Story/History

This is not my story. I just picked it off his site, because there is so much to tell. If you like the story also check out his website, which is listed at the bottom of this page. (Webmaster).

My love affair with Dodge Chargers dates back many many years ago, back to the early 80s when I was a huge Dukes of Hazzard fanatic. I was very much enamored with the General Lee. The seeds were planted early and I to this day still watch that show. Later on in life when it came time to buy a car I wanted a 1969 Dodge Charger, just like what was used in the show. I had plenty of models of the car, ranging from Hot Wheel size on up, so I figured Id complete my collection with a real one. The kicker was that I wanted a 4 speed manual transmission. I just like the feel of the manual, being in control, doing all the cool things like double clutching, heel toe, etc. The down side to that of course is that very few 4 speed 69 Chargers were made. R/T was also another must. I didn't much care about other options, but a 4 speed R/T was the only Charger I wanted. That of course made the search very difficult. I bought books though, read through articles, hoped on the net and found what I could, went to car shows, talked to people etc. At the time of my initial search, I was in need of a car and couldn't invest neither the time or the money to buy the right Charger, so eventually the plans got sidetracked. I went through a couple of cars afterward, but I never forgot about my true love, my dream, my 1969 Dodge Charger. Back in late 2000, I had a good daily driver, and I also had some extra cash flowing through, so I picked the dream up again. The daily driver was(is) a 1996 Corvette. A decision had to be made. I was never a big fan of the fifth generation Corvette, but I had this extra money and I've always wanted a new Corvette.   I knew I could afford one of two options: trade in my 96 Corvette to upgrade to a new 01 or 02 Corvette, or keep the 96 and get a 69 Dodge Charger. The decision wasn't difficult. Two cars is better than one, specially since my Corvette performs just as well, if not a tad better than new Corvettes, and the fact that Chargers weren't getting any cheaper or easier to find. I had to jump on the bandwagon while I could. So I started the search again. Followed a few leads, came up short a few times, but kept the search alive this time. While checking out Hemmings website my father found an add that looked good. 69 R/T 4 speed for 18 grand. Only problem was that it was located in North Carolina and I'm out in Los Angeles. Wouldn't hurt to call though, maybe get some pictures. Turned out I was the first inquiry. I asked for some pictures and decided to take it from there. Below is the first picture I had ever seen of the car. Among other pictures I received of the car, I also got pictures of the interior and engine. I was very much pleased to find the interior to be real clean, and that the engine, while looking a little dirty, had a Six Pack on top! I wasn't particularly hung up on originality, I just wanted the original block and trans. A few extra goodies here and there turned out to be a welcomed surprise by me. In fact the Six Pack is something that I wanted and planned on doing anyway. I could tell other little minor things that weren't stock but I never really bothered to ask as another issue came up that had to be worked out. I found out later that the car had headers, a serious cooling system, a radical cam, disc brakes, etc.  This car was still 3000 miles away and at that time I had never even driven a Dodge Charger yet.    I had to figure out if this was really the car for me. How would I get it home? How would I negotiate a deal on it? Even if I thought this was the right car, I still had to be a little careful as I had never driven it. Fortunately I found a third party to check the car out for me and at least verify that it was in the same condition that pictures indicated. My third party, who incidentally knew nothing about old American Classics, confirmed that the car was as represented and that I shouldn't be concerned about that aspect of the transaction. I wasn't terribly worried about taking my time with this as the owner seemed like an honest individual and promised that since I was the first caller, I would get first dibs on the car. So my sanity was holding out and in the mean time I was trying to absorb any and all last minute Charger information that I could. I would call the owner every few days to get more info on the car. He was the third owner and didn't know much about the cars previous owners. He had only owned it for roughly two years and was selling only because he had no where to put it. He had just moved out to NC a few months back from, of all places, Los Angeles. He tried to sell before moving, but couldn't in time. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until I called him one day and he informed me that someone was coming to take a look at the car. OK, no biggy, I suppose that is to be expected. The problem was that this dude was coming from Massachusetts to see the car and at the time of our phone call, he was already on the road driving overnight. Now I started to panic some. You don't drive overnight across a half dozen states or so to look at a car your not pretty damn sure your going to buy. The owner did of course promise me first shot, but I how far would that courtesy extend? Regardless, this other dude was on the road and he would see the car. Upon seeing the car, I was sure he was going to make an offer. At the time, I thought my only chance was to make an offer that night and seal the deal before that other dude even got there. I sent in my father as he is a master negotiator. He wasn't all too thrilled about the idea of negotiating this deal since we had never seen the car, and the owner now has other interest, but it seemed likely that we'd lose the car if he didn't do something. So he called the guy, an after a nail biting hour, he came back into the room and told me that the owner had agreed to sell it to me for asking price. Normally my father can negotiate some pretty awesome deals, but in this case, asking price was just fine with me. I still wasn't 100% confident as this other dude was still coming and I was sure he was going to make an offer. I just hoped that the owner was honorable. I called the guy first thing next day when I woke up. I was 3 hours behind them so I figured by that time I either owned the car for sure or not. I dialed his number and got his machine. Wasn't the best feeling in the world. He could sold the car to the other guy and now be avoiding me. Throughout the day my father and I took turns trying, and finally come evening time in Los Angeles my father got a hold of him. Apparently the other dude wanted the car in a big way and counter and upped my bid by 500. Fortunately the owner, being the honorable person I hoped he was, told the dude no, and to not even bother offering more. The owner told my father that he was sure the dude would have offered more and was also sure we would have offered more but didn't want to engage us in a bidding war. He did however ask for an extra 500 just because of the other guy's offer and I instantly agreed. Through business ties, I got a good deal on shipping and about a week later the car was in my possession. Ill never forget the first time I saw her coming off the truck. Drove her home and instantly realized a bunch of little things that needed correction, however none of that mattered. I owned my dream car, my 1969 Dodge Charger. I can only hope at this point that I will own this car forever.  In light of why I fell in love with this car, I thought it most appropriate to name her Daisy. 

Mods

Engine:

Interior:

Body:

Options:

As per the fender tag, here is the list of options that came on his car.

© Arthur Reichardt 2002

This site is for personal use only, I do not guarantee that the information on this website is correct. If you find a mistake on this website, or just wrong information, just e-mail me.

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(Since the 6th of March, 2002).