and

I had to have a V8, I just loved the sound. I grew up on an estate where there was two American owned factories that employed a lot of people in the neighbourhood. A few of the US employees imported there own cars and sold them to the locals. I can remember mustangs, fairlanes, caprices, new yorkers driving up and down the main road as these guys went to and from work. Awesome.
Fastforward to 1988, We decided to buy a car with a V8 with a view to drag racing it. I had a look at a pontiac firebird. It was fast but the exhaust fell off on the test drive, it smelt funny and had obviously been in a front end accident. I pointed this out to the guy and he effectively halved the price, he wanted rid of it so my wife and I walked away.
Next was a 72 mustang, it was slow (302) the body was rippled, rusty and the seller wanted way too much for it.
'77 Camaro, fast car but the seats wouldn't move and there was a rattle on the over run.
Lastly the '74 Challenger we have today, owner took us out for over an hour in it. Cath, my wife said "thats the one" and it ended up on the drive next to the house. It was my daily driver from late 1988 through to 1990 when we began the street strip transformation. Now I'm Mopar through and through and the car remains all mopar.
Nowadays the car is more strip / street. I won't tub it / cut it up, obviously strip it out or ever sell it. Car is part of the family and has made us a lot of friends.

because b bodies are just sexy - has anyone one used sexy as a reason why yet?

it's my dads fault. my first car in high school was a 74 cuda. i was only 16 at the time. after that car i was hooked on mopars from that day on.
the car i have now is a Rick Jones Avenger. ex pro stock. i bought it when alderman and geoffrion were kicking butt. i tryed to buy one of darrels old avengers from david nickens but it was just a little out of my price range. the one i have is larry morgans old car.

When I was in high school all the cool kids had Cameros, Chevelles, mustangs or Trans ams. Not being cool I started building a big block Dart (running summer after high school) I have always had A-bodys after that.
Did the car club thing for a while (early 80s) and the B & E body guys where again the cool guys talking about how fast thier stuff was, but would seldom race the A-body guys.
Built the Dart I am playing with now with my son and have seen things change some it's now almost cool to own a old Mopar A-body, I may have to sell it and build a Rambler.

Dad gave me his duster when i turned 15, and the daytona is my favorite race car...

I first saw this car at MMW 1999 in St. Louis. I bought it from the
guy who origianlly built it, Bernie Piercy (East Peoria, IL) in 2001.
I've had every wire, nut, bolt out of it. The body and ARC switch
panel is the only thing that is the same. (except the scoop and bumpers)

Norwalk 2011

I wanted a lifted Scout for my first car, but my Mom thought I'd kill myself in it...

Bought a '67 Dart GT with a 273 for $325 and have been a Mopar A body fan ever since.

I like small and light and Lean to the Left, so...

It's an '81 Challenger.

7.35 @ 92 1/8th mile...

Soon to be a tad quicker...

I also have a '73 Duster with a Slant 6.

Here's both in their current state of disrepair.

Should both be ready to go for season openers in a couple months.