How did you first get started on e bodies

[ChallengerGary]

I was 2-1/2 and we lived in Detroit.  My Dad went to a factory store and brought home a new 1970 Challenger.  It was a 318 SE, B5 Blue, White Vinyl Top, White interior car.  I loved it from the first day.  I remember going places with my parents and always asking, "what kind of car is the?"  I used to sit in our driveway for hours at a time "driving" the car.  Hitting the slap stick, honking the rimblow, just dreaming it was mine.  In about 1977 my parents sold the car.  My Mom swears I cried when I saw someone else driving "my car."

Fast forward a few years, I'm 15 and a friend of mine, Babe, ihas just turned 16.  His Dad is a used car dealer/wholesaler.  He called my house one day looking for Babe (remember this was WAY before cell phones).  He has a car that he wants Babe to look at that he thinks he'd like as his first car.  We drive over to Palm Pontiac in Margate and go to the back lot.  There sitting all by itself is a olive green metallic 1971 Challenger with slottted aluminum mags.  I see it and immediately tell Babe, "Buy it, when you don't want it anymore, sell it to me!"  Price was $600.  He bought it.  About 6 months later, his Dad brings home a Gold 1970 Cutlass with a 350 Rocket.  Babe turns to me and says,"Well, you ready to buy the Challenger?"  Price was $675 since he had to replace the timing chain about 2 weeks before.  I didn't have my license yet, but I did have the cash.  My Parents made me park it until I could pay for the first year of insurance up front.  Took me about 2-3 months to save up the funds but before the end of my Junior year, I was driving the first of MANY Challengers that I would call my own.

 Sidebar - Through the years, my Dad told me about the experience of buying the Challenger from the factory.  Seems when he went there to buy a car, there were rows and rows of Charger Daytonas that they were trying to get  rid of - price was $1800.00.  He figured my Mom would kill him if he brought home one of those ugly monsters, so he opted for a Challenger.  I always wondered what would have happened if he had brought one of those home instead of the Challenger.  I guess I would be DaytonaGary instead   

[The Cuda Guy]

I was about 10 or 11, there was a junk yard up the road from my grandmas in TN.  I used to walk there and look at all the relic muscle cars.  Being from a Mopar family I was interested in the Dusters, Darts, Roadrunners ect.  you get the picture, I thumbing through the yard when I came accross this red 74 cuda with white interior.  It had a blown engine and had been sitting for years.  I vowed to buy that car one day.... after I got back from my first deployment to Iraq I went and seen it and the owner of the junk yard, I made small talk and then asked if he still had that car (i knew he did) and then asked what he wanted for it.  He told me he would like 7k for the car.  I didnt have but about half of that and I asked him if he could take it he didnt bite...  At least I made the try for my childhood cuda...  well it came up on ebay a couple of years ago, I think in 2006 and it sold for 8k.  I was sad that it sold.  I had hoped to own that car one day.

That is the story of my first exposure to ebodies it seemed after I found that one in a junk yard I saw cudas everywhere!  I even found a orange AAR with a blown engine 6pk was gone.  I went to take my Step-Dad to see it about a month later, it was gone.

Don

[IMNCARN82]

COOL STORIES!!!   

I wus 4. DaD took me to a sport show.It wuz 1974.I got lost in all these people.Being so small I snuck through them and came to a step. I crawled up and stood up to look around. Everyone was looking at me. I was like "what". Just then I turned around to see it...   A purple '71 'cuda up on a platform with me standing there... My DaD saw me and rushed up to grab me...   That was it...   Ever since then it just HAD to be a 'cuda. And I have enjoyed it more than anything I've ever owned. It is a dream come true for this kid! 

[whitesatinmopar]

Well honestly we have a Challenger................because my wife wanted one  Now, what would you have done?  She wanted a 70 but either we couldn't afford what we found or didn't want what we could afford  70's = big $$$$$$. So we pretty much gave up than by accident ran across WSM and bought it off a salvage dealers trailer straight from a salvage auction. Put the car in a body shop (straight off his trailer) for repairs and paint, we finished the interrior ourselves and built the 360 too. Momma is happy and I'm happy Momma is happy  But personally I'm a B body kind of guy, although a certain 71 Dart has me excited for springtime.   

[brads70]

I was about 10 or 11, there was a junk yard up the road from my grandmas in TN.  I used to walk there and look at all the relic muscle cars.  Being from a Mopar family I was interested in the Dusters, Darts, Roadrunners ect.  you get the picture, I thumbing through the yard when I came accross this red 74 cuda with white interior.  It had a blown engine and had been sitting for years.  I vowed to buy that car one day.... after I got back from my first deployment to Iraq I went and seen it and the owner of the junk yard, I made small talk and then asked if he still had that car (i knew he did) and then asked what he wanted for it.  He told me he would like 7k for the car.  I didnt have but about half of that and I asked him if he could take it he didnt bite...  At least I made the try for my childhood cuda...  well it came up on ebay a couple of years ago, I think in 2006 and it sold for 8k.  I was sad that it sold.  I had hoped to own that car one day.

That is the story of my first exposure to ebodies it seemed after I found that one in a junk yard I saw cudas everywhere!  I even found a orange AAR with a blown engine 6pk was gone.  I went to take my Step-Dad to see it about a month later, it was gone.

Don

Don, I'd like to hear how/where you got your current Cuda? I know your story on how it was restored, but did you have it before it was fixed up?

[4Cruizn]

I wanted to rebel against my Ford heritage and MOPAR (brand X as my father would say) is what I picked.  Then my brothers friend had a black cuda for sale and I had to have it . . . I was still in high school.  Almost 30 years later and I still have it. 

[AARCUDADEN]

I wanted to rebel against my Ford heritage and MOPAR (brand X as my father would say) is what I picked.  Then my brothers friend had a black cuda for sale and I had to have it . . . I was still in high school.  Almost 30 years later and I still have it.

I too came from a ford family  My dad was a die hard Ford guy and when i bought my Cuda he says to me what the heck do you want a mayflower for and i said what do you mean He says cause thats what we used to call them Chryslers back in my day cause they were always big and ugly    but i said mines a Plymouth 

[sadil340]

My high school buddy John bought my car new in 1970 and I used to ride around in it. He used it for work and would sometimes jump into it and drive 1,100 miles to Florida for the heck of it so in four years he racked up 110,000 miles. One day he went to start it and it ran real bad (swallowed a ring) so he parked it.

Some months later my uncle gave me a '67 Cadillac convertible that he blew the engine on and John fell in love with it so he asked if I wanted to trade for the Cuda. No hesitation there! I've been driving the Cuda ever since and just got done with a 3-year restoration. John rebuilt the Caddy, got about 3 years out of it and it eventually went to the junkyard. Every once in a while at a party, someone will kid John and ask him if he has any cars to trade. 

[CHL2T]

Keep in mind I was born in 71 so my first memories are somewhat hazy, LOL.

Anyhow it musta been 74 cause I remember the bi-centennial parade had either happened or hadn't happend yet and being only three at the time it all seems like a dream. As it turns out my biological father and mom were finally on speaking terms, and he decided to come over and take us (mom, sister and me) out to get something to eat. Well, he comes rolling up in what to me, in retrospect, and in my memory, seemed to be a scary sounding yellow and black thing, After convincing me it was fine the memory stops, untill we arrive at wherever we were going and I recall mom not knowing where the seat release was and him showing her it was on the side of the seat and her saying that's a stupid/ hard to find of a location for a seat release. (not exact but something like that)

Fast forward 35 years to the last family reunion, and I am talking to my aunt (mom and father had both passed on) about this very thing, and she conforms that the car was indeed a 70 Dodge Challenger, yellow with a black top and interior and that it was loud! She tells me that my father drove the car for a year or two and then sold it to her husband for $600 who in turn beat the shi* out of it and sold it for $100 in a drunken stupor. I asked her if she has any pictures and she said that she might, but I have to go to her house in Port Orchard cause she "aint digging them out for no reason"

Rewinding 28 years, finds me walking to school in the sixth grade every day and seeing a cream colored rallye Challenger parked in a yard which awoke the earlier memories.

Rewinding now, only to 92, finds me and my GF, now wife (commom law) cruising the neghborhood looking for Mopar (she had bought The 69 Charger with money her mom left her and we were hooked at that pont!) when we come across a tarp covered 70 Challenger. At that point we were like "cool" and kept driving. About a week later, I was driving home from work and saw that very 70 Challenger parked on the street with a for sale sign on it. I looked the car over and it was a mess, something anyone else would pass on the street and say "gawd!, send that thing to the junkyard" I on the other hand, knowing that if it wasn't rusted out and if it ran, then I had to have it. (Experience with the charger had taught me these lessons early on in my mopar madness)
The car was missing only the headlight bezels, hood trim and quarter extension molding, all of the edges and body lines were outlined in neon day glow green. The right front fender was dark green as was the decklid. All in all it was by far the ugliest car in town, but I knew better and saw it for what it was, a diamond in the rough.

Now it's time to let my kids drive it and make their own Mopar memories to tell her kids/ friends and share on great sites like this

[JH27N0B]

In my case, I was interested in cars from an early age and built a lot of models in my youth.  Around the time I started high school, custom vans were all the rage and I started dreaming about getting a van when I turned 16 and customizing it.
One day I informed my dad that I was saving all the money I was earning from odd jobs toward customizing a van.  I said if he bought me a used one when I was 16, I thought I'd have enough saved by then to do a pretty cool job modifying it.
He shot down that idea right away, he told me if I wanted a car when I was 16, I would have to buy it myself. So much for my little scheme, no way would I have enough money to buy a van and customize it too!
So I started thinking about what I might be able to afford, I figured I could buy a used musclecar.  I started reading Hot Rod and Car Craft, looking at pictures and articles about Mustangs, Camaros and Chargers and dreaming of getting one of those someday.
Then I saw Vanishing Point on TV one evening and thought how cool that Challenger was.  I was familiar with Challengers, I'd even built a couple models of them.  But they really hadn't interested me until seeing that movie!
After that I looked through all my car magazines trying to learn more about Challengers and their sibling the 'cuda.  I learned about the T/A and AAR's and thought that was the coolest package that had been available with E bodies.  I decided I wanted one of those when I got my driver's license!
When I finally turned 16 and got my drivers license, I started searching for a T/A or AAR, I finally found a T/A in early winter, of what turned out to be the worst winter in history around here.  But that is another story!
30 years later I am still as much an e body fan as ever!  But looking back I can't believe there was a time that I actually was dreaming about owning a Camaro! 

[BB73Challenger]

I have always had a thing for classic cars, typically my generation for the most part didn't have a real following for "older" cars and my Mom's family ( 7 brothers ) all for the most part were into them and most had some pretty cool iron with the one taking me to a local cruise as a reward for doing some choirs out at my Grandparents.
That being said, they were Chevy guys, and there pretty much wasn't a "cool" ride that they had not at some point had.

My 1st car was a slant 6 Aspen, and I began cutting my car guy teeth on that.
Dad had a few Dodge trucks, and even had plucked the engines from a few older and so there was Mopar parts around at any given time.
So you can call it a perfect storm for the Dodge/Plymouth/Chrysler blood line.

Had a few more and even had a land yacht New Yorker when I could afford a new, more sporty car.

Searched for a while, narrowing my search down to E-bods specific and end up finding my Challenger and being hooked ever since.

[usraptr]

When I was going to college I shared a house with some fraternity brothers. One day one of my roommates girlfriend showed up in a new brand new 1969 orange Z28, 4-speed Camaro 'vert.  When I heard that 302 idle it was love at first sight.  At the time I couldn't afford a new car and had to wait until Oct '69 before I could.  Well the 1970's were out and I couldn't find a new '69 Z28 anywhere. As you all know Chevy completely changed the design on the 1970 Camaro which I hated at the time.  Instead of buying a "used" '69 Z28 I bought a new 1970 'Cuda because it was the closest body style to the '69 Z28 I could find.  I ordered my car from the factory.  Triple black, 383 with pistol grip 4 speed, 3.55 sure grip rear end, Rallye dash, AM/FM stereo multi-plex radio with rear speakers, rear window defroster and steelie wheels and small hubcaps because I was going to put 5 spoke mags on it as soon as I got it.  I didn't order power steering because I didn't want to "rob" the engine of any power. (I never said I was the sharpest knife in the drawer) Originally didn't order A/C either for the same reason.  However, I lived in So. Calif. at the time and after a particularly hot summer decided that not having air in a black car was a mistake.  I called up the dealer and had air added to the build, but still didn't get power steering which ended up costing me the car in the end.  Car was $4200 out the door with tax and license and probably a 1 of 1 car with air and no power steering.

A few weeks later I called my dad up to see if he wanted to see/drive my "new" car.  I went over to his work and he suggested we drive it to his main office to drop off some paperwork.  Once there he introduced me to my future wife.  Didn't think much about it until a few weeks later when I was talking to him on the phone and he said, "BTW, Jeanne wants to know when you're going to call her?"  I replied, "Jeanne who?"  He said you know the girl I introduced you to at work.  I told him he introduced me to about 50 people and I said which one was Jeanne?  He described her and I briefly remembered that she wasn't butt ugly but didn't remember much else. Since I had just broken up with my long time girlfriend I got her number and called her up.  The rest is history.  We just celebrated 39 years last Aug.  Later found out that my Dad had told her that I wanted to take her out and asked if it was okay if he gave me her phone number.  As she says, what was I supposed to say "NO" I don't want to go out with my bosses son??!!  So my '70 Cuda will always hold a special place in my heart as it got me married to my sweetheart.

Postscript:  Like an idiot I sold the car three years later for $2800 to buy a 1966
Toyota Landcruiser with a 327/365 HP corvette motor (I was into off roading and sand dunes at the time).  A year later we needed to replace my wife's car (1967 Mercury Cougar RX7 with a 390 because it needed a brake job and was vapor locking)  .  I was missing the 'Cuda and contacted the guy I sold it too and asked if he was interested in selling it.  He said yes so I borrowed the 'Cuda back from him for a week.  My wife drove it to work for that week and said she didn't want it to be "her" car (even though she really looked "hot" driving it) as it was to hard to steer with manual steering.  So instead of buying it and having powering steering installed ($1000) we decided against buying it back and bought a used 1970 Old's Cutlass instead. 
Did I mention that I wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer!!!   I never saw my 'Cuda again.   

[sleepychallenger]

Let me take you back.....way back....to 1984!!! In 1984 I was born and my dad had his challenger (now mine) for 8 years. its been with me my whole life and there has never been another car love that has come close.

[mopardave]

late 70's my neighbor parked a dark green challenger on the side of his house, I knew he wasnt to mechanically inclined but I really didnt bother until 1984. i was in high school and the car started to grow on me, both my dad and grandfather work for jefferson north assy and I had lways like the mopars but nothing in particular until then. I save up some cash and went down to talk to them, the wife answered the door and I mentioned i was interested in the car and offer 700.00, She said nope to much. I offered 400 and it was still to much, I went to a rediculous low of 40.00 and she called her old man and he said OK. so that afternoon  I had title in hand and pushed the 73 challenger 2 doors down to my dads garage. The 318 didnt run, I waited for the guy to get home and he told me he had the carb redone and thought it had a jumped chain and it never ran. Well the next day and after some tune up parts, fresh gas, TDC timing check it was running, I kept it quiet for about a week, then I pulled off the hood and slapped on a set of header and left them open. Drove up and down the street a couple times. neighbor dude came running over and could not believe, so yada yada yada. then fast forward to 1995 got it cut in and rolling. Daughter was born car on hold, skip to 1997 working on painting the car and getting it running, Whhoopps twins boys, Holy sheep shiza, 2 i thought I'd never get it done, finished the challenger a while later. I was hooked on mopar and E-bodies were the best, I bought a 70 RR for the wife as 3 kids and car shows dont work to well. Finished the Road Runner 2007 bought a 71 Cuda which is my all time car to have, so now I am patiently waiting to build my 71 Cuda,  Dont know the final color, Almost for sure it is going to have  hemi, and a 4 speed. maybe a 5.? I have been a mopar guy for life and enjoy my job aswell selling mopar parts everyday with the restorations parts as well. 

[RCKTMN94]

Hello,

    I grew up in Mopars and learned how to drive in a 1970 Satellite. My first cars were Cutlasses, which I still love to this day. However, the 'Cudas came into play when I was 16 with a friend's 1970 Barracuda convertible. It was the first Barracuda I ever saw and road in. Most of my 'car' friends had 'Cudas and Challengers, as well as other Mopars. My first one was a 1970 B5 340 4-speed 'Cuda. Then a 1971 Torred Gran Coupe. I sold both a few years back. The cool thing is that the 1970 Barracuda convertible I now own is my friend's Barracuda 'vert that started it all. Looking forward to finishing the car and going for another topless ride in her!

 
Paul