Graveyard Carz show
- Thread starter SoFloG
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I've always heard the reason mopars are worth what they are is simply because there are less of them today and the distorted view that they are more rare. Fords and GM's just lasted longer. Gm/ford lasted 100k miles before they started to get blowby and rusting but the mopar stuff only lasted 75k miles. Mopar in the day was also a cheaper option so the 17 year olds bought chargers instead of chevelles and they just got destroyed from being dumb kids.
I've heard from many and old(er) guy who's first car was a 70 charger with a wasted 383 and dropped a 440 out of a truck or motor home in the late 70's. They then upgraded to a 68 fastback mustang or 70 442 once they had an extra $300 in their wallet.
I've heard from many and old(er) guy who's first car was a 70 charger with a wasted 383 and dropped a 440 out of a truck or motor home in the late 70's. They then upgraded to a 68 fastback mustang or 70 442 once they had an extra $300 in their wallet.
Sure. With the overboosted, 1 finger power steering, the sit on the floor with your legs stretched straight out in a bucket seat that doesn't recline driving position, with 4 wheel manual drum brakes that have one good stop in them every 10 minutes, with lumber wagon rear suspension, grab that thin plastic steering wheel the diameter of a school bus's, tune the AM radio to a Mexican station, slap some radial tires on those 35lb steel wheels, and it magically becomes a porsche.
I had 3 'Cudas, a Panther Pink Barracuda and a 383 Roadrunner, and I have fully recovered from my brain damage. The '71 'cuda340 convert with dual rubber bumpers was my daily driver for 2 years. I drove it from Omaha to Phoenix in one day when the national speed limit was only 55 mph. I restored a 27K mile 440-6 back to 100% stock with Correct NOS E60-15 Polyglas tires that I found at the Pate swap meet (back when it was in Pate, 15 years before they were reproduced and 5 years before anyone even knew E60's (and not F's) were the correct tires for a 440-6). I was building a "restomod" out of my original In-violet 440-4 that was going to "look stock" but have a firm feel steering box, sway bars, ported Big valve head, ported manifolds, it was going to handle, but run mid twelves...Then I came to my senses. My $5K T-type was faster than Any Mopar, My T-type handled better than any Mopar, It braked better than any Mopar, it got double the gas mileage of any Mopar, It was more comfortable on a long trip than any Mopar, and wasting a good saturday afternoon comparing underhood stamps and alternator date codes with other brain damaged losers is for Corvette guys (not the performance corvette guys, but the guys performance corvette guys think are brain damaged)
This is why I'm uniquely qualified to spot the brain damage in guys like Mark Worman.
I understand your views and I have mine. First car I owned which I still have is a 70 Impala. It had manual drum brakes on bias ply tires or fiberglass belted on stock 5 inch wide wheels. I know all too well about stopping and handeling on a 4k pound car living in ny. Never said tires change the car but it is a big difference.
Mopars usually were good for only one thing: going fast in a straight line. Massive leaf springs and big motors meant they could be launched hard and they would stay straight. They started rusting before you drove them off the lot, the ergonomics were way below even broke companies like AMC.
Rarity plays a big roll in the high prices, and the Auction method of price setting favors the rare car above all else. If two rich guys want something and there is only one of them, the price is not determined by how good or bad it is. When I bought my Mopars NOBODY wanted them. Every one except for the Roadrunner was rare, but I only paid $6,500 for the 440-6, $7,500 for '71 Convert and $5,000 for the '70 440-4 and $400 for the '70 Moulin Rouge Barracuda. Then brain damage set in.
I replaced my '71 cuda convert as a daily driver with an '86 Mustang GT convert. The Mustang did EVERYTHING better than a '71 Cuda convert. Everything. You name it, No comparison. When '71 Cuda340 converts were selling for $100K (and Hemis for $1 Million), I looked up what a similar miles, similar condition '86 Mustang GT Convert was selling for... $4,000.
Only one explanation: Brain Damage.
Mental Illness is not just a Mopar deal. Mopar people just seem to be more susceptible to it.
There are a lot of Corvette and Mustang guys with it, also. I saw a guy pay $100K for a '65 289 Automatic Mustang convert (one of about 100K built). Car had "all new sheet metal" which code for "rust bucket". That guy would have been better off buying a New Mustang convert and spending the rest of the money on a shrink, because he is OBVIOUSLY not right.
When people start paying $15K for 70K mile '79 Monte Carlos in BFE Iowa, you'll know the brain damage is starting to happen. When they are paying $25K, the straight up Zombie apocalypse is occurring. Odds of this happening are slim & none, however, so no need to worry.
Mopar people are actually very late to the party on the rotisserie restoration craze (GM cars didn't really need rotisseries because you could pull the body off the frame). Mustang guys started it in the 1970's. You could still win the Mopar Nat's into the 1980's without a rotisserie restoration (as long as you had a Rally Red Hemi 4 speed with dual rubber bumpers). The first rotisserie AMC that shown up at a National meet was in 1985. Rotisserie resto's meant that a red car with red interior wasn't always going to win best of show, anymore. It still could, but it wasn't guaranteed. A Green car with a rotisserie could beat out a red/red car without a rotisserie. National shows are judged, and points awarded on merit, but judges are human, and humans like red cars with red interiors.
The reason why shops like GYC exist today is because the "Fast" Mopars couldn't go very far (take 6 mpg with a 14 gallon tank then add high gas prices) and fact it drove awful for those 84 miles meant there was relatively many low mile examples sitting around in any town that had a large Plymouth/Dodge dealer.
Because of the shear volume of low mileage examples and the fact that nobody really wanted them until the 1990's (when diesel trucks and enclosed trailers and increased disposable income made it possible to take a nice one more than 84 miles away) meant there was ***hole for every seat.
Corvette and Mustang or other GM "100 point restoration" guys were long since ostracized to the fringes of the hobby by the owners that actually "enjoyed" driving their cars. Since there is much less joy driving a Mopar, that hasn't happened, yet, and may never happen.
brain damage.
There are also many classic tractors owners who want them all stock and original and even remove dealer service upgrades. Also seen quite a few GN guys who get mad when somebody modifies the appearance of their GN, like the guy turning his GN to a aeroback. Like Daleks, all GNs must look alike. Have also seen the opposite where people automatically presume stock stuff is always bad and needlessly spend big bucks on aftermarket parts they do not really need or doesn't really improve things. Many aftermarket parts are subpar quality.
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