So why did you pick a 66-67 Charger?

[Big Sugar]

Before I Started searching for one of my own I could not recall ever seeing one, I had recently turned 40 and told the wife that it was my turn to take care of myself and told her I was getting a loud obnoxious bike ! She said.....NO....why not just get a nice little hobby car that the whole family could enjoy......?.....
Then I saw a sweet TEAL 67 Charger (440) on ebay , didn't win the auction but I was intrigued, searched around for a few months then lost interest in the Charger hunt.
Then one Day my Popular Hot Rodding mag arrived with a Beautiful Black 66 Charger on the cover owned by a chap in California named John Galambos. I was hooked His car was Stuning and Because of This Car I searched hard and eventually stumbleing upon my white 66 Charger in MI. Deal was Done 16 large for a fresh resto 66 440 Six Pack 727...
At the time I was sort of keen on a band in the Toronto area called BIG SUGAR and Ironically on the way home from picking up the car in Michigan, "(it was just as we crossed the border into Canada and it was then I knew all was good and I was now the official owner )" my buddy driving the truck said" Hey Ron...."What you gonna call it a second or two passed and I realized Big Sugar was on the Radio, So I announced "Big Sugar"", It was the perfect fit.
So here's where the story gets interesting. A few years go by and I'm frequenting the Charger forums when one day I get a PM from a guy in California who is absolutly in love with my Charger,...He apparantly has a Black 66....So we talk a bit and after a few PM's I begin to think this may be the owner of the 66 Charger that made the Poppular Hot Rodding cover ! and It was ! He's contacting me to say how much he loves my White 66 and it was because of his Black 66 that I fell in love with the 1st gen Chargers in the first place.
......Very Cool Karma moment ....
But get this ...it gets better... Later that year I win Tickets for a private showing and a meet and greet with a Gordie Johnson of Big Sugar...(on my birthday no less) Now for those who don't know, Gordie is a Mopar fan and a lot of Big Sugars earlier stuff showed Mopar references on their album or Cd covers, So I had brought a picture of my Charger to the event to have Gordie sign after the show (because I had won a meet and greet), So After the show I'm backstage with my wife and after a few minutes of Talking Mopars with Gordie and discussing his 70 R/T Charger I mention that I have a White 66....To Which he replies...So do I , "I just bought one" he sees my picture and states "jeeze Thats my Car " to which I laugh and he say seriously ..."Mine is white as well".. We share a laugh and talk a bit more and he signs my pic and Life goes on.... Karma....LOL
Then about a year later I get a PM on the 66-67 forum from a guy in Texas who notices my user name and says "Hey Nice Handle" and "by the way I have Gordies Charger in my Shop !!", I quickly reply with "Can you forward a Pic" and he does...And then it hits me !
Not only was Gordie 's Car a 66 Charger it was white with the same Stance and American Torque Thrust Rims.! Uncanny!! other than my hood scoop and his Red interior that picture could have been my car from 20' away.
Gordie and I have since become friends and we speak whenever the band Big Sugar comes thru the area.


I think I have a Keeper

Ron

 

[FROSTBITE]

CoooL! The picture with the charger next to the airplane is pretty awesome

 

[Big Sugar]

CoooL! The picture with the charger next to the airplane is pretty awesome

Plane was called BIG RED, So I just needed to get BIG SUGAR along side of it. Here's another.

My Favorite.

Ron

 

[hassyfoto]

I am one of those car guys that always liked the slightly different model cars. Tired of looking at all the Mustangs, Camaros, Chevelles, etc. I like the 66-67 Charger because its a car that is almost never seen. I can go to car shows all summer long and I might be lucky to see one other 1st generation Charger. The car is unique in design ( I agree it's a Love-it or hate-it design). Last year the only time I saw another 1st generation Charger was at the Chrysler Nationals at Carlisle.
Let's just say I like the Underdog.

 

[Greg Ducato]

Big Sugar, beautiful car and great story

 

[747mopar]

Don't own a first gen but really like them. I think the only thing that keeps them from being more sauté after is the lack of really nicely built ones running around. I would love for my next Mopar to be a 67 B Body.

 

[Gpuller]

Senior year of high school (1989) I found my first '66 in a guys pasture. Think I paid $250 for it, was silver with white interior, 361 with air, very rough car. Motor was stuck and bought a rebuilt 440 from my brother. Got it running over the summer and drove it for 2 years. One summer a brake line blew and smashed it. The best part of the car, the grille, was toast.
Found my current car in a local newspaper in the town I was going to college at. It was missing hood, left fender and grille, the 318 poly was stuck. Bought it for the money I had to pay my half of the rent, $170. Plan was to use it for parts to get the silver car back on the road. After looking over "parts" car I decided to use the silver car for parts. Installed the drivetrain into the "new" car. Not a whole lot has changed in the past 20+ years of ownership. Interior got a much needed make over this past winter.
Always wanted a '66 Coronet, almost got rid of the Charger to get one but decided against it. By that time I was hooked on the Charger. Glad I didn't its nice being different.

 

[lowbudget]

I told an old friend of my I was fixing to by a 1972 Fury II with a 400 in it for 2000.00. The Fury was nice inside and rust free just needing paint. He told me to come out to his house he had a car for me. I went out and he had a 1967 Charger that the inside was rough, the outside was rough but straight and rust free. It is a Nevada car that was optioned out when it was bought. He wanted to do a package deal so I ended up with it and 98 Cummins w/100,000 mikes on it for 12,000.00. So I figure I paid 3000.00 for the car and 9000.00 for the truck. I wanted another 12 valve Cummins anyway and it is in excellent shape. So that is how I picked a 67 Charger. I will be getting started on it next year after I finish up my 75 Valiant and get my 78 Aspen Sport Wagon clone finished. Too many projects not enough time lol

 

[66Auto=xcharger]

Back in 66 or 67 can’t remember we where at a nabobs house watching Color TV when an add for the Charger cam on It was red and in a slight power slide on a gravel road. Well I just fell in love then found out that it was offered with A HEMI and 4 Speed 4 bucket seats full conceal and only in a 2 door version! Well being only 12 years old I could not run out and buy one Well I finely got my in December of 1975. It took a few years but she put on a good show at Auto – X now


Don’t drive it like you Stole it Drive like your chasing the one who tried to steal it

 

[Big Sugar]

Nice Charger ! Im on your track and hopefully we'll be at a mopar autocross together event next year !

Nice work !

Ron

 

[chgr1]

Back in high school in the early 70's it was the car that I first got laid. You know big back seat area!!!
I was finally able to by one in 1996 for 2K from Lake Mary Oklahoma then restored it.


Like someone said, you either loved them or not.

It's not original but that doesn't matter to me. 440, GTX hood scoops, rear deck spoiler

 

[piwo440]

Always been a Dodge and Plymouth guy.... no offense to the 2nd gen cars but everybody has one or wants one. I have always been different so I wanted something different!

 

[tallhair]

Nice ... that color looks awesome with the body lines and white interior

 

[snakeyes]

boy that's a super nice looking charger what is the color code on that one :headbang:

 

[piwo440]

Original color combo for this car....

ZZ1 Citron Gold exterior (66 only) and P4W pearl white interior

 

[snakeyes]

[video=youtube_share;aOKJb0z3MXw]http://youtu.be/aOKJb0z3MXw[/video]

 

[Gpuller]

Always been a Dodge and Plymouth guy.... no offense to the 2nd gen cars but everybody has one or wants one. I have always been different so I wanted something different!

Couldn't have said it better myself. Car looks great Ron!

 

[Snowtrooper1966]

It kind of picked me.
Untill very recently, had been out of the MoPar fold for 30 odd years.

About 18 months ago was working at a upscale residential community. There was one resident who was flipping muscle cars, and he used to ask me for advice now and again. In exchange he would let me take a newly finished car out for a few day's shakedown cruise. This really started me down the MoPar Darkside path again, but at that time really had no hopes of funding such a purchase.

Interestingly enough, as his high $ cars rolled in and out of his hands, he did wind up with a beat down '67 Charger. First time I really ever even gave one of them a second look, despite having many MoPar's in the '80's.
Even with all the trim in the trunk, and not knowing of the EL dash and hide-a-way headlights, I could see just how badass the car could be. REALLY dug the 4 bucket seat concept....
Thought maybe I could get a “good guy” discount and he could carry me on the resto, but he said he had 6k in it as it sat. Alas, not meant to be….
I had since moved on to another property, and he moved back east, but the seed had been planted.

Over the next few months, I was really starting to tire of the SuperSport Kawasaki ZX 9R I had been using as my work commuter. Partially due to having to “gear up” any time I wanted to go anywhere, to the nutty freeway cagers that don’t see motorcycles (even Kawi racing green ones) and perhaps in some small part, wanting to be back in a muscle car.

Having previously owned a 4 speed 440 SixPak 69½ Superbee and a base model column shift 1970 440 Coronet with bench seats and a 318, I started doing online searches for what I would like to ideally have been in, a 1968 Dodge Coronet. Unfortunately, those were well out of the price range I could expect to sell my bike for, so the thought was that I going to have to baby step my way to muscle; start out with a few nice 4 door cars, make a few bux after getting them right and keep an eye out for the right deal on a solid Coronet.

Finally found a local 1966 Plymouth Belvedere II, that looked right, so I sacrificed the Kawasaki to the MoPar gods and took the leap.
In retrospect, I realized I paid way too much for it and did not do my due diligence in going over it. Lots of hidden issues. Guess I just had rose tinted glasses on. Also had trouble finding anything in my price range locally, so when this did show up, I needed to sink the dough into something before it got eaten up by life. Thank the maker I did not get underwater just getting it right.

Shortly after I bought it, a really nice ’67 4 door Coronet popped up on eBay for near the same price I had paid for the Belvedere. It did not sell, so I had reached out to the seller and worked out a deal. I had the ’66 listed locally with little success, and in desperation, threw it up on eBay for $5,200, what I needed to buy and ship the 4 door Coronet. With all my recent experience shopping and looking, thought it was unlikely I was going to get it, but really had no choice.

To my great surprise, in the 11[SUP]th[/SUP] hour, just before the auction was to close, a guy from back east called inquiring about it, and ultimately bid, paid and shipped it! By the time all the ducks were in a row, I found out the 4 door Coronet had since been sold, so I was on the hunt again. Found a 68 2 door 318 Coronet, but the guy wanted too much in my opinion, even though I had the dough, as the car really had many expensive (rust / tranny / not firing) issues for me to quickly turn it into a driver or even make any $ for a flip.

Around this same time 1[SUP]st[/SUP] gen Chargers came back on my radar, and I was quite surprised to find that they were more reasonably priced than comparable well known B bodies, so I added these to my search.

In short order, this came up:



It was on eBay and local Craigslist, and I managed to get in touch with seller before the auction ended. Made him an offer close to what it was at on eBay with 24 hours left. He went up a grand to his price on Craig's (5K), then said lets meet in the middle, and as I was about to reach out and say sold, he went down to 4250.00. As I was paying him in hundreds, asked if he had change, and he said just give me 4200.00

So we towed home, as it had been in storage for 15 years.




Think it's an pretty good find, NO rust, original (albeit tired) paint and ZERO dents. All original, other than a 1969 383 intake/4bbl carb setup and speakers in the rear fold down. Nice unmolested car.

Replaced the windshield and put in a new gas tank. Rebuilt carb. Gone over the brakes and changed/flushed all the fluids.
It was running on 5.5 cylinders, so had to get the 361's heads rebuilt.
She’s now a driver!
Pretty close to getting the headlamps sorted and the EL dash right. After that it will need new exhaust, seats and carpet.

Not the car I was originally looking for, but it's essentially a fastback Coronet with a badass interior!