What? Who? Why? or How? Got you turned onto Mopars?

[YellowThumper]

Wow great story. Nice to have some of very few.
Enjoy them.

[worthywads]

Always had mopar station wagons when I was growing up, but then my cousin a year older bought a 71 Plum Crazy Challenger 340 4 speed N96, in 1977, still has it.  Then I found out about Hemis all the rest and then the other makes just didn't interest me as much anymore.

[7E-Bodies]

High school friend sold me this 47k mile 70 JH23C, bare bones Challenger in 79. $1000. Until he got this car, I'd never noticed them or heard of them. I was instantly hooked. I now own my ninth.

[318Stroker]

I was born to bleed blue. My grandpa, Bill Schulte, my mom's dad, was a Zone Dealer Rep for Chrysler, Plymouth, DeSoto in St. Louis, and eventually was promoted to Zone Service Manager, the head service guy for the Memphis Zone Office in the late 50's, when I was 5 or 6 years old. He would bring me dealer brochures and promo models, many of which I still have. This lasted until 69 when he retired.

[R/T's 4 R/P]

No one in the family was really a car-person. However, I must have been 13 or 14 and recall walking through the parking lot of County Stadium (Milwaukee Brewers) and seeing a Winchester Grey 73/74 Challenger...black vinyl roof, 4-speed and thinking...man is that cool.
Then started noticing a Top Banana Yellow 70 340 Challenger in my neighborhood...
Got my license, still in High School and the second car I bought was a 73 Challenger...2 years later, bought my 3rd car and I still own that one today, a 70 R/T.
Early to mid-80's there were cars in the newspaper for sale and sitting in driveways and garages.  Easy to buy, beat, sell.
I wish I had many of them now.

[Dynamo]

Well I was raised that way. We had a1955 dodge then a 1961 Fury then a 1966 Fury III 383 that would bark the tires going to 2nd gear. My first car was a used 1965 Belvedere 2 door fast top. I really wanted a Challenger after seeing the movie Vanishing Point at the drive in. It took 15 or 20 years till I finally got the 72 that I am still working on.

[3.0CSL]

Cool story !!

[3.0CSL]

In about August 1972, my Late Dad rocked up in this 70 Hemi Challenger SE. I've been besotted with Challengers Ever since !!

[Mopar Lady]

First,mom was taken to the hospital in a Mopar when she was pregnant with me 41 years ago.I was also brought home from the hospital in the same car.Have a picture of it.Dad got me into Mopars when I was 7 years old learning through the years.

[340Challman]

My dad was in to cars, so I was around them from the beginning. He had a '65 GTO that pinned me to the seat back and I loved it. My dad always tinkered with cars that were not stock so I learned the sound of a cammed up motor compared to stock. Fast forward, I'm fifteen years old sitting on my friends front porch watching the town go by. He lived on Main street. Suddenly I hear something with some cubes and a damn throaty carburetor coming down Main street in a hurry. Blasting past us at better than highway speed was a '70 Challenger R/T. F8 green and damn that thing was music to the ears. Not far behind was the local's finest trying to keep up in his chebbie Caprice. He was losing. We jump off the porch and run out to the street to maintain a view for as long as possible, but they were both out of town in a flash. Six months later I'm 16 and driving. I start reading the newspaper daily looking for a car. Here is an ad for a 70 Challenger for sale on the other side of town. Dad was long gone so I drag mom over to look at the car. She had to bless what ever I got or it wasn't going to happen. We pull up, meet the guy. He's probably my moms age. He raises the garage door to reveal the F8 green Challenger R/T.  I was doing my happy dance thinking it was in the bag. He tells us that his son had got into some trouble so the car was going bye bye. I'm thinking Yeah I know what trouble he got in.    Then the guy starts it up. He warmed it up a little and then let it idle.  It was sweet music. That thing loped and shook and I was I'm ready to throw down my hard earned cash when mom says "Thank you for your time, but we're going to keep looking."    Unfortunately, mom also new what a hopped up motor sounded like and she wasn't about to let her 16 year old son have any muscle.    I did not get the car. Of course my life was over and it was my mother's fault. I was allowed to get a '69 olds Cutlass grocery getter. Life sucked, or so I thought. The Cutlass turned out to be a helluva good car. Had a lot of fun and got into a lot of trouble also. I was then an Olds man chasing W30 442's and Hurst/Olds. Twelve years later I'm in the Navy stationed in San Diego. I go to a friends apartment for Thanksgiving. Across the street is a B5 blue '70 Challenger R/T with 4 speed.    I was 16 all over again. Yes I bought it and it is the car I own today. Turned out to be an A66 car instead of a real R/T, but the fun meter couldn't tell the difference. 

[Fishzhil]

Impressive to read all these stories!

[tparker]

Like many, Vanishing Point. I was about 17 (1987) and watched with a friend. We had Challenger Fever. I found one about a year later that I still have. A 1970 Western Sport Special Challenger (a 318 with some SE parts and a vinyl roof). Yellow with black accents roof, interior, etc). My Buddy got a blue '72 I think with a 360. He ended up crashing that thing into a wall. That was a great story. Maybe a separate thread. My car ran for a few years. I put a 340 in it for no good reason other than I wanted to, along with a 727, but kept the original axel. Left the car in the in-laws back yard while I went into the army. The Vinyl roof suck up the water and rotted the roof, then the panel behind the rear window and finally the trunk. I just got all that fixed a couple years ago and repainted. The motor is due out of the shop in a few weeks and should be in in about a month.

That's my story

[FF376]

My dad got me into cars. He was a Mopar guy from back in the day. I came of driving age in the late 80's which was a great time looking back. Lots of salvage yard parts still available cheap and plenty of available cars at regular guy prices. Pop found a 74 Barracuda in the local Auto Trader for a decent price. Went in half on the car when I was 15. 318 auto on the column.Dark green with white stripe, standard gauges, rallye hood and wheels. Needed some minor work and interior work. Pop wasn't a mechanic per day but he's pretty handy. We did seats, headliner and several small repairs. Searched salvage yards for parts and Carlisle in its early days. Great times and memories. Wouldn't trade those times with him for anything. Drove it hard, broke it, fixed it, broke it etc. Had a blast. Still Mopar guys today.

[antonellomopar]

Being born in Italy in 1958, I wasn't exposed to things like musclecars, drag racing, cruises...and whatever. I was attracted by US cars at a young age, playing with 1/43 scale model cars  and 1/25 scale model kits. Box art was incredible, but I wanted to improve the looks anyway, so began buying US magazines in one of the few newsstand who was selling foreign magazines. Went with my mother to buy those, I was 15 or so years old, and told her they were good for my english. Hot Rod, Car Craft, Street Rodder magazines were my pasttime. WHen I was 20, went by myself to the US, and rented a 73 or so Ford....and driving a US car was a shocking experience. Went on the sand in Daytona Beach...I was hooked. When came back bought a junk Model A Ford, in hopes to make a hot rod out of it, but local laws and lack of experience put the project to a halt. In 1980 went to a drag racing exhibition on the Monza autodrome, and a friend mentioned me there was a junk 69 Camaro SS RS 350 for sale at a good price. Bought the car, placed in a rented garage, and took her apart. In a year or so, the car had been completely restored. Started a club for US cars with a friend and soon learned there was a running and driving 71 Cuda 4 speed in a nearby junkyard. With some persuasion and a junk Renault, I became the owner of a 71 383 4 speed 3.91 B5 Cuda with 17.000 miles on the odometer. Car was in good shape, save for the dented roof, where a small Fiat was placed on there. Took the Fiat off, and drove home, with a sick Holley carb. After one year or so, in 1985 I got word of another Cuda, with a damaged engine and a strange hood with a hole. Went to look at the car, and it was a 70 EV2 four speed Hemicuda, with 10.010 km on the odometer. The Hemi was scattered all around the place, no license plates, but custom forms and statement of origin from Chrysler Italy dating 1970. Car was one of very few Hemi Cuda built for export, and was equipped with power windows, console, Rallye dash and six way seat. Took me 5 years to rebuild the Hemi, and some more time to repaint and license the car...but worth it. In the meantime,I started to sell parts for US cars in Italy with good success....and was able to find lots of musclecars, like GTO, Buick GS, Camaro 396, Mustangs...but all went away. Only car that lasted many years was my first Camaro, but sold her too, after looking seriuosly at her near the 71 Cuda. The Cuda was so much sleeker and proportionated, that sold the Camaro to a friend the next day.It was about 6 years ago. Now my collection has 5 E bodies, the 71 Cuda, the Hemi, a B5 71 Cuda 383 conv sold new in France, a 70 Challenger 440 six pack sold new in Swizerland and now a 71 Six pack four speed Challenger. Besides those, a 68 Charger RT, a 69 Barracuda Modtop, a 60 coupe and a 61 conv Chrysler 300, and a couple of 58 Plymouth round off my collection. Daily drivers are a 2008 Mini Cooper S Clubman and a 2006 300 Touring srt8, a model made only for export.

[70Barracuda]

My first car, 351 auto,69 Mach1, killer car, kick myself for selling it, want to get another.  A guy I worked with had a 70 340 cuda, we worked out a ways, was going home down the highway I was taped out, he went by me like see ya.  Another guy had a 70 340 4 speed Duster, we raced, he hit second I got out it was over. 

Thats why