Bigmoparjeff's collection of mostly big Mopars

[bigmoparjeff]

That brings back memories of when I built my second car storage garage back in 2013. Each of them is also a steel building and getting a permit to build them was a real challenge here in California. The city planners were not going to have any steel building in a residential neighborhood, much less two of them. But I have two houses on side by side lots and together they comprise about an acre of land. Each building is about 70' x 48', which is the largest the city ended up allowing. I would have liked larger ones, but only an act of god would have got that though. As it was, I had to give a presentation to the city council of what I was going to do with them and convince them I would fit in the neighborhood. I also had to have them appear the same as the homes up front, with siding or stucco and composition roofs. I guess the photos of some of my cars did the trick, and the guy from the planning department who had to visit the site and give his initial approval really liked an A100 pickup that I had in my yard at the time and wanted to buy it. I found him a better one to consider though. Without that little miracle, none of this would have ever happened. I like the dimensions of your building much better, but I am just grateful for what I ended up with. Here is just one photo of my second one being built.

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I have to say that the scenery behind your building is a bit more impressive than mine. I really do need to head southwest again soon, and escape the arctic chill that's moved in here.

I did a lot of planning before I ordered mine, and 60 feet turned out to be the ideal width for car storage. If you want to pack them tight, you can do 8 across no problem, and if you want to do a drive thru center lane, it works out perfect for angled parking on both sides.

 

[bigmoparjeff]

That's tight! That must be fun moving all those cars around. Suddenly, I don't feel bad about the few I have to move around. I do envy your space, though.

Yes, it's like a puzzle that only comes apart in a certain order. The Buick wagon is in neutral, so I pull that forward by hand past the bus until I can get the driver door open. Once that's out of the way, I have access to the battery door on the bus and I can re-install the batteries and back it out. The gold 300 can drive right out next. Then comes the floor jack to slide the red Fury out sideways a bit at a time. Once it's out of the way, the yellow Imperial and Bronze T&C can be driven out. Then the process is repeated with the next row. It's really not all that bad. I have tape on the floor to tell me where the car tires need to be when they go back in. That's an older picture, and the four Imperials are long gone, so there's a bit more room now, as the cars that replaced them are shorter.

 

[sixpkrt]

Nice collection! Even better that you have a really nice place to keep them inside.

 

[FK3 Sport Fury]

Cool,thanks for the online shop tour.You have some neat projects there,may you live long and prosper so you can get some of them finished.

I was thinking the other day about how a lot of Mopar guys have multiple cars which got me to wondering if Mopar guys are natural born hoarders or become that after getting into Mopars...

 

[bigmoparjeff]

Nice fleet!

Seems like your not that far from Maryland. Maybe I'll take a tour if you're offering when it warms up this spring. Have we seen you at Carlisle before? If so....what car did you have there?

You're welcome to stop by if you are ever in the area. Just need to plan ahead as I'm an OTR trucker, so I'm not usually home that often, but I do try to take the week off for Carlisle. We've had vendor spots sine 2002. I don't know if you ever walk the entire place, but from the perspective of the show field, we are in the last row, P-91 to P-96. We usually have the bus with us, but the trans went out on it in'16, so we had to travel light last year. I didn't take pics of last year's set-up, but this is what our area normally looks like.

 

[LocuMob]

Cool,thanks for the online shop tour.You have some cool projects there,may you live long and prosper so you can get some of them finished.

I was thinking the other day about how a lot of Mopar guys have multiple cars which got me to wondering if Mopar guys are natural born hoarders or become that after buying a Mopar...

I think we learn to appreciate having spares for our hard to find parts!

 

[bigmoparjeff]

Cool,thanks for the online shop tour.You have some neat projects there,may you live long and prosper so you can get some of them finished.

I was thinking the other day about how a lot of Mopar guys have multiple cars which got me to wondering if Mopar guys are natural born hoarders or become that after getting into Mopars...

We have some guys in our Mopar club that only have one car, but most, if not all of them are limited by storage space. Everyone that I know who has the room, owns more than one.

 

[bigmoparjeff]

Oh my !

The wagon, since ruined by aggression it would be a fun car to restify and do my way ....id have to buy those seats back from Wyatt

I originally had the same thought. I was thinking of loosing the wood and all the extra trim that goes with it, but after seeing a pic of that real nice bronze one at a car show that someone posted a while back, I think it needs to stay stock. I may change the color, as I don't think the medium blue and wood goes well together.

 

[FK3 Sport Fury]

We have some guys in our Mopar club that only have one car, but most, if not all of them are limited by storage space. Everyone that I know who has the room, owns more than one.

That's very true,either that or their wives won't let them have another one.

 

[polara71]

I originally had the same thought. I was thinking of loosing the wood and all the extra trim that goes with it, but after seeing a pic of that real nice bronze one at a car show that someone posted a while back, I think it needs to stay stock. I may change the color, as I don't think the medium blue and wood goes well together.

The changing of B7 is not up for negotiaton .

 

[DocMcNeedy]

Sorry Doc, but you'll have to hang in till spring for those. The sun was at a bad angle when I brought it home, so I don't have any good ones, just a few from the Craigslist add. I do have some others that should be of interest to you. These two are gone (sold), but not forgotten:

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Thanks Jeff for sharing the Imperial pics! Guess we'll never know where they ended up or where they might be today...hopefully restored!

 

[detmatt]

There’s a LOT to like in this thread! Thanks for the tour!

 

[65Fury440]

Amazing guy with an amazing collection and story.
Thanks for making this thread, it is truly enjoyable.

 

[hanks71440]

Thanks for the wonderful stories and the awesome thread Jeff. You have a sweet collection of cars with great stories. Love the building.....

 

[Mr C]

My thoughts:
An impressive collection, I am somewhat jealous;
You have good taste;
I want that shop;
That 81 NY is the only R body NY I've ever seen without cornering lights.

 

[bigmoparjeff]

The changing of B7 is not up for negotiaton .

I forgot about that rule. Maybe a lighter wood that wouldn't clash as much with the blue paint?

Speaking of B7, I know you'll like this. It belongs to a friend of mine in Michigan. I need to pester him for more pics, as it should be completely done by now.

 

[bigmoparjeff]

Thanks Jeff for sharing the Imperial pics! Guess we'll never know where they ended up or where they might be today...hopefully restored!

The guy I sold them to claimed that he was going to fix them up. I believe his father either worked at, or owned a body shop. I included an NOS right side quarter panel in with the deal for the '73, and when I talked to him a month or so after he picked up the cars, he told me that his father had already installed the quarter. Though, I never got any pictures from him to really prove anything. I also sold him a very rusty '67 Newport coupe, and they had that car back on the road pretty soon after he bought it. Even though the silver '72 looks pretty nice in the pictures, it too had a lot of rust. You have to watch the fenders on the '72-73 Imperials. They will rust in an odd way, along the seam where the hood opens. The fenders on the silver car were pretty bad in that area. I bought both of those Imperials from local junk yards. The silver one was out in front in the used car section that many yards will have for the stuff that's too good to get scrapped. The tan one was in a yard, and I was able to drive it out after replacing some parts that had already been sold off of it. The silver one was junked after someone pulled the engine and trans. The tan one had a bad transmission and the carb was shot. If you noticed, both had cloth interiors, which seem to be less common than the leather. I highly recommend the '73 cloth interior because it has some of the best non-bucket seats that Chrysler made.

Whenever I look at pictures of the '72 I regret getting rid of it, as that color just looks so good on the car. It really goes well with the trim running along the tops of the fenders. In the same issue of Hemmings that my '67 Crown Coupe was in, there was a listing for a '72 Imperial 4drHT in the same dark silver and black. It was originally owned by Chrysler president Lynn Townsend, and was low miles, garage kept, excellent condition. The asking price was somewhere around three or four grand, and I think it might have been in Michigan, which would make sense. I wish I had bought that car too, since I had the money to buy both cars at the time.

 

[bigmoparjeff]

There’s a LOT to like in this thread! Thanks for the tour!

You're welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

 

[bigmoparjeff]

My thoughts:
An impressive collection, I am somewhat jealous;
You have good taste;
I want that shop;
That 81 NY is the only R body NY I've ever seen without cornering lights.

Thanks! I'm in complete agreement on the cornering lights, and I already have a set ready to go on it, if I ever get around to repainting that car. I think it looks lower class without the cornering lamps.

 

[bigmoparjeff]

I had a dentist appointment to go to on Tuesday morning and it was still way too cold out to have any chance of starting the Suburban, so I had to press the Newport into service. Luckily, even with the Auto-Temp being dead, you still get warm air from the defrosters. It did give me an opportunity to snap some up to date pics. Road wheels just make the world so much better to look at, though that bright snow is making my white walls look a bit dingy. I'm supposed to be driving that silver Town & Country van which I bought earlier in the year, but it's a fixer-upper and I haven't had any time to work on it.