Mopar Magic
My first memory of a Mopar was of my Dad’s DeSoto. It was one of Chrysler’s wild color schemes: pink and purple. It sounds awful but everyone loved that car. I've since seen a restored Chrysler New Yorker in that color and it was striking. The DeSoto was replaced by a 59 Chrysler Windsor which I drove down our country lane to get the mail and in which I got my first driver’s license a 14. That poor car fell pray to the abuse of a teenage driver and I was sad to see it towed away. I didn’t know at the time but we test-drove a 64 Chrysler 300. I just remember how hot it was and the front grill. To my knowledge, that was the first “cross hairs grill.” Dad didn’t buy it. He said it was more money than he wanted to spend. I think the real reason was the fear of losing his teenage son in a high-speed car accident.
My first car was a 64 Dodge Polara (I was 21). I paid $400 for it. It was black with a 318 push button automatic. It was a good, dependable car but not too fast. I was driving it in Provo when I spotted a beautiful, blue and white 70 Dodge Charger R/T SE with a for sale sign in it.
I stopped and drooled. The student owner from Seattle wanted $1600. He was the second owner; it had ~ 40,000 miles on it and was pristine. A doctor was the original owner. The student wanted a 4-wheel drive truck but gas had gone up to 35 cents a gallon and no dealer would take it as a trade. I started the engine. The sound of the headers was beautiful music and blended perfectly with “Ricky don’t lose that number” playing on the Astrophonic radio. Torn between sorrow and excitement I drove home and told my wife about the car. There was no way we could afford it as students. Still, she went with me, just to look. “Let’s buy it”, she said! So we did.
$65.00 a month was a steep car payment; but oh the ride that came with it. Soon I had three speeding tickets (with some Chevy and Ford notches on my belt) and was in danger of losing my license. The insurance premiums became more than the car payment.
I used to joke about days of the week. Sunday was the Lord’s Day; weekdays were for school and work. Saturday was my day: my day to work on the Charger. It was pampered and polished and kept it very nice. At about 50,000 miles a friend got inside and said, "This smells like a new car”.
To quell my racing enthusiasm I decided to build a bracket racer. I picked up a 68 383 Magnum out of a Road Runner. I also bought a 64 Dodge Max Wedge car sans engine. I used the 4 speed and differential from the Max Wedge car then sold it. Sad isn’t it? I was quickly discontented with the 383 in the Polara. A friend drove a Hemi Coronet and he suggested I swap the 440 with the 383. It sounded like a good idea. Wrong! It was very bad advice. His own actions were even worse as he soon let his Hemi go.
I found 6 Pack set up, rebuilt the 440 and put it in the Polara. My first outing was at the old Bonneville Drag strip. I promptly blew the rear universal because I had no pinion snubber. After a few more racing attempts with zero money, I decided to sell the Polara. I thought it was the practical thing to do. I sold it to a guy who lived in Sunset, Utah for $800. Oh that I had that engine back now. I’ve been looking for it for years.
So my Charger lives with a 383 in front of the original 727 TorqueFlite. It still has the original white vinyl top, EB5 Bright Blue Metallic paint and longitudinal stripes. The SE interior is all factory stock and in very good shape. Since it is an SE it has leather bucket seats (we used to call them “high-backs”) and a rear window defroster but no air conditioning. It has spent a number of years in my garage, covered and un-started.
Since then, I have owned and driven a 78 Dodge Challenger (Mitsubishi), an 86 Plymouth Voyager, a 260Z, a 90 Dodge Spirit, a 95 Chrysler Sebring, 2000 Dodge Dakota and my current 99 300M. Other than company cars and the Datsun, I have been true to the Mopar brand. I’ve got a serious glint in my eye for the promised Challenger SRT8.
We now have 5 adult children. Our younger ones said they were embarrassed when I dropped them off at school in the Charger. They said it was big and noisy. Today, they all posture to “inherit” the “Charger”. I've started on a resoration project. I’ve located a 70 440 Magnum from a Charger R/T. It’s not the original but it’s as close as I’ll ever get. The picture above is from 2007. I have worked very hard to restore the car. It as been great fun to drive the car and enjoy the attention it gets. In November 2007, the car was honored as Charger of the Month by the 1970 Dodge Charger Registry. It is an International organization dedicated to the docementation and restoration of '70 Dodge Chargers. What a great ride it has been.
