One more member from Autobahn-country

[TobiasM]

Hi guys,

already knowing several other mopar-boards (e.g. febo / c-c) I stumbled across this site by accident...but what a great find!

So after several weeks/months of reading here all your input, the least I can do is to introduce myself to you other car-nuts:

My name is Toby, car-addicted since I can think and MOPAR-addicted for more than 15 years. As anybody, I knew them 68 Chargers and finally caught "Dodge fever" when I attended a car show in my area...turned out to be the Mopar-Nationals here overseas in Germany. 

Was pretty young back then, but always had cool cars with the "downside" I had to work for being able to buy them. That said, there was no way you could affort a classic US-V8-car beeing in your very early twenties. So I started saving for "anybodies dreamcar", a 68 Charger R/T...triple black of course ;-)

Thanks to

- Germany swapping from "Deutsche Mark"-currency to "EURO"-currency (your money was only worth half what it was before)

- a lot of popluar movies with Mopars just showing up in the cinemas ("Gone in 60 seconds"-remake / "Fast and Furious"-series / "Death Proof" / "Dukes of Hazzard"-remake / "Blade")

- a rising demand for classic-(US-)cars

the prices blew the roof and I was always one step behind with my savings. But I stayed persistent and finally in my late twenties I had saved enough to afford a 1970 Challenger.

Man, was I happy and man, what an excitement: because due to poor supply in old MOPAR-cars here in Germany and thanks to that stupid invention that will never make it (the "www"), I found my Chally in Maryland, USA and took care myself with getting it shipped overseas to Germany.

Beeing a web-crawler and mopar-board-reader, I already was quite aware of what a fendertag is, so it wasn`t a coincidence that I bought me a sublime, 440-4, track-pack 4-speed 1970 Challenger R/T. Because I didn`t have the funds for an 100% original survivour car, it was a street/strip car...mainly strip...with no interiour, roll-cage, fuel-cell, conversion to auto-trans and styled as a "Chick DeNinno"-tribute car.

I enjoyed it for 2 or 3 years just as it was and then sold it, as I needed money for a real-estate-purchase. Sorry, no pic at hand in this moment of my very first MOPAR.

Thanks for beeing still employed and hard working, I purchased a 68 RoadRunner some time afterwards. It`s my personal favourite color-combination (triple black), it`s my favorite body-style for a 68 RoadRunner (with b-post) and though being a 383-RR from the factory, somebody had converted it to my favorite enginge (426 HEMI). Found this car in Indianapolis and as with my first Challenger, I took care of getting it shipped to me overseas in person.

That RoadRunner is a pro-street build, I like its look with that fat Mickey Thompson in the rear VERY much. I managed to get this car street-legal here in Germany, which was a very big challenge, as rules are super strict here with anything motorized. Pics of my RoadRunner attached.

I am very happy with my RoadRunner, but after more than 5 years of ownership I wanted a new toy...and had saved a little $$$...so I watched out for what cars where available.

As prices for 1970 Challengers RT`s + Cudas were even more "super-challenging" than they where when I bought my first MOPAR, I liked the idea of a car that wasn`t in the enthusiasts focus so much. To be honest, "Dodge fever" was my first desease, but "Plymouth takes you over" did apply to me even more.

So I focused on the 67-69 Barracudas: a really smart car, also great looking and well balanced / with good handling, which is quite important to me. That said, I was aiming to find me a 68 Barracuda Formula S, only with 4-speed, preferebly a 340 and fastback only. To cut that barracuda-topic short: was 2 times just to buy Barracuda, but finally didn`t make it.

1st Barracuda was close to be a perfect match to me: 68 Formula S 340 4-spd fastback, good condition inside out, had a 1970 AAR/TA-engine in it (!!!). I struggled a bit as it was colorchanged to tripple-black (was red from the factory, hate red), didn`t have the factory 150mph-speedo+rev-counter instrument-cluster and didn`t have front-disc-brakes. Final deal-buster was pricing, as seller only wanted to drop of by 500$ from his asking price, which I found not appropriate for the price-range we are talking about...and I could have afforded his asking price easily. I am sure that the current owner has a super-enjoyable car and wish him all the best with it, but for me it was a matter of principles. Pic of that car attached!

2nd Barracuda wasn`t a 67-69 Barracuda, but a 69 `440 Cuda...yes, not a 70 Cuda 440, but an 69 a-body M-code car! It was anything but untouched, had 80`s/90`s colour-change from lightgreen-metallic to anthrazite, fenderwell-cuts etc. etc. ...its condition wasn`t really good, it definetely needed bodywork...so price was in the high 20k`s...was on cars-on-line and several times on ebay, owner is fabo-member, guess some might now this car. Though the idea of that big 440 in that small a-body was very tempting, I turned down on that car, cause as all 69 M-Code-cudas, this was an auto-trans-car (I wanted 4-speed) and that car in particular was a notchback (ugly!!!). Most down-turner was the body-work needed...little effect on my decision was that owner wasn`t flexible on price, though that car was for sale very long, had been several times on ebay and I offered him more than the highest ebay-bid (as I missed the last auction for it, but didn`t met reserve). Pic of that car attached!

So as I passed these two Barracudas (or they passed me) I kept searching and finally found me a car in Georgia...and what a car: 1970 Challenger R/T SE, from the factory a 440-6pack-car, 4-spd. super-track-pack, DANA60, Shaker, sublime, two-fendertags. This one is very much like my first MOPAR, the 70 "Chick DeNinno"-Chally R/T, but with even better engine and options! As price was moderate for such a car, you can guess it also isn`t a 100% original, concours-condition survivor-car, but again a street-strip-car, but with at least half interiour, this time ;-)


Pic of my new toy, that shaky Shaker-Chally is attached...I will open a separate thread in the "resto-projects"-section, as there is a lot to tell and ask, as this time I wasn`t so lucky with shipping and other things  you'll find that thread here: https://forum.e-bodies.org/your-restoration-project/10/70-challenger-rtse-440-6pack-shaky-shaker/1974/

A lot of text, hope the photos were kind of compensating to you. 

[Brads70]

Welcome, what a cool list of cars you have owned! 

[71GranCoupe]

     And thanks for sharing a great story and background. Pictures of the cars puts it over the top. 

[CudaMoparRay]

 :welcome:Welcome and very nice collection of Mopars

[JS29]

 

[soundcontrol]

Welcome from 
Nice looking cars!

[anlauto]

Great looking cars

[Cuda Cody]

Thanks @TobiasM  for taking the time to introduce yourself and tell us about your passion.  I admire your drive and ability to find super cool cars in another country.  It's hard enough finding them here in the US, but you're doing great finding the good ones and doing the extra work to get them shipped.     Nicely done and really shows your drive to find good cars.

And you Sublime Challenger RT/SE, Shaker, 4 speed, Dana, double Fender Tag is about as cool as they come.  That is a rare beast.  Nice find!!!

[Culvers]

Hi Toby, nice Challenger 

Do you have pics of the fender tags?

[Rev-It-Up]

   Glad you found us! Love the Chally with the Shaker! Beautiful! 

[J-Code Jeni]

  & what a great introduction! Thank you for taking the time to share your passion, your Mopar journey and the trials & tribulations along the way. Your newest car is freaking awesome! Absolutely gorgeous! Congratulations & we look forward to hearing more from you!

[TobiasM]

Thanks everybody for the warm welcoming!!!

@soundcontrol/Ken: Tack sa mycket! Ett fran min andra bilen är en 78:an Saab 99 turbo ;-)     

@CULVERS/Detlef: yes, at least have good quality photos of the fender tags...so in worst case I could get some repos made...but it is about principles: I fullfilled my contract 100%, wired a hell lot of money to an unknown person overseas and he - for what ever reason - doesn`t fullfill his contract 100% by lacking in putting at least those 2 fendertags into an envelope an mail `em over...not too difficult of a job, I`d say.

But I am super-persistant on this and totally eager to get my Challenger its tags back in place...in the end the good guys always win and so will I !!! 

[1 Wild R/T]

Good luck in your quest for the tags, you certainly deserve to have them... And Welcome to the site, It's quickly becoming the best place on the web for E body fans....

[303 Mopar]

Really nice looking Mopars! Glad you found us!

[Jay Bee]

  Welcome aboard from St. Catharine's, ON