Why Did You Get The Car(s) You Have?

[Tim Larson]

On 1/20/2021 at 10:34 PM, Hamilton said:

Of the 84 vehicles I've owned, six have been Mopars (eight if you count an original-style Caravan and a new Ram P/U).  They were/are, in order:

 

1) 1949 Plymouth Suburban

2) 1964 Plymouth Fury 383 4spd

3) 1971 Plymouth Duster 340 Wedge 4spd

4) 1977 Dodge Mirada

5) 1949 Plymouth Special Deluxe Club Coupe

6) 1949 Dodge Meadowbrook

 

Of these, I still have only the Club Coupe, having purchased it from the original owner in 1989 and presenting it to my father as a gift.  We had a 49 Plymouth four door when I was a kid (imagine cramming two parents and six kids into one in the middle of summer and driving from Portland to Los Angeles and back). 

 

Even after that bit of folly, the old man had a soft spot for the `49 Plymouth.  One day as I was driving home from work I spotted this one for sale on the side of the road.  I pulled over and gave the owner a deposit on the spot, then gave it to my dad.  It had 32K miles on it then, and sits at just over 39K today.  Unfortunately, it became mine again after my dad passed in 2012. 

 

So, although owning 84 cars and trucks is pretty solid evidence that I have a tendency to not keep them, this one never leaves the family, at least not while I'm alive ...

 

 

 

I bought my '49 Club Coupe in the summer of 2019 and I thoroughly enjoy having it. 

 

I wasn't looking for one, but happened upon it on Facebook marketplace. When I went to see it I knew I had to buy it since it was beautiful and original and smelled like the old '62 Belvedere I used to play in as a kid. 

 

The owner was assured that I was not buying it to resell, but to keep, maintain, and enjoy it. 

 

I will periodically text the former owner to let him know of any updates or special moments I've had with the car. 

 

I hope to have many more adventures with it!

[hkestes41]

My first post in this thread was back in Jan 2012 when I still had my previous 48 Plymouth Club Coupe. Ended up selling it a few years later to help my daughter through a rough spot. 

 

About two years ago I started getting the itch to find another car and came across my current 37 Plymouth Coupe. While the 48 had a hot rod flathead and overdrive the 37 is powered by a 360 5.9 Magnum and 727. Found it in Detroit. After several conversations with the owner I flew to Detroit made the purchase and drove it back home to Dallas. Have made some updates since then like a new intake/carb, redid the A/C, new gauges, rebuilt the transmission. I drive it a lot putting about 8 thousand miles on it last year. 

 

 

[maddmaxx1949]

Bought my first one for 550$ out of some guys field

 Second for 600$ from a kid who was scrapping cars

Third bought at an auction in the middle of nowhere for 650$. Guy I bid against was going to cut it in half for yard art

 

Dad and I worked on his old trucks growing up so that got me into old cars. Wanted a few of my own. First year I got a job I bought him a fully restored '67 C20 as a thank you and retirement gift. Would like to pass mine along sometime as well.

 

 

All labors of love but I can't bear to see them rot.

Edited March 14, 2021 by maddmaxx1949

[blucarsdn]

I can't recall if I have ever accessed this topic in the past, it has been around for quite some time.

I have been messing with cars since I was 14, actually bought my first car, a '40 Chevy three weeks before my 14th birthday which was in 1948. I have had several cars through the years, none of which were DPCD's. Lots of Chevy's and a few Fords.
My father preferred Chevy's, however, he had a '37 DeSoto 4dr sdn in 1939, we went to the Worlds Fair in San Francisco. My father did buy a '36 Plymouth in 1943, it was a terrible car, would not start most of the time during cold weather. My father parked the Plymouth in front of a beer bar he hung out in one evening, when he came out the Plymouth was gone, stolen. The car was found out in the desert west of town a few days later, someone had torched it.. I always suspected that the disappierance of the Plymouth was a put up deal.
Moving forward to the 1950's, I bought a '36 Ford DeLux 5win cpe in September 1952, the car had belonged to one of my high school teachers, the odometer had 51 K. I still own the car, never intended to keep the car for so many years it just worked out that way. I have driven the Ford over 94,k during the years I have owned it.
Through out the years I always had a latent desire to have a 1930 model convertible. I had several chances to buy a convertible, however, I like cars that have warm air and sweet music.. (Heater and radio) which most '30 model open cars don't have.
Everything changed for me in 1995, I was in Montana visiting my daughter. Cruising around the farm area around my daughters place I stumbled onto a '39 Plymouth P8 RS convertible coupe. The car had been sitting in an open field for 38 years, a complete car with the engine sitting in the grass in front of the car.
After some discussion with the farmer that owned the car, he called it his high school jalopy, he gave the car to me. In my wildest dreams I never thought I would own a Plymouth, leave long a Plymouth convertible.
It took me sixteen years to rebuild the Plym, the most difficult project I ever undertook. A significant amount of the body, trim parts for a '39 Plym conv are one year only. Wm

[meezy]

I'd loved old cars since I was a toddler. My grandma and dad were driving through the countryside in Missouri when they happened upon an old timer selling his 1950 Plymouth. It was $1300, it ran, and it stopped. It was a gift from my grandma before she passed when I was 17. My first car. At this point in my life, I've had it for longer than I HAVEN'T had it. Rebuilt the engine, dual exhaust, dual carbs, rewired it, upgraded to an overdrive. Getting painted as we speak. About to take my longest road trip in it ever as I move from New York to Florida. You can see my other post about that ; )

[capt den]

about 2006 i was looking for some parts for a 54 windsor that i had owned about 3 years. i called bernbaum and he asked me if i had any interest in buying his 54 windsor convertible. it was sitting in his garage since about 1985 under a car cover. he had bought the car in new jersey, drove it one summer, and put it away by parking it and turning the key off. i had been searching for a 54 convertible as it was my high school car and i wanted another. however, they only made 500 windsor convertibles in 54, so my search never turned one up until this came along. i expected to find a car in bad condition, but it turned out to be in very good condition as described by andy. the engine turned over by hand, and i bought it. it was transported a week or so later from boston to my place on long island. after much needed maintenence, we took it on a 400 mile trip to the rhinebeck car show, and it drove great and dependable. i still have it here in north carolina. i drove it here from NY. still working on it, but i drive it often. currently rebuilding the heat/defrost system, almost done with that. next i will re-install the power brake booster which i had rebuilt a few months ago.  always something, but that is why we own them.       capt den

[John Reddie]

On 3/14/2021 at 2:22 PM, blucarsdn said:

I can't recall if I have ever accessed this topic in the past, it has been around for quite some time.

I have been messing with cars since I was 14, actually bought my first car, a '40 Chevy three weeks before my 14th birthday which was in 1948. I have had several cars through the years, none of which were DPCD's. Lots of Chevy's and a few Fords.
My father preferred Chevy's, however, he had a '37 DeSoto 4dr sdn in 1939, we went to the Worlds Fair in San Francisco. My father did buy a '36 Plymouth in 1943, it was a terrible car, would not start most of the time during cold weather. My father parked the Plymouth in front of a beer bar he hung out in one evening, when he came out the Plymouth was gone, stolen. The car was found out in the desert west of town a few days later, someone had torched it.. I always suspected that the disappierance of the Plymouth was a put up deal.
Moving forward to the 1950's, I bought a '36 Ford DeLux 5win cpe in September 1952, the car had belonged to one of my high school teachers, the odometer had 51 K. I still own the car, never intended to keep the car for so many years it just worked out that way. I have driven the Ford over 94,k during the years I have owned it.
Through out the years I always had a latent desire to have a 1930 model convertible. I had several chances to buy a convertible, however, I like cars that have warm air and sweet music.. (Heater and radio) which most '30 model open cars don't have.
Everything changed for me in 1995, I was in Montana visiting my daughter. Cruising around the farm area around my daughters place I stumbled onto a '39 Plymouth P8 RS convertible coupe. The car had been sitting in an open field for 38 years, a complete car with the engine sitting in the grass in front of the car.
After some discussion with the farmer that owned the car, he called it his high school jalopy, he gave the car to me. In my wildest dreams I never thought I would own a Plymouth, leave long a Plymouth convertible.
It took me sixteen years to rebuild the Plym, the most difficult project I ever undertook. A significant amount of the body, trim parts for a '39 Plym conv are one year only. Wm

That is a magnificent restoration on a convertible that sat in the open for that long. Nice color. Is your '36 Ford still a flathead?

John R

[sidevalvepete]

On 1/20/2021 at 2:54 PM, JerseyHarold said:

I was browsing online and saw this thread mentioned on another website.   I said "hey that's a nice topic".  It turns out the thread was started by ME a long time ago!   

Time for a bump.....

What a great bump JerseyHarold! Thoroughly enjoyed this thread! So many great stories out there. Find myself wanting to hit the like icon all the time!!

[JerseyHarold]

Thanks for the kind words.  Occasionally I do something useful.....

Edited March 16, 2021 by JerseyHarold

[1948Windsor]

Brother-in-law was given a 1948 chrysler windsor 4dr to body swap onto an 80s ford sedan for the original owner. i dont recall what the donor car was exactly but it would  have been a daunting task. one thing led to another and the owner decided to just sell the car. Brother-in-law (and myself for that matter) was more into quick'n dirty truck builds so had no interest in the car but i bought it with no real plan or real experience with dodge/chrysler/mopar OR with a project of this size.

 

it sat for a couple years as i fought w/ the 251 flathead and then i decided i wanted to update. i research a 12v conversion, then looked into motor swap but settled on full frame swap. i got hold of a 91 dakota reg. cab longbox and pulled the 360 out of an old 88 dodge 3/4 ton farm truck and went to work.

 

it took about a year before its first drive as i had limited tools and no heat in garage over winter but the ratrod has been on the road every summer since and is still a work in progress. mainly redoing the interior.

 

i recently got my hands on a 440 so it looks like i may be hitting the reset button and starting over.

 

[JerseyHarold]

Found this over the weekend.  The car that started my P23 obsession, with my father next to it, in July, 1953.

 

Does it look like the car has 9" hubcaps?  Should be 10" on a Cambridge.

[Bryan G]

TThere have always been some old cars in my life; my Dad had a body shop and there was always something either coming or going. He owned a number of Dodge pickups but never a car. Personally I gravitated to something other than the performance models he liked; I prefer older, original "drivers". My habit is to find something with a fairly solid body that's been sitting for a long, long time, and go about resurrecting it. I'd been looking for my next project for a couple years and had kicked tires on a few Mopars including a '40 Windsor sedan & a '53 DeSoto Powermaster sedan. I kept being drawn back to a '49 New Yorker sedan that had been for sale for a while and finally pulled the trigger. 

 

Two notable Dodge cars from my memory: a '37 barn find that I could have bought around '93 for $1000. It was the real deal, solid, covered in pigeon droppings but all there. I haven't forgiven myself for not grabbing it. Around that same time I met a fellow with a nice old '52 Coronet 2dr. with one of the quietest engines I've ever witnessed. He begged for someone to give him $2500 but as far as I know it was sold as part of his estate. 

 

[Booger]

My first 49 Plymmie Special De

was so primo ..at the stop sign the ammeter would flutter around a slight discharge side ..the idle must have been set at around 450...barley ticking and so quiet. A slight tuff of blue smoke.and never a worry always started

but that was 50 years ago

like your first kiss? NAW

[LrudyD]

Believe it or not, I wasn’t even looking for a car! Oh, I’ve had dreams of getting a car to work on for years, and have always been a Mopar guy.  So, a few years ago I lent a friend some money, then pretty much forgot about it.  He called me about two years later and said he wanted to talk to me. I went to his house and he started showing me some of his oldies, including a ‘48 Chrysler Windsor. Then he said for me to take my pick, it’s in exchange for the money I lent him! Wow! I didn’t lend him that much, but he was extremely generous in this!  The interior and exterior are in good shape, working on the underneath now!

[keithb7]

 Maybe its time for an update:

 

  I came here, finding this place when I was seeking support for my initial vintage Mopar purchase. My 1953 Chrysler. I fell in love with the simplicity, design and engineering of the old cars. I very much enjoy this site and the people who are members here.

 

  One car became not enough. I bought another. A 1938 Plymouth P6 sedan. Two years later that was not enough. I bought my 1938 Chrysler Royal coupe. I shall be content for a while. I hope.

 

 This site, although a great resource, also spurns the desire to own more Mopars. I am guilty, but I too am very happy. What a great hobby this is.

 

 

 

 

[53 B4D]

1 hour ago, keithb7 said:

 Maybe its time for an update:

 

  I came here, finding this place when I was seeking support for my initial vintage Mopar purchase. My 1953 Chrysler. I fell in love with the simplicity, design and engineering of the old cars. I very much enjoy this site and the people who are members here.

 

  One car became not enough. I bought another. A 1938 Plymouth P6 sedan. Two years later that was not enough. I bought my 1938 Chrysler Royal coupe. I shall be content for a while. I hope.

 

 This site, although a great resource, also spurns the desire to own more Mopars. I am guilty, but I too am very happy. What a great hobby this is.

 

 

 

 

? The feeling is mutual. I'm showing my wife your post so she understands my passion for cars ?

[53 B4D]

5 hours ago, LrudyD said:

Believe it or not, I wasn’t even looking for a car! Oh, I’ve had dreams of getting a car to work on for years, and have always been a Mopar guy.  So, a few years ago I lent a friend some money, then pretty much forgot about it.  He called me about two years later and said he wanted to talk to me. I went to his house and he started showing me some of his oldies, including a ‘48 Chrysler Windsor. Then he said for me to take my pick, it’s in exchange for the money I lent him! Wow! I didn’t lend him that much, but he was extremely generous in this!  The interior and exterior are in good shape, working on the underneath now!

Nice friend! Great car!

[Dodgeb4ya]

I'm sure you would also like a Airflow... A rare and nice model would be the "Imperial" C2 coupe!

The big "8" cylinder Airflow would be the ultimate car of your dreams.

[chrysler1941]

When I got my 1941 Chrysler Royal Coupe 3W some 16 years ago, it was my third Mopar.

I had no preferences at the time other than:

• pre-war,
• 2 door,
• Not a Ford 
• a model you never find a similar at rallies.

I fell for the submarine look and the ridiculous rear

[Plymouthy Adams]

try not to submerge this beast at least below periscope level....get the military snorkel kit on that puppy...where we're going, we don't need a ferry....

[Dan Hiebert]

Looked at this resurrected thread and realized that back in 2012 I just listed what old cars we've had with no "reason" for any of them, plus one addition since.  Cut to the chase, I'll just delve into what we currently have.  It'd take a novella to go over all of them!

 

D24 - I've never been what you would call a brand specific zealot, but like MoPar products without being able to say exactly why.  One of them things, and we've always been pleased with how modern MoPar vehicles have treated us.  The most reliable car we've ever had is the D24.  We already had an old truck (1952 Ford F3) and wanted an old car to compliment it, and to cart the kids and us around in.  Living in Horizon City, TX in 1991, just outside El Paso.  We had our eyes on a '40 Plymouth on a lot on Montana Ave. in El Paso, but it got sold "out from under us" between the time we agreed on a price with the dealership and returned from the bank with the money.  Some kid offered $100 more than we did.  Lesson learned, have some deposit money in hand.  So, we had a pocket full of money, and still a yearning for an old sedan.  Looked around for a few weeks and saw a POS sedan behind a fence at a seedy used car lot in San Elizario, TX that kind of caught our eye.  Didn't even know what it was, funny enough, neither did the dealer.  Which helped us get it for a good price.  Once we ascertained what it was, we liked the idea that it was just a plain old family car from back in the day, and that the rear doors were suicide doors.  The more I researched it, the more we liked it and we wound up buying it.  

 

'37 Terraplane.  Looking for parts for the D24 in a salvage yard in Alamogordo, NM.  They had a '37 Terraplane 2dr sedan in the yard that was too rough for my abilities at the time, but just caught my fancy with its styling.  I've always been a bit of a Hudson fan, too.  And, like most folks when they ask about it now, I didn't even know what a "Terraplane" was.  I like the gigantic fenders, scrunched roofline, unique grille, and the fact that it's a "triple orphan" brand, (Terrplane went away deferring to Hudson, Hudson went away merging into AMC, then AMC went away.  Just my line of thinking.)  Took ten years to find one that I could afford and had the ability to work on.  Accosted some Hudson-Essex-Terraplane Club members on their way to a regional meet when we were living in Carlsbad, NM.  They cued me onto a '37 Terraplane sedan for sale in Effingham, IL., a mere 50 miles from my Uncle.  Had him look at it, and I liked the report back.  We'd been saving a bit here and there, so I could actually afford both the car, and the trip to get it (and visit family).  We've moved thrice since then, and now I have the only 1937 Terraplane 4dr sedan registered in my State.  My Uncle is a card-carrying clown, and we took it back to Illinois a couple times since so he and his "crew" could use it in some parades.

 

'70 Beetle.  I've always liked Beetles.  I used to be a pretty good pencil artist, and I would always draw Beetles when the other kids were drawing muscle cars and Rat-Fink cars when I was a kid.  Learning the "Slug-bug" game from the aforementioned Uncle probably added to the mystique.  Always looking for them.  Never really had room for even something so small with the other cars.  Fast forward to Maine, more room, drove by a lot with one in it.  Stopped to take a picture and sent it to the missus for giggles, and she said - "lets buy it!"  (Yeah, I'm still in shock over that.)  Previously mentioned Uncle came to visit a couple years ago and was kinda pissed when I "slug-bugged" him when I opened the shop door to show him the old cars.  It's my summer bombing around town car (it doesn't like the cold) that's just a hoot to drive.  I get more thumbs-ups and honks when I'm driving the Beetle than the other two oldies.

 

Edited May 6, 2021 by Dan Hiebert

[MackTheFinger]

On 5/6/2021 at 3:31 PM, Dan Hiebert said:

Looked at this resurrected thread and realized that back in 2012 I just listed what old cars we've had with no "reason" for any of them, plus one addition since.  Cut to the chase, I'll just delve into what we currently have.  It'd take a novella to go over all of them!

 

D24 - I've never been what you would call a brand specific zealot, but like MoPar products without being able to say exactly why.  One of them things, and we've always been pleased with how modern MoPar vehicles have treated us.  The most reliable car we've ever had is the D24.  We already had an old truck (1952 Ford F3) and wanted an old car to compliment it, and to cart the kids and us around in.  Living in Horizon City, TX in 1991, just outside El Paso.  We had our eyes on a '40 Plymouth on a lot on Montana Ave. in El Paso, but it got sold "out from under us" between the time we agreed on a price with the dealership and returned from the bank with the money.  Some kid offered $100 more than we did.  Lesson learned, have some deposit money in hand.  So, we had a pocket full of money, and still a yearning for an old sedan.  Looked around for a few weeks and saw a POS sedan behind a fence at a seedy used car lot in San Elizario, TX that kind of caught our eye.  Didn't even know what it was, funny enough, neither did the dealer.  Which helped us get it for a good price.  Once we ascertained what it was, we liked the idea that it was just a plain old family car from back in the day, and that the rear doors were suicide doors.  The more I researched it, the more we liked it and we wound up buying it.  

 

'37 Terraplane.  Looking for parts for the D24 in a salvage yard in Alamogordo, NM.  They had a '37 Terraplane 2dr sedan in the yard that was too rough for my abilities at the time, but just caught my fancy with its styling.  I've always been a bit of a Hudson fan, too.  And, like most folks when they ask about it now, I didn't even know what a "Terraplane" was.  I like the gigantic fenders, scrunched roofline, unique grille, and the fact that it's a "triple orphan" brand, (Terrplane went away deferring to Hudson, Hudson went away merging into AMC, then AMC went away.  Just my line of thinking.)  Took ten years to find one that I could afford and had the ability to work on.  Accosted some Hudson-Essex-Terraplane Club members on their way to a regional meet when we were living in Carlsbad, NM.  They cued me onto a '37 Terraplane sedan for sale in Effingham, IL., a mere 50 miles from my Uncle.  Had him look at it, and I liked the report back.  We'd been saving a bit here and there, so I could actually afford both the car, and the trip to get it (and visit family).  We've moved thrice since then, and now I have the only 1937 Terraplane 4dr sedan registered in my State.  My Uncle is a card-carrying clown, and we took it back to Illinois a couple times since so he and his "crew" could use it in some parades.

 

'70 Beetle.  I've always liked Beetles.  I used to be a pretty good pencil artist, and I would always draw Beetles when the other kids were drawing muscle cars and Rat-Fink cars when I was a kid.  Learning the "Slug-bug" game from the aforementioned Uncle probably added to the mystique.  Always looking for them.  Never really had room for even something so small with the other cars.  Fast forward to Maine, more room, drove by a lot with one in it.  Stopped to take a picture and sent it to the missus for giggles, and she said - "lets buy it!"  (Yeah, I'm still in shock over that.)  Previously mentioned Uncle came to visit a couple years ago and was kinda pissed when I "slug-bugged" him when I opened the shop door to show him the old cars.  It's my summer bombing around town car (it doesn't like the cold) that's just a hoot to drive.  I get more thumbs-ups and honks when I'm driving the Beetle than the other two oldies.

 

I love VW's! I traded a '63 Dodge pickup for my first VW, a '65 Beetle; in 1970 and gave it to a girlfriend.. I didn't own another Beetle for several years until a friend gave me a '67. I started restoring it for my son, intending to let him drive it when he got his license. I wasn't finished with it when he turned 16 so he ended up driving my transporter instead. He wasn't happy about driving the bus at first but after a while he ended up loving it. His high school let the kids go wherever they wanted at lunch and he always had a van full. Once at a parent-teacher conference a teacher approached my wife and I and mentioned that while she didn't have him in any classes she had noticed that he and his friend's really enjoyed driving my old bus. She said it looked like there were always a dozen kids in it. Maybe some good came of being the local hippie/biker's kid.. 

 

Edited May 9, 2021 by MackTheFinger