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List Your First & Latest Mopar Experiences


keithb7

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I thought this might be a fun thread.  Tell us a few details on your earlieast Mopar and your most recent Mopar experience. Could be anything. Maybe a memory as a young child, washing your car last week, or anything related. We’d love to hear your story.  Pics for extra bonus points! 

 

I’ll start:

 

1987 I was 16. I bought a 1976 2 door Dodge Dart. 225 slant six engine. 1 week later I pulled the engine and rebuilt it with my brother. He was 18 and a much better mechanic.I learned a ton. 

 

Today my wife and I drove my ‘53 Chrysler on a 120 mile trip. Then later my son and I tore down a 1949 218 flathead engine. 

 

Odd point: By chance every vintage Mopar car I’ve owned has been green. What say you?

 

Edited by keithb7
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When I was a teenager my older brother got a 63 D-200 it was black with a long bed stepside and a wide block 318 and granny 4-speed; he let me drive it around the field and taught me the basics of driving a manual transmission.

 

Today I was trying to get my new DeSoto running that I bought last weekend. Also black but with flat six and Tip-Toe transmission.

Here is a picture of my tag under the hood;  could someone help me decode it or point me in that direction please? I would like to know what the original color of the car was and what information the trim number  provides.

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My first mopar experience was after selling my 1st car a 1938 Frod 4dr sedan I'd bought in 1969 when 15 I decided that a budding hot rodder needed a coupe or roadster.the 1st coupe I found in my price range was a 1940 Dodge Coupe that I bought for $40 later that same year, my Dad it towed home on a trailer and I promptly pulled apart.....later sold the coupe in around 1985..........the lower pic is the first "trip" around the block after I had installed the 318 Poly in the 40 Dodge Sedan..........and the most recent pic I have is taken at a hot rod club run a couple of months ago in the sedan which I still have.............the carbys been playing up the past few weeks so gunna have to give it a talking to.........lol.........andyd

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Dad bought me a ‘50 Plymouth fast back, very poor image building at the time. Drive it for three years including a round trip from Western Nebraska to Central California.  My last family Mopar was a  Chrysler Cirrus with a 24 valve engine, drove   it 19 years, 300,000 miles.

 

 Now my 52 B3B, 53 Suburban and 53 coupe. 

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I’ll play.

Although growing up as an AMC family, (Dad put in 30 years there)which makes me a Mopar guy by marriage, there have been a lot of Mopars in my life. Earliest memories are of a black 55 Plymouth my Dad was delivering from Wheeling, IL to Eau Claire, WI to earn some extra money. I rode with him at probably four years old and he constantly harped and complained about the power steering and brakes as being too sensitive. There was an aqua green 57 Plymouth that belonged to a family friend/boarder that constantly over heated. Usually when we were with him. Grandpa traded in his 49 Mercury for a two tone blue 56 DeSoto. Dad dragged home the 1948 DeSoto in 1978. Many years later, Dad dragged home a 49 Dodge pick up. He threw a tune up and oil change at it and sold it two weeks later for three times what he paid for it.

 I bought my first Mopar in 1984, a brand New Plymouth Horizon four door. Ran that for over 125000 miles and donated it to the local high school when it was time to put it out to pasture. Next was a brand new 1995 Le Baron convertible 3.0 for our twentieth anniversary. Beautiful car. Black with the camel roof and interior, along with gold wheels and low profile tires. Top leaked like a sieve and I got to where I could swap out an axle with a bad CV joint in 45 minutes. Still, kept it for ten years.

 There was a five year drought until I bought my 05 Jeep Wrangler LJ, which is a TJ with ten inches added to the wheelbase and an almost usable rear seat, in 2010. Still have it. If a clean Jeep is an unloved Jeep. Mine is adored. Brought home the DeSoto in late 2017. Last year, on my wife’s 63rd Birthday, we traded in her 16 year old Audi A4 for a 2018 Jeep Renegade Limited. That has more toys on it than the Audi had. My wife hates getting rid of her cars but she had her mind made up on the Renegade before we were out of the dealers lot on the test drive. We call it “Grandmas Lil Goat” because it can go just about anywhere my Wrangler can go and do it with better manners and less fuel.

Edited by cheesy
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My first Mopar was in 1969. I bought a used 1966 Dodge Coronet; 2 door hardtop, canary yellow, slat six. Funniest thing about it was the aftermarket AC the previous owner installed. The AC was one of those boxes that hung under the dash with vents in the front. You could turn it on with one knob to start the compressor and wait a minute, then turn the fan on, and it would blow fog into the car like crazy for about 10 seconds! The kids thought that was such fun. Kept it for a couple of years. No more Mopars till last year when I got my 48 Plymouth Special Deluxe Coupe. Working on the 48 has been fun. I think I will keep it until I kick off. Took it on a 50 mile fun ride yesterday. It purrs along like a kitten. That 218 is the smoothest running motor. The 48 seems happiest at 45 to 50 mph.

Edited by Cold Blue
mispelling.
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First   Mopar experience was my dad's new  68   Imperial,  maroon,  black interior,  every option.  We  lived in  Bethlehem Pa.  and  went  across the state to Pittsburgh  to visit my grandmother.  I still can  remember  almost  every  song  on the   demo  tape that came with the 8 track player,   a new toy for us.  Played  that one tape the  whole  trip. Most of all I remember the Mopar promotional slot car set   that  came  in the trunk . Eldon  1/32 scale  with  a Charger  and  Coronet  slot cars,  and a pickup truck body easily swapped onto one of the chassis.  Box was bright purple.  If any exist they would certainly be a holy grail of accessories.   Also remember the car was filthy when picked up at the dealer,  and looking at a row of GTX's  in bright colors.  Heady stuff for an 8 year old.   Unfortunately for my dad, the car was a terrible lemon.  On occasion,  my dad would have  to get under the hood and stick a quarter into an  electrical connection to get  the car  to  start,  usually  when he and my  mom  were  all dressed  up  to  go  out.  Traded  it   in  on  a  gold  69  300  that  was  even  more    unreliable,   and   then  went  back  to  Buicks,  his  true  car  love.    Dad  was  very much  against my   buying  my  Dodge  coupe,  tried  to  talk  me  into  a  Buick.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                brian b

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My first Mopar was a '48 Plymouth Special Deluxe 4-door sedan that I purchased in 1987 in San Luis Obispo, California.  I paid $1500 and drove it home.  I kept it for several years and eventually sold it when I moved to Tucson.  I currently have a '47 Plymouth Business Coupe that I'm in the process of getting into "driver" condition.

 

Classic Fords and Chevys are all nice and everything, but it seems like everyone has one.  In my opinion, the Mopars are much more interesting and I'm really partial to the 46-48 body styles.

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My first introduction to Mopar was when I was a teenager working summers on my uncle’s farm.  My older cousin had a ‘40 Plymouth Road King which he had bought for $35 to drive the back roads at their cottage.  He ended up giving me the car which I proceeded to work on and had big plans to hot rod it just a little.  I paid $25 for a wrecked ‘57 Chev, pulled the engine and rear end and then, with school, girlfriends etc., ran out of money!  I ended up giving the car and parts to another cousin who started a body off restoration but unfortunately got sick and passed away.  The car was then sold and I have no idea where it is now.  Other Mopars have included several company k-cars and mini vans, a 2005 Chrysler Sebring, my daughter’s 2015 Chrysler 200 and my current 2010 Dodge Caravan and of course my 1950 Plymouth Deluxe survivor with only 42000 miles on it.

Edited by Rosco
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First car was a  1970 challenger. Many mopars during the years. Currently have a 1958 Plymouth, 97 Dakota drag truck, 73 challenger, 48 d24 and my daily driver is a 2015 challenger scat pack in b5 blue. Dad influenced me, he is a mopar guy.

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First Mopar I can remember was either my Granddad's '50 Dodge or the 60 something Desoto Dad had with the record player in it. Not sure on timing, but the Desoto is what hooked me. My first Mopar was a '65 Dodge Coronet 2 door hardtop, 318 auto, I bought it when I was 15. My current Mopar is my '41 Dodge Business Coupe. There have been too many in between to list them all.

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My first experience was my dads 48 Chrysler. 
it was big and blue is all I can remember.

There was a story that we got 2 feet of snow over night. Dad tied a 2x12 board to the front bumper , got a running start, and plowed his way down the driveway. Cut the ropes when he got to the road and went to work. 
My self I had bought a 76 Roadrunner, dad had a slant 6 Aspen. Later I bought a 72 cornet for the winter. I finally stumbled on to my 51 Cambridge with a built up slant 6 a few years ago.

Plymouth pics

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Pretty sad story.

My first mopar was a 1957 something or other ... it had a hemi in it. I was only 12 years old, I just cant remember the model.

I was mowing lawns to earn cash, I had a old yamaha dirt bike I worked on and swapped the running dirt bike for the car.(think the owner wanted $35 cash for the car)  The car actually ran, but had a leaking radiator and a cracked exhaust manifold that needed replaced.

At 12 or 13 years old, it was pretty cool to have my own car sitting in the driveway. I think it was a cornet, it was a big 4 door with tail fins. All us kids could hang out in it and make var000m var000m noises.

 

Times were tough back then, my brother inlaw was going to scrap his 1963 lincoln, This was a running driving car. He offered to trade me straight across.

The 57 weighed more then the 63. Now my $35 car was a 63 Lincoln.

Think I was 14 or almost 15 by then ... still a long ways from 16 and a drivers license.

 

Somehow my brother inlaw ended up swapping me a1965,  2 door impala for the 63 lincoln, And later he blew up the 327 in the impala.

Broke ass bastard ran out of gas, and while begging they gave him 104 octane race fuel to get home. Sure sounded good, right up to the b00m point.

After this point, I had a driver license a 1969 mustang fastback and no longer did deals with my brother inlaw.

 

I still got a few stories, I let them slide, the 1968 GTX was fun also the old 61 D100 truck, the 73 Plymouth satellite I left the fender on a guy wire.

I really should not drive mopar ... taking my wifes 1993 dodge on a 200 mile trip tomorrow for a medical procedure.

 

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The first Mopar I remember was the light grey 1946 Plymouth Special Deluxe fourdoor sedan my Dad bought new just after the war.  I heard it said that he was on a waiting list at the local Plymouth/Dodge dealership....and I think he got the first one in town.  I was about three at the time he got it, and being as he kept it 5 or 6 years,,,,I actually recall riding in it and the fact that he invented his own rear door kid safety locks for me and my sister.  He drilled a hole through the door post and into the back doors.....then inserted a long guttering nail (as used by roofers) so we kids couldn't open the doors by accident.  Over the years Dad bought such Mopars as a used 57 Plymouth wagon, a 61 DeSoto and a 66 Chrysler, and eventually an early Dodge Caravan......all seemed to be pretty good cars.

  In high school in 1959 a friend would occasionally borrow a sorta run down 1947 Plymouth convertible with a Dodge truck V8 in it from a guy who worked for his Dad.  We would cruise the old ragtop around town being "real cool".  That car had a style I really liked.....so after completing college and getting a sales job, I drove all over this part of Missouri looking in all possible places, including salvage yards, for a fixable or running P15 convertible.  I finally stumbled across a non running but restorable ragtop at a small salvage yard (the owner had parked it in a small garage to protect it) in Springfield, MO in 1973.  Salvage guy generously let me make several payments via mail ... then when paid for, I took tires on rims plus a tow bar to bring it home.  Still have it...just in better condition.  

    Owned several other 40s and 50s Mopars during the 1970s as you could find them in someone's back yard for $100 or so....and they often ran.   Now driving my 6th Dodge Caravan, which I plan on trading for another one when I get to 150,000 miles.

 

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Edited by BobT-47P15
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In 1986 my best friend bought a 65 Ford Mustang with a 289 and 90K miles on it for $2300.  It was a pretty good deal.  Not much rust, had the original blue paint with white interior, floor shift automatic. It even had all the hub caps.  Ran really good too, and we thought we were cool every time we beat a 350 Camaro by a car length from a stop light.  We'd cruise by the lake and gaze at the college "women" (jeez their just girls now) tanning in their bikinis. We always had to scrape together our spare change just to put a dollar fifty cents worth of gas in it to cruise around for just a little longer.  The damn car was dangerous as all hell, though.  Those light ass-ended Mustangs would get loose around corners, in the rain, in the snow, etc.  

 

Winter of 86-87: after school my friend asks me if I want to ride with him to my place, because he wants to talk to my brother about something.  (My brother graduated in 84, so we knew he'd be home after work).  I declined because I was big into weightlifting at the time, and I wasn't going to miss a workout to go see my a**hole brother whom I still shared a bedroom with.  Not going saved my life.  My friend lost control of the Mustang on a snowy corner, hit the gravel on the side of the pavement, flipped upside down and wrapped it around a telephone pole on the passenger side.  The passenger side seat was mashed into nothing.  The car was a complete wreck.  I would've died, seat belt on or not.  My friend was a big guy, six foot five, 240lbs.  He kicked the windshield out and started to walk toward my place, which was another 5 miles.  Another school friend was out riding snowmobile and picked him up.  He dropped my friend off at my place and my brother said he was all bloody and his leather coat was torn up.  He ended up pissing blood for about a week but turned out with only minor scratches and bruises.  

 

After I saw the wrecked Mustang I was horrified.  My guardian angel was looking out for me that day.   My friend's old man bought him a 77 Volare with a slant six as a replacement.  It was a complete dog compared to the 289.  We made fun of the car singing  Dean Martin's "Volare!"  over and over again while we drove around depressed as hell and embarrassed to be seen in it.  It didn't have any rust, and was light blue with a matching interior, automatic on the column.  I don't know what ever happened to the car.  But I know this now.  I'd take that Plymouth over that damn Rustang any day of the week.  What a cool car that Volare was.  Just didn't know it at the time.  

 

Latest Mopar experience:  I looked at the Meadowbrook today and remembered I need to change the plugs and tranny oil LOL

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Good one @Worden18. Some good entertaining stories to read here! Keep ‘em coming. I should have taken more time to add some color to my story about my mid-‘70’s Dart slant six. You folks took the time so I will too. 

 

I was turning 16. I wanted a car so bad. I was working nights and weekends in a restaurant. Dishwasher was my best skill at the time. Good grades and home work were about #10 and #11 on my list of interests. Girls, car, electric guitars,  buddies, & my job being probably the top 5 back in the day. My older brother bought a rusty, but running 1974-ish Pinto. 4 speed manual if I recall. I had $300 in my bank account. I offered it to him and bought it. He spent 5 mins with me in a mall parking lot late after work one Friday nite. Then that was it. I was driving stick, had my wheels and freedom!  2 weeks later I was laying under it, on a piece of plywood installing a new clutch. Outside in the rain. 

 

Hang with me for a Mopar minute. I had to tell you that story to tell you this one. 

 

After a few months and a ton of hours working  in the restaurant earning about $3 an hour, I was ready for an upgrade. My father was adamant that I had to buy an American built car. No imports. “Junk” he said. “POS that won’t last 65,000 miles” he said many times over the dinner table. I was buying the paper Auto Trader every week. Scouring for something for sale that was cool to attract chicks. Something I could afford. Countless times I went to Dad with another import I was interested in. Not even a German VW Scirocco. No way, no how.  

 

Finally the mid 70’s Dart appears. Dad pointed it out to me. He said, “look this is a decent car. You and I meed to go look at it.” It was affordable. By now the Pinto was broke down. Electrical fire. I was desperate. I sighed and said “Ok Lets go.”

 

The Dart was very clean. It was a two door. I could live with that. It had a front bench seat. I could sure use that when I round up some girls for a cruise. Automatic tranny. The 225 engine was pretty anemic. But, Dad approved. I think I paid $700 for it. I had to wait for another paycheck to buy insurance.  I asked the boss for extra shifts. “Late nights too” I pleaded. School grades be darned. 

 

Once the Dart was on the road the issues began to develop. Hard starting when hot. It was not happening. I was scared as I had little money to spare. Plus, I had a new girlfriend who liked to sit right beside me when we went out on dates. School, girlfriend, job and car repairs...I was stressed. Little did I know how well the situation was preparing me for adult life. 

 

A short time later my brother and I yanked the slant 6 engine. I sold my Pinto to a guy in school for $50. He dropped by with a few tools and some electrical tape and drove it away. That was mildly embarrassing as my Dart was down with the engine out. 

 

Week after week of no car. Extra shifts at work again. Every dollar I earned was going into parts and machine shop services to rebuild the Dart’s engine. My brother and I rebuilt it outside. No roof over us. I was walking and biking everywhere. I kept seeing that dumb old Pinto of mine around town. Driving.  I was doing my best to keep my new girlfriend happy. I felt like a fool with no car. I could not take her on dates for a while. 

 

Finally we flashed up the slant 6 engine. All was good in the world! I was riding high again.  The little lady hung on and we used that bench seat again. Allowing her to sit right next to me. We cruised and got ice creme often. 

 

Then one day it happend...I was sitting at a red light in my Dart. A buddy of mine in the car with me. My old rusty yellow Pinto pulled up beside me at the light. Revving his engine. The guy I sold it to was behind the wheel. It was race time. I had rebuilt my Dart’s engine myself!  I was confident and proud.  The light turned green. Off we went......And the Pinto beat me. My buddie in the passenger side nearly died laughing.  That was a humbling event that sour’d me.  A few months later I sold the Dart. I did not bond with it. The Pinto humiliation stuck with me. I think I sold the Dart for $700. My Dad shook his head. What a fool I was. He never said it. I saw it on Dad’s face. 

 

The cutie in the front seat is still with me today. Now we cruise in my ‘53 Wndsor. She doesn’t sit in the middle of the bench seat any more. Lol. I never see any Pintos on the road any more either. Probably best anyway. 

 

The only photo I can find of my Dart. Here we are pulling the engine. Dad and my brother yanking on the hoist. Nice grass floor hey? Me in the coveralls. Worried sick, thinking how am I going to pay for this?

 

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Edited by keithb7
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first car, first mopar, 1950 dodge meadowbrook. hand me down from grandfather,mother,brother,then me. drove it with no first or reverse, but it was all I had. eventually got a 54 new Yorker, and today I have a 54 Windsor convertible. many cars in between. the 50 had a $19.95 earl shieb paint job that would fall off in clumps. slowest car I ever owned, but it had a big back seat.    capt den

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First experience was in the spring of 1956. My dad said I could drive the 35 Plymouth around the farm if I could make it run by installing a water pump.

So, at age 8,  I did and I  had my own car.  How I loved it !   I blew #2 connecting rod on Jan. 25 , 1959  .  (Burns Day)

Latest experience  helped my friend Ed (40 Plymouth)  put the crankshaft and  pistons in a 3 7/16 +.o60 block.  

 

  when I am done here on the forum  I am repairing the body mounts on a D40 convertible.

Likely my last restoration so I will try to get it right. probably take months to complete.  No sense of urgency as with the water pump.

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I am told I came home from the hospital in my moms 1949 Desoto Convertible. It went away when I was 10. It came back when I was 55 in the same shape with 45 years of storage. Now it is sitting in my garage restored.

 

First photo is of my dad, no doubt taken by my mom sometime between 1949 and 1955.

 

The Third photo is of me on my birthday with my first "ride" and the '49 in the background.

 

The Second photo is recent.

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Edited by James_Douglas
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My Mopar journey really started in the mid to late 90s now that I think of it. My dad had bought a '62 Belvedere from a neighbor, but I never remember it driving. It sat in our yard on blocks with the most of the wheels off. I would play it it and pretend to drive it. The car sat so long it had moss growing on it and was an odd peach/orange color. The push button transmission was intriguing to me, but I never have driven one. The way that car smelled is something that takes me right back to that car and being a child- a damp car upholstery smell. 

 

My grandparents had at least a dozen cars sitting around on their farm because they would park them instead of fixing or getting rid of them. The one I remember the most had to be a Plymouth from the 1970s or early 80s. I vaguely remember them driving it, but remember playing it out in the yard more than anything. 

 

As a family we had some kind of Dodge/Plymouth car, but I can't tell you what model. How we all fit in that tiny car I'll never know - there were 6 of us at the time we switched to our minivan, but that was a Ford... It seemed like all of our rural mail carries had these small Dodge/Plymouth cars I'm referring to. They would last forever.

 

Several families in our area drove the stereotypical Dodge/Plymouth minivans of the 90s, but we never had one.

 

My own Mopar journey began in June of this year when I found a 1949 Green two door Plymouth Special Deluxe on Facebook marketplace. I couldn't resist buying it when I saw it in person. 

 

Since then I drove another '49 Plymouth Special Deluxe on a fairly long road trip for the age of the car.

 

Just yesterday I drove a 1951 Desoto Custom home for a neighbor on a 250-300 mile trip.

 

I'm starting to understand the saying "Mopar or no car" - haha!

 

 

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  In about 1950my Dad owned a '31 Plymouth  coupe. One day while riding with him & Mom

I asked him what the noise was coming from under the dash. Having a sense of humor 

that has been passed on to me he said  "I don't know  reach down there and  see." Turns

out it was the heater fan. Never forgot that first encounter with a MOPAR.  If these photos

show up here the first one is the poor old '31 abandoned on Granddad's farm.

  The second picture is my '38 Dodge on which I just replaced the master cylinder for my

latest encounter. Had this car for a while. Brought my baby daughter home  from hospital

in 1965 in this one.

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 My first Plymouth was a 1935 rumble seat coupe that my mother bought for me in 1953 when I was 11. It didn't run but we tinkered with it. It had been a stock car at a local oval track and was painted silver with black fenders. Both doors had the number 44 painted on them and on the back, the spare wheel and bracket had been removed and a nice painting of Daisy Mae from the 'Lil Abner comics was displayed. Before too long, a young man stopped by and wanted to trade me a '37 Packard rumble seat coupe for the Plymouth. He had raced it earlier but went to Korea. I agreed to the trade but have always regretted that I never went to see him race the '35 Plymouth.

 Since then I have owned a '36 Plymouth rumble seat coupe, 4 P15's, a '48 Dodge and a '49 Chrysler Windsor club coupe. After that I had a '62 Dodge Dart slant six with the push button shift and I now own a 1967 Plymouth Fury III convertible and a !967 Plymouth Fury III 4 door hardtop. The convertible I have had for 46 years and the hardtop for 11. I drive these cars year round as long as there is no salt or rain going on. I still do most of the work on them myself but it isn't as easy now in my late 70's.

John R

 

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I've Always owned Mopar's. In 1988 my first car was a 1967 Dodge Charger it had a 318 with a broken crank. Towed it to high school and rebuilt the motor. It was light yellow with white interior.

My most recent Mopar is my 1949 first series P15C.

My favorite Mopar is a 1969 hemi GTX.

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