A few stupid notions kept me from enjoying the incredible Challenger RT and a Cuda 440.
You’ve probably noticed a heavy-lean toward GM-built muscle cars in the Big Block Blog. This is because, for most of my life, I’ve been a big fan of the GM A-Body cars and the F-Body as well. My pride in owning (at different times) 2 GTOs, a Trans Am, an Olds 442 and an Impala SS, is a testament to my GM brand-loyalty.
It’s not that I didn’t like or enjoy the notion of owning a Ford Mustang Mach I, or a Dodge Challenger RT, or the menacing, growling Plymouth ‘Cuda 440. I also toyed with the notion of purchasing a Javelin AMX. Many times.
I was also a fan of the way-too-fun Roadrunner, (a 383, 4-bbl. would have been just fine, thanks), and I really loved…. believe it or not… the Duster 340!
But for a few bad words spoken about these cars, I would probably have owned at least one or two of them. First, a friend of mine owned a light blue ’69 Mustang Mach I. He refused to push it in any
My friend's blue Mach I was a true muscle car. I didn't believe him.
way and drove it like it was his baby. It probably was. I’m sure he took it out and gave it a good thrashing now and then, but none of us were the wiser. For this reason, I always envisioned that Mach I to be more of a cruiser. When I just barely beat a 1970 ‘Stang in a 1/4-mile duel at New England Dragway with my 455 Olds 442, I changed that thought pattern rather quickly.
After I sold my ’75 Trans Am, I was seriously considering a purchase of a Dodge Challenger RT at one point. It was Plum Crazy Purple as I recall, but it had a black vinyl top. (Why?) I never liked muscle cars with vinyl, but that wasn’t the reason I didn’t buy this Challenger. When I told my best friend that I was thinking of buying the Dodge, he said, “Why? They handle like shit.”
I was mortified. He went on to explain further how Cudas, Challengers, Roadrunners, Dusters and even the GTX, all had “flimsy front end components” and that I would probably kill myself in one of them. It was about that time that I saw a car that had flipped onto its roof in a ditch. It was a black ’69 Charger. That was all I needed. No Mopars.
"Sublime" green or not, this car was a blast to drive. But not for me...I was too trusting and never test drove it.
Pretty lame. But that’s how kids can influence others and destroy a car company’s efforts to market their cars!
Probably one of the more lame excuses for not buying a Mopar was also mechanical: the starters emitted a sick kind of straining sound when cranking over any sized Chrysler engine. If you know cars, then you know the sound of those starters. My friends and I thought it meant that the starters were too weak and would have to be replaced often. But when I finally went off to college in Florida and needed a car for my night job, a 1968 Plymouth Satellite with four doors and a 318 was offered to me for $200 by a guy in my dorm. He had received a new car for Christmas. I bought the car and never had a single starter problem….despite that “whir.”
I came close to buying Barracudas, Challengers, Duster 340 & 360 models and even an American
The AMX was gorgeous. It's in this photo...somewhere.
Motors AMX, but I never pulled the trigger. This is something I’ll always regret.
The AMX sounded great, looked super fast – even while parked – but I just hated those seats. They seemed so thin and uncomfortable to me. I was a cruiser and those seats just wouldn’t cut it for me! Call me picky, I know….
In the end, I loved and still love the GM style and drivetrains. But I feel as though I missed out on a huge segment of the muscle car era.
This regret will normally resolve when I park my butt in front of a 1969, Carousel Red, GTO Judge hardtop.
Yep, a few minutes of good ol’ GM therapy is all I need.
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Spray it on...wipe it off. Done.
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