How many have have noticed Mr. Norm has gone back into business restoring, and selling 68 and 69 Hemi Darts? One is on the cover of either Mopar Muscle, or Mopar Performance, I don't remember which. Now I know we are the Slant Six Forum, and not the Hemi Forum, but most of our cars are A body cars, and to see these cars being put on the market for a starting asking price of $150K made my day,(maybe even month). True, my car does not have a $17K Hemi in it, but it looks pretty much the same. I have to feel this move by MR Norm, which has been well recieved by the press and at shows has to improve the market stance of our cars. Not that I intend to sell it, but it still makes me feel good.
Sam

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I guess it's good if the reason why you own a Dart is to make money.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

I met Mr Norm and saw one of the display Darts at SEMA.. the price of the cars was sure "interesting" to say the least

I mentioned my buisiness, and he said if I was interested, could become his Australian distributor for the cars... BUT, had to do a buy in of 6 cars for that LOL... Nice guy though, just priced in a pretty exclusive catagory for most people..

It's a 2-edged sword. It's gratifying to see our cars getting some well deserved attention but it's also going to make it more difficult to get started and continue in the hobby.

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

Dan things are seldom "this" or "that". They are usually a little bit of "this", and a little bit of "that". (Any Seinfeld fans here?) I certainly did not chose my Dart to make money. I love this old lady, and have since these cars were plentiful at $500 each. But, I have put more money into this car than any other car I have ever owned. And if it looks like the market, which can admittedly change at the whims of the group consiousness, now sees these cars as having a little more value than when I started, I can;t feel bad about that.

What kind of a dealer could buy six of those Hemi Darts at a time? It seems like a real specialty market at best. I wonder how many of them you could sell in a year? My guess is only established, high value, "purveyors"of restored muscle cars would venture there.

Dan, You bring up an interesting point. Not just you, but anybody: Why do you treasure your older cars? What appeals the most to you in your projects? Is it the historical accuracy, or the challenge of keeping an older piece of equipment in top form? Is it the admiration you recieve from pedestrians as you drive by? Is it the satisfaction of engineering a fix for something no longer made or not readily available. Is it being different in a slightly off beat way (slant sixers are a small group after all)?. Is it perhpas the desire to prove that older American Iron was superior in some way generally not recognized by the masses today? Is it just the good, healthy alpha zone energy of any hobby that you lose youself in; the kind of thing you ponder during the day while you are at work, making you eager to get home? Is it the social aspect of it,(and I put this forum in that category)? I feel like I know you guys, and have a long term connection to most of you.

And finally, yes, a part of me feels bad for the guys who get priced out of the car hobby as prices go up. That is kind of the nature of the sport though. I sold my first hobby car, a '37 fast back Ford for $90 in 1963, and bought a screaming '57 Pontiac for $350. At what they sell for today, neither of these cars would fit my hobby budget now. On the other hand, I have a friend who bought a Mercedes 300 Gullwing in 1969 for $5K. This year he sold it for $130K after doing nothing to it but driving it and then parking it, and keeping it safe. Selling this car allowed him to stay in his house after retirement. Do I think that is cool? You bet. Do I expect that to happen to my Dart? No way. Would I be happy if it did? I wouldn't be unhappy.

Sam

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Dan things are seldom "this" or "that". They are usually a little bit of "this", and a little bit of "that". (Any Seinfeld fans here?) I certainly did not chose my Dart to make money. I love this old lady, and have since these cars were plentiful at $500 each. But, I have put more money into this car than any other car I have ever owned. And if it looks like the market, which can admittedly change at the whims of the group consiousness, now sees these cars as having a little more value than when I started, I can;t feel bad about that.

What kind of a dealer could buy six of those Hemi Darts at a time? It seems like a real specialty market at best. I wonder how many of them you could sell in a year? My guess is only established, high value, "purveyors"of restored muscle cars would venture there.

Dan, You bring up an interesting point. Not just you, but anybody: Why do you treasure your older cars? What appeals the most to you in your projects? Is it the historical accuracy, or the challenge of keeping an older piece of equipment in top form? Is it the admiration you recieve from pedestrians as you drive by? Is it the satisfaction of engineering a fix for something no longer made or not readily available. Is it being different in a slightly off beat way (slant sixers are a small group after all)?. Is it perhaps the desire to prove that older American Iron was superior in some way generally not recognized by the masses today? Is it just the good, healthy alpha zone energy of any hobby that you lose youself in; the kind of thing you ponder during the day while you are at work, making you eager to get home? Is it the social aspect of it,(and I put this forum in that category)? I feel like I know you guys, and have a long term connection to most of you.

And finally, yes, a part of me feels bad for the guys who get priced out of the car hobby as prices go up. That is kind of the nature of the sport though. I sold my first hobby car, a '37 fast back Ford for $90 in 1963, and bought a screaming '57 Pontiac for $350. At what they sell for today, neither of these cars would fit my hobby budget now. On the other hand, I have a friend who bought a Mercedes 300 Gullwing in 1969 for $5K. This year he sold it for $130K after doing nothing to it but driving it and then parking it, and keeping it safe. Selling this car allowed him to stay in his house after retirement. Do I think that is cool? You bet. Do I expect that to happen to my Dart? No way. Would I be happy if it did? I wouldn't be unhappy.

Sam

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I think I've stayed in it for the challenge of trying to make a car seriously fast without using (non-existant) easy bolt-on aftermarket parts or spending a fortune on it. And I want something unique. I've probably got an over-developed sense of "different."

But I don't think aspiring car guys are in much danger of finding themselves priced out of the hobby, just priced out of certain cars. While it's harder (but still not impossible) to find good A-bodies for cheap, they're practically giving away first gen Neons, and there's still a lot of things out there for them from Chrysler's factory racing program. There's even an all-Neon racing series that's popped up.

Yeah, they're very different cars, but it's still possible to find a car with mod potential on a shoestring budget.

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"Mad Scientist" Matt Cramer
'66 Dart - turbocharged 225
My blog - Mad Scientist Matt's Lair

I love my 69 Dart And It is a Bad Asz Bracket race car and still inproving on it. We are going to do a lot of research and testing on our turbo engine. More Bad aze, I was wanting a 67 68 or 69 Dart when I found mine. Got some work to do and a got little bit behind for various reasions but we are now back on track. Thanks Ron Parker Stay Tuned








Bagels On Juice Im Boosted

Hey Ron, how about a picture of your Dart? You can e-mail me one if you can't get one posted here on the thread.
Sam

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Here is a pic of Ron's car, taken last year at the Mopar Southern Nationals. Trust me, it is badazz.

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82 D150-225/727
02 Dakota-3.9/5 speed
87 GMC C7000-8.2 Detroit Diesel/5+2

Thanks Jeb, That is hot indeed!

Sam

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