First of all let me start by saying that I am no expert on the computer, so please excuse me for any and all errors. My passion for MoPars started some time ago in 1969 when I was 10 and my mother and father were shopping for a new family car. At the time we lived in Drumheller, Alberta Canada and had travelled up to Edmonton, Alberta Canada to Crosstown Motors to see my uncle, a salesman, about purchasing the new family car. After a period of walking the lot, mom and dad had narrowed it down to one car in particular. It was a 1969 Dodge Monaco 2 dr. 318 car. Mom was particularly fond of the style and color (emerald green). Whilst they were going over the fine details of the car and the bottom line, I had wondered off like most boys of 10 years would typically do and had stumbled on this High Impact Orange colored machine parked in the corner. I still, to this day remember the plain dog dish hubcaps and the Roadrunner cartoon character on the horn and fender. I fell in love with the car. I ran back to mom and dad and managed to drag dad back to look over my find. I know that I had swayed him somewhat in taking this one home instead of the Monaco, but I couldn't convince mom. I don't remember much more about the Roadrunner except for it was a 1969 and a beauty. From that day on I was convinced that the Mopar was the car to own. The Monaco turned out to be a nice car as well. I learned to drive legally in that car. Mom and dad had many Chrysler products in their time. A couple of the other favorites that I can remember them owning was a later model Charger and Mirada as well.
Shortly after Mom and Dad purchased the Monaco, I jointly purchased a car with a friend of mine with revenue from a paper route and we bought a 1958 Plymouth Fury. What a gas. What a car. We were too young to drive it on the roads legally, so the old chap we bought it from let us drive it on his property ( an auto wreckers) at our leisure. The top soon came off with a torch. A convertible was much more in style. From there I progressed to a 1964 Plymouth Belvedere which went through a transmission and engine transformation. I felt it needed a little more get up and go. Besides, the local Junior and Senior High Schools had great shop programs for doing just that. Next, a 1968 Sport Fury III was parked in the driveway. More power and more comfort were offered by the bigger cruiser (383 Commando). I found a 1968 Coronet, then shortly after that I found, by accident a 1970 SuperBee that was parked in a neighbours garage that happened to be up for sale for a short time by a parent that no longer wanted the car in his garage because the son had left it there after moving back east with no way to take the car with him. I bought the Bee with $1000.00 in 1977. It came complete with the 383 Magnum, 4 speed pistol grip and 8 3/4 rear end. WOW! What a find. There are too many wild and crazy High School stories to tell about how this machine scurried me and my friends around the Drumheller Valley. The car has since found a new home to make room for others to follow, but I still keep tabs on it and hopefully have first right to refusal should it ever go back on the block for sale. The last car owned prior to getting married was a 1973 Cuda 440. Since then a few more have made it home to our garage for some reason or another. The wife and I have also had a 1970 Coronet 440, a 1970 Coronet 4 dr. Sedan, 1985 4X4 Ramcharger Clubcab, 1995 Dodge Ram 2X4 and the latest beauty to earn a spot in the garage is the 1968 Barracuda Convertible which we are currently profiling. Our dream come true. Again, digressing back to the years when I was a boy, when Hot Wheels were a fad and electric race cars were a hit, there was a 1968 Cuda that made it to both types of production. This was when Sox and Martin were making it huge with the 68 Hemi Cuda and the "Hemi Under Glass" was making it's way down the strip on it's back wheels. Hurst Performance was stuffing 426 Hemi's into the tight A Body Engine Bays for resale. And making the less than 3000lb. cars hum across the asphalt. It seemed almost an impossible goal to find and be able to obtain a factory Big Block "A" body Cuda or better yet a convertible. After many years of searching (in all of the wrong places), we finally found the car locally.
The Cuda was purchased in Sept of 99 and immediately it was entered into a 3 year rebuild program. This last past season, the engine and transmission were pulled and were totally redone top to bottom by Harry's Auto from Stony Plain. Nothing was left undone. The engine bay and trunk were painted. Some interior and exterior parts were purchased via the internet from retailers and wreckers and internet club members. Next winter, the front/rear suspension, and the rear end are slated for rebuilding. Finally in the third year we plan for total body and paint. Then we will have no more money! We currently belong to the Edmonton Mopars and the Northern Mopars Clubs (Alberta, Canada)(See Links for some great pic's and stories).
We plan to enjoy the car as much as we can and not hide it away. It has been to a few shows already this year in the Edmonton and Red Deer (Central Alberta Mopars) area and hope within our busy schedule to make it to a few down south. The car will remain with us.....well, at least until we can find the 1971 Cuda Rag 426 Dana or AAR that we have been keeping our eyes peeled out for.
Bye for now and we hope to see you and yours on the road somewhere (Rubber side down). We'll keep the site updated from time to time.
UPDATE 01/06/12
The car has gone thru some changes over the winter while getting ready for the spring. The original steel wheels and spoke hubcaps were removed and carefully packaged and put away. I was lucky enough to find a set of 4" bolt pattern rallyes and had them blasted and powder coated. The trim rings came from Year One in Georgia while the '70 center caps were got from Layson's in Washington. I know....I know...the rallye wheels were not available until 1970 but man do they look sharp. (Pictures have been added). The engine also saw a small change. The intake and 2 bbl. carb was also removed and carefully boxed and put away. In it's place a 4 bbl. intake from an '81 Cordoba and a new Edelbrock 600cfm (Carter) carb electric choke was mounted. On top sit's a '68 Hi-Perf non silenced black wrinkle air cleaner set -up. We had to block out the EGR port, which was easily done with a home made plate. A Chrysler throttle adapter kit also had to be purchased and mounted on the carb. We found new reproduced rear interior panels again from Layson's. Layson's Restorations also provided us with repop wheel well moldings.
We were also able to score some pieces from Dave and Dennis at Wildcat Auto Wreckers in Sandy Oregon. Check out our Suppliers page and Links page for more.
UPDATE 01/10/03
Joanne and I bought a 1970 Barracuda in Edmonton that we are planning on putting back together. We will need this winter to go thru her to decide what all will be required to get it back in decent shape. It does have lot's of potential. A couple of pictures have been posted on this page. You can go to the page to follow the progress by clicking on the link above. Hope to see you on the road this summer.
UPDATE 02/11/15
The 1970 Cuda has made it into the paint shop. It will be ready this winter for the reassembly process. Lots of new goodies are planned for it including new magnum 500 wheels and rubber, new oval fresh air filter and cleaner, new interior, new decals, rocker gills, front and rear spoilers, new console, rimblow steering wheel, rear valance, rear window louver, exhaust cutouts and tips and the list goes on. New pics will be added to the 1970 Cuda page
as they come available. |
