How often do you drive your Charger?

[Mike DC]

It seems to me that a car should be at least competent at everything to be considered a high quality vehicle.
It should be reasonably fast, reliable, handle well, stop within safe distances and get acceptable mileage. Maintenance should be within the capabilities of an average amateur car guy too.
I see guys that drive drag cars on the street, wiggling through roll bars, sitting in aluminum seats with no heater, A/C or radio and I just shake my head. Good for them if they like it....I want a car that is well rounded.
Look at newer cars like the Challenger and Charger, the Camaro and Mustang. They perform well in a wide range of conditions, in temperatures from below zero to over 120 degrees. To me, THAT is how a street car should be.
I've never driven my car in weather below 40 or above 110 but I could.
I've never been on a road course but I would like to. I've drag raced but I'm not that good at it.

I don't think strict rules really work for defining a street car. 

Some guys are willing to drive impractical stuff every day.  Others have reliable comfy cars and still don't drive them much.


IMO the whole car hobby (not just us elders) has shifted more towards practicality in the last 50 years because we spend more time in cars than we used to.  The cities have sprawled out.  The commutes are longer.  The roads have more traffic.  The cars are better-designed and more expensive and longer-lasting.     


The only real test is putting a lot of miles on something, in varying conditions.  That's why the old "Fastest Street Car" competitions in the 1990s evolved into the modern Drag Week.  The requirement went from a 25-mile cruise to 1000 miles of road-tripping.  It's necessary to keep the contest legit.   

[AKcharger]

Oh? I didn't answer. Both cars started every week and ran till at normal operating temperature and driven every other week.

[Sixt8Chrgr]

I fall in that category of more than a few cars so the 69 does not get driven as much as it should. But I so enjoy driving that car. It looks and drives so well. It does have cold factory AC so I drive it in the Summer in NC as well as Fall. I leave to Fl in the Winter so it does not see much use over the Winter unless I come back for a week or so.

[lloyd3]

Reading this again this morning makes me a little homesick.

Up here on the Canadian border getting my father-in-law's old place ready for yet another "Fall Spectacular" (hunting in the woods, fishing on the lake). It takes two days of driving for me to get here (& I mostly have to drive because I'm bringing multiple firearms and lots of ammo) so I generally stay for a long time (~2-months). It's lovely here (lonely and unspoiled, not many people) and I like everything about it except for the fact that I'm over a thousand miles away from being able to drive my car on a beautiful Fall day.



I've even considered hauling it up here sometime to take advantage of these beautiful, empty and almost perfectly straight roads but...the nicer "car" days are few and sometimes far-inbetween this far north, so it would be a fool's errand to do so.



But I am missing it this morning...

[b5blue]

I took mine out for a beach run, still damage from 2 hurricanes last year here and there.

[Kern Dog]

Straight roads?



I like the roads like I like the women....curvy ones!

[lloyd3]

KD: While I really do like curvaceous women (I dated plenty of 'em and I've been married to one for 40-years) my now-almost 60-year old car simply does not handle curves very well. This car is absolutely stock and while it's handling is not "terrible" in a corner, the technology employed by Ma Mopar in 1968 isn't nearly as effective as the cars being made today for such situations.

I know that you have made improvements to your car so that it can be driven more-aggressively in turns and I applaud that effort. There is plenty of room to improve these cars for modern use and many have done just that. Yours is now a "driving machine" but mine is a "memory machine" that I use to remind me of days and a life that is mostly far-behind me now. 

Nostalgia, served in small doses, is very pleasant for me and I feel so-fortunate to be able to indulge in such silly and pointless behavior.  I would have been done with all of this many years ago but since my only son has expressed his own interest in having this car someday...it remains in my garage. I drive it now sparingly, but I do still very-much enjoy it. Uncovering it is always a thrill, taking-in all those beautiful curves and body lines, the blending of glass, paint and chrome into that wonderful coke-bottle shape. Starting it and then listening to it settle into that gorgeous deep-throated rumble, and then driving it to lunch with a buddy is still a great treat  Driving in the vast lonely spaces to the east of me, listening to that engine animate everything around it is still the unmistakable experience of filling my senses with the sights, sounds, and smells of driving an original big-block V8 four speed American car from the "classic" era. My heart sings in these moments and I fondly remember so-many people and places that are sadly mostly long-gone now. 



Ahhh....it's been a very good life. I do hope the next caretaker of this vehicle will appreciate it in all the ways I have come to. They simply don't make them like this anymore.

[Kern Dog]

I was 4 years old when both of my Chargers were built. I was an early car guy though. I used to be able to identify the make of the cars as they drove by the house. I'd stand on the sidewalk and call out the cars as they came down the road. This was before I was 10 years old. I'm sure that I was wrong a lot but I was really interested in cars from the start.
By the time I was ready to get my driver's license in 1982, these cars were often on their 2nd or 3rd owner. Not many were still in good condition. Even though cars don't rust in California like they do elsewhere, they were often banged up, missing parts, had poor quality repairs or were parts cars.
The cool new cars in the early 80s were Chevys, Pontiacs and Fords. Ma Mopar had nothing worth driving. Mom had a 79 Camaro Z 28 and what I liked about that car was that it did everything well. (For it's time) I wanted that for myself in every car that I would own from then forward.
That is why I aimed my sights on a Mopar that was fast, stopped well, handled well and was reliable. Look at what great cars the 2009-23 Challengers were. They were comfortable, fast and handled great.
I know that the bigger wheels and lower profile tires don't appeal to the purists. That is fine. I bought the car for myself, I built it to make me happy and if others like it, that is fine.

[b5blue]

  In fact none are "racing" anywhere anymore. My pal races on a 1/4 mile track. All this crap about souping up our cars is 99% wish you could race wannabe. I have enjoyed my 70 for 30 years!   

[Kern Dog]

I don't put soup in my car. Why anyone still uses that phrase is a mystery.

[pete]

Great stories, but man, you guys are gonna make me cry!