How You Found Your Car

[Mickm]

After I graduated high school in 1971 I went to work and started saving my money to buy a car. When I heard the '72's would be available I went down the to local dealership and filled out the paperwork for a new rally red
'Cuda with a black vinyl top and 340 power. Of course I had to go home and run it past my dad and upon his seeing that my car note was going to be almost $100 a month he soon talked me out of putting myself in that large of a monitary bind
at my age so I did not go thru with the order.
I have never forgotten how badly I wanted that car and have looked at many over the years but the streetrod bug bite me and the 'Cuda was locked away in the back of my mind.
Then last year I found my '72, rally red 340 that had just undergone a complete restoration so a deal was struck with the builder/owner. The first thing I did was get the black vinyl top put on to complete my original fixation.
Now the street rod bug has me looking to pro-tour the car but only time and money will determine how far that goes.
But at least now I am living my highschool dream.

Cheers!
Mickm

[70chall440]

2 stories;

#1 (70 Challenger RT): before I entered the military (1983) I was a huge Mopar fan and owned a lot of E and B bodies, in fact when I first went in I was driving a 73 Challenger and was working on a 70 Sublime AAR (paid $250 for it). Eventually I traded the Challenger in on a new Plymouth Turismo (like a charger) and when I was getting divorced and had orders for overseas, I sold the AAR for $1200 with every part I had. When I returned to the US in 2000 I decided to get back into Mopars and that I wanted a Challenger. I found a local (WA state) source and went and looked a very beat 70 RT U code AC car for $5K sitting between 2 trees which I thought was outrageous but both it anyway. That car forced to me to learn many new skills and discover the online Mopar community.

#2 (73 Barracuda): in 2004 my son was turning 16 and when I asked him what car he wanted, he said a Cuda. Despite being proud and happy at his choice, I knew that he selected that more because of me than what he really wanted. He was/is not really a "car guy" but I thought this might be the opportunity he needed. Therefore I looked high and low for something and at the time I was a member of Mopars Unlimited which sends out a monthly flier. In the back of the flier there were some classified ads and one of them was for a 73 Barracuda with a 340 AT. I went and looked at the car which was owned by a lady, the car looked like someone had used it for a bumper car, every corner was beat. The drivers side window wouldn't close and living it WA state it hardly ever rains.... Also by the smell, it had been the home of a car for some time as well. I ended up buying the car for $2000 plus I had to do a brake job on her 75 duster. I drive the car home (ran ok, but not great). It didn't take very long for my son to lose interest and eventually sat in the driveway. When we moved to our current location and had a shop and some property, I traded him for my 91 Stealth RT and began the ongoing project of building this car into a Road Race/AAR/Pro touring car. Now, $39K+ it is still a work in progress. 416 stoker, 4 spd, etc (I have a build thread on this forum).

[copper01]

Ebay / Internet    I still wanna smash my computer...  Lessons learned (don't trust anyone).

[70chall440]

Ebay / Internet    I still wanna smash my computer...  Lessons learned (don't trust anyone).

I always thought I wanted to buy a car off ebay, but having seen and heard about so many bad deals I am over that.

[ShelbyDogg]

I always thought I wanted to buy a car off ebay, but having seen and heard about so many bad deals I am over that.

i found my challenger convertible on eBay, in Texas. The guy said I could come down and see it before any money changed hands and if I decided not to buy it, he would resist it. All of the pictures showed exactly what I saw in person so I trailered it home with a smile on my face.

[70chall440]

That is great and I am sure there are many honest people on Ebay and many people who have gotten decent deals there. I just haven't found something that I wanted enough to go after. That said, I did buy my 01 Viper off the net, wasn't an auction site but basically the same deal. Had to fly to San Diego to look at it before making the deal, so I guess it is the same thing. I was smiling all the way home, I drove it from the back here to Washington.

[Cuda_451]

I got mine from my grandpa's who collected Mopars and has managed 6 Barracudas. All 70s and a 71. Base 318s, grandcoupe and a 340 4 speed. Purchased all for less than $500. His son was killed in his Cuda on Prom night in his Junior year and now that I'm old and mature enough to build my own for me and him to build together and  I got it going just in time for my senior Prom. Have 29 Mopars and don't plan on parting from any. 1970 Rallye red 400 bored .040 with 727 trans and 8 3/4 rearend.

[djais1801]

I bought my 73 'Cuda on CL, and sold it on Ebay tracked down owner who had over 100 pics of the resto which helped w/ resale...then took a gamble w/a low bid on Ebay for my 69 Roadrunner sight unseen, and lucked out...very original car, lots of documentation which wasn't in the ad (window sticker, sales order, bank payoff,etc.) Here's what the cuda looked like from the ad when I bought it...



and before I sold her:


the Roadrunner from the ad:


and now:

[moparclown]

I found mine about a month ago

[moparclown]

Its home now

[joes74challenger]

In 1989 my uncle was living in San Diego and found an add for a 318 Challenger right after the Valdez struck land in Alaska. he went and checked it out and he picked up the car for my dad for a whopping 200 dollars....apparently the owner was not going to be caught as a slave to petroleum (yeah he may have been slightly crazy...). he drove it around the area and picked up a parking ticket or two, then trailered it to Michigan a few weeks/months later (it could have been driven, but why chance it). after a little body work and eventually a paint job from Dad, it sits pretty much the same as far as I can remember lol.

[djais1801]

how bad are the floors after getting it out of the ground?

Its home now

[Bullitt-]

The Summer of '75 I had just turned 16, had been driving the families '66 Polara, had it all shined up & clean inside. My Dad had driven it to work & someone offered him more than he thought it was worth so I'm without a ride. I spent the next couple of weeks driving his '74 Monaco to work droppin him off on the way, searching car lots for mostly Javelins, AMX's or Dusters. Saw a classified add in the newspaper for this '73 Challenger with 22K-miles $2,200.00. I was thinking I would be seein a Charger...lol   Dad & I went to see it n the deal was done..
Found this picture over the weekend at the folks place taken I'm thinking in the summer of '76 based on a couple of things.  Has the same rear tires as was on it when purchased, left exhaust is hanging down & the '53 is in the driveway

[jimynick]

Strange that I'd never twigged to this thread before. Those are lots of great stories and mine pales in comparison I'm afraid. I got a phone car from a friend who ran a wrecking yard back about 82-83 and he said "I've got a car for you!" It was a wrecked, theft recovery hit in the rt frt and was a triple black 74 360 4 spd car. The price was $200 and I know I've got more than that in primer on the old sow! Having duly wee'd on it, may I say that I also finally got my $hit together and actually got it on the road this year. Nothing that 33 years can't fix, eh lads? I go out to the garage every day or two and just look at it- can't believe it's really there and driveable. 

[1 Wild R/T]

As I found it...Back in 95

& how it looked one year later...

Ok I posted a picture on the very first page of this thread planning to come back & type out the whole story... I got busy & never got back to typing the story... So here goes...

Back in 1990 I finished my Sublime Green R/T S.E. that I'd been working on for eight years, on one of my very first drives I got flagged down by a guy I'd never met before, he wanted to look the car over & get his son to look the car over.... As we were talking he mentioned he had a Challenger at home but didn't really want to talk about it, didn't say much really...
A year later I was out driving my Rally Red Challenger convertible & he flagged me down again... Same deal, looked allot, tried to get his son interested to little avail & again barely mentioned he had a Challenger at home, this time however he did mention it was a convertible...   So I'm kinda interested but he's not ready to say anything & I respect that....
 A year later I have my R/T S.E. & I have my buddy driving my vert, we stop for breakfast before going out for a drive... When we come out here's the same guy again looking over my cars.... This time he gives up that the car is a Sublime R/T vert..... But he's a very private guy & no we can't go see it..... 

The following year a buddy mentions he'd just been to a family reunion & while talking with his uncle who use to race an old 66 Coronet they got talking cars, and his uncle still has the 66 but he also has an old Challenger that hasn't seen the road in 15 years... My name came up & they both knew me, one my friend Jeff had known me for years, the other John had met me a few times when I was out in my Challengers... Yup, small world... Anyway with the extra level of trust Jeff was able to bring to the situation I finally got a chance to go see the car....
  Three of us actually went that day, my buddy Jeff, our friend Greg & myself... Opening that barn & there sits three old Mopar.. A 63 Max Wedge Plymouth, a 66 Dodge Coronet complete with vintage panel paint & a mural.... Centerlines & a WO type scoop... Oh, and a very beat Sublime Challenger R/T vert... It was hit hard on the passenger side, it was tagged high in the nose, fenders & hood were crunched but the grill & bumper weren't hurt...
The trunk floor was gone, the drivers footwell had a hole in it.... But it was pretty complete, a great color, had lots of NOS parts, the dash pad was cherry... It had allot of positives...
 But it wasn't for sale & he had no plans to sell it..... He'd picked it up back in 75 from a little car lot near his house... It was already severely beaten & on the way home the tranny let go.... It had a 1971 Indiana State safety inspection sticker, it had a Blue (Officer) 1973 Mather AFB gate sticker & it looked like Bo & Luke Duke had enjoyed their time with the car..... Oh, I think George Barris was responsible for the exhaust tips....  :roflsmiley
: Anyway he got the car home & parked it under a tree where it sat for years, he did want to fix it, he saw it's potential, he gathered allot of cool parts back when you could still get them...
 But life happens, his wife got pregnant, then it happened again.. They moved from town out to the country, the car came along & got moved into the barn...
 By this point he knew the car wasn't gonna be his toy but he hoped his son would take an interest and he kept seeing my cars which he tried to use as inspiration for his son....
It hadn't happened but now that we'd made a little more of a connection I told him if I could help or if if taking his son for a drive might inspire him I'd be happy o help...

When me & my buddies drove off that day my buddy Greg basically said that car is a POS & only a fool would try to save it... My buddy Jeff said it's a really cool car but way past anything he'd try to take on.... And I left there wondering how I was gonna pry the car from John's hands..   Jeff asked what I thought the car might be worth & I gave him a number that at the time was probably high but I felt the NOS parts made it a good deal

The following spring Jeff called, John's son had made it very clear he wasn't interested it that junker & he bought a Chevy S10 Blazer.... If I would pay the number we'd discussed the car was mine... Done!!