Why are MOPARS so Pricey?

[Little6pack]

I don't get it. they were not that great back in the day. I remember they would rot away real fast up here.

Classic Car Inventory, Muscle Car Inventory, Carroll St. Auto

 

[79TurboCutlass]

There is a good reason right there. They rotted away fast everywhere. Not many around(good clean ones anyways). Supply and demand.

 

[22lbChevelle]

Was gunna respond with the same thing. How many do you see on the road? The GM cars are the only things still around!

 

[Pronto]

The GM cars are the only things still around!

And the only old one's I'll drive. I have absolutely no interest in Mopars.

 

["Turbo-T"]

I always figured it was because of the rust issues, most done rusted away....so as said supply is down and demand is up.

 

[Dennis Kirban]

kirban 2 cents worth

As to their values you are overlooking one key 4 letter word...HEMI.....

Yes they did rust and yes they had cheap interiors not many options compared to say GTOs....

They capitalized on 2 things.....basically...Hemi formost and the neat tie in with Warner Bros cartoon figures. (My opinion)

Mopars at Carlisle always far outpull GM at Carlisle...they got a massive following....

Back when I was buying and selling GTOs I would buy mint Mopars and they always brought good money.

They had enough variety A body and B body cars....

Hurst surely helped with the Hemi Under Glass cars they built...

denniskirban@yahoo.com

Owned quite a few over the years....

 

[novaderrik]

yeah, more of them show up at the big car shows- but how often do you see an old Mopar out in the wild? i see a ton of old GM's and a few old Fords driving around in the summer months, but Mopar sightings are rare. every onethat still exists is rare and precious, and as such, doesn't get to mingle with regular traffic.
they had good drivetrains, but their bodies were total crap- especially when they went to unibody construction in the early 60's. around here, almost every original old Mopar that i've seen in the last 20 years has had the rear leafs either poking up thru the trunk floor or have already had that problem repaired. the torsion bar mounts for the front suspensions also rot off around these parts, too.
then there was the wiring- electrical stuff in the dash either likes to just die for no real reason one day or start on fire. it took them until they got rid of the last of the rwd cars in late 80's to take care of that problem.
but they did make some damn near indestructible engines. i know of 2 318's that just couldn't be killed, and one that kept running until 5 of the rods had exited the block- they just kept going one at a time and that crusty 76 Plymouth Fury just kept moving.

 

[toofastforyou]

I have absolutely no interest in Mopars.

X2!...I had a '69 Dodge Charger and even if it looked good, it was a rust bucket with water pouring in everytime it rained! Later, when I got a '69 Chevelle, I was able to compare and see how cheap Mopars were made back then!...
As for Hemi's, they're overevaluated and not really faster than an equally prepared 440. besides, they're not that rare...I even think there are more hemi cars out there right now than the numbers that were produced!!
I simply don't understand some people paying fortunes to get one...W-H-Y ?? I had one, sold it, never regretted it a second, and never will have another one again!

Claude. :frown:

 

[Black3]

Mopar nuts have to be the most loyal and fanatical bunch of car guys out there, and there aren't as many nice cars to go around compared the GM muscle. To me the Mopars just have a mean look and sound to them. A good running Mopar V8 has a sound that is hard to compete with. The drivetrains are also very rugged.

 

[moparkid]

I'm a die hard Mopar guy. Have been since day one, and will be until my time comes. I've owned two Charger R/T's (68 and 69), a '74 cuda, an '03 Stratus R/T, and my first set of wheels was an '85 Dodge D100 truck. Out of all of them, the Stratus R/T was the biggest piece of **** I've ever owned. I've also had a slew of GM's, and drive a Silverado everyday. But, I've worked for a GM dealer since I was 16 years old, they were accesible, and SBC's are cheap to make fast.

Nothing has really changed between Chrysler and GM in the last 40 years. Back then, GM's were a hell of a lot nicer than a Mopar, and IMO Mopar doesn't make anything that has the build quality of a GM today either.

The second generation Dodge Charger will always be my car of choice. There's nothing better than the sound of a 440 Magnum breathing thru a pair of 40 series Flowmasters. The A727 automatic is bulletproof. The deisgn of the B and E body Mopars is classy with attitude. In other words, they say "don't f&%$ with me" at 55 mph

Theres a lot of junk Mopars for sale, and those selling them think because the same year car fully restored sold on BJ for big bucks, there rustbucket is too. I wish I still had both my chargers, as they were fully restored. I'll get another one, but for now I'm back to GM, and who can argue with a GN?

 

[Dennis Kirban]

kirban 2 cents worth

Concerning Mopar fanatics etc......Being in the business every group of car collectors has their fanatical members based on what I have seen Corvette owners as a group really head the list. They have it down to what valve stem caps came on the valve stems from the factory.

I have seen some Buick owners pick the stones out of the tire tread....

Whether you agree or disagree variety makes the world go around and if you think about it basically almost every car make has had their moment in the sun. By that I mean at some point during their model run the car has become collectible.

Attach that 4 letter word Hemi and no matter how you feel that owner has a valuable car depending on condition.

denniskirban@yahoo.com

I know the owners of Year One and even though they do like 10 different car lines Mopar by far exceeds them all even if you add all the others together.

 

[blown okie]

because of a the anal/ocd ppl that love them.. makes us buick guys seem tame by comparison!! and the HEMi isn't that great.. Ford outdated that thing twice in the 60's with the hemi-cammer and the boss 429, but in typical ford tradition when you make something good, better, superior by design, (or however you chose to descibe it) ford makes it in too few numbers to catch on, or really expensive, or both.. have owned AMC's and my buick's.. mopar ppl are loyal, fanatic to a fault worse than any other enthusiast i've come across!! but it takes them all to make any of them good!

 

[GOT JCE]

Mopars

I just sold my 1973 Cuda 440 4 speed that was in pretty nice shape for 17k. I was happy to get that!!! Not original but a really cool car non the less. The Petty blue paint really stands out. I also agree about the flowmasters comment. A 440 with a cam and 40 series flowmasters is the sweetest sound I've ever heard!!!

 

[ZNix]

Corvette guys? Have you heard about the checklist they go through to win awards at corvette shows? Its litteraly a book about half inch think of checks. "That doesn't look like a stock screw in the trim" "X the box! Its a junker!" They even have to use the right laquer paint or its not right.. Its pretty intensive stuff. As for picking stones out of the tires.. I would if I wanted it to look good at a show or something. You didnt spend hours buffing it for nothing . As they say, to each his own.

 

[notacarlo]

Fiat Group?

 

[TR Custom Parts]

I just sold my 1973 Cuda 440 4 speed that was in pretty nice shape for 17k. I was happy to get that!!! Not original but a really cool car non the less. The Petty blue paint really stands out. I also agree about the flowmasters comment. A 440 with a cam and 40 series flowmasters is the sweetest sound I've ever heard!!!

Can't believe you sold it! No more BK cruise for you now I guess? They don't like letting us Buick guys in unless you get there real early.

There is a HUGE MOPAR following here in CT. Think they have more things going on than the GM groups.

 

[Timbuick]

Just sold my Mopar as it was an A body and not worth spending any more money on, It had a built 360 that was great fun.People stop and stare at American muscle over here in the UK. I dont miss it, the Buick is just a great car to drive and utterly unique even though few people know what it is.
That said there is only one owners club worth joining over here (forget Mustangs, the guys mostly just polish them!) and that is the Mopar Muscle Association. Great guys who spend a bunch of time prepping and racing their cars. The mopar Nationals over here are the biggest US car event we have and those Mopars really do go!

 

[toofastforyou]

People stop and stare at American muscle over here in the UK.cars. The mopar Nationals over here are the biggest US car event we have and those Mopars really do go!

Since you're from the UK, then you might have seen my former Dodge Charger since it's now the property of a gentleman named David Morris from Hertford, Hertz...I am pretty sure that he attends such events as the Mopar Nationals held there.

I'm including two pictures of the car below...

Claude. :smile:

P.S: Don't get me wrong about what I wrote in my first post about Mopars...The Charger was a great car, commanding respect from other drivers on the road, but was definitely not as well-built as a GM or Ford product, period! :frown: (lots of rattles and water leaks!)

 

[coach]

I don't get it. they were not that great back in the day. I remember they would rot away real fast up here.

Classic Car Inventory, Muscle Car Inventory, Carroll St. Auto

Well you must be pretty young to state they were not that great back inthe day. I have a 1964 Max Wedge car that with just a change of the rear springs runs low 11's all day long. It is a Stage III with 13.5:1 compression, 2- 4bbl carbs and a magnesium cross-ram intake. It is also a pushbutton 727 tranny. Find a GM car in 64-65 that would beat a Mopar, better go find Bigfoot, it will be easier. Dont get me wrong, I also have a 62 409 Chevy, which to this day holds the record for most dominate car in 1 drag racing season. In 1962 there were 50 cars in the Winternationals factory drag war. 48 were 409 Chevys and the other 2 I cant remember.
My 65 Plymouth Super Stock car I just sold to a guy in England was the fastest car from the factory I have ever driven. Mopar dominated drag racing and NASCAR until THEY decided not to. They gave up the title, they didnt loose it. The HEMI cars are way over priced and they do now make all brand new parts for them, but keep in mind. If Mopar never made the HEMI, we would not know what Top Fuel is. Those 8000 hp engines still will swap most parts with the 64-65 cast iron HEMI's used directly from the factory. There production numbers were not as high as GM's either. GM made way more 427's and 454's than Mopar made 440's and Hemis. They flooded the market and advertising, but Mopar sold on Mondays because they won on Sundays.
Glad to say I am totally in love with my Grand National, but history doesnt lie...MOPAR was great.

Coach

 

[88 CuttyClassic]

i think a lot of the supply has to do with cars rusting away and THESE WERE DAILY DRIVERS...back then a lot of people didnt have several cars, they had one. People were driving their cars unlike today.

FWIW, my dad has both a 70 stage 1 GS and a 69 440 6BBL road runner... the sound of the road runner can't be touched by the buick.. i just love driving the car even with no ps or pb...its a bear to drive but so much fun when the outboard carbs open up..