commando1
Old Man with a Hat
Trust me, I crossed my fingers when the truck pulled up...
Our land boats, barges and bulldozers
- Thread starter Marian
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That's what's known as the clincher!This pic was my downfall. As soon as I saw that on ebay I knew that car was coming home to papa.
I just tried firing up the old desktop and it seems my keyboard is unresponsive so I won't be pulling any pics off of it until I get a replacement. For now I'll edit the post and add an Imp pic.
Marian
Well-Known Member
This pic was my downfall. As soon as I saw that on ebay I knew that car was coming home to papa.
I'm still trying to get through your history. From what I gather, you gave up a white 4 speed for this one. I'm sure the clincher was that beautiful young lady just waiting to jump up on that hood for a more telling picture.
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
Sheeesh. You don't give up, doll.
My Story
Part I
When I was about 5, my bedroom was on the third floor. I was able to get it open and I crawled out and hung by my hands. My mother down on the ground chit her panties, ran up and dragged my butt inside. Opening new windows and and hanging in there was my destiny.
As a kid I tried to draw cars. I did the typical stick figure thing.
After a while, something inside me kept telling me it didn't look right, so I kept perfecting my technique but it still didn't look right.
Then when I was 8, my grandfather came home in a new '57 DeSoto.
I never was the same again.
I stared and stared at that car when it was parked and studied it like crazy to understand why what I was doing wrong.
And it dawned on me. Proportions. The first thing I picked up was the A piller and where it intersected behind the front wheel.
I was now on a roll.
Fin era Chryslers was now the standard for all my appreciation of automotive style forever.
To be continued.
(Marian: you'll have to keep prodding me every other day or so...
My Story
Part I
When I was about 5, my bedroom was on the third floor. I was able to get it open and I crawled out and hung by my hands. My mother down on the ground chit her panties, ran up and dragged my butt inside. Opening new windows and and hanging in there was my destiny.
As a kid I tried to draw cars. I did the typical stick figure thing.
After a while, something inside me kept telling me it didn't look right, so I kept perfecting my technique but it still didn't look right.
Then when I was 8, my grandfather came home in a new '57 DeSoto.
I never was the same again.
I stared and stared at that car when it was parked and studied it like crazy to understand why what I was doing wrong.
And it dawned on me. Proportions. The first thing I picked up was the A piller and where it intersected behind the front wheel.
I was now on a roll.
Fin era Chryslers was now the standard for all my appreciation of automotive style forever.
To be continued.
(Marian: you'll have to keep prodding me every other day or so...
70NPORT
Old Man with a Hat
Proportion?Then when I was 8, my grandfather came home in a new '57 DeSoto.
I never was the same again.
I stared and stared at that car when it was parked and studied it like crazy to understand why what I was doing wrong.
And it dawned on me. Proportions. The first thing I picked up was the A piller and where it intersected behind the front wheel.
I was now on a roll.
Fin era Chryslers was now the standard for all my appreciation of automotive style forever.
To be continued.
(Marian: you'll have to keep prodding me every other day or so...
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
I was eight....
It was a start...
It was a start...
70NPORT
Old Man with a Hat
well, ok. Guess that's an adequate excuse.
Bryan
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My testimonial .................... Even though my Dad and Brother were primarily GM guys, I have to credit them for my love of big Mopars. Mainly because of a 1959 DeSoto my brother had, and a 60 Plymouth my father bought as a second vehicle that later became my first car.........
My very first car at 14 was a 1960 Plymouth 2 door Savoy sedan with a 318 manual that my uncle bought new. My dad bought the car in 1968 and I got it in 70. Second and third were a 61 Dodge Phoenix and 59 Plymouth Suburban bought for $35 as a package deal. The original price was 50 for the Dodge, but the guy said he would take 35 if we took both cars off his hands...... Then came a 62 Chrysler 300, 64 Dodge Polara, 7 and 8 Ambassadors, 68 Rebel. After that, I went to the dark side (Pontiac) for a couple of years and had a 65 Bonneville hardtop, 66 GTO, 66 Lemans Sprint (X2). This takes me up to 1974 (I went through a lot of cars in my early days... traded constantly). I joined the military and could afford a higher, newer class of automobile and bought a really nice, low mileage 71 Fury Gran Coupe. That turned into a 71 Dodge Polara, then I traded the GTO even up for a 1969 300 Convertible and the 71 Polara for a 69 Newport. For several years, I owned the two 69 Chryslers, then in the late 70's I entered the dark ages where my transportation consisted of numerous nondescript piles of steel and plastic that were called cars throughout the 80's and 90's... I bought a 55 Pontiac 2 door Wagon in 1982 and that kept my old car cravings satisfied off and on for 20 years. The Pontiac was fun, but it was not a big old Mopar like most of the great cars from my youth.... I sold the Pontiac on Ebay in 2004 and ended up buying a MG that again kept me satisfied for a while. Rhumatoid arthritis struck a few years ago, and I couldn't drive the MG any more so,, again a car was sold.. on the plus side, both the Pontiac and MG were sold for considerably more than they were bought for (a phenomenon that most C bodies don't enjoy). I then decided that I wouldn't get another car until I could find a very nice C body or 7 Ambassador Convertible...... After keeping an eye on regional classifieds for several months, I found the current 65 Newport for sale in South Dakota. Went and looked at the car, and drove it home that day... that's the story so far.... Numerous cars have been left out, especially ones made after Jimmy Carter was president, in the interest of brevity and order to protect the innocent...
My very first car at 14 was a 1960 Plymouth 2 door Savoy sedan with a 318 manual that my uncle bought new. My dad bought the car in 1968 and I got it in 70. Second and third were a 61 Dodge Phoenix and 59 Plymouth Suburban bought for $35 as a package deal. The original price was 50 for the Dodge, but the guy said he would take 35 if we took both cars off his hands...... Then came a 62 Chrysler 300, 64 Dodge Polara, 7 and 8 Ambassadors, 68 Rebel. After that, I went to the dark side (Pontiac) for a couple of years and had a 65 Bonneville hardtop, 66 GTO, 66 Lemans Sprint (X2). This takes me up to 1974 (I went through a lot of cars in my early days... traded constantly). I joined the military and could afford a higher, newer class of automobile and bought a really nice, low mileage 71 Fury Gran Coupe. That turned into a 71 Dodge Polara, then I traded the GTO even up for a 1969 300 Convertible and the 71 Polara for a 69 Newport. For several years, I owned the two 69 Chryslers, then in the late 70's I entered the dark ages where my transportation consisted of numerous nondescript piles of steel and plastic that were called cars throughout the 80's and 90's... I bought a 55 Pontiac 2 door Wagon in 1982 and that kept my old car cravings satisfied off and on for 20 years. The Pontiac was fun, but it was not a big old Mopar like most of the great cars from my youth.... I sold the Pontiac on Ebay in 2004 and ended up buying a MG that again kept me satisfied for a while. Rhumatoid arthritis struck a few years ago, and I couldn't drive the MG any more so,, again a car was sold.. on the plus side, both the Pontiac and MG were sold for considerably more than they were bought for (a phenomenon that most C bodies don't enjoy). I then decided that I wouldn't get another car until I could find a very nice C body or 7 Ambassador Convertible...... After keeping an eye on regional classifieds for several months, I found the current 65 Newport for sale in South Dakota. Went and looked at the car, and drove it home that day... that's the story so far.... Numerous cars have been left out, especially ones made after Jimmy Carter was president, in the interest of brevity and order to protect the innocent...
Marian
Well-Known Member
Stan has his moments of brilliance.
I'm looking for the jack handle sticking out from under the front end of that car. Was she changing the oil?
I'm looking for the jack handle sticking out from under the front end of that car. Was she changing the oil?
monaco75
Senior Member
Kinda the same with me, just not in the "good old days"
My grandfather (dads dad) worked for chrysler as an engineer/designer his whole life. Believe it or not, the first chrysler to leave an impact on me was a K car. My grandpas last car, an 80's 4 door light blue lebaron. I loved that car as a kid. I remember vividly the very distinct smell of the heat, and the door ajar warning system on the dash. My grandfather passed away when I was 6/7 years old. My Dad inherited the car to use as a 2nd vehicle. Also to be keep for my 1st car when the time came. Dad ended up giving it to a mechanic at work, and he took the motor out, and scrapped the body... I was soo mad at him for that!!
My father worked as a service writer for various chrysler dealerships throuhgout my childhood. I grew up in the chrysler dealers. Most of the same guys went to the different dealers, so we were kind of a small family together. The guys would always take me out in the vipers, and such, and we would go have fun with them on their lunch breaks. It was a blast!
Fast forward to 2005- My grandmother (moms mom) passed away. She left me a good sum of $$ for a young teenager. Its no secret I like star cars. As a kid I always wanted the "general lee". That was not going to happen! This is when car prices started to sky rocket, so no 69 charger for me. I ended finding a '75 coronet 4dr on ebay, out in WI. I figured "well I can't have the general, so maybe roscoes cop car?" We went and picked it up. Man what a pile that car was! But I loved it!! Ended up sinking a ton of $$ into it, only to find out the frame was trashed!
I found the monaco for sale towards the end of the coronet. My folks helped me out, and I got it. I brought her home on a cold MI winter night. On the way home, after the car had warmed up I had the heat blasting. It had the exact same very distinctive smell, as the lebaron did. I had an instant connection with the car.
My grandfather (dads dad) worked for chrysler as an engineer/designer his whole life. Believe it or not, the first chrysler to leave an impact on me was a K car. My grandpas last car, an 80's 4 door light blue lebaron. I loved that car as a kid. I remember vividly the very distinct smell of the heat, and the door ajar warning system on the dash. My grandfather passed away when I was 6/7 years old. My Dad inherited the car to use as a 2nd vehicle. Also to be keep for my 1st car when the time came. Dad ended up giving it to a mechanic at work, and he took the motor out, and scrapped the body... I was soo mad at him for that!!
My father worked as a service writer for various chrysler dealerships throuhgout my childhood. I grew up in the chrysler dealers. Most of the same guys went to the different dealers, so we were kind of a small family together. The guys would always take me out in the vipers, and such, and we would go have fun with them on their lunch breaks. It was a blast!
Fast forward to 2005- My grandmother (moms mom) passed away. She left me a good sum of $$ for a young teenager. Its no secret I like star cars. As a kid I always wanted the "general lee". That was not going to happen! This is when car prices started to sky rocket, so no 69 charger for me. I ended finding a '75 coronet 4dr on ebay, out in WI. I figured "well I can't have the general, so maybe roscoes cop car?" We went and picked it up. Man what a pile that car was! But I loved it!! Ended up sinking a ton of $$ into it, only to find out the frame was trashed!
I found the monaco for sale towards the end of the coronet. My folks helped me out, and I got it. I brought her home on a cold MI winter night. On the way home, after the car had warmed up I had the heat blasting. It had the exact same very distinctive smell, as the lebaron did. I had an instant connection with the car.
Marian
Well-Known Member
Waiting for part 2 Matt and Stan. 
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
Part 2
One Christmas morning I awoke to a bicycle I wanted more than anything in the world. By afternoon dinner, I had it fully disassembled what took my father..., er Santa, 4 hours to assemble the night before. I was a natural taker-aparter.
At around 12 years of age, I would read car mags, articles, brochres... whatever I could get my hands on. And I had no idea what I was reading about. I did not know how an engine worked. So I went to the library and found this book published in 1947:
I read it cover to cover several times using it as reference for when I read in Popular Mechanics articles like this.
"compression ratio" What's a compression ratio? What does it do? Why?
Finally, armed with a little bit of knowledge because I read a book once, and seeing as how I was lawn maintence manager, I decided to "hot rod" our lawn mower by disassembling it and raise the compression ratio with a flat file.
My father had to buy a new lawn mower.
Next in Part 3: The wolf whistle.
One Christmas morning I awoke to a bicycle I wanted more than anything in the world. By afternoon dinner, I had it fully disassembled what took my father..., er Santa, 4 hours to assemble the night before. I was a natural taker-aparter.
At around 12 years of age, I would read car mags, articles, brochres... whatever I could get my hands on. And I had no idea what I was reading about. I did not know how an engine worked. So I went to the library and found this book published in 1947:
I read it cover to cover several times using it as reference for when I read in Popular Mechanics articles like this.
"compression ratio" What's a compression ratio? What does it do? Why?
Finally, armed with a little bit of knowledge because I read a book once, and seeing as how I was lawn maintence manager, I decided to "hot rod" our lawn mower by disassembling it and raise the compression ratio with a flat file.
My father had to buy a new lawn mower.
Next in Part 3: The wolf whistle.
cm23uoc
Old Man with a Hat
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I can relate to the bicycle and car mag part; still got most of it around here.
Marian
Well-Known Member
Ohhhhh my!!! Can't wait to hear...the rest of the story.
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I think my story was pretty much complete except for some pics trapped in my old desktop, what else do you want to know???
70bigblockdodge
Old Man with a Hat
Wow Stan I sort of went the same route with mower, but I guess my dad got lucky that I scammed a old toro from my cousin and all he had to do was haul it home and it kept his from the ravages of my wrenching. That old toro caught on fire a few times and even broke the connecting rod because the piston banged the head when it got hot because I filed block and head down so much to raise compression.
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I edited again and added the pics of my first Charger and the "as found" pics of my Imp..
Marian
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the pics. Where did you find the Imp?
70NPORT
Old Man with a Hat
I know its not a c body car, but it was my first wheels, a 1972 Dodge Charger SE...my dad and I found it on a used car lot, and bought it for me...this Charger is what kicked things off for me and Chryslers.
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