Part One

Some history

    Most people between 25-45 likely understand where the seed for wanting a 1969 Dodge Charger was planted. Look at other portions of this Charger section and I think it will be obvious. What helped foster this was the fact I had seen so few 1968-1970 Charger in my life. My uncles and their buddies were all gear heads, but none had Chargers. This made them sort of mystical. To actually see one, even at a car show, was sort of like spotting a rare species of bird. I would be reminded of the '69 complete Charger I had seen at the junkyard when dad was looking for a turn signal lens for his Monaco. I would wonder if it was still there and what was wrong with it. Even though it was a decade or more later, I would wonder if I could buy that car and see this rare bird every day.

As a child I owned dozens of the 1:25 scale model General Lees. Quite often the boxes outlasted the models as I was as rough on the toys as the stunt crews were with the real cars. I remember gazing at this very image of the General Lee. To this day when I think of the "General Lee", this is the picture that springs to my mind.

   In 1991 I moved to Maine from where I grew up in Waterbury Connecticut. I thought I would see Chargers galore up here. I would see Chevelles, Novas, GTO's, 55-57 Bel Aires, and at the time even many other B bodies like Roadrunners, GTX's, Super Bee's and the like. To me those were "wannabe" Chargers and I had zero interest in them. I still never saw Chargers except for the occasional once every couple years where a Charger would pass us on the road. They became even MORE elusive at this time.

   In 1996 CMT was rerunning the "Dukes of Hazzard". I watched it everyday. It made me think about Chargers everytime I watched it. I decided I wanted to build a General Lee model car like one of the many I built as a kid. I priced them and at the time models were not reproduced and unbuilt kits were worth $200+! While I was looking models, my brother who shared this passion for Chargers started pricing them in trade magazines. Then came the internet, which gave him access to pictures and prices. Average price for a complete 1969 Charger was around $3000.

   Matt kept an eye on the market, we both would talk about owning one, but never did anything about it. The best deals seemed far away and neither of us had any experience with transporting a car, never mind working on them. I started hanging out at the newly formed North American General Lee Fan Club and drooled over the Chargers on the site. Then I started hanging out at dodgecharger.com where many veterans gave me tips on how to buy a car, where to rent the equipment to transport it, etc.