what got you into cars

[Rainy Day Auto]

ok, I am very intrigued with this group of FMJ people.

Coming from the A-body world and I have some B-bodies as well, they are very popular cars that are easily recognized.

However, as cool as FMJ's are, they are lesser known, So what got you into cars and what prompted you to select this era and style of car?

I am only recently getting into M-bodies, I had an attraction to them since I first got into cars but never acted on it, then recently one came available for dirt cheap and now I am into M-bodies. (pictures by Thursday)

so please if you care ....tell your story

 

[Aspen500]

My dad is a car guy, an uncle (dad's brother) is a car guy so I was around cars since day one. They tell me my first word ever was "car". My grandfather was a Mopar guy from his first new car in 1924 (Dodge Brothers) and my dad is a Mopar or no car guy. Has owned only DeSoto, Dodge and Plymouth. Bought 3 brand new cars in his life and still has all three. 1962 Fury 2dr hardtop, '68 Coronet 440 4dr sedan and a 2012 Charger.
What got me into F-bodies was just by chance. Worked at a Ford dealer and someone traded in a '79 Aspen Sunrise on a new 1987 Ford Taurus. I saw it, thought it was a sharp car and asked about the price. $700,,,,,,,,,,,,,SOLD! Before that I had no desire to have an Aspen and honestly, hadn't paid that much attention to them. Long story short, almost 30 years later, other cars have come and gone but the Aspen is the one constant and will be for another 30 years, or as long as I'm still above ground anyways.
As it looked when bought. Bought it in Feb '87 and the pic is from roughly May or June of '87 but only thing different is new tires and I still hadn't put the 1/4 louvers back on. They were in the trunk when I bought the car. Who's that YOUNG guy next tot he car? lol

 

[slant6billy]

My dad had a 68 chevy 3 on the tree C10 pickup with an inline 6 and 4:10 gears and his 69 Valiant (bought new at the end of 69) with a 170 slant Auto, no AC, no cigarette lighter, 13 inch wheels w/ dog dish Plymouth division caps, power drum brakes on all 4 wheels. My dad had the shop manuals for both and that meant we did everything. A lot of cold Saturday mornings redo those front drums, getting that brake pedal to come up, get that 1barrell carb right. Not to mention" hold the flashlight" at 1030 at night. My siblings were terrible drivers. My brother bounce the valiant of a few curbs at high speed, but we rebuilt it. My sister tee boned a trans am with it. My dad was partial to mopar and Chevys. So we had a few chevelles, impalas, and a LaGuna (Chevelle with a Nascar front end) Our other Mopars were a 71 dart, 73 Grand Fury, 77 Aspen SE, 76 Volare Premier... and that was before I started my collection. I learned to drive the C10 at age 9. I learned what should go easy, never does. I knew by age 10 that old mopars were lefty tighty on the driver side lugnuts. Through my eyes in the early 70s there were Hotwheels and Matchbox cars. There was my next door neighbor with his rock band, stratocaster, and 69 green Roadrunner with a 383. Guy up the street had a 383 in a 70 GTX. Lady around the corner had a pink 70 Charger. All through the neighborhood, cars with Z28 on the side, Mach1, and 383. Wide tires, Cragars, Slotted wheels, and side pipes. On the black and white 13 inch TV, Starsky& Hutch and Mannix. But mostly, cold dark mornings with my dad saying, " see if you can reach these with the wrench?" My parts hording days and F body collection came much later.

 

[Aspen500]

That's some of my fondest memories of growing up. Hours spent with my dad out in the garage, or going to a car show, swap meet or the drag races. My mom always said she never had to worry because she knew exactly where to find us. He doesn't do near as much with cars anymore due to age (he's 88) but still his favorite place to be is out in the garage building and fabricating.

 

[Dr Lebaron]

Because 2nd class driving is still much better than 1st class walking.

 

[80mirada]

My dad, my uncle (his brother), my brother, both grandfathers, my mom's sister and my dad's mom were all into cars. Oh yeah and the younger of my two sisters. I grew up in a Mopar or no car home. Since Magnums, Cordobas, Aspens, Volare, Miranda's, etc were all new cars during my formative years I have always liked them. My first love was a Magnum GT, I will always want another one...

 

[Joe12459]

From the time I was ten years old, maybe even earlier, I've always been a Mopar man. Through my teen years, I always had at least one barely street legal ( or maybe not) Mopar. Back then, B's and E's were king. They were still cheap and plentiful, and I always had at least one. One day in 89 or 90 a friend of mine brought a car into my shop that I had never seen before. It was a 1980 Mirada, 318, with a blown tranny. He didn't want the car anymore, so I ended up with it. I threw a junk yard tranny in it and drove it that way for a while, until that tranny shit the bed. Like I said, I always had Mopars around, so as you could probably imagine, spare parts were abundant. Seeing that I didn't have another spare small block 904, but I did have a spare 440 and 727, in it went. I only had that car for a year or so, before my friend totaled it, but man was it fun. The Camaros, Firebirds and fox body Mustangs of that era never saw me coming, but usually left with their tails between their legs. After that car died, I went back to my usual B's and E's. Then I got married and had kids, so cars went on the back burner, until about ten years ago, when my son, 6 at the time, pointed out that the 72 Roadrunner he saw on e-bay was only 60 miles away. That car started it all over again. While I was still building her, I was on e-bay again, looking for parts, when I saw an 83 Mirada with an obnoxious Viper paint scheme and a slant six. I couldn't help myself. I knew I had to have it, and I knew it would end up with a hemi in it. Now eight years and two more Miradas later, the fever is still strong! I can't wait to see what's next.

 

[slant6billy]

My dad passed away back in 04. He rolls in his grave every time I go fatter with the tires, bigger with the power, louder with the pipes, ...etc. My dad wanted me to be more practical. I'm practically certifiably NUTs. I race home from work just to get into the garage. I guess if I had not left knuckle blood on the Valiant at an early age, I would be normal. Once that Valiant contagion got in me, there was no cure and it only gets worse.

 

[Justwondering]

All my life it was 'go inside your mom wants you'. My brothers and dad did the wrenching.
I learned to crochet, quilt, cook, clean up after others, read, do schoolwork.
Dad was very old school, still is. Pushing that 80 year line.

Many years later my grandmother died. Went through the house 1 last time and the only thing I wanted was the 1961 tempest with the busted drive shaft in the side yard.
Time passes and my mother-in-law dies.
We go to Illinois to go through the house and the only thing I wanted ... was the 1987 Chrysler Fifth Avenue that hadnt been run in 2 years since she went to assisted living.

Few years more go by and husband has severe congestive heart failure.
If I spend money having someone fix cars, there isn't any left to pay doctors. So.....
I finally get to learn how to work on cars with a monthly budget to work with. No one telling me I can't or shouldn't be doing it and enough age/wisdom to realize I can do this. Might take me longer cause I have to learn what things are, how they inter-connect, what tools I should use. But its like this amazing 3-d puzzle with folks on the internet to help guide the way.

Hubby enjoys sharing the successes with his brothers and certainly gets great enjoyment from driving in the Fifth Avenue. So do I. Dad will always be my dad, but my fleet is in better shape than his.

So far I've done some limited work on a silverado truck, suburban, mahindra tractor, ford dually, and the fifth avenue. By far, the fifth Avenue is my favorite.

After the antenna rehab and visor sewing, next up is my brother's 63 willys pickup and then I should be ready to tackle the 61 tempest.

I find that learning how things work is just one heck of a kick. Folks here make that happen for me.