If you could go back in time...

[Cuda Cody]

It's late 1969 or 1970 and you just bought your dream E-Body.... now what?     Knowing what you know today, what do you do with the car the minute you get it?

Do you drive it?
Do you store it?
Do you document it?
Do you race it?

And if you do decide to store it and keep it all original, how do you do it?  Drain all the fluids?  Keep it running with fresh fluids?  Do you put it in a bubble?  Put it on jack stands?  Do you tell people you have it and risk someone steeling it?  And now almost 50 years later, would you be happy to have the car still or would you have sold it already?

[HUSTLESTUFF]

If it were 1971-2 I would have bought a nice used car probably an AAR and driven it.  I would maintain it and maybe look at some of the parts I feel may deteriorate and buy a few replacement parts, like seat covers and dash, maybe door panels and instruments.  Keep the paint sharp, clean and waxed.  Maybe do some upgrades as in day two stuff, but keep all the removed parts.  If I had the car that long no way I'd sell.  If I were looking back then as an investment car, would go hemi and store and sell.  Maintain it and drive monthly, probably coinciding with other events that happen to wives on a monthly basis.  LOL.  I think the next real collectible is the Z/28.  Too many Hellcats and the next Mopar collectible is probably the newest Viper ACR.  Demons will do well if limited production but price is too high to be an investment and don't see them depreciating like the Z/28's.  My brother has the 4th ZL1 made and he drives infrequently and maintains but added the Hennessy kit to it.  Kind of my thoughts of day two stuff.   Mike

[Brads70]

I'd drive it, take care of it,No winter driving. , but drive it.  I could be dead tomorrow.

[303 Mopar]

   These cars were built to be driven, not stuck in a garage or trailer somewhere.  I'd drive the crap out of that '70 Hemi 4 spd Cuda!!

[HP_Cuda]

Straight to the track, stripped down and burning rubber!

[hato]

I would drive it every sunny day I could and preserve it best I could trying to take it with you failed the Egyptians tried all that happend was they got robbed

[ec_co]

I would drive the wheels off. and because I have (had?) the knowledge, I would have bought a replacement HEMI block and 4spd (originals pulled and set aside) + enough spare parts to rebuild the car a couple times over (trim, Hemi fenders, OG dashpads, shaker parts, etc ... etc ....) and some extras of the hard to find/never reproduced stuff

[4mayhemi]

It's almost like a trick question.  Like Marty in Back to the Future. If something in the past changes, the future is different.
We all would have gone back and bought the Mopars and Hemis (and maybe a GT40 or Shelby), but then today they might be equivalent to a Chevy Caprice because of that.

The Buick GNX crowd was smart, but they still haven't cashed in too much after 30 years.

[Chryco Psycho]

Tough call ,I would say I would drive it , I drove my first Chall everywhere
my second Chall I intended to enjoy but was too broke for 30 years to ever drive it anywhere.
So if I could have bought one new @ 9 years old I would likely still have it & it probably would still have 10 miles on it due to the reality of living well below the poverty line all of my life 

[Marc70challenger]

the Egyptians tried all that happend was they got robbed

True. 

[bentpshrods]

   I would drive it and enjoy it.  And keep it in a garage instead of parked outside.  One thing I wish I had done with mine was collect and stash away a lot more of the hard to find parts/pieces that were around back then.  The Hustle stuff program ( I believe) would of been visited a lot.       

[J-Code Jeni]

I would drive it just, not in the winter. Would hate to store it all that time & miss the experiences you'd have & new friends you'd make.

Also, I just love the stories of people buying them new & keeping & caring for them for 47 years. Shows an appreciation for what they have.

[71vert340]

I wouldn't change a thing. I've had my 71 shaker Challenger 45 years. I bought a spare grille, headlight bezels, wheel opening moldings, dash pad, etc. - the things I thought would deteriorate. I've only used one set of wheel opening moldings and the dash pad and the rest of the parts just sit gathering dust. I've started selling off some of the parts that are convertible specific such as the windshield pillar moldings to help others finish their cars - one was a 70 Challenger R/T Shaker vert 440-6 car that needed a pillar piece. If anything, I would have bought more parts to help others to be able to finish their cars now  with the non-reproduced parts. I enjoy seeing 1) original unrestored cars 2) restored cars, 3) cars finished to how an owner would have ordered a car back in the day. Just my 2 cents.
Terry

[Brads70]

I've been waiting for Judy's reply..... 

[RUNCHARGER]

Honestly, I'd drive the heck out of it and have the memories for the rest of my life. If I could afford it (probably wouldn't be able to) I'd buy an L88 Corvette or something to put in a bubble but the payment on the Mopar and it's insurance would probably be all I could handle back then. There was a local guy that had the Hemi Convt. in the basement of his house (the one with the canoe on top) and he drove it a bit but then stored it for a few decades. To me that is not enjoying a car. Then at what point do you cash out? I bet he wishes he kept it a bit longer to make more money on it, so that's just not a way to make yourself happy. I'll die broke but you only get one shot at life.