Why "Don't we get no respect?"

[My imp]

All the Mopar only shows I go to are packed in like sardines; just like Chevy & Ford. It appears to be as large as any other shows. Our money's as good as Chevy & Ford money. So why are we treated like 2nd class citizens at general car shows? And F M J bodies the worst! C &D bodies get more respect! Granted, the quality wasn't the greatest, but was an'81 Z 28 any better? No respect, I tell ya, no respect!

 

[Jack Meoff]

That's been the story for ages with our cars...
Always the ugly stepsister...that's why Eric and Joey started this place.
Funny thing is I've been at more than a few shows where I had more people checking out my Caravelle than all the other high priced jobbies.
How many Cuda's do you want to look at in one day.
Our cars are starting to garner attention.
They're different than the norm and undeniably very cool cars.
And as far as I'm concerned they can hold their own with the best.

 

[My imp]

Absolutely, how many F M J's do you see at one show? While I don't think the apathy towards other cars will ever affect our cars, it does get a tad boring knowing that the Mopar contingent is going to be represented by B & E with an occasional A body thrown in. Any one of our cars gets the blood pumping in a good way. Out of over 500 cars at one show, my ratty ass Imperial garnered one best of show (not me)! That was an as picked up, driven over 500 miles, didn't have time to wash it, put it in the show. I didn't want to , but my Dad wanted me to, & he paid the entrance fee, so... I wish I had the facilities to do a total restoration, but I don't. If I build the garage, I won't have the cabbage to build the cars, & if I build the cars, I won't have the cabbage to build the garage. If I sell the cars to get the cabbage, I won't need the garage. Like a puppy chasing its tail!

 

[Jack Meoff]

I know that one all too well....
Do I finish the Caravelle???
Do I start on the Volare?
Do I start tearing the Fifth apart in the spring???
Only so much money to play with and they all need something
As far as respect for our cars....
My Fifth blows my mind....
I paid $600, put about $1200 worth of much needed replacement parts
And I've driven the piss out of it for coming up on four years.
It's my daily driver...and man it gets driven.
During trailer season from May to end of October I put an extra 300 miles a week in it on top of all my regular driving...
And I put the poor thing through the indignity of snow and slush every winter.
I hate seeing it covered in crap but it's my only option right now as a daily.
I gotta admit though that it's a riot to drive in the snow.
But that old tank has NEVER and I mean NEVER let me down or left me stranded anywhere...I do regular maintenance and drive the crap out of it.
I have a hell of a lot more respect for a car like that than an overpriced trailer queen.

 

[My imp]

Agreed, art belongs on the wall, cars get driven! My poor Imp got driven through the aftermath (2" of salt) twice this year. Once because my back gave out, & once because the Mercury gave out. It's yet to have been driven in snow. I hope it never does. The wife wants a car next year, so there goes the garage idea. Think we'll get a Dart. I tried to talk her into another Imp, but she won't have it. Makes too much sense; we have a lifetime supply of parts, she wouldn't need collision insurance on it, we can pay cash, & the list goes on. I heard this somewhere, Can't Understand Normal Thinking!

 

[Jack Meoff]

LMAO!!...
Kind of like saying Cee U Next Time to the appropriate customer at work.

That would make the most sense but that doesn't always fly.
I was trying to talk the wife into a neon...
You can pick one up cheap...the 99's to 01's are descent and she's got a beater
Nope....she wanted a classic....so I got the Volare.
She loves it but now she's got no car till the spring cause there's no way I'm letting her drive that thing in the salt..plus now I have another project on the go.
As with all one owner old timer F's...it needs work.
Body is good...pans and rails are excellent but it's been neglected.
Got her running awesome now but you know there's always more.
Neon would have been easier......but no....
Oh well....keeps me busy.

 

[My imp]

Mine wants a new one. Doesn't take care of it, doesn't wash it, runs it into the ground. But just try to put her in something she doesn't want! Fastest trips to the body shop/trade in/salvage yard! Passive aggressiveness I'm told. My buddy's Grandfather said it best; "On your honeymoon, the first thing you do is screw the shit out of her, then you beat the shit out of her!" simpler times I guess!

 

[Jack Meoff]

My buddy's Grandfather said it best; "On your honeymoon, the first thing you do is screw the shit out of her, then you beat the shit out of her!" simpler times I guess!

Not sure I'd wanna try that one.....

As far as our beautiful line of Mopar's goes....
What's not to love??

 

[My imp]

There's a LeBaron just like that near me. That's the one some punk put a brick through the windshield. Fl. car, no rust holes, min body damage, needs rt, rear wheel molding, little work with the stud gun. I can have the thing for a song if anyone's interested. My comp. is screwed up, so no pic.'s. I'm supposed to talk to the guy about a price. I've admired this car for years, but no room.

 

[My imp]

Not sure I'd wanna try that one.....

As far as our beautiful line of Mopar's goes....
What's not to love??

I know I wouldn't try that one! She could probably kick my arse now anyways! lol

 

[Jack Meoff]

I know I wouldn't try that one! She could probably kick my arse now anyways! lol

Arsenic man....gotta watch out for the arsenic....

 

[alf44]

my 5th came from my father in law who NEVER ever took care of it, when something broke or needed work he came to me to fix it. he got it with about 150,000 and drove over 9 years, car has 265,000 now and besides the LB does run good. body rough ,a few dents, he hit 2 deer with it so it had a nose job, interior was trashed. but,, she still goes and has great heat !!!!! its my winter beater and spring doner for the volare

 

[My imp]

That's the beauty of owning Mopars, damn near everything swaps. It sucks that we can't buy everything new like the Chevy boys do, but from what I see people asking for NOS stuff, it really doesn't matter. I've always (as I'm sure you folks do) prided myself on being able to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Even if I could afford it I don't think I could ever just write checks for work done to my cars. I see what passes for "craftsmanship" these days just by looking at my Imp. The PO was a check writer. Some of the stuff is downright laughable. The exhaust system would be a work of art, if because no one allowed for shrinkage when they welded it up. Not a clamp to be had. I have to pry the lead pipe up to the collector with a 4' bar, because it blows collector gaskets every few hundred miles. No way to adjust anything! The only thing I can do is wait until something goes, then cut the system apart. It has the Mexican Mirada exhaust basically, except for the headers. I used aluminum gaskets this time, & they've been holding for a couple thousand miles (fingers crossed) so far. I did a drawing of how I want the Imp when it's done, but no way to post it.

 

[MiradaMegacab]

Mopar Muscle Magazine April 2002

Quote, "As Chuck readily admits, the '80s era cars normally don't get any respect. He proved his point at E-Town as he screamed down into the 11s with an engine package that normally never gets a second look. We've got to hand it to you, pal, it was an eye opener."

Moral of the story, attend shows and races.

 

[Bryan M.]

Mostly because there's a very, very small handful of people that build them.

 

[My imp]

The more power you put in one earns you the "What a waste of an engine. Don't you wish you had a REAL Mopar to put that in?" It is, it is, AND it's the one I want it in! Now I'm not saying I intend to have the Imp running 9's, but 12's aren't out of the question with a reasonable idle & all the accessories hooked up. That's more than healthy enough for me. If I want to go faster I have a couple of '72 Chargers waiting their turn under the wrench. My sons Godfather told his sister when she made fun of the Imp, Larry always has, & always will drive his Chryslers. Amen to that! Any bunghole can build a Commode or Crustang. It takes dedication to build a Mopar. You're always treated like 2nd class citizens. I just feel that we're a cut above the rest. We take the BS & don't give in to their rhetoric!

 

[kkritsilas]

A lot of those guys giving you a hard time about one of our cars aren't even "real" car guys. I would be willing to bet that more than a few of them have never worked on their cars, or are even capable of working on their cars. There are an increasing number of cars out there that are owned by "collectors", and their cars are nothing more than the equivalent of the thiclk, gold chain that was prevalent in the disco era. Same guys that owned impossible to ride choppers ten years ago.

Next time somebody spouts that garbage, ask them something about their cars that isn't easy for a non-car guy to know. Ask them something like "what kind of carb is in your car?". If they say a Holley or Edelbrock or whatever, follow up with "square bore or spread bore" and then "vacuum secondary or double pumper?", and then "have you replaced the power valve with the newer ones that Holley put out that don't blow out in case of a backfire?". One of them will stop them dead cold, and you will know you are dealing with a poser, not a real car guy/ If the person throwing the disparaging remarks is a poser, completely disregard the verbal diarrhea coming out of his face. i'm willing to be that if he is a real car guy, that garbage wouldn't be coming out of his face.

Kostas

 

[Jack Meoff]

You're right Kostas...most real car guys that do the work respect other peoples hard work....regardless of brand or make.
I pipe off about chebbie and furd but I know GM guys, Ford guys, one buddy is die hard Pontiac....they help me and I help them.
And we all respect each others rides.
THAT'S a car guy.

 

[Jack Meoff]

That's the beauty of owning Mopars, damn near everything swaps. It sucks that we can't buy everything new like the Chevy boys do, but from what I see people asking for NOS stuff, it really doesn't matter. I've always (as I'm sure you folks do) prided myself on being able to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Even if I could afford it I don't think I could ever just write checks for work done to my cars. I see what passes for "craftsmanship" these days just by looking at my Imp. The PO was a check writer. Some of the stuff is downright laughable. The exhaust system would be a work of art, if because no one allowed for shrinkage when they welded it up. Not a clamp to be had. I have to pry the lead pipe up to the collector with a 4' bar, because it blows collector gaskets every few hundred miles. No way to adjust anything! The only thing I can do is wait until something goes, then cut the system apart. It has the Mexican Mirada exhaust basically, except for the headers. I used aluminum gaskets this time, & they've been holding for a couple thousand miles (fingers crossed) so far. I did a drawing of how I want the Imp when it's done, but no way to post it.

PM sent Sir....
Fire me off your drawing and I'll post it up...

 

[My imp]

All I do is shake their hands. A real car guys handshake doesn't feel like a limp noodle. I wear nitrile gloves because for 1) My burned hand has no sweat glands. 2)Any of the chemicals we deal with are poisonous. Remember Bopol India? The federal gov.'t lied to us (say it isn't so ) again. That wasn't a fertilizer factory, it was one of seven anti-freeze factories in the world. The fumes were ethylene-glycol. 3) if someone says, "Who wants the last donut?", I'm there with bells on! 4) i was a professional certified master tech, not a grease monkey, there's no way i'm scrubbing all that crap off my hands, because of the burns, it doesn't come off anyways. lol