Mopars can be cool!

[njsteve]

Some interesting Mopars I have given away over the years... [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif[/img]

My first Mopar when I was 16, in high school in the late 70's: 1970 Superbird 440 4 bbl, automatic. Scary car, when you'd hit passing gear the engine noise sounded just like the roaring of &quot;Spot&quot; the dragon that lived under the stairs in the Munsters TV show.



My first Cuda back in 1981, a 70 440+6, 4-speed:



My first 71 Cuda ragtop a 383 automatic. I traded a 72 Chevy Vega that my neighbors dumped and abandoned in my front yard in Denver back in '81. Before (in the junkyard where I traded the Vega for it):



After:

[Xplantdad]

Nice rides Steve!

[njsteve]

My second 71 Cuda ragtop: one of five 4-speed, 440+6 ragtops produced. Full option car with two data tags and all original drivetrain. It was in Miami when I found it. Here's a before shot of it in the prior owner's successful camouflage attempt with 70 tail lights and a gigantic chewed-up, stainless steel dog dish with a broken dog chain wrapped around the leaf spring. (He didn't actually have a dog, but this sure kept away the nosey sightseers) [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif[/img]



And after I finished it:



My third Cuda, the only yellow 1971 Hemicuda ragtop produced. In as-found condition in Wisconsin back in 1986:



And after I finished it and was beating the crap out of it at the Supercar Showdown in '86.



My fourth Cuda, a 19,000 mile, survivor 71 440+6 automatic ragtop (1 of 12 produced). Auto on the column, 4.10 Dana. Quickest car I ever had. The original engine had never been apart. I just washed it, put some tires on it and and drove it for fun. Sold it to Steve Juliano in 1988 and it is now in his museum out in California.

[njsteve]

I bought this old race car in the late 1980's because it came with an NOS 1970 Hemi engine as part of the deal. Had all sorts of weird parts with it, like a 69 grill and a Diamond Engineering magnesium cross ram. Kept the engine and sold the race car.

Of course it turned out to be Dick Landy's 1968 LO23 Hemi Dart four speed car that he campaigned as a 69. (of course I didnt know it was Dick Landy's til a decade after I sold it! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/rolleyes.gif[/img]



Check out the original warranty Certicard for a car that was sold without a warranty!

[njsteve]

Finally got tired of Cudas in the late 80s and went on to something with a trunk. Here's is the 71 Hemi Charger factory sunroof car. It took me 5 years of calling the owner every month to finally get him to sell it to me. 38,000 miles and original paint, along with every possible option available in 71. I sold it to Pittsburgh Steelers Linebacker Kevin Greene, back in 1994. It's now in Tim Wellborn's 71 hemi Charger collection in Alabama. http://wellbornmusclecarmuseum.com/



1969 Hemi Daytona, one of one in Y2 Yellow with a black cloth interior. Bought it as a project car from Otis Chandler in 1989. This is the car that had a NOM 1970 hemi that turned out to be the engine from the very next 1970 hemi Charger built on the same day as my 1970 Hemi Charger R/T-SE (and which now resides under the hood of my 70)

[njsteve]

And the infamous 1970 Hemi Charger R/T-SE, 4-speed, One of one in red, and 1 of 10 four speed cars. I found it in 1987 after it was hidden away, sitting for a decade or so here in NJ, since the mid 70's. 12,234 miles on in it when I found it.

Here are a couple shots from the moment the tarp was pulled away. I now know how Treasure Hunter Howard Carter felt when he first peered into the opening in King Tut's tomb and saw Tut's treasure. That was exactly how I felt when that plastic tarp fell away and revealed this:





And some more recent photos:






For more of the insane, haunted history, go here:

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/ubbt...7973#Post77973

or here:

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/ubbt...026&amp;page=1

And you can hear it run by clicking on this photo link:

[Xplantdad]

Holy cow Steve...You've had some great cars! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/headbang.gif[/img]

[SS427]

Phenomenal cars Steve!!!!

[njsteve]

Thank you!

I guess I got into these cars at the right time, back when they were reasonably cheap. (or maybe that was the wrong time, since I could have retired on what they were worth just a few years ago if I had kept a couple of them) [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif[/img]

Here's one that might be worth something in another decade or two: The old Project Pit Viper, the first (and only, I think) Viper project car used by a magazine, complete with unofficial/disavowed backdoor support from the guys at Team Viper.

Here it is at Sebring. I actually held a lap record in the ASP class for a year, back in the day (til they became obsolete when SCCA allowed the Viper Coupes in with their better aerodynamics and 50 more horsepower).



Most of you know this car as the mysterious covered workbench in my garage over the past 7 years of the Trans Am saga.




Here's the full story if you want more of the not-so-secret background:

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/ubbt...381#Post145381

[XXXGoldL34M20]

Hey Steve,
you have had some great Mopars in your time.
Question?
What would you say ran better over all,a 440 6 pack or Hemi?
Be Honest.
Here is another photo of my Challenger.
My Challenger has never left Texas until i bought it and brought it over to Canada.
Best car i have ever owned,
It was built in the LA plant and comes with a rare Broadcast sheet that were very tough to come by as the plants policy was to toss them in the trash.
Car still has original vinyl roof with one re paint/original body panels and floors never being off the car.
Car also has fantastic documents like,Dealer photos,Owner history with titles from day 1, photos of car with original paint, VHS tape of car after first paint job and tons more.
It is a 1970 R/T S.E. 440 4 Speed.
I would like to do a story on it like Steve did on his Charger one day on this forum soon.