A long held dream fulfilled...not Ford related...something better!

[2011G6E]

Finally. Everyone should do this if they can manage to swing it.

When I was 17 years old back in 1982, late that year I bought a VH Charger. I loved it. It went like stink, it was heaps of fun...but back then "it was just an old car", and in mid 1983 I traded it in. It had cost me $1600 from the local Holden dealership, and I traded it for about the same.
This was the old girl...

And every. Single. Day since then I've missed it, kicking myself for being so goddamn stupid as to get rid of the Charger. I've also driven the missus (and anyone else in earshot) mad for the last 33 years by endlessly saying "I'm going to get another one one day", but never had the chance as I watched the prices soar during the supercar boom.
Now the prices have dropped back to normality...pretty much...and I thought "bugger it". I'm about to turn 51, and you start to realise there are very likely less days ahead than there are behind, and time doesn't stop a-tickin. Time to act.

One personal loan later, we started shopping, and found this 1974 VJ Charger on Gumtree...mild but very strong reconditioned 245 hemi with new extractors and quality big exhaust system, three speed floor shift manual, the classic Valiant steel sports wheels (complete with the original trim rings and center alloy cap!), full instrument 770 dash and three spoke wheel. It had rust repairs done in the past but some were a bit "lazily done" and I intend to re-do them properly. This is staying with us until I fall off the perch. No trading this Charger on any bloody thing...
Little bit of finishing off work and a coat of paint in the original Green Go colour (already painted under the bonnet when they replaced the motor and it's BRIGHT green), flog off the WB ute and, later, the Celica, and I'll be reliving my youth in earnest...



Everyone should chase (and catch) their dream at least once in their life...

I know it's not a Ford...but I'm telling every bugger...I couldn't be happier...

[Fordman1]

Well done mate, that is a beauty !

[Gothefalcon]

Well done !

Looks to be a fairly tidy unit too ! I hope you have many years of enjoyment with it

Dhru

[blackf6]

Good job mate. You only live once. Bloody retina searing hue. Must wear sunnies! This will need its own thread too!!!!

[nstg8a]

No shame in that not being a ford, awesome pick up.

I remember my first xa used those wheels lol, looked good on that too. Best looking stock 'normal' rim for bloody years I reckon

[Grippy]

They're amazing cars, congrats on your purchase.

[FairmontGS]

Great looking car - well done!

[Sioso]

Great post.
I have fond memories of my Dads CL Charger with a 318ci v8.
Waiting for my mum to fall asleep so he could hit 100mph on the way down the coast, my brother and I peering over the seats trying to watch the speedo.
Problem for me is my dream car changes every other day.
Top choice...

[Trump]

Hat is tipped, the Charger has always been a favourite of mine.

[Pinkbits]

Very nice & great 70's out there colour too.
I've always been a fan of the early 70's coupes made by the big 3.

[XBv8mmm!]

Niiiiiiiiiiiice!!!!

[mik]

Nice pick up, a bit of old school technology, you won't have to go to a dealer to get this one flashed, enjoy the limo !

[Craig@AUDI]

That's car porn at it's best...droooool!

[Falcon SXR8]

Congrats mate nothing better than finally getting your dream car ☺

[superyob]

The sight of that old Charger sent my blood boiling. Pure jealousy here...

[superfly]

Congrats! My mate is Charger mad. In the late 80's he bought his first Charger for $600. We painted it up and got it on the road and had loads of fun cruising around. Motor was a tired 245. So he sold it and bought another charger for $300. But this one only saw little road time. It wasn't very good. Then finally some years later he bought himself a pristine 1978 265 Charger. It was a beauty. He still has it and drives it often. He's said he'd never sell it. But it has some rust nowadays that he'll need to fix up.

I have loads of found youth memories in the Chargers. Enjoy yours mate.

[LG17]

Good on you!
I had a VH 265 back in the day and my cousin had a VJ with 4 on the floor!
They were great cars especially in the "Hey Charger" days!

[CyberWasp]

20116GE, Your story is the pretty much the same as mine.
I sold mine in 1991 and every day since I have regretted selling it.
Back then I had no where but the street to keep it, and it was always getting broken into, so I figured it best to sell it rather than sinking the money into it to fix it up.
I often have found myself checking out the ones for sale too.
Fast forward to now and I still have no where to keep such a car let alone the ability to restore one. Given the budget and ability I know in my minds eye every detail I would do to one.
Congratulations. I know how much it means to you to have one back in your garage.

[Pis-ton broke]

good one, i like the lime green polished up. i cant believe the price of chargers these days. back in the 80,s 90,s they cheap as . i was given a 73 Chrysler ute for nothing, and then took the 265 out of it and put it into my vh hard top. i sold my hardtop for $500 hundred , and have regretted it ever since. it looks very original, has the drivers door dropped a bit. my vh rh door did.

[mik]

The old vals where not a bad old limo, i had a cm wagon with the rolls royce looking grille, big long bugger, it was in good order with the 265 and everything working nicely, sold it for 150 bucks :(, i was offered a charger some years ago in good order from a work mate for $700, i should have grabbed it.

[Shonky.]

awesome colour, so 70s!!!

[Express]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

This is staying with us until I fall off the perch. No trading this Charger on any bloody thing...

And it’ll make every day worth living as it’ll always be there for you to play with or drive it.

[xr6-FTW]

I'm a young bloke only 18 but the respect I have for chargers is huge. The shape of the valiant charger is one of the best looking body shapes in my opinion. I wish I was like you blokes who got to enjoy these back in the day cruising around in these types of cars, I'd love to own one some day. Congrats on the car mate, enjoy it!

[OzJavelin]

Great story .. sounds familiar. I've owned a lot of cars and a lot of them I regret selling .. including a VH 770 Charger (265, 3-speed floor shift) .. and an XB GS coupe, VG coupe, '68 Impala SS coupe, etc, etc. Great if you know definitely something you want and can get/achieve it.

To paraphrase someone I don't remember their name "(unfortunately) .. I don't want one car .. I want them all"

Your Charger looks pretty neat!

Apologies for the photo-bomb, but I got all teary-eyed and dragged out a photo of my old Charger too .. :(

[2011G6E]

Some good stories here...well..."good" being a relative term.

Ah, the days when things like Monaros, Falcon coupes, and Chargers were "just old cars" and not worth much at all. I paid $1600 for mine in 1982, at the time a friend of mine paid $4100 for an XY GT Falcon, which when you think about it, was pretty good value-holding for what was then an 11 year old car. I remember going for walks through wrecking yards in Bundy at the time and seeing Charger, Monaros, and Falcon coupes...as well as American stuff like '59 Chev, big old Galaxies, and even a '57 Chev...just sitting there rotting. Not to mention council rubbish dumps around the place where you would see similar cars just piled up down the back waiting for the metal recyclers.

Different times...


The doors on my Charger? Yeah, they both need realigning. Being such long heavy doors they did tend to drop after a while and the adjustment needed watching.

[GTP534]

Well done, it's great when you get to re-live moments from your youth.

Now I know why you didn't want a Mustang; from what I've seen there's some panel alignment issues with these as well!

Congrats and all the best!

[Vesper Martini]

Nice one, but you didn't buy it off the Hulk did you?

[Sprintey]

Inspiring 2011G6E! Great decision.
Bought a VG coupe 245 manual for $800 in 1993, those Hemi 6s could pull and the Val's had style!

[Tokyo Geoff]

This made my day. Great to see someone nail their dream car.
Cheers
Geoff

[Pedro]

What State are you in?
A friend of mine has HEY-74 number plates lying around in his garage in Qld.