Feb. 2019 issue of MoPar Collectors Guide

Newport 66

Old Man with a Hat
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Just got mine in the mail today

Sport Fury GT (Top Ten) on the cover and "C-ing" double article inside....C's gettin' some love!!!!

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"Wanting" is not a "demand for them". Lots of people have "wanted" or claimed to want various parts repro'd over the years. Never happened. When the repoprs can see enough PROFIT in spending the money for tooling and such, THEN it can happen, but only oh THEIR time schedule. Then, when the price of the restored cars get high-priced enough to support their prices, Even better.

Twenty years ago, B/E-cars were in a similar situation that C-bodies always have been. In the '80s, I had a friend who scoured salvage yards to get the customer interior for the '67 Camaro he was rebuilding (which didn't have that interior to start with).

There was a Camaro parts vendor in southern Arlington, TX that stripped all of the Camaros in this area, that he could find, to start his Camaro parts business. IF there were any new parts, GM was still making them, or at the end of their supplies of them. All used and cleaned up, nothing "repro" back then.

Other Camaro vendors had new items which GM was still selling, typically. Everybody had the same gaps in coverage, by observation, back then.

Until there was YearONE, no repro Mopar parts, usually. The first sponsor of the North Loop Dodge Performance Team, the parts manager Bart Cooper, also invented the Find-A-Part system. We had access to that network, via the dealership. Later, other similar services came online, as Parts Voice. Many Mopar dealers had obsolete parts stock which they were willing to sell, which Bart also tapped into with their Obsolete Parts Warehouse. LOTS of things in there! Carb jets. A front seat lean back GLS seat cover. And on and on. That was at the beginning of the repro parts era. Brad's NOS Parts came by once, too.

There ARE some parts which are/can be similar between the various engines and platforms, IF you know what they might be. Like fuel pump to carb fuel lines and some other smaller items.

It was a different "game" back then. It was common to make a several hundred mile trip scouting Mopar-related salvage yards. There were some larger ones in the Midwest, but they're now gone. Still a few in the Georga region, though. When we did the Superbird, YearONE was the main vendor used, fwiw. That was in the early '90s. But no sheet metal of such was needed.

In current times, you can wave the Magic Plastic at the computer and things happen. Or, dial a WATS line number and do similar. But mainly for B/E-cars, back then. Even A-bodies didn't have enough interest back then, either, but that changed in later years.

Putting the rubber onto the road and shoe leather on the ground at salvage yards was the order of the day, no matter WHAT Chrysler product you were looking for parts for. Lots of Buicks, Oldsmobiles, and Fords are still that way, or worse.

Happy NEW YEAR!
COBDY67
 
Anyone can open a catalog and basically build a A,B,E MoPar, any popular Chebbie, Mustangs etc.
I like scrounging for parts for my cars. Like I've said before and stand by it, that's what this hobby is about. Not waving the credit card at a book and getting a bunch of repop parts and spending a boat load of money to have someone else do all the work to have a trailer queen or garage art.
Get out there and find stuff and get dirty rebuilding it. Our hobby is slipping away right before our eyes, treasure this time while we still can.
 
True: hobby slipping away.
The last c-body is 40 years old. Much harder to find c-body cars in junkyards.
 
As one former local salvage yard told me years ago, "The heavy cars are crushed first." They're worth more money, as a result. He kept a lot of older stuff, though. He had a customer in Sweden who'd send him a list. Thomas would get what he could and ship it out in a big box or crate.

In the earlier '80s, I'd take a vacation day, get about $40.00 on the credit card, assemble the tools I suspected I'd need in a plastic bag, and head down there. After the first time, Thomas gave me the keys to the back lot and I'd drive down there and spend as much time as I could justify. When done, I'd take my stuff back to the office and he'd tell me how much money he wanted for it. Never did question him, considering he was one of our parts dept customers. He and our dealer went elk hunting once a year. Thomas got a Travco motor home, Chrysler powered, and very proudly took me out to show it to me. Even had the Muntz 4-track tape player in it. Would have expected James Garner or Doris Day to come out of the sleeping quarters, it was that correct and intact! He was so proud of that thing.

Those treks were great ways to spend a spring day! Learned a bunch about how cars are built, too. PLUS seeing how much better the Chrysler products held up in that environment (soft trim) than similar Fords and GM cars did. It was great fun while it lasted! I found some neat stuff down there, too. Maybe not major stuff, but trinkets that make the difference if they are in good shape.

CBODY67
 
Unfortunately, most of the old school junk yards are gone or the cars were crushed when metal prices skyrocketed a number of years back. We gotta preserve what we can while we can and get the youth involved!!
 
And exactly how many younger people do you know who would want a C body?
Now out of all those how many have enough mechanical skills to keep one on the road?

As all of us get older and die off the nice cars end up in museums/collections
and the not so nice ones end up as scrap....
So enjoy what you have now and drive the crap outta 'em .... :thumbsup:
 
Spoke to Rob Wolf in 2016 at Carlisle.
Then again this year at Carlisle and Moparfest.
The story of the BoaB has fallen on deaf ears...
Hoping 2019 Moparfest showing in the arena (kinda like the Canadian version of Building T) will grab his attention.
The Green Fury is a cool car!
 
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Spoke to Rob Wolf in 2016 at Carlisle.
Then again this year at Carlisle and Moparfest.
The story of the BoaB has fallen on deaf ears...
Hoping 2019 Moparfest showing in the arena (kinda like the Canadian version of Building T) will grab his attention.
The Green Fury is a cool car!
If you get rid of two doors, he might look at it, as he's walking past it. At least they brought back the classified ads.
 
I've known Rob for several years and see him often throughout the SE Mopar shows. I'm not a fan of his editorial style or MCG. To predictable and often slanted or incorrect information on anything non B/E/A body. But he's ok to drink a beer with.
I did catch him photographing The Admiral at Ocala one year. Chrysler power magazine covered the event and posted pic's of two cars, one of a Challenger that belonged to a friend of the editor and one of the Admiral.
 
December 2018 issue MCG has an article on a 68 sportsgrain vert but called it a 67!
Blasphemy !
 
To address the repop market. I unfortunately agree demand does equal reproduction. This also falls back on the true question, saving cars especially fuselage models. To the popularity at car shows these cars do have a draw of there own. I get a steady stream of admiring attendees over the usual entrants. As the demand for parts go up and the need and demand rises. There is a market for us. As three D printing costs come down, reproduction of lenses any thing plastic will gain popularity especially w/ hard core owners and new entry owners. Supply and demand will set this unexplored landscape. Fabrication is just what it is, those who do can. Mr. Wolf should continue to feature an occasional C body.
 
As others have stated, the restored and over-restored A,B & E bodies are played out and Rob and company know it. MCG has been swinging toward featuring "other" models as of late as they note in the articles themselves.

The "A" bodies went through their period of unlove until the B's and E's started reaching the stratosphere, then suddenly the A's picked up steam.

The C's may be in for the same treatment, though not to the same extent I would argue. It's a double edged sword really. The car you currently own goes up in value, but then so does the one you want to buy next.
 
I wonder if trucks will be the next big thing in the MoPar world. They're cheap (now, for the most part) and less costly to restore. The 72-80 Dodges seem to be gaining a big following. It's easier to do a frame off truck resto than a C body.
 
Cbarge, Sorry to "bust your bubble", but Rob Wolf absolutely does not at all enjoy C-bodies. Why, I don't know. Not surprised that he put the Sunroof GT in there though. (how can you not), what a stunning, and rare car. He's not a C-body fan by any means, BUT if it is a GT or S/23 he may make an acceptation. Sorry I'm bashing the guy, but it seems to me its true.
 
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