Should I buy a '69 Charger?

[WakkoSS]

I've had three dream cars: '59 Cadillac, '87 GNX and a '69 Charger General Lee. The General I've wanted since I was 8.

I have a '67 Cadillac convertible, an '87 GN and have a hard on for the Charger. I'm selling the Cadillac and was thinking about using the money as a down payment for a Charger. Charger would cost about 18-20k and require monthly car payments (which I don't currently have). The GN is NOT getting kicked out of the garage, so the Charger will have to sit outside (but I'm fine with that).

I was always planning on waiting till I was older to get the Charger, but I'm 30...waiting till 40 doesn't look appetizing.

Neither car is a daily driver, as I have my work car. I'm actually talking to this guy about his car:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...&item=2496640232&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWA:IT

Ideas? Thoughts?

 

[Westside500]

Im not much into Dodge... but for that kind of money, I would have to have a #'s matching car.Nice looking car though.

 

[WakkoSS]

That's the problem...they're getting expensive as hell. For me, I'd rather a non matching 440 than a matching 318. I don't care about originality, I care about functionality.

 

[RobsIron]

Nice car. Have the seller send you a videotape of the car at all angles, starting and running.

It will only take about an hour of his time and a few bucks. This should be agreeable to the seller. Also, ask him about the wires under the dash. If everything looks good arrange a meeting. You guys aren't to far from each other. Good Luck.

 

[krom]

69 Chargers are awesome, pm Doug Hauser he deals in classic cars and probably can give you some good pricing advice.

 

[WakkoSS]

It's not so much the "how much and which car". It's the "Should I enter into car payments to have a THIRD car just to have the toy? Part of me says "Be responsible...you've already got a really nice, fast and relatively rare car...stick with it." And the other half says "You've wanted that car for TWENTY YEARS...buy that sunbitch now before you're married and have to talk HER into it.

 

[krom]

Originally posted by WakkoSS
It's not so much the "how much and which car". It's the "Should I enter into car payments to have a THIRD car just to have the toy? Part of me says "Be responsible...you've already got a really nice, fast and relatively rare car...stick with it." And the other half says "You've wanted that car for TWENTY YEARS...buy that sunbitch now before you're married and have to talk HER into it.

I have three vehicles and somedays it is not enough.

GO FOR IT

 

[NGrimm]

Who'd have known the old mopars would be so valuable. In the late 70's I had a 69 Charger. It was a burnt orange SE with a 383, leather seats and top. A deer ran into the side and dented a quarter panel so I sold it to a kid for $250. I also had a 70 Barracuda a 69 Coronet and a 68 Plymouth GTS 340 at the same time and I sold them all really cheap since they were just 10 year old cars at the time and not worth anything. As you can see I've completely gotten over it now. Good luck deciding. Norm

 

[tracy]

Here is my advice as someone who has owned B-Body Mopars

Absolutely buy a '69 Charger! From a financial standpoint a SUPERB musclecar investment numbers matching or not - that is a fact.

My non-numbers matching '69 Roadrunner 440-6bbl sold for 25k about 5 years ago.

As much as I love my GN, I would give anything to have my RoadRunner back.

Mopar B&E bodies are the hottest thing going right now. Hotter than Chevelles and '69 Camaros, which used to be the hot ticket.

I have owned LS6's, Camaros, etc. etc. The Mopar B body was my favorite.

Take your time and make sure it's done right it will save you in the long run. Most old Mopars were abused and raced, so look for cobbled wiring, mismatched mechanical componants, as well as a sound body.

B-bodies are notorious for rusting around the c pillars and the trunk deck areas, as well as the usual problem areas.

I would stay away from numbers matching cars. Really pricey and you'll have your heart in your mouth everytime you nail it or take it out for a drive.

Good Luck

 

[INEEDAGN]

Best looking car ever made, IMO. Don't get in a hurry though, there's lots of them out there. Scratch off the General Lee part too, unless you can find a REAL General Lee (contact Wayne Wooten and/or TDC The dodge Charger Registry, they know the whereabouts of every surviving authentic General Lee.) Every part is now being reproduced for them so find a complete car and restore it over time, then you don't have payments. 18K should get you a PERFECT car, unless it's a hemi or something. You could build one for 20K and have every last detail/option the way YOU want it. Just my $.02.

bob

 

[savage6]

I was obssessed with these cars for a while 68-70. 70 being my personnal favorite because I like the grill. I've had the chance to buy four of them at different times but they were all rustbuckets and would have cost way more than I could have spent. The last one I looked at was a 69 R/T with a rebuilt 440 with an aftermkt. 6 pack that hadn't been started since the rebuild! he wanted 6000 for it and I was a week from buying it when he sold it! So I sold my z28 and buoght this old slow black buick.


I dont really have any useful info that hasn't already been posted.

IMO GO FOR IT ALL THE WAY!!!!!

Evan

P.S. I will have a triple black, 4-speed, hemi, 70 charger before I die!

 

[no-nos]

nice looking car, but i don't know if it's worth over 18K? i'd do a little looking around

 

[Buick From Hell]

Old Mopar guy here!

GO for it! And don't discount the '68 Chargers!

My personal favorites are the Coronet's, but that's because I had two of 'em (that I wish I had back!) I had a '67 R/T that I have NO pics of , and a '70 R/T (only ONE pic of that, an old bad polaroid from 1974!)

My brother had a '68 Coronet R/T, and they're my all-time favorite mopars...found a "tribute website" with several pics of the '68 Coronets...

 

[WakkoSS]

It's GOTTA be a '69 Charger (too expensive to convert a '68 to '69 grille/taillights) cause it's gonna be a General.

 

[87buick3825]

wellllll ???? did you end up with it ???

RD

 

[Turbo Indian]

if it's going to be a general lee you better weld the door shut to make it authentic

 

[WakkoSS]

Originally posted by 87buick3825
wellllll ???? did you end up with it ???

RD

Long process...you know that.

And NO I won't weld the doors shut, dammit!

 

[DKREDT]

Maybe I am crazy, but I would say hold off. In my line of thinking if you can't pay cash for a toy, then do you really "need" it? I personally would hate to have a loan on a car like that especially if it was going to sit outside. On the flipside, I sure know how toys and women can make us think irrationally at times. Good luck.

 

[dhauser]

Originally posted by INEEDAGN
18K should get you a PERFECT car, unless it's a hemi or something. You could build one for 20K and have every last detail/option the way YOU want it. Just my $.02.

bob

Hahaha, good luck with that program. A perfect Charger, starting with a 318 2 barrel, will cost you $25k minimum. Big block cars are selling in the low-mid $30s right now. You might be able to find a nice project car to convert for $7-10k, but don't expect to pay $15k for a car that doesn't need work.

Mopars are crazy price-wise right now. My advice would be to either start with a 6 cyl or 318 car and build it as you like, or hold off until the prices begin to come out of the stratosphere. I saw a 69 Hemi 4-speed Charger that WAS perfect sell for close to $120Gs last week. Just insane.

Good luck.

 

[INEEDAGN]

Ok I'll give you that. I did some brief checking on them and they did indeed go thru the roof. If, however, one had some time and did some digging, a reasonably restorable car could be had and made the way you want it for 20K. It's crazy, just 5 years ago dad bought FOUR (rough) 68-69 chargers with some spare parts, for $1000. One was a factory 383-4bbl. 4 speed car even, but it had no title. He thought he struck gold when he turned around and sold them for $4k. Guess he should have held on to them a few more years. Man I thought these Buicks were overpriced. So much for me owning a charger.

Oh, and if I remember right /6 cars are extremely rare. So is the three on the tree option. Been a while........