I was brought up in a home that never seemed to be without a Mopar. From the time I was born until I was in my 40’s, my parents always owned a Mopar, whether a Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth or Desoto – heck, after birth, I was even brought home from the hospital in my mom’s 1948 Chrysler Town & Country 4 door sedan, at the time when my dad drove a 1948 Desoto 4 door sedan.
My parents owned numerous 1940’s – 2000’s Mopars throughout the years, but never classic Mopar muscle cars, which of course I admired, particularly every chance we got to go down to the local Normandin’s Chrysler dealership in San Jose. It wasn’t until after I was out of college and had owned a few non‐Mopar muscle cars that I bought my first Mopar in 1984. I have never been without a Mopar since, and have been fortunate enough to have owned a number of Mopars, including A, B, C, D, and E
body Mopars from every decade of the 1950’s through the 2010’s – keeping our Mopar family tradition alive and well.
I remember after getting my driver’s license in high school, I would
occasionally be able to take my mom’s 1969 Chrysler 300 (with the
440 TNT, 375 hp and 480 lb‐ft of torque) out on an errand or date.
That would often result in a drag race with one of my friends or
challenging someone off the line at a stop sign – what an enjoyably
comfortable and fast ride as it was a car that few stock cars at the
time were able to beat!
When my dad decided to downsize and sell his 1966 Chrysler 300 2 door
hardtop in 1994, I jumped at the chance to buy it. After 31 years of ownership, I still try to drive it weekly. And because it has the front fold down arm rest / middle seat option and is the only car we now own that
seats six, it’s a great car to take our family or friends comfortably to places
that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to go with just one car. The 300 is equipped with a 383 CID with 325 hp engine, an automatic column shift,
and is believed to have 104K original miles on it, with one repaint in its
factory color of ZZ1 Spice Gold Poly metallic.
When I purchased the car, Beanie Babies were quite popular. As a result,
our family decided to name our classic cars after Beanie Babies. That’s why
you’ll often hear me refer to our Chrysler 300 as “Goldie” – it’s named
after a Beanie Baby goldfish. It’s a fun car to take to car shows and other
places, regardless of the cars around us. We always hear the comment, “I
remember when my parents used to drive one just like that.”
I remember after getting my driver’s license in high school, I would
occasionally be able to take my mom’s 1969 Chrysler 300 (with the
440 TNT, 375 hp and 480 lb‐ft of torque) out on an errand or date.
That would often result in a drag race with one of my friends or
challenging someone off the line at a stop sign – what an enjoyably
comfortable and fast ride as it was a car that few stock cars at the
time were able to beat!
A few years prior to buying Goldie, I purchased my first 1970 Dodge Challenger – a 383 2bbl LA manufactured car with an automatic transmission and center console. After a few years owning the Plum Crazy Purple Challenger, I sold it because it eventually sat outside as I didn’t have enough garage space for another 1970 Challenger I would eventually buy – one that some members of the Capital City Mopar club recently saw at this year’s Mopar Alley Rally in Cupertino.
In 1993, I purchased my 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A from a man by the name of Dave Dozier out of Saratoga, CA, who was a famed Bonneville Salt Flat Streamliner Record Holder and Elite 300 MPH Club member that was getting rid of one of his many Mopars. When I purchased the 1970 Challenger, it needed a lot of work – the color was wrong, it was primered in some areas, the interior needed to be refreshed, and for the most part other than the twin‐snorkel fiberglass hood, it was externally unrecognizable as a T/A. Luckily, the VIN and fender tag indicated it was a Challenger T/A, and Dave even had the build sheet to go with the car. After buying the T/A, I parked it in the garage, but I would take the car out for short drives once or twice a month. Because Dave Dozier had at one time installed a 4.10:1 rear end gear in the car, the T/A was easily able to lay rubber in all four gears. As a result, our kids quickly gave it the Beanie Baby nickname “Squealer.”
In 2008, a restoration on the car was finally started, with the help from one of my good friends, Dave Ingles – a paint and body man by trade. Dave took the car down to bare metal, replaced damaged sheet metal, performed necessary body work, repainted the car to its factory correct Go Mango color, and performed much of the reassembly. By 2010 the car was back on the road.
My Dodge Challenger T/A today wears a black and yellow personalized license plate of 6PKTAGO, which took me years to obtain. It is a Challenger “T/A” (for Trans Am) and has a 340 engine with a 6‐bbl (three 2‐bbl) carburetor set‐up, which Dodge called a “6‐Pak”. Its color is “Go Mango” or “Go‐Man‐Go” (Chrysler always played on words). Growing up in the liquor business and working for my dad in the liquor stores, I always heard people come in and ask for a “Six pack (of beer) to (ta) go” ‐“6PK” “T/A” “Go” ‐ hence the 6PKTAGO license plate.Of the 2399 Challenger T/A’s produced for the US market, only 989 were equipped with pistol‐grip four‐speeds like mine. According to Barry Washington, the Challenger T/A authority, my car is only one of five known to exist with a 4‐speed in the Go Mango orange color and having the rare salt & pepper cloth interior option.
Although my T/A has since had the factory‐correct 3.55:1 rear end gear installed, “Squealer” is a car that is still the envy of all of our children and grandchildren. I plan to drive the car for many years, but it will someday be passed down to another family member, all of whom would like to keep it in the family for years to come.
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