Post by pale73se440 on Aug 8, 2015 11:08:14 GMT -5
So today I just signed up on what looks to be a great forum. A little about myself and my 73 Charger SE, In a large nutshell towards the end of the summer of 1984 I bought my first car, 73 ChargerSE 318 column auto, bench seat pale green paint with dark green standard SE interior and a white vinyl top. The car was a one owner older couple trade in at our local Ford dealer, the car only had 63,000 original miles on it and literally looked brand new. I still remember walking in the back of the dealerships shop where it was sitting inside they were getting ready to look it over to put on the lot I assume. My father was with me and we bought it on the spot $1,200. I had saved up from working at a T-shirt shop all summer. So what does a 16 year old do first once it’s home? My parents bought me an Alpine stereo system, yup cut the dash where the am radio was, I had Custom duals with thrush mufflers installed , ditched the wheel covers for some brand new raised white letter “Kelly Supercharger” tires with a set of rallye rims I had picked up and had redone. I loved my car it was my daily driver and I kept it perfect I treated it like it was a new Ferrari or something.
So in the summer of 85 I had saved up enough money to order the new “CRAGAR SS” mags with some new fat tires ! I also had a pair of new air shocks installed. All was good and then in 1988 a year out of high school and 127,000 miles on the 73 I decided to sell it for ( $2,600 ) and purchase a two year old 86 Shelby Charger turbo from a Dodge dealer up in PA. Big mistake about a year into the ownership of the Shelby I had totaled it into a utility pole.
I never got over the sale of my “first car” I kicked myself especially after seeing my old car six months after I sold it with some bad damage to the drivers rear ¼ panel while sitting at a tire store in the parking lot late one night, I was sick, my survivor mint Charger was going downhill quick to a new 16 year old metal head type kid that’s parents bought it for him as “his” first car.They ended up moving too MD. Fast forward to around 1996 I tracked “the kid” down through his father and asked about the car over the phone.. well he had replaced the 318 with an early 340 as he blew up the little 318 however the car had been sitting outside and had begun to go downhill real bad at this point just sitting in the back yard rotting. He still would not sell it back to me. So I gave him my info and told him if you ever decide to sell it please let me know.
Fast forward to the early-mid 2000’s a car guy buddy I bumped into said hey man you know your old ChargerSE was in the guide for sale awhile back? I’m like are you serious? So the hunt began again with no luck right away however I hear it has been painted FJ5 limelight and had the bumpers color keyed, I’m like puked out about now. ( I like FJ5 just not the bumpers on a 73 painted ! ) The car sold cheap and someone did a somewhat half assed fix up job on the car and re sold it. Fast-forward to summer 2011 I’m at work and a friend of mine that has a 69 Roadrunner says to me hey man I saw a 73 or 74 charger se for sale sitting out on the highway in Selbyville on 113, thinking nothing about it I said oh really what color was it? he said lime green ! Uh ok did it have a white top? Yup he says! I immediately call my brother that can go to look at it I tell him some things to look for to see if it was mine. He calls me and sends pics to my I phone he is like dude it’s your old car, 340 is in it painted bumpers, you can see where the stereo was in the dash where you and dad cut with a wood burner the wood plastic away and sawed the other part (where the alpine face plate would have hidden that) The air shock stem is under the license plate frame, the rear end cover is still there, and it was pale green inside the trunk. Ok so now to deal with the older owner that thinks it’s a Barrett Jackson car, asking price $6,500 ! owner is like it’s all original 340 car blah blah blah, I never told him it was my old car for obvious reasons. He had bought it already with the half assed redneck restoration job and thought it was a rare car and even thought it was a factory lime green car. (Wasn’t available I told him) So after like a week of back and forth we agreed on a partial trade and cash. I even offered to buy it without the motor and trans if it would bring the price down ! ( had to give him my daily driver ! ) It took 23 years but I have back my actual first car, my 73 ChargerSE. I always kept the old dealer paper key tag & ring that was on the keys when I bought it, it had the last of the vin on it and yup it matched my dash vin.. So here it is 2015 and I have been collecting new and NOS everything for the past four years including what AMD has available for this car for a full over the top restoration that no one in their right mind would do to a 73, but then again when it’s not ever going to be sold again who cares right? The car will be done the way I have always really wanted it to be, a non factory 73 color FJ6 sassy grass, keeping the white top still, bulge hood with white bulge decal with 440 magnum emblems ( have a complete 69 hp440 already ) 8-3/4 ( got it out of a 73 rallye 340 car ) rear valance with bazooka tips ( thanks Carlisle ) interior changes will only be a tuff wheel and factory power windows added. If I can find a nice complete doner sunroof I will consider that as well.
Sorry for the long intro and cheesy story lol
So in the summer of 85 I had saved up enough money to order the new “CRAGAR SS” mags with some new fat tires ! I also had a pair of new air shocks installed. All was good and then in 1988 a year out of high school and 127,000 miles on the 73 I decided to sell it for ( $2,600 ) and purchase a two year old 86 Shelby Charger turbo from a Dodge dealer up in PA. Big mistake about a year into the ownership of the Shelby I had totaled it into a utility pole.
I never got over the sale of my “first car” I kicked myself especially after seeing my old car six months after I sold it with some bad damage to the drivers rear ¼ panel while sitting at a tire store in the parking lot late one night, I was sick, my survivor mint Charger was going downhill quick to a new 16 year old metal head type kid that’s parents bought it for him as “his” first car.They ended up moving too MD. Fast forward to around 1996 I tracked “the kid” down through his father and asked about the car over the phone.. well he had replaced the 318 with an early 340 as he blew up the little 318 however the car had been sitting outside and had begun to go downhill real bad at this point just sitting in the back yard rotting. He still would not sell it back to me. So I gave him my info and told him if you ever decide to sell it please let me know.
Fast forward to the early-mid 2000’s a car guy buddy I bumped into said hey man you know your old ChargerSE was in the guide for sale awhile back? I’m like are you serious? So the hunt began again with no luck right away however I hear it has been painted FJ5 limelight and had the bumpers color keyed, I’m like puked out about now. ( I like FJ5 just not the bumpers on a 73 painted ! ) The car sold cheap and someone did a somewhat half assed fix up job on the car and re sold it. Fast-forward to summer 2011 I’m at work and a friend of mine that has a 69 Roadrunner says to me hey man I saw a 73 or 74 charger se for sale sitting out on the highway in Selbyville on 113, thinking nothing about it I said oh really what color was it? he said lime green ! Uh ok did it have a white top? Yup he says! I immediately call my brother that can go to look at it I tell him some things to look for to see if it was mine. He calls me and sends pics to my I phone he is like dude it’s your old car, 340 is in it painted bumpers, you can see where the stereo was in the dash where you and dad cut with a wood burner the wood plastic away and sawed the other part (where the alpine face plate would have hidden that) The air shock stem is under the license plate frame, the rear end cover is still there, and it was pale green inside the trunk. Ok so now to deal with the older owner that thinks it’s a Barrett Jackson car, asking price $6,500 ! owner is like it’s all original 340 car blah blah blah, I never told him it was my old car for obvious reasons. He had bought it already with the half assed redneck restoration job and thought it was a rare car and even thought it was a factory lime green car. (Wasn’t available I told him) So after like a week of back and forth we agreed on a partial trade and cash. I even offered to buy it without the motor and trans if it would bring the price down ! ( had to give him my daily driver ! ) It took 23 years but I have back my actual first car, my 73 ChargerSE. I always kept the old dealer paper key tag & ring that was on the keys when I bought it, it had the last of the vin on it and yup it matched my dash vin.. So here it is 2015 and I have been collecting new and NOS everything for the past four years including what AMD has available for this car for a full over the top restoration that no one in their right mind would do to a 73, but then again when it’s not ever going to be sold again who cares right? The car will be done the way I have always really wanted it to be, a non factory 73 color FJ6 sassy grass, keeping the white top still, bulge hood with white bulge decal with 440 magnum emblems ( have a complete 69 hp440 already ) 8-3/4 ( got it out of a 73 rallye 340 car ) rear valance with bazooka tips ( thanks Carlisle ) interior changes will only be a tuff wheel and factory power windows added. If I can find a nice complete doner sunroof I will consider that as well.
Sorry for the long intro and cheesy story lol
