My only non-bmw car

[Kameix1]

Figured I should show you what looms in the garage that never gets opened.......




1973 Dodge Challenger.. 340 Four Barrel. owned this one for 11 years and have driven it about once a year for the past 5 years. First 6 years spent rebuilding it. 450 hp at the rear wheels. who wants to put there turbo against me now?

[rundatrack]

I hope all of the RIP cars in your sig have not crashed

Because if so...No one is going to be racing your challenger at all

[Shawn D.]

Nice!

[TT]

Very Nice!

I'll put my turbo car up against it.
420rwhp @ 2300lbs.

[tsmall07]

I really really like that car a lot!

But whats the point in having a car that cool/nice if you only drive it once a year?

[stuartinmn]

You should have pulled it out of the garage this last weekend for the big musclecar show in Plymouth - there were lots of nice Challengers and Cudas there.

[mosportgreen66]

Lets dance...

My pride and joy... Here are a couple shots of my '66 Corvette. L72 (427 cubic inch/450 horse power), M21 4 speed, 4:11 rear. Mosport Green -hence my username- with a black gut. All original numbers matching with a score of 98.8% out of 100. National Corvette Restorer's Society Duntov Mark of Excellence recipient.

At the Boston National Convention last month...

[C.R. Krieger]

Meh; orange peel on your exhaust manifolds ...

[Bryan in SB]

Mosporst,

I'm droooooolin'. Beeaautiful.

Erik, your car is nice as well. DRIVE IT!!!!

[Kameix1]

I hope all of the RIP cars in your sig have not crashed

Because if so...No one is going to be racing your challenger at all

No, they are all either blown engines or rusted out (Rust in Peace)


mosportgreen66 looks like we would have a good clean race, you got a bigger engine but we have the same power, and you should be a little lighter, but it would be a fun one non the less. I will post some more pictures of it once I get my computer fixed(damn thing wont start up right)

[stuartinmn]

Mosportgreen, check this one out...my apologies to the owner of this car if he happens to see this, but in my opinion he couldn't have picked uglier wheels for his 427 'Vette.

[Kameix1]

Mosportgreen, check this one out...my apologies to the owner of this car if he happens to see this, but in my opinion he couldn't have picked uglier wheels for his 427 'Vette.

oh god! it looks like the pawn shop threw up on his tires!

[mosportgreen66]

Meh; orange peel on your exhaust manifolds ...

Haha! Actually, if we're going to walk that line, it is not orange peel on the exhaust manifolds, it is over spray.

Here is a tid-bit for you. As the motors were painted at the Tonawanda Engine plant, a cardboard cover was draped over the aluminum intake manifold. The inconsistency of the cardboard had a tendency to leave overspray on the intake manifold. The entire exhaust manifold was painted orange, but with the technology we have today, the paint burns off pretty quick because of immense BIG BLOCK heat.

stuartinmn -- Horrible choice of wheel. Some classic Cragars S/S or American Racing Torque Thrust wheels would have been a better selection for sure! Those wheels look good on anything muscle.

Erik J -- Thanks for the kind words. My Corvette never sees the light of day. Since we finished the restoration 3 years ago, I would be shocked if the car had more than 50 miles on it. Starting the car and taking it around the block is one thing, but god forbid someone were to hit this car, the virgin fiberglass would be forever damaged. Unlike metal cars, where reproduction and even original panels are available, original fiberglass does not exist. Reproduction glass flat out sucks.

The Corvette is about 3200 lbs but with the 4.11's I'm quick off the line. What kind of rear does your Mopar have? A Dana 60? I love muscle cars. I just sold my 36k original mile '69 Z28 and 27k original mile '70 Camaro.

Talk soon.
-Dan

This is another reason why I never drive it... the bottom side is so clean you could eat off of it.





during the restoration...

[wkohler]

My dad has an original '69 Corvette - he bought it from the GM proving ground. It has a lot of test (read: irreplaceable) parts on it and is unique in that it was manufactured 11/69. It's got the 350, which somehow makes 350 hp and 380 lb/ft of torque, which is more than the normal 300/350 it says just to the rear of the shifter. It's red/red and has 57k. I'll get a picture up later.

[C.R. Krieger]

This is another reason why I never drive it... the bottom side is so clean you could eat off of it.

Y'see, this is another reason I have considered having a cool old muscle car but don't want to. If you're only going to sit and look at it (and fuss over it and constantly clean it and fret over whether it gets rained on or crashed, etc., etc.), why not just sell it, buy a model that you can set on your desk and look at all the time and get something fun to drive? If it's a museum piece, put it in a museum where others can see it.

If I were going to go anywhere near that route, it would be rehabbing an old Falcon or Fairlane (I really like the '64-'65 models) or maybe one of the more common '65-'70 Mopar B-bodies with a modern drivetrain, suspension, and brakes. It might not have all its exterior trim or nameplates and it sure wouldn't have OEM style wheels and tires. If it got to an old car show, it would never be judged* with the hood open. Then, I'd be driving it.



* I am not demeaning judging old cars. I used to do it myself, but my tolerance for anal retentives plummeted to the point where I could no longer stand to be around that many at once.

[stuartinmn]

It is different strokes for different folks.

I agree that it's more fun to drive an old car than to just sit and look at the thing, but when you're talking about something like a NCRS quality Corvette (or any number of other collector cars these days) it's a pretty valuable investment...it probably isn't a good idea to leave it unattended in the grocery parking lot, for instance.

A friend of mine recently had his '74 Trans Am SD-455 restored. He's had it since new, and for a number of years it was his daily driver. However, it's probably now worth about $150k, which is a helluva return on what he paid for it. Chances are he probably won't let his daughter drive it to school any more....

[johnnye23]

My Hemi Challenger I sold two years ago . The only factory sunroof Hemi powered Challenger built in 1970. It was fun, life goes on . Johnny [/url]

[stuartinmn]

My Hemi Challenger I sold two years ago . The only factory sunroof Hemi powered Challenger built in 1970.

Now, THAT's a good example of an investment. Cool car.

[mosportgreen66]

I never really did drive the Corvette. I have owned it for 10 years. Ironically enough, I bought it from a BMW dealer. I was looking at a '97-'98 540i at the time and a collector just traded this car in. It was a total home run. The car is an original virgin in every respect.

I beat the crap out of the Camaros I had. Drove the '69 Z28 2k miles in the year I owned it. That car needed paint but it was all original down to the Air Injector Reactor (smog) system. I even had a '72 Nova SS350/4 speed with a build sheet that I drove hard. My old '70 Camaro had 18k original miles when I bought it. 3 years later when I sold it, it had 27k. I do drive the muscle cars....

The Corvette will never be driven. I did however purchase some gold-line radials and steel wheels so the knock offs and bias plys can sit in the corner of the garage... that is BIG step towards driving it...

Nice Challenger Johnny! Why did you sell it? I dig the Ansen style slots and Mickey Thompsons... good look.

[tsmall07]

My Hemi Challenger I sold two years ago . The only factory sunroof Hemi powered Challenger built in 1970. It was fun, life goes on . Johnny

You are crazy! I would sell everything I have to own that car! (I don't have very much...)

[C.R. Krieger]

I beat the crap out of the Camaros I had. Drove the '69 Z28 2k miles in the year I owned it. That car needed paint but it was all original down to the Air Injector Reactor (smog) system. I even had a '72 Nova SS350/4 speed with a build sheet that I drove hard. My old '70 Camaro had 18k original miles when I bought it. 3 years later when I sold it, it had 27k. I do drive the muscle cars....

2-3k/year isn't driving. 15k is driving.

[stuartinmn]

2-3k/year isn't driving. 15k is driving.

Heck, between all the cars and trucks and bikes I own, I probably don't even drive 10,000 cumulative miles a year, and that includes an annual trip to 5erfest. You need to move closer to work or something.

[Kameix1]

ive put 1200 miles on my e30 convertible in the past year. I dont like to drive if I dont have to, I have my fun then park the car for awhile.

[mosportgreen66]

I beat the crap out of the Camaros I had. Drove the '69 Z28 2k miles in the year I owned it. That car needed paint but it was all original down to the Air Injector Reactor (smog) system. I even had a '72 Nova SS350/4 speed with a build sheet that I drove hard. My old '70 Camaro had 18k original miles when I bought it. 3 years later when I sold it, it had 27k. I do drive the muscle cars....

2-3k/year isn't driving. 15k is driving.

agree to disagree... (respectfully)

[paddylopez]

My Hemi Challenger I sold two years ago . The only factory sunroof Hemi powered Challenger built in 1970. It was fun, life goes on . Johnny

You are crazy! I would sell everything I have to own that car! (I don't have very much...)

+1

[C.R. Krieger]

2-3k/year isn't driving. 15k is driving.

Heck, between all the cars and trucks and bikes I own, I probably don't even drive 10,000 cumulative miles a year, and that includes an annual trip to 5erfest. You need to move closer to work or something.

Actually, that probably keeps all my cars 'young'. Virtually any time I leave my driveway, I am going at least 6-8 miles on rural roads. My usual morning commute is 8 to my office and 13 during the school year (taking my daughter to the other side of town) and the same going home. Everything gets nice and warm every time I drive. I don't remember the last time I had to change an exhaust system because they only rust a little on the outside, but not from the inside. I probably do 30-35k/year divided up among all my vehicles; and my wife probably drives in the neighborhood of 20k.

It also allows me to live on a 10-acre 'gentleman's farm' [defined as an old place with a farmhouse (mine ca. 1870), a real barn (older than the house ), tillable land (~8 acres), a real tractor (Ford 8N), and something resembling either agriculture (my wife's garden) or animal husbandry (our menagerie of 2 horses, 2 ponies, 2 rabbits, 2 bassets, 1 guinea pig, 5 pigeons, ~1 dozen chickens, and a half dozen goldfish) on which you spend, but make no, money] where I can stash more cars than any sane person needs.

[wkohler]

Hey we have 5 pigeons in our backyard now. Wait...make that 5 pigeons, but only 4 are still walking around. Oh, did I mention we have dogs?

[stuartinmn]

My usual morning commute is 8 to my office

I probably do 30-35k/year divided up among all my vehicles

I have about the same commute - it's just under 8 miles from my house to my office. However, that's only about 4,000 miles/year. You must spend a lot of your free time just driving around your gentleman's farm or something to rack up an additional 30,000 miles/year.