Got some more press!

[1 Wild R/T]

How did you afford a car like that when you were 16 ?

When he was 16 that was probably a $12-1500 car.... I had a paper route when I was 14...  By the time I was 16 I had enough to buy a cheap car, I'm guessing Brad did too...

[BIGSHCLUNK]

Hey Brad, very cool !

[JH27N0B]

How did you afford a car like that when you were 16 ?

When he was 16 that was probably a $12-1500 car.... I had a paper route when I was 14...  By the time I was 16 I had enough to buy a cheap car, I'm guessing Brad did too...

I paid $2300 for the T/A in December of '78.  Starting in Junior high I'd started saving up for a car.  I cut lawns and also my dad was an antique gun dealer and writer.  I'd help him out at gun shows and he'd give me 10% of book sales.  When I found the car, it pretty near cleaned out my life's savings!
However, the month before I bought it, I'd landed a job at a grocery store.  I soon got promoted from bagger to stock boy.  It was a union job and I got paid really well for a part time job.  When I turned 18 I enrolled in the local community college instead of going away to school.  My lucrative job was a big part of that decision.  Spring of freshman year I paid cash for a loaded '79 Bronco.  I also bought a huge Peavey amp to use with my Les Paul Custom I'd bought senior year of high school as I hoped to become a rock star!
I also took a second part time job at a machine shop then.
Sophomore year I decided to seek a hemi E body with my savings.  Sadly I couldn't find one, but I did buy a V code Challenger project car and later a loaded '71 cuda 340.
I made over $16000 in 1981 when I was 18/19.  Adjusted for inflation that's over $40K in today's dollars, working 2 part time jobs, 7 days a week, all while taking 15 credit hours of pre engineering classes at college.
I quit working when I left to go to a university for my junior year, and looking back, I'm afraid I peaked then as far as level of success, I can't believe how good I had it then!

[jimynick]

Great stories and great car! Congrats on being the guy who didn't sell it, as well! 

[YellowThumper]

Great story for sure. Gotta love the ones in life who are motivated for sucess.
I purchased the 74 I have in 83 for $1,200. Working lots of overtime.

[xx88man]

That's a great story. Congratulations on hanging on to that awesome car all these years. So is the
V-code Challenger that you bought way back then the same Challenger you have now?

[1Burgfish]

  Congratulations on the write up and what a beautiful car!!! Wish I had a time machine to go back to the early 80's to buy some of these Mopars that were so cheap then... Lets see A superbird, A 71 convertible Hemi Cuda, A AAR Cuda, A T/A Challenger, and a couple V-Code cars!!! 

[JH27N0B]

That's a great story. Congratulations on hanging on to that awesome car all these years. So is the
V-code Challenger that you bought way back then the same Challenger you have now?

No, that car was one I wished I could have stashed away in a barn for 10 or 15 years until I could have restored it!  It was a 70, originally FC7 with a white top, and black interior.  It was solid for a local car, but obviously rode hard and put away wet.  Had a 383 in it, and in primer, when I bought it for $1250.
Then I found a loaded original owner 71 cuda 340, 30,000 miles. So I sold the V code after buying the cuda.  But sadly the cudas wealthy lawyer owner had used it to commute back and forth 1 mile each way to the train station daily.  It had a lot of bondo, and when I looked into having body work done and repainted, I was told the frame rails and floor were getting rusty, so I had to sell it too. Pretty sad, a 12 year old 30,000 mile car already gone due to salted roads!
I don't think I've seen another cuda with that many options, elastomaric bumpers, front and rear spoilers, window louvers, PW, AC, amfm, etc!