If only I had known.....now I'm depressed. :)

[John Schmidt]

I was watching the car program on TV called "CHOP, CUT, AND REBUILD."  Part of the program is dedicated to the restoration and modification of a '69 Charger R/T, just like the one I used to have. At one point they're talking about the installation of a newly developed 5 speed tranny and the guy mentions the fact that Dodge only built something like 224 Chargers in '69 with the 440 & 4-speed stick. I had one and didn't know I had a fairly limited production model. IF ONLY I HAD KNOWN!  I'll bet it would be worth some real bucks now, I got it for $88 about 1974 with only 40k on the odometer. At the time, my wife worked for a finance company that repo'd the car which was originally from Reading, PA. It obviously was a muscle car and didn't have A/C which is a necessity here in Florida. It sat in their parking lot for a few days while they tried to get three bids on it....to no avail. So, she called me at work and told me about it and I said to offer a couple hundred...which the Penn. branch office turned down. Two weeks later, she got a call from them accepting the bid and told me about it. I said to tell them it was into the second year of default so I know it had already been written off, then send them $100 rather than doing it on the phone. She did it, and a couple weeks later in the mail she gets the title and a refund of $12, making my investment only $88. They told her the law forbids them from charging the new owner the cost of the legal fee for repo's. The car ran perfect, would pass anything but a gas station, and was totally original. It had an annoying rattle somewhere in back which made me finally pull the entire back seat out. At first I didn't see it, then noticed a bloody knife jammed up into seat structure and tied in place. I didn't say anything about it, that weekend took a drive to the coast and tossed it in the ocean. My oldest daughter at the time loved driving it, but I never let her drive it alone.  She loved idling through the local drive-in hangout just to see if anyone would challenge her. She got a lot of attention from the guys, which probably was more important at the time. The NBA player Daryl Dawkins was in high school at the same time, she was dieing laughing at him trying to get in/out of the car due to his size.

Sure would love to have that car back now. I kept it for about three years and sold it for $550. What a fool, I didn't need the money.

[Dodis]

You had to remind me...

1971 Torino Cobra, bought used for $2500, sold 2 yrs later for $1900. All original, but only had the "small" 351 Cleveland, 4barrel closed-chamber heads. Once found a place and bought myself a Christmas present for the car, a full tank of 100 octane leaded (what it used to require), sure ran smooth. And at 80+ mph, got about 22 mpg to boot! Never did find the top end, the spedo ran out at 120 and the needle disappeared behind the dash... 

Then a couple years ago I looked in the NADA Classics book, $25,000 for that model!!! 

[Thunderbolt]

first story was a guy at work kept hearing a noise in the back of the car like something rolling around.  Turned out someone had put a Coke bottle in the gas tank!!!!!!!!!!!
Second was told to me for the truth, can't validate it.  Guy finally found a rattle in one of the rear doors of his car, had a note in a bottle,  said "finally found it huh".
Loved those old muscle cars.  I had a 66 Dodge Coronet 440, 383 4 barrel.  I installed Hooker headers, 180 degree high rise,835 double pumper Holley, Crane solid lifter cam.  Loved that car.  Traded it in 1970 when Iris and I got married, it had almost 100,000 miles.  Unheard of back in those days.  Traded for a 70 Roadrunner 400 automatic.  I still like the Dodge brothers brand, have an 06 Ram 3500 diesel that I use to pull the 5th wheel.

[Popeye]

Mine was a 73 Cuda, 340/4 speed, all black and no air.  Bought it from a guy I went to high school
with, several years after we graduated.  Had that and a 75 Honda 750.  Long story short, getting
married and needed cash, we were paying for the wedding.,both the car and the bike went up for sale.  Sold the car and bought a beater to drive for a while.


Still wish I had that car.  Man, was it fun to drive. Marriage worked out OK and still riding today.

[sugerbear]

mine was a 64 1/2 gto  389 tri-power 4 speed. bought it in 72(i think, those years kinda run together )
guy sold it because it didn't have a/c auto and power windows(his dad bought it as a birthday present)

paid $200 and i replaced the clutch.

wish i had it back now

[Daniel Meyer]

68 Charger R/T myself. Paid 75 dollars for it and drove it for a decade.

Damn I miss that car...

[jrb]

A co-worker of mine just sold his 68' charger, he got 50K it went to Australia.

[John Schmidt]

A co-worker of mine just sold his 68' charger, he got 50K it went to Australia.

Now I'm REALLY depressed. 

[old2soon]

56 chevy two door 283 to 301. Metalic blue and arctic white. Sold it when the kids started showing up. Sure miss that ride. RIDE SAFE.

[KW]

Man, the Mopar guys are coming out of the woodwork! HAHA! John, my friend, you DON’T want to know what you could get for that limited production monster you had. You just don’t! Trust me . . 

[Kidd]

I had a 1972 Cutless 442  , loaded and very very fast , we smoked a lot of pot in that car

[Hoser]

69 Dodge Super Bee, 440 six pak, blew it up drag racing, sold it instead of fixing it.      Hoser

[JerryB]

Same here...69 RoadRunner,69 Hemi-orange SuperBee 440 6pack lift-off hood and now a newer Mopar in sig pic......JB.

[Piper]

eh,
 When I was a kid I collected and wrecked old Mustangs. Back then they were not so old.
Cool cars, junq yards were full of spare parts. Had almost every year up to '73 including a '64 1/2. Most of them were bought/sold for under a grand. Now even the clunkers are worth a bundle.

Stopped running go-fast cars after a bit of a run in with a Texas DPS officer. I think he was a bit ticked off that my Z-car was faster than his. But because he lived around the corner from some friends of mine, he already knew who I was. That cost me my license for awhile. 

Anyway, now I got the Valk, had to run her up to triple digits to check out the dynabeads last week  before the snow hit. She satisfies my current need for speed.

But sometimes I see a restored 'Stang or other muscle car and I just sigh.

[Kaiser]

To everyone who has posted to this thread:

[John Schmidt]

Same here...69 RoadRunner,69 Hemi-orange SuperBee 440 6pack lift-off hood and now a newer Mopar in sig pic......JB.

Hey JerryB, let me know when you get tired of that new Mopar you showed me last summer. Just send me an email and I'll move mama's Lexus out into the driveway. Yeah...right!!  You know that wouldn't happen, she has this crazy idea that garages are for cars....and she insists on half. 

[RoadKill]

My highschool sweetheart was a 69 Lemans custom sport. 350 2v and T-400. Bright red with black interior and black vinyl top.

She is looking sad and weathered out beside the driveway right now. 69k miles of pure abuse has taken a toll. Maybe I'll get her fired up and in the garage this fall 

[Mr.BubblesVRCCDS0008]

I'm with you here. I had a 57 chevy 150 business man 2 door post. tropical turquoise and indian Ivory white. It had a tilt frontend (steel) a built 350 smallblock, Borg-warner T-10 almun. 4 speed out of a vette and a 4.56 posi rearend. I built the first overhead console that I ever saw in it. All switches and guages, tach, Craig power play 8 track with an FM reciever and a glovebox all overhead. I pull toyota celica breclining bucket seats and a center console out of a 70 chevelle in it. My wife and I left the church in it after we were wed. I sure wish I had it back.

[Art708]

 When I came back from Nam I picked up a new '70 Dodge Coronet R/T converbible with 440, 4 speed, 6 pack. Bought it new for around $3700 and traded it 3 years later to a kid stationed with me for a '68 Cougar and $1000. I found out a couple of years ago that it was a VERY limited production car.

 Had a FRIEND (yeah right) who conned me out of a '68 Charger R/T and a '69 Camaro RS/SS at the SAME time. Long story but that ended my trusting good friends too far.

 Anyway... I LOVE the old Mopars. You used to not be able to give one away, now you can't afford one.     Sigh................!

[KW]

John, you just need a bigger garage 

[G-Man]

I had a 1972 Cutless 442  , loaded and very very fast , we smoked a lot of pot in that car

 

[JerryB]

John,
  I kinda like that MoPar as it has the lifetime powertrain warranty on it!I guess it must be my lifetime and not the cars ! I like the new MoPars so much,I bought another MoPar to keep it company.......Even with the crazy gas prices Never mind that white stuff lying around in the pic ....JerryB.

[shortleg]

  I know how you feel. I had a 1962 fuelie Corvett an
I can,y get over what they go for now.
          Shortleg[Dave]

[Jess Tolbirt]

look at it this way, if you still had those old cars,,i have had my share,,unless you took extra care of them they would all be rust buckets,,,,

[czuch]

Thanks for pickin that scab.
My dad was a teacher and worked three times a week at an old folks home. I was getting into cars in the early 70's and wanted to help. I made an offer that I'd go in half with parts and I got the car when they couldnt drive any more or died. As I learned and experience grew I developed quite a following of adoring Granny ladies. I also had some real fancy cars. '49 buick, '38 La Salle, DeSotos, Packards. Not many "lower end" cars as these ladies were from the higher strata income levels.
I could definately retire nicely on those even today.
 I cant work on the newer stuff but I can diagnose the old ones as they drive by.

[art]

Mine was a 63 jaguar XKE I sold it for $700