My two Mopars. And a memory comes to life.

73 T&C

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Here's the wagon with a small new addition.

I remember when my mom and dad took us to Coral Way Chrysler Plymouth to show us the new car... A white 73 Town & Country with a dark green interior, our little noses pressed up to the really tall glass windows that faced the street.... It was early October and cool and we all had on our footy pajamas on under our coats.

That car was so cool in so many ways... First it was loaded.... The floor model with all the goodies even dual a/c. It would be our first wagon.... Making us just like everyone else in our neighborhood. In short... We fit in...

Then came the question; "What do you think about the grey one next to it?", my dad asked us.

Next to the shiny new wagon, right on the same show room floor, was a silver frost 73 Satellite Sebring Plus with a white interior, half white vinyl roof and hot wheels like Goodyear Polyglas GT's...... All I could say was "Cool!"

My dad filled a bit and was about to say.... When mom interrupted; " Your dad bought that one for me".

"Los dos?????" I said

"Si.... Los dos"

I thought my dad was the best man in the world... My own personal super hero.... Ten times better than Batman at least!

Up to that day, mom had always got Dad's hand me downs or no car..... But things were better and he wanted to splurge... It was the end of the model year and a deal was struck for both.... Besides, my mother refused to drive the 71 New Yorker coupe which she called the big roach " el cucarachon"

My dad's pride at the ability to do both was a triumph in many ways... Just 12 years earlier, he left the land of his birth with nothing. He traded his title in a little piece of land in the middle of Havana for an exit visa and a new life..... That he had, in those twelve short years, gotten his professional license to practice architecture, started a family and a successful business was really something as I look back at the 40 intervening years of my own life.... I now truly understand his bit of pride at that moment....

and 40 years later... Here I am.

Dad went to meet mom in heaven two years ago...

And look what I did...

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I remembered the moment because of the obvious parallel.

It was never my conscious intention just the result of many little directed actions.... Today was the first time I've ever seen them together. I just finished the roadrunner after 6 years of it being in one shop or the other. But things are a little bit better now and it's finished. I have a thread on bbodiesonly if interested... Under 73 runner

It was a happy time for me.... both then and now.

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In case you missed it... I added a New Yorker hood ornament to the wagon... It's a correct 73 base but a later ornament which I had to whittle a bit to make fit... Don't worry ...I didn't have the heart to drill the body to mount it... It's on there with 3M trim mounting tape and it seems to be on there pretty good.

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Kool story, kool cars but you lost me with that statement too.
 
Great story, I have many Mopar memories from my Dad too. The NY ornament is a nice touch, well done.
 
Wow, great story, way to keep the memory alive!
 
Beautiful cars & a really touching story. Congratulations, I'm sure your dad would be extremely proud.
 
Great story and beautiful restorations, you said it was never your conscious intention to build these cars but I wonder if you were getting a little guidance from above.
 
Great story and beautiful restorations, you said it was never your conscious intention to build these cars but I wonder if you were getting a little guidance from above.


you may be right...


It it was my dad's birthday and I guess I had him and mom both on my mind all day. And he loved that wagon.... Took us all over in it. Loved to floor it and make... The noise.


I hadn't remembered the day of the story til I brought the wagon home to install the ornament I was working on and parked it as you saw and then it all came flooding back to me in technicolor like it was yesterday.


The wagon came to me in pretty good shape about 3 years ago.


I previously had a white one that I had to sell due to major rust issues. That one I got to help me when I was building my house and needed a truck but trucks weren't allowed where I was living so.....


The wagon in the picture is the wagon I got from a dealer in Arizona to replace the white one. Wasn't looking for it at all. I had a white one but was sad that I was going to have to part it out due to the rust......


The SSP my dad bought I bought it back for trade in value from a cousin who bought it from dad. I was 17 and working at a Toyota dealer in town and was able to scrape up the $600 bucks back then. That original car I cloned into a roadrunner in high school and college. It gave up the ghost in 93 with over 250k miles and every panel rusting just after I got married. The roadrunner is a matching numbers car I bought from a neighbor early in my marriage.... It was missing a lot of the interior and in need of a total restoration. Some of the SSP parts are still in it

and yes... My wife understands. She's a great woman.
 
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Several times in the past a few guys have told told us some great stories of their car's past and then disappeared. Just making sure :)
 
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