Almost thought of writing a "Formal Manifesto".... in the Mecum $9k 1977 New Yorker thread and decided to start a new thread instead.
But here are a few of my thoughts....
I didn't have an appreciation for C-Body's and specifically Formal's until a decade ago. I remember C-Bodies when they were brand new cars when I started driving in 1971. My opinion then was that they were "old man cars". There was an Imperial/Chrysler dealer right across the street from Peter's Dodge in Milwaukee where I bought my used 69 Bee and my new 73 Challenger and I never even walked in their parking lot to look at a single car ever back then. I actually wanted a 1968/1969 B3 RR or a GTX with a 4 speed back then. I couldn't find one in my price range and I finally found my 69 Bee for $1750 which was a lot of money for 1971. About a decade ago, I decided I wanted to get back to my Mopar roots and get a car to keep for good. I started to hunt down 1968 Ny'ers. I almost pulled the trigger on a blue one but decided I need to hold off while trying to figure which one I wanted by options and I started to research C-Bodies and figured out there was 3 versions of C-Bodies. Slabs, Fusies, and Formal's. It seemed to me that Mopar improved on everything on each era. Slab's were great, then Fusie's were even better, than I figured out (in my mind) that Formal's were the best designed in styling, luxury, handling, etc. I've learned a lot about these cars and probably would of spent more money ($5k-$9k) to get a low mileage, rust free, turn key car. I have more than $9k already in my 78 NYB DD. But I've had a blast figuring out how Formal's car work and the mystery of 1978 engineering. I love both of my Formal's and love driving them on big road trips on the highways across America. And I'll never get rid of them.
But here are a few of my thoughts....
I didn't have an appreciation for C-Body's and specifically Formal's until a decade ago. I remember C-Bodies when they were brand new cars when I started driving in 1971. My opinion then was that they were "old man cars". There was an Imperial/Chrysler dealer right across the street from Peter's Dodge in Milwaukee where I bought my used 69 Bee and my new 73 Challenger and I never even walked in their parking lot to look at a single car ever back then. I actually wanted a 1968/1969 B3 RR or a GTX with a 4 speed back then. I couldn't find one in my price range and I finally found my 69 Bee for $1750 which was a lot of money for 1971. About a decade ago, I decided I wanted to get back to my Mopar roots and get a car to keep for good. I started to hunt down 1968 Ny'ers. I almost pulled the trigger on a blue one but decided I need to hold off while trying to figure which one I wanted by options and I started to research C-Bodies and figured out there was 3 versions of C-Bodies. Slabs, Fusies, and Formal's. It seemed to me that Mopar improved on everything on each era. Slab's were great, then Fusie's were even better, than I figured out (in my mind) that Formal's were the best designed in styling, luxury, handling, etc. I've learned a lot about these cars and probably would of spent more money ($5k-$9k) to get a low mileage, rust free, turn key car. I have more than $9k already in my 78 NYB DD. But I've had a blast figuring out how Formal's car work and the mystery of 1978 engineering. I love both of my Formal's and love driving them on big road trips on the highways across America. And I'll never get rid of them.
