J Body Snub

Mr C

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I've run into Mopar snobs (my supposed brethren) at shows. Doesn’t bother me one bit. I built my car. Half of those cheque writing pansy asses that I met couldn't change their own oil. What really pisses them off is when I have a bigger crowd around my Caravelle with it's meager Super Six.

Why?

You can trip over A's, B's and E's all day long at a show. Pull in with an M and the people who've hardly seen one go "Wow! What's that???".....and as was said. I drive mine. No trailer queens in my stable.

Which is why I despise Graveyard cars and shows of that ilk. They will only touch a car that they can restore out of a catalog (B,E). Those idiots would be utterly confounded by a real restoration that involved something beyond replacing parts from a catalog. The "investors" and muscle car clowns have gone a long way to ruining the hobby for me.
And I do appreciate all cars and Mopars in particular.
 

Aspen500

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There are a few of the old school restoration guys who love the F&J bodies because they have to restore the parts instead of replacing them.I know of one Mirada is having a very expensive restoration complete this year and a couple of nice original Super Pak Fs that traded for more than the normal high for the market. All of them are in mayor players collections. Hope we see some press on them soon, the Mirada was being done by a buddy,but I doubt the mags will cover them

I think that's really why I enjoyed building my car as much as I did. Instead of simply replacing a part, I had to restore it. If it was beyond repair, there was the thrill of the hunt for good used or NOS. I'm speaking of the non-mechanical pieces of course. Suspension, steering, drivetrain got mostly new parts. You can't really restore a ball joint, bushing or trans clutch plate. You know what I mean.
It would have been kind of boring to simply open a catalog and order this, that and the other thing,,,,,,,,,,along with the expense too. I'd much rather carefully disassemble a wiper motor and restore it than buy a repop and bolt it on. Naturally there are parts I wish were repopped that are unobtainium NOS and good used ones don't exist and there is no practical way to restore the originals. I know, I know,,,,,,preaching to the choir!:)
 

old yellow 78

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The FMJ day will come.
Remember A's getting laughed at and sold for chump change?

The cheap FMJs are drying up in a hurry these days and harder to find.

I agree with all these posts. I actually feel a bit smug at having found Old Yellow and having paid a fraction of what a ABCE would have cost. These FMJ's are almost completely gone from the highways now, and just try to find one in a scrap yard. Although I don't consider OY an investment in anything other than my own happiness, the analogy to financial investments is the same: buy BEFORE everybody else catches on. Thus, whenever I experience any type of discrimination or snubs (which I find is actually quite rare, except for the dummies at several repro companies), I see it as ignorance on their part. Poor bastards. :rolleyes:

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Aspen500

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Guess I've never been snubbed "on the street" so to speak, mostly just by certain repro companies as you mentioned OY.
It's rarer than rare to see an F/M/J on the street. I can count on one hand the number I've seen on the street in the past few years. Mine would be one, a couple 5th's and,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,well,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,that's pretty much it. I do know there's at least a few F-bodies in the area, just never see them because they're never driven or just plain not driveable for one reason or another. As for J-body? It's been at LEAST 20 years since seeing one. I'm sure there's a few hiding away in garages though. Seeing F/M/J (or A/B/E for that matter) in a scrapyard is as rare as you can get. There are exactly none, nada, zilch, zero. Most that were in the yards were gone already by the mid 1990's save for the random M-body since they were built until '89. Last M-body I can recall seeing in a yard was in the last century. They all got totally picked over and what remained of the rusted hulk is now a water heater jacket or something. There might be a few pieces of the cars still sitting on the shelves of buildings at a couple of the yards but I doubt it.
 

BudW

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I drove baby blue to work today (my ’77 Wagon).

I don’t care what others have to say – for I bought mine to drive.
If they want one (or not) they have to go find their own.

BudW
 

Jack Meoff

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I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure I have one of the rarest Mopars on earth.

Just try to find a 78 2 door Caravelle anywhere. I double dog dare ya. To me that's saying something. Like I said. I can literally trip over Cuda's and Road Runners all day long at a show but I can pretty much guarantee you that you'll never see another Boat tail Caravelle. Snub all you want boys...... :D
 

BudW

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I keep seeing a picture of one from someone in this forum. I even see a picture of one on another forum board.
 

Jack Meoff

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I keep seeing a picture of one from someone in this forum. I even see a picture of one on another forum board.

Lol.....
Google 1978 Plymouth Caravelle 2 door.
You'll see it there too.
It'll be the only one you see.

Just googled it myself and found these classics from when I just had the paint shot. Still no wheel well trim and the original hubcaps.

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Aspen500

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Until I joined this sight, I had NEVER seen one before or even knew there was such a thing. In the U.S. a Caravelle was a FWD K-car type of outfit.

As for the investment kind of people and their cars, doesn't matter what mine is worth or will be worth in 20 years. Unless it's a matter of life or death, it is NOT for sale at any price. Have had the car for over 29 years and hopefully will for another at least another 29.
 

Jack Meoff

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Until I joined this sight, I had NEVER seen one before or even knew there was such a thing. In the U.S. a Caravelle was a FWD K-car type of outfit.

As for the investment kind of people and their cars, doesn't matter what mine is worth or will be worth in 20 years. Unless it's a matter of life or death, it is NOT for sale at any price. Have had the car for over 29 years and hopefully will for another at least another 29.


Same here.
Just today I was talking to a guy about things I wanted to do to my Caravelle and he asked if I'd get my money back if I sold it. My response was "not even close" which is absolutely fine because I'm doing it because I love the car and it's not for sale anyway.
 

mopar guy

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I Love my Cordoba , always wanted one & glad I found my mine . I found it on a used car lot wasting away in 1999 , it sat there for years as I passed it by everyday on my way home . One day I stopped & asked about it & got a deal on it b/c the engine (318) was blown. I towed it home , built the engine , cleaned it up , & started cruising . Good solid car , the more I drove it the more I loved it . Had to sell it in 2003 & regretted it . Was retired in 2011 b/c of cancer & was blessed with being cured & finding my Cordoba again . I redid the car as much as I could afford & gave it some muscle to backup it's looks . I get admiring comments from non car guys & gear heads . I get respect when I pull in the car shows & cruises b/c that big block makes it presence known & shakes the ground . I Love my Cordoba & will never sell it again , J bodies forever !
 

Aspen500

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That's always one of my favorite things, when someone asks "what's in it?" "340, 360?" When I tell them "neither, it's a 500 inch stroker big block", they either get a holy crap look on their face or don't believe me and insist on seeing under the hood. Heh-heh-heh. :D
 

Mopar&vettedude

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When I take the Cordoba to car show, I don't think I've even had one bad comment. Like some of you that said earlier, it's the ones that remember the good times riding/driving in one or knew someone that had one. I had went to the peak n peak ski lodge car show last year for the first time and I heard this story about how their grandparents owned one and took them out on Sunday drives through the country side. It definitely brings alot of good memories back for people. The real entertaining one was earlier this year when I went to the tri-state show and I pull up to my class and there's a rolled of the showroom floor 80 mirada sitting there. (I guess he was a regular there), so I had my car there for the first time and even had the same reaction like I do at other shows like "wow! I haven't seen one of those in a while". It just blew my mind. Lol
 

Mopar&vettedude

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Actually to add to my rant, I had met this gentleman at one of the generic shows in the area and had this really nice 81 doba. He had totally rebuilt the slant six in it, he had the Clifford head on it a custom methane injection set up, forged internals, a Paxton procharger on it..... The whole nine on this. He had also converted it to stick and found a police diplomat rear end for it. The horsepower was pretty stout on this car. So I'm talking to him about his car and how he has also sorts of other mopars at home (a/b/e), and I started to talk about the things I did to my car and other plans for it and sure enough his Mopar snub came out and wanted nothing to do with what I said about mine. Like really dude I have the same car as you chill out. lol
 

Jack Meoff

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Actually to add to my rant, I had met this gentleman at one of the generic shows in the area and had this really nice 81 doba. He had totally rebuilt the slant six in it, he had the Clifford head on it a custom methane injection set up, forged internals, a Paxton procharger on it..... The whole nine on this. He had also converted it to stick and found a police diplomat rear end for it. The horsepower was pretty stout on this car. So I'm talking to him about his car and how he has also sorts of other mopars at home (a/b/e), and I started to talk about the things I did to my car and other plans for it and sure enough his Mopar snub came out and wanted nothing to do with what I said about mine. Like really dude I have the same car as you chill out. lol

He was probably pissed because he figured out you built yours and he probably wrote a big huge ass check for his.
 

kkritsilas

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A lot of so called "car guys", of all brands, use their cars to get attention. Quite a few of them are not mechanically inclined, and the "collector car"/"muscle car" type owner don't know a lot of details about the cars that they own. This isn't really necessary of course, but it does point to the level of involvement with their cars. In many cases, these guys are the same as the guys that were everywhere in the Disco era: Look at me, pay attention to me, I am great, etc. Their cars are nothing more than "heavy gold chain around their necks", pretty much just plan old bling. When the next "hot thing" comes around, they will be selling their cars, and getting that. Happened with the choppers a short while back, will move on to something different in the near future, no doubt.

Jnfbodyguy83 just ran into one of these guys, probably. He may not have understood what Jnfbodyguy83 was trying to do with his car, and didn't know how to deal with that, so he turned asshole.
 

Aspen500

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We get cars in at work with owners that know little to nothing about cars, all the time. Got a customer with a '32 Ford 3-window rod. He wouldn't know a spark plug from a valve cover. He didn't checkbook build it, but bought it already finished but still. You'd think if you wanted a car like that, you'd at least know SOMETHING about cars. I could list a few others besides that one.
Then again,,,,,,,,,at least they KNOW they don't know anything about cars and don't try to fix it themselves first. Then there's ones where the guy THINKS he knows all about cars, screws it up totally working on it himself and then brings it in. Then you have to back up and undo his work and start from scratch.

This isn't really on topic but have to do a little rant.
Some cars we get in will look really nice on the outside and interior. Then you put them on the hoist and they're a giant cobbled mess. Open the hood and shake your head and wonder what caveman was in there before. Wire nuts are for house wiring, not automotive. Duct tape is for anything except ducts and is not a substitute for electrical tape. A bungie cord is not a battery hold down. I could go on..............Rant over.
 
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