1972 Plymouth Charger

This week's blog is about a 1972 Plymouth Charger, 340, six pack.  It comes from my good friend Bob, who told me his tale from his high school days in the late 70's.  His friend, Paul, who owned the 1972 Charger, pulled up to Bob's house in Royal Oak and picked him and his friend, John up to go out and cruise Woodward.  It was a Friday night, they had been taking mid-terms all week and were more than ready to blow off some steam.

According to Bob, Paul was driving like a lunatic up and down Woodward (between 12 and 15 Mile Road).  Several times during their cruise, Paul's speedometer blew well past 80 miles per hour.  John and Bob were becoming more and more uncomfortable with Paul's insane driving skills and were yelling at him to "cut it the hell out!"

Paul suddenly veered down a side street, just off of 14 Mile Road.  When he got to a subdivision that looked dark enough, he drove up on some unsuspecting person's lawn, threw it in park,  jumped out and found a bush to pee on, on the side of some unsuspecting homeowners house.

Bob and John decided it was time to teach "lead foot" Paul a lesson.  Bob slid over the console in the front seat, John jumped into the passengers seat.  Bob threw the Charger into drive, slammed the gas pedal to the floor and off they went, across the lawn and back onto the side street.  John was helping drive by working the stick shift, since Bob was busy holding a beer in his right hand to shift!

They took Paul's car back out on Woodward and for 20 minutes, cruised up and down, laughing about what they had just done!  They started to feel bad about leaving Paul and eventually headed back to the neighborhood where they had left him. He was still standing under the stranger's window!  The odd part was, he was talking to the owner (a lady) of the house that was leaning out the window above Paul's head.  Bob and John quickly realized, the woman wasn't angry at Paul, she was flirting with him!

Paul said goodnight, zipped up his pants and nonchalantely walked back to the Charger.  He didn't even care that Bob and John had stolen his car, even though it was only for a brief joy ride.  He hopped back in the driver's seat with a shit eating grin on his face, cranked up his 8-track player, slammed the Charger  into drive and rocketed down the street, shattering the stillness of the sleepy neighborhood.

'71' Orange Barracuda Fish Story!

'71' Plymouth Barracuda

This week's blog comes from a good friend of mine, named Bill.  Bill's turning 60 this spring and has owned classic cars since he was 18!

Bill spent most of  his teen years in Royal Oak, Michigan and told me about one of his first (of many) classic cars, a burnt orange 1971 Plymouth Barracuda!  Actually, at the time he purchased it, it wasn't a classic yet!  He bought it used in 1976 from a nearby neighbor.

The coolest details new to the '71' model was the six segment grille with louvers on the front fenders. The grille color was also new, a pearlescent silver.  Many collectors of the older Barracudas (the first being built in 1964), didn't like the new grille color, but Bill did.

The not so cool detail about Bill's car was that it was only a 6 cylinder and that the interior seats were covered in black molded plastic with wood trim!  "Burned your butt in the summertime!", Bill laughed.

In 1970/71, a six-cylinder base model with radio, power steering, and automatic would cost you around $3,100. Bill bought his used Cuda for $1,500.

One of Bill's favorite stories about cruising around town in his orange Cuda took place one Saturday night when he was driving through Royal Oak with his younger brother, Bob.  On their way to grab dinner at  Pasquales (a great Italian restaurant on Woodward, north of 13 mile), some strange car started following them.  Being that Bill and Bob were a bit stoned at the time, they became paranoid that something bad was going to happen to them and started to speed up.  The car sped up too and stayed with them for several miles.  Finally, Bill pulled over and ran up to the driver's window, pounding his fist on the window.  The mystery driver rolled down his window.  Bill confronted the driver, "What the hell's your problem?  Leave us alone!"  Turns out, the driver wasn't a creeper at all, he wanted to buy Bill's Cuda from him on the spot, until he found out it was only a 6 cylinder and quickly rescinded his offer and pulled away!

Bill kept his car for two years.  He sold it right before he joined the Army,where he was eventually stationed in Germany for a three year tour.

Today, he still enjoys seeing the old classic cars go by.  He never misses attending the Detroit Auto Show or the Dream Cruise.  When I asked him if he'd be purchasing any more classic cars, he smiled and said, "Maybe I'll pick one up for my birthday present this year, hmmmm."

Happy 60th, my friend.

Brie's '57' Chevy

Brie bought her '57'  6 cylinder Chevy for $1,500 in the 1970's from a hippy type guy who had decked out the inside with fuzzy dice, dark blue shag carpeting and sky blue floor pads that matched the paint job on the outside of the car.

As a child, Brie used to cut out pictures of cars from all the sales flyers that would arrive in the Sunday papers and tape them to her bedroom wall.  She dreamed of someday being the owner of a classic car.

As a teenager she would go "junking" with her brother at the local junkyards to check out the classic cars that had been dumped there.

"Those cars were classy" she said.  She loved their smooth, sleek lines and the tailfins.  The backseats were like sitting on a comfy couch.

The heater in the 57 Chevy didn't work, but it ran really good and purred like a kitten when she started it up.

She kept her Chevy in the garage through the harsh Michigan winters, but enjoyed dusting it off and cruising in it on warm summer weekends.