Why did you buy your classic Mopar??

[67 chrysler300]

I've always been a fan of the 50's and 60's Mopars. Always thought they were superior cars compared to the competition.

Anyway, I own a 67 300 'vert that I bought 11 years ago from the original owner's family. I was NOT originally looking for an old Mopar; I wanted a used car that I could just drive and not worry about. Kinda like a junk around car. At first I wanted an older Honda. Maybe a 4th generation Accord from the early 90's. They were pretty good car without any serious reliability issues. Well, I had a price point of under $3000; I couldn't find anything but cars that had a ton of miles on them or had other issues....I was pretty disappointed. SOO, I thought to myself, my parents had a 65 Dodge that was a paragon of reliability and I had a 68 Fury III during the late 80's. They were pretty good cars.
Well, again NOT. Couldn't find anything in my price range but by then I was hooked on the idea of finding an old Mopar. Continued to raise my sights and my price point.

 

[twostick]

In 1999 or 2000 I sold my W900 Kenworth in Vancouver and needed something to drive home.

Enter one 66 New Yorker.

Found it in a Buy and Sell paper. 2 lines plus phone #.

For Sale 1966 Chrysler
$1500.00

I get there and it's a New Yorker, everything but A/C, 4 door hard top, buckets and console which pushes all my buy me buttons. It wasn't a 65 but it would do.

Told the guy if it runs it's sold.

Put 4 tires and a new battery in it and drove 3000 miles home with no problems.

And it's been cursed ever since...

Kevin

 

[tbm3fan]

As I said before "copy cat." If I hadn't seen John's 1973 ARB clone car I would have never looked for the model as I honestly don't recall ever seeing on in the 70's. I don't even recall seeing much in the way of any formals out here in the 70's either.

 

[Turboomni]

Well I have always wanted a classic or old American car for many years. My last car I restored was a 1986 Omni GLHS Shelby. This was only because I couldn't fit a Nova in my garage and still work on it and the whole turbocharger thing was happening in the 80s and 90s. I even souped up my daily driver years ago a 89 dodge caravan turbo with a 2.5. I stuck in a huge for the time volvo inter cooler and a bigger turbo And up the boost to waste douche bags off the line. And I did in a van. But my original roots were old American cars. Suberbirds (plural) were at my high school and a bunch of other cool stuff. Caddy's and seeing girls shooting up in the back seat when I visited the high school when I was in junior high.... Good grief... But back to the point I was given a budget of up to 30,000 bucks to find a car I wanted recently. I looked and looked. I always loved my 66 Coronett and my 72 Fury 4 door but had a lot of other stuff too including a English Ford Cortina GT a 1960 Mercedes 220 ,,a 63 Ford Falcon station wagon ,,bla bla.
So I have this possible Budjet to get a car and I see the same **** over and over again. Camaro this ,,mustang that ,,el camino this . It seem everyone has the same crap for big money. I would go to car shows and see the same stuff over and over. It was boring. I started looking at the old mopars again and decided on getting a 69 Fury 2 door with at least a 383. I bought the factory manual before I really started looking as I decided this is it. I searched for many months and finally I found her. I would not tolerate rust as I have done that all my life with cars. No more. I found my 69 ,,I did pay abit more than the norm for such a car but to me it is worth it because all the popular old cars today are much more in the same condition. So how much of my Budjet was used to buy the car of my recent dreams? Less than one third and I have a car no one ever see's anymore. Much more rare and cool. Money isn't everything.

 

[jct]

wanted something i can tool around on and enjoy driving driving again. which i got bored on driving my D.D. for a few years. and now i can crunch my brain on wtf is wrong with my car today

 

[LeBaron1973]

I bought my imperial because I wanted one of each American luxury car. I had a Cadillac and Lincolns and the imperial completed the set.

My friend in Wisconsin flew out to Salt Lake City and negotiated a lower price due to some dents and issues the seller hadn't mentioned. Around $5000 Then he drove it back to Wisconsin without missing a beat.

I've yet to drive it but hopefully in November 2017 when I'm back in the states again.

She's basically done but some dent repairs, electrical and air conditioning issues and maybe an engine rebuild and she'll be spot on.

Nothing against Cadillac or Lincoln but the imperial is the belle of the ball.

 

[67-Fury]

Cause i wanted it.

 

[sportsuburban]

Well, the first one I got because I had just got my license and Dad sold me a 68 Sport Suburban for a buck. It is was/is the first new car he ever bought. He was gonna sell it to a friend but I got it instead. That started the addiction to 68 c-bodies. Now have another Sport Suburban, 68 Canadian Monaco fast top, a 4-speed Fury vert, and there there is Dad's Fury fast top pro-touring car. Plus a bunch of donor cars. And a barn full of parts.

Yup, c-bodies are addictive but I am so glad not to have the same classic car that everybody else has.

 

[Knebel]

Well, I had a set budget. A certain style always caught my eye (the stacked headlights for example) and I was originally looking for a 68 GTO... I also like the smaller ones like dodge dart or cuda or even a 65 mustang, but realizing that my 4500$ budget hat a 0 to little for those cars in the condition I was looking for, I found my 68 Fury III just around the corner on craigslist after looking at a hacked up 65 ford fairlane. The wife said from the get go that it needs to be a car where all 5 of us can fit... now, I can make 5 people fit in whatever car, its just a matter of compfort. I still would have liked something smaller but I really like my Fury now, its in pretty good condition, I did a lot of work on it, sure has its issues and I am still looki g for someone who has a windshield and can install it for it but, I am happy with it. Would like a new front bench seatcover and some non rusty rims but thats about it!

 

[72furious]

The wife would only allow 1972 Plymouth fury. So we have two, a two door for me and four door for her. She won't let change the 4 door at all so bought the two door.

 

[cantflip]

My story is elsewhere in here... simple, I like lots of cars and brands and engines... there are many I never owned but would love to. After many years of half looking and not having a focused search, I decided to narrow down what I wanted. My first was a 74 Imperial... it was beaten and broken, but it had many somethings about it that always stayed with me.

I like my one year bumper and grille, and my two year rear discs. I like the ride and the for the most part the feel of the car even today. I made this car my search focus not simply for nostalgia, but because they are somewhere stuck in between practical for the stuff you can get and impossible for the stuff you can't. I like the idea of fellow enthusiasts, and I try to help where I can. I also like that I will never have one of those moments where every car around is another version of mine.

I had considered something like my former 75 Monte Carlo... but would only be interested if dead stock, rust free, good interior etc. GM colonnade cars have lots of terrible plastic that has outlived it's life span and is unavailable. SBC... nah.

Looked at some old Rivieras too, all the same kinds of trouble as C bodies with really high prices.Love big torque monster engines though, and they had the right kind of class to make me think about it.

Many, many others... but the Imperials are my perfect fit. It's way beyond first car nostalgia...

 

[Carmine]

Because I have to drive something 60 miles round trip to work all week...

 

[Big_John]

I've had a bunch of Mopars over the years. Some were just daily drivers and some were pretty special....

The car I have now, my 70 300 vert came along when I really wasn't looking for it. I had just sold my A12 Roadrunner and was getting ready to put my 91 Corvette up for sale. I had been thinking about buying another Mopar... Actually what crossed my mind was an A body with a slant six. (I still may add one to the fleet). My friend had bought the Roadrunner.. and a bunch of extra parts. I was walking back and forth around his 300 dropping off parts... He happened to mention that it was for sale.

One thing lead to another... and I ended up giving him a little of his money back. The car was real good mechanically and I could start driving it right away.

It's worked out real well for me... Mrs. Big John really likes it and it kind of suits my style this days.

 

[commando1]

Was walking out to the employee parking lot one late August with my fellow driver, Jimmy Nordstrom. I S&@# when I saw his new '78 NYB St. Regis. I said to myself, Gotta have to buy one.
Took awhile...

 

[Zephyr]

Because it had already spent eight years in a field with no windshield enjoying the UK's awesome climate.

 

[live4theking]

In 1994 I went to look at my first 68 Chrysler NYer. I had 0 intentions of buying it. I was kind of becoming friends with the guy that told me about it and he took us out to look at it. I looked it over and it was in wonderful shape, zero rust thanks to being in TX and the interior wasn't totally trashed either. It was all there and original with the exception of the Accel Super Coil. I drove it for a number of years as my DD until an unfortunate accident ended it. Prior to getting out of the Air Force I picked up a 70 Challenger RT SE that was almost worse than a basket case. I towed it back to PA with the NYer.

For years I would buy parts for the Challenger when there was some spare money. I got married and started a family. Michele even gave me permission to start working on it. I just couldn't do with little ones running around. We were talking a couple of years ago and she said to me you never talk about the Challenger you always talk about the NYer. I had thought once before about selling the Challenger, this time I did. I got more than enough to buy the current NYer. I've put a fair amount into it getting it back on the road, but the three older kids have been in the garage with me much of the time when I'm working on it. Even the 2 yr. old likes to go for rides in the vroom vroom as she calls it.

So, I guess I made the right call letting the Challenger go to get the NYer. This year at Carlisle was the first time that I saw more than one in the same place. There was mine and two black 4 drht's.

 

[1978 NYB]

I bought my first Mopar 45 years ago....

I wanted another one about 10 years ago. Price was through the roof for a decent B-Body. Hummmm....C-Body with the same drivetrain and $2500.

My Dad always wanted a 4 door hardtop but with 7 kids we always had a wagon.

 

[Duncan]

My youngest son owned my Fury first. He and his brother both love the old 60s long hood, long deck, look, so when his fun-to-drive little sport Subaru got rear-ended and totaled, he used the insurance money he got to buy the Fury. After a few years, he decided he was going to sell it cheap because he wanted to buy an Olds Cutlass low-rider. I told him if he was going to be foolish enough to sell it cheap for a low-rider then I would buy it. It's been over 10 years now and I still love driving it. I am still hoping to paint it one of these days, but it somehow just keeps getting put off. Money mostly, of course.

 

[rvandegrift]

The reason I purchased my Fury was I kept coming back to the car. I searched the net. I looked locally and talked to and saw many cars. This car just pulled me in. I have had two of my friends tell me I'm crazy before and after I bought the car. Thing is, they both can have their 20 at every show Camaro or Mustang. I'll take mine every time. I spend tons of time telling others at car shows what my car is. People like seeing different stuff, not the same old Camaro just in a different color.

 

[67 chrysler300]

Nice replies! I'm quite happy with my car. It may not be a B body coupe(which is what I wanted) but the C bodies have features of their own which I love..... One thing I've always loved about the C bodies were the floor vents...I know other Mopars have them, but our 65 Coronet didn't. My car is NON A/C but with those vents, driving in summer is tolerable as long as you can keep moving. Also, the C bodies have options and features the B and A bodies never had available.