0Navy Blue

I'll always be a Chevy guy. Over the years I've owned two C5s, one C4, and a 1968 SS 396 Camaro. Having said that I recently saw the white 1970 Challenger in "Deathproof" and the 1970 movie it referenced, "Vanishing Point". I appreciate muscle cars enough to learn more about Mopars. When I was in high school in the early 1980s everyone wanted an old Camaro, Firebird, or Mustang. You just didn't hear that much about Mopars. What are Mopar owners like?

I know Camaros, Corvettes, and other Chevrolets like the back of my hand. I just can't get my arms around these Mopar musclecars. You have Dodge, Chrysler, and Plymouth which makes things more confusing. Some of these cars looked heavy and ugly, then you see a 1970 Challenger or a 1971 Barracuda and you can admire the style and sporty lines (as much as a Chevy guy can). I'm familiar with the Hemi and the 440, but there has to be more to these cars than just the engines.

How do these cars rank? The Corvette has been Chevrolet's showroom draw for a long time. Which car from 1964-74 was Mopar's draw?

Here is the list of Mopar Musclecars that I have seen or read about (in no particular order)
Roadrunner
Dart
Charger
Challenger
Barracuda
Superbird
Satellite
GTX
Daytona
Superbee

They have so many I'm probably missing half a dozen or so.

Can anyone help me get a handle on these cars?

Thanks

ZfidyONE-84

i know the early to mid sixties darts, and belvadere's that came with the 413's, and 426 HEMI's were a real force to be reckon with back in the muscle car area, 12-14 second in the quarter was fast back then, and still is fast to date

leadfoot4

MoPars were sort of like the GM cars of the day, in that the factory developed a "body" and each division (Chevy, Pontiac, Buick, and Olds)did its own styling. Chrysler also developed a "body", and then Dodge and Plymouth each styled their grills and tail panels to their liking.

The Coronet/Belvederes were the mid sized cars, and the Challenger/Barracudas were essentially 3/4 sized Coronet/Belvederes. Therefore, there was a lot of parts interchange to hold manufacturing costs down, and the engine bays were big enough to hold ANY MoPar engine.

The Road Runners and R/Ts were equivalent of the Super Sports, GTOs and Gran Sports of the GM cars

Tom/99

You see far less MoPars at car shows, tham Ford or GM products.

captmike13

I will have to say if you like muscle cars then you should definitely learn about those. Also if I may suggest learn about the AMC muscle cars too like the Javelin, AMX, HurstSC/Rambler, and the Rebel Machine.

ST31

Here is a picture of a 68 Dodge Cornet with a 440 that I was in the process of purchasing than decided not to because the floor pans needed to be repalced along with the trunk plan. Wish I would have bought the car now. Was fun to drive and got looks from all.

Cheech Wizard

I would sure like to see more interesting Mopar and AMC products at car shows, rather than the same 200 55-57 Chevys.

0Navy Blue

I've never been a big fan of the AMC muscle cars. Is there a relation between AMC and Mopar?

Tom/99

When Chrysler was still Chrysler (Before Dimler), they bought out AMC.

6spdC6

I was very heavy into both strip and street racing in the 60s- Early 70s.
Mopars of the era were tough to beat. In my area Albany Ny. Mopars and Chevy were in a tie for fast street car. (talking brands here) Pontiac brought up 2ed place. Everything else with a few execptions came next. Ford was in last place as far as winning "SERIOUS STREET RACES". The only way most Ford could win a race was to run another Ford or be way overclassed against what they were running, Example Ford 427 Galixie running 327 Impala) Now you Ford lovers do not get your panties in a wad, I'm refering to my area in a certain time frame. Your results may have been different where you were. Cobras were super hot, possibly the hotest of the street cars, but you hardley saw one.

The 440s GTX/RT along with Hemi anything were tough to beat. More so if equiped with a Torqueflite tranny.(the best auto tranny of the 63 to early 70 era) The standard Road Runnere (383) was kinda of fast, could handle the 2ed class muscle cars oK, but were no match for the big boys. Getting down to the smaller cars (Darts Cudas etc) the 340s were holding their own out there
My car during that era was a 67 RT 440 auto with a lot of work. It was hard to beat either on the strip or on the street. Before that I had a 63 with a 383 that moved out quite well.

The references to street raceing were in my youth. Times were different
I mentioned it because thats the way things were then.
Like the MYTHBUSTERS say today, Do not do this at home, OR IN THE STREET.

0Navy Blue

It seems like a Cuda or a Challenger with a 440 or a Hemi would be the fastest since these were smaller, lighter cars than most of the other Mopars.

jackdk

Here is a shot of my 1969 AMC Javelin. It draws a lot of attention where ever in goes. With this car being almost 40 years old, many young guys don't have a clue what it is, or who built it. They just want to know where they can get one.

Millenium 04

I had a 69 Dodge Dart GT with a 340 4 speed and a purple stripe cam.......that car was scary fast.

I only paid $500 for it in the early 80's.

The small block Mopars would rev like a small block chevy and have more torque.

I had a 69 Superbee also but it wasn't half as much fun as the Dart nor was it fast either.

JP426

The Cuda's and Challenger's were actually pretty heavy due to the new for 70 crash standards. That is when they added the door beams to protect the occupants. They weighed about the same as the 68-69 B bodies (Road Runner/Super Bee). They were still plenty fast with lots of HP and torque. This is my 70 426 Hemi Challenger R/T that has run 11.85 @ 114. It has headers, high lift cam, auto and 4.10 gears.

0Navy Blue

Beautiful Challenger...thanks for sharing.

my_blue_c5

Personally the Coronet, Cuda, Dart, and Challenger are my favorites. The Mopar car market is quite spectacular, with the range of prices. You can see some Cuda's run over a million bucks, while some can be 70k.

There was a Dodge Dart at Barrett-Jackson a couple years ago that I fell in love with. It sold for 196k, and watching the guy park it on his trailer broke my heart.

Other than Chevelle's and Vette's, Mopars are my favorite classic car there is. The people are nice, at least the once I have met, and they are very helpful in starting projects and help when needed. Nothing like the guys here though!

TLS

The early '70s Dusters and Demons were a mainstay on the strip and street. They were pretty light and with the 340 very fast. As far as the big block 'Cudas and Challengers being faster than the 340, it's not always the case. My small block 'Cuda never lost to either of my friends 440 auto or 383 4 speed 'Cudas. That is just my experience, could have been just bad drivers, who knows.

jackdk

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bob guzzy

These cars are now big money, when I was younger they were cheap, which means I had alot of them, cuda's challangers, darts, and the B bodys, road runners, coronet/super bees, chargers.

They were a lot of fun to drive, my favorite was a 70 440 6 pack cuda, that car was extreemly fast and fun to drive, they are alot of tricks to mopar big blocks, that make them screemers, I got my knowledge from Tim Richards, that guy knows his Mopars.

CJR2

I remember draging my father into a Plymouth dealership to see a brand new '71 green Roadrunner when I was a kid.

I loved the red, white and blue AMX as well when it came out. Ironically I saw a beautiful orange one a few days ago in St. Joe Michigan.