Why Mopar?

[pabster]

Ok, this question has been bouncing around in my head for quite a while, and I'm assuming you all have very strong feelings on this subject, which is exactly what I want to hear.

Why do you choose Mopar over other car manufacturers of the period? What makes Mopar better?

I'll answer this question myself to start the ball rolling... I think the design of Mopar is more daring, more smooth, more original, more distinctive than most other cars from the period. (Although I sure do dig the AMC Javelin) I can't speak for the quality of my car vs Ford or GM since I've never owned either, but I can say that I'm been very impressed with the quality of my 37 year old Charger.

Looking forward to hearing what everybody thinks!

 

[tpodwdog]

heres why i choose MOPAR. the bodies on these cars is unmatched. every old mopar from 1950's to the mid 70's has a sex appeal. im not sure if this went into the design of these cars....or thats just what i see in them. i cant look at my 1970 Road Runner without falling in love with it everytime....thats more than any woman can do or has ever done for me. i had a 1970 Road Runner when i was 19 years old....wrecked it,,,and have wanted another one since the day i parted with it. thats why i own the purple one you see over there<<<<< . i have owned other cars. i owned a 1971 chevy monte carlo....nice car...rust bucket...but nice. i owned a ford mustang....not so nice car. junk if you asked me. thats about as far as the muscle cars i have owned and personally i like the MOPARS much better for way too many reasons. looks....ease of fixing...i like the oil pump on the exterior of the engine.(big blocks) ...i like the simplicity. i love the high impact colors.....GM or ford never had these colors. i could go on and on, but just look at a MOPAR, tyhen look at a GM or a ford.NO COMPARISON. EVERYONE AND THEIR BROTHER HAS A CAMARO....BUT HOW MANY HAVE A CHALLENGER,,,OR A rOAD rUNNER OR A sUPERBEE....OR A DAYTONA CHARGER OR A SUPERBIRD?.....NOT MANY...ooooops...caps was on.... just my thoughts! good question to ask by the way !

rokk on (beep-beep ! )

 

[marlabuck]

The photo attached is our 1966 Malibu being sold...my husband is kind of a Ford guy but also likes the odd Chevrolet or two...maybe it is a high school thingy where he drove them...anyway for me I like the feel of a Plymouth ie Dodge...my 1973 Roadrunner has that special feel whenever I drive her...the steering wheel is so special...the way the doors kinda clunk and are hard to shut...the way the engine sounds...I think I am rambling here...kind of a stressful day for me as after 12 years with ebay and Paypal I closed my accounts with them...poor customer service...blah blah blah...thanks for this topic it really has lifted my spirits...Marla...:argue:

 

[Sonny Black]

something about these old B Bodies!

 

[dave5237]

I guess my story is different. I was a chevy guy for years but wanted a big block car. 454 engines dont come cheap so I opted for a mopar because there were a lot of 383's around at that time (1998). Go figure I found a 68GTX ( 440 C.I.D ) local. Never seen a 68 GTX at any shows around town here yet and wanted something nobody else had here in town. I also knew they were getting harder and harder to find since GM is right down the street from me ( were a chevy town ).

 

[68sportsatelliteragtop]

I guess I was born into it shall I say. My father was always a Chrysler man and had a current model Chrysler throughout the 50's. Once he married and started raising the 4 of us, used Chryslers were the family cars. Early memories of passing tools to Dad under the 63 wagon as yet another junkyard trans went into the tow car. He had a habit of bringing home the occasional Ford or basket case project to fix for us as our first cars and I was given a Maverick as my first car. Didn't take long for me to talk him into helping me get my 70 Challenger before graduation. Since then I have always had at least 1 Mopar, sometimes too many at once! At car shows I will walk past a sea of Camaroaches and Crustangs in search of anything Mopar!

 

[anmracing]

I was a Blue Oval guy before I got my first Mopar back in 1983/4. Had a '67 Rustang when I was a freshman but had to get rid of it when the engine blew, then my dad had a '63 Ford PU I had to borrow to get to work and school. Found the Mopar after I decided I needed a car of my own. It was a cheap car, (500 1983 dollars) not what I really wanted but I didn't want to walking to work and school either. Got kinda attached to her and just can't seem to get rid of her after all these years. We've been through a lot, races, police searches and chases, engines and trannys. That damn car pissed me off plenty of times but now we have run out of things to fight about so I just let her take it easy in the garage and drive her around to show her off. She's the second love, if I'm not buying something for my wife, then I'm buying something for our Mopar...

 

[67 coronet]

it started for me in high school.there was a club of camaros,68-72,all painted a base color with two stripes over the top.i had to have something diff.i already knew fords where junk,family owned a few,so dodge it was!got a 68 charger 440 rt from my dad that was just way broke down.rebuilt it myself and after one touch of that throttle,it was true love forever!i have drove and raced dodge ever since.

 

[696pack]

I am not JUST a Mopar guy but rather a muscle car guy. I have had many muscle cars over the past 40+ years. The last decade I have had primarily Mopars so many people think i am a Mopar guy. I know a lot about old Mopars because I sold them new from 1968-1974 and owned a lot of them as well over the years. There are many particular cars in different makes that I REALLY like.

The pros and cons for Mopars for me since they were new are:
Pros
Great heavy duty engine/driveline parts. When you compare them to brand X it is VERY obvious.
Some great inovative body styles, marketing, and race programs.

Cons
Poor body fit and paint compared to brand X.

 

[Propwash]

My initial dedication to mopar muscle can be definitely be attributed to family tradition. Being around the cars and hearing all the good ol' days stories from my father, turning the key of my own mopar was pretty much destiny. After the years have gone by, the cars have not only been part of my life, but have been a big figure in shaping my life. I guess that all became apparent several years ago while restoring a dart. I was knee deep in rusted metal, torn seats and coffee cans full of nuts and bolts when the AC/DC song came on "Who made Who". After hearing that phrase and thinking about it for a while, I knew it wasn't just me shaping the car back into something, it was the car shaping me into something as well.

My wife thinks my theory is a bit nuts, but well ......you guys tell me how different your lives would be if mopar was completly erased from it.

The icing on the cake is all the great folks you meet along the way. Groups like this one here, trading/buying parts, car shows/swap meets and just meeting folks on the road. I can honestly say the majority of all my friends are because of mopars as well.


Rock on mopar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msmzXBLVJEg

 

[Ron 73]

This is an easy one, I was driving a 63 Impala SS when i bought my first Mopar, a 67 Dodge Charger, The first time i set in it, looked around and seen the dash, buckets front and back console running down thru the middle, i just couldn't believe it, the first night i drove it i got in hit the key and turned the lights on, i set there and stared at those dash lights for a 1/2 an hour, the second Mopar was a 69 RR, this is the one that taught me pure power.. Luxury, power, performance, the ride alone compared to the others could not compare. Although i do like some older Chevy cars, Mopar since the first time out has been my choice bar none. There is something about Mopars you or at least i cant put into words, there special, Ive met more good people talking about these Mopars and are always willing to help and LOVE to share there old story's relating to there past or present cars and what was going on at one time or another driving them, around here you go to a car show, you don't see many of them. My wife asked me a couple weeks ago if those Mopars is ALL i ever think of, I said no i think of other things but i FIGHT it!.

 

[moparmarks]

Think everyone can give lots of reasons why but I think the real question is "why not Mopar?"

 

[64BEL]

My dad had Chevys in the '60s and Fords in the '70s. I think he had Plymouth in the '50s (before my time). He wasn't a car guy - they were just family transportation. As I started wrenching on cars, I learned a lot on his Fords. I always wanted a big block Mustang - that was my dream car.

In high school, I worked at a service station. My boss was into Mopars. His daily driver was a '69 Sport Satellite. He talked about another Mopar he had, but I never saw it - until one Sunday morning. I remember it like it just happened a minute ago. It was a spring Sunday morning in 1981, and I was sitting in the office - waiting for the next full service customer to come along. Then it happened. First just the black front fender was visable, then the hood and Air Grabber as the rest of the car pulled slowly up to the window I was sitting in front of. It was my boss in his '70 GTX. Wow - what a sight! The car was for sale, and a few days later I took it for a drive. As I rowed through the 4-speed, I knew this was the fastest thing I'd ever been in - let alone driven. I bought it - my very first car. I've been all Mopar ever since. Oh yeah, I also later bought the '69 Sport Satellite - it was my winter driver.

Looking back, I remember how much I liked looking at and riding in the Charger our neighbors across the street had in the '60s. I think it was a '68. I like how Mopars are an unknown to a lot of people. How they aren't high on flash for the most part, but more all business. Let the car do the talking rather than flap your gums like the brand x guys. I suppose I'm biased, but I really think the engineering is superior in Mopars for the most part. I just hate driving GM vehicles - they seem so cheap and poorly thought out. And as a fan of drag racing history, what other brand could I like more than Mopars?

 

[fla 66 cuda]

My first car was a 68 roadrunner 440/4 speed in high school,i was the one of the only mopars in the area i grew up in [a friend had a 340 duster] most of my friends i grew up with had camaros,gtos,fords i worked/built most all of them they thought i was an idiot for having a mopar till they realized i never had to work on it that much and i could hand their asses to them in a race every time.After school i strayed with fords,chevys but in 2006 my wife and i were looking for a new project [we had completed our 79 box impala] and she wanted to build another truck [i wanted a 69 camaro] so we went to look at a 65 f100 sb all orig. fresh restoration and low and behold the guy had this barracuda [that was not for sale at the time] it was love at first sight i had never really paid attention to them backin the day but i was smitten now i had to have it,after 2 hours of haggeling he finally gave in, and now we have a charger to keep my fish company with a few more to follow if i have my way [68 roadrunner like my high school one,340/4 speed duster light blue white interior a very good friend had one, he got killed in a construction accident we spent a lot of time driving around in that car] my wife tolerates my car addiction she don't understand it but she tolerates it. Does anybody else have the sound of a throaty exhaust constantly ringing in their ears? That's the sign of terminal carmonia.

 

[Deleted member 214]

My grandfather worked in a steel mill. He drove a beater to work but always had a nice Mopar for my grandmother to drive - I remember a few Monacos, a Newport, and a burgundy Coroba. My dad got the Mopar bug from him - I remember riding in a 50s Chrysler when I was so small the radio was at eye level. He had one Chevy, then stuck with Mopars. Polaras, a St Regis, 5th Avenue. I'm third generation - it's in my blood! My first car was a 76 Aspen 6-banger with overdrive. First new car was an 80 Omni DeTomaso. I've owned a Little Red, a pair of 64 1/2 Dart GTs (one coupe, one ragtop, both red 273s), 66 Satellite, 70 Road Runner, a Demon, The only vehicle I ever ordered from the factory was a 96 Ram. I cut a .509 light at Texas MotorPlex in my 92 Spirit.

 

[72 Charger SE]

I grew up around Dodge and Plymouth dealerships, since my dad worked in parts departments at several dealers since before I was born. I can recall seeing the Superbirds on the lot where he worked when I was little, and wanted one really bad. Never got my hands on one, but did end up with my mom's 72 Charger when I graduated high school. We owned almost exclusively Mopars, except for first cars for my brother and I. I had a 72 Ford Gran Torino and my brother had a 71 Mercury Montego. I worked on both of those cars, along with our Mopars, and I quickly developed an appreciation for the way the Mopars were assembled vs. the Frods (not a typo.)

 

[nelsontoddpa]

I grew up in a "Chevy/GM family" but my parent's bought a 1967 Dodge Coronet 500 (2 door white with a black hard top) for my older sister. I was lucky enough to inherit it when she got married. Unfortunately my younger sister was driving it when I was in college and it was totalled out (not even her fault, so I can't blame her). Since then I've always wanted another- I really loved the style, the speed- even though it was 'only' a 318-and really everything about it. After casually looking around for awhile, last year I ran across a 1967 Coronet 440 Convert that is super clean and at a decent price so I scooped it up. I still love the style, and although parts are fairly hard to get, I really like the fact that there aren't all that many around.

 

[ChargerRTguy]

I got started with Mopars at an early age. My grandfather's first Chrysler was a 1940 Royal I believe is what he said. He always owned one, Imperials etc. So I was around Mopars from the start. What really got me into them was when I was about 9 or 10 my dad and brother took me to see "Bullitt" when it came out. I never forgot the car chase and seeing that black Charger and said someday I'm gonna own one. My brother bought a new 73 Roadrunner after college graduation and I remember riding around in it and when it came time to drive, that was the first car I learned and drove in. A number of years later he sold it to me for one dollar, had some rust and over 100k miles, but I fixed her up and drove her around as my daily driver. I regretably sold it while in college and shortly after vowed to own another Mopar. Fast forward 20 years, found a nice unfinshed 68 Charger R/T in Texas, bought it, trailed it home and now finally creating my "Bullitt" dream car. This one will never be sold, just passed on to my kids for another Mopar generation.

 

[gremlinsteve]

because i love the way they sound too

http://fliiby.com/file/628041/s4atrgglt4.html

 

[Meep-Meep]

Starting with cars at a young age my mission was to go fast but I didn't have a lot of money to spend, so I had to make do with what I had or could find at the swap meet for cheap. It didn't take long for me to realize that making a 68 383 Road Runner go fast didn't take a lot of effort or money. This was contrary to popular belief and I got nothing but crap for bringing this big non running $450.00 boat home into a neighborhood full of nice Camaros. While the Chevy guys were desperately looking for the 4 bolt main blocks and screw in stud camel hump heads, I just put together my cast piston 383 with a mild cam, torker, Holley 700 DP and headers and proceeded to show them what a fast car was. I learned that MoPar excels in the drive train dept plain and simple. I did virtually nothing to my suspension and it was running mid 13's @ 105 on street tires. No wheel hopping mono leafs, no broken 10 bolts and/or Muncies and no press in rocker studs to pull out.