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As a kid, my parents were very strict as for the use of television, and I was not very early bombarded with American TV series. I recently realized my diecast collection included at that time a lot of American cars.
When I became a teenager, I could at last watch all sorts of things on TV, and then discovered all the American automotive production. The series I preferred at that time was "The Dukes of Hazard" of course, but I must admit I loved as much Daisy's rear end as the General's ;-) From this moment, I began to dream of driving an American car one-day.
The memorable event, which attracted me in the Mopar world, was the first diffusion of the "Christine" film. As a misunderstood teenager at the time, I identified with Arnie, and I became fond of his car! I then decided that I would drive a '58 Fury when I would be older. The first time I saw this film, I didn't really notice the Charger. The Fury was so alive!!!
At that time, Internet wasn't part of every day's life; the only information source was a bookstore where I could find international publications. At the age of 16 (circa 1990), I began to work during my vacation, to save some money for the Fury. At the age of 18, up to the age of 23, I worked in a factory each and every day of vacation. I didn't buy any daily driver, I was cycling everywhere, 30 miles a
day. University, factory, car shows, all by bike. At that time, every penny saved was worth it: I never went to the cinema, the concert, etc... This car was a real obsession!
Each month, I feverishly followed the progress of the quoted value of the Fury in a magazine whose information given was incorrect (of course, I didn't know at that time). Each time I managed to make my nest egg grow up to the value I saw the last time in the magazine, boom, the value in the next issue of the magazine grew even farther. Meanwhile, as I still had a bicycle and legs, I was going to car shows and unofficial meetings where I could see other Mopars. I never saw any '58 Fury at that time, but was meeting Chargers and Challengers. Little by little, I learned to love them. (Can you really act in a different way?)
Thanks to my studies, I got an Internet access in 1993 at the University. I then realized the quoted value I followed every month was plain wrong. The French magazine had harebrained ideas about the quoted values of American cars. Furthermore, I then understood the '58 Fury was pretty rare; if I could keep on saving money at the same rate, I could get a '58 Fury for my 200th birthday! So, resigned, I began to look at other Mopars. I decided I would go with a Challenger.
That was my second bad idea. Nice Challengers were out of my price range too. I had to face the reality, so I decided I would join a local "American car club", and see what they could find for me. They recommended buying a more reasonable car, not a muscle car. As I am a stubborn guy, I didn't listen what they advised me.
Some time later, in 1997, as I had stuffed the Internet with ads, someone contacted me to ask if I could be interested by a '71 Super Bee located in Belgium. At that time, I didn't know what it was, and one thing leading to another, I felt in love with this car. My heart rarely beat so quickly than the day when I tried it for the first time. To exchange a bicycle with a muscular 440 is startling! I believe I will remember that day for a long long time... Since that day until the day I came back to pick it up, I was really tiresome. I couldn't help but call three to four times a week, asking dumb questions and begging for a better price... Finally, we finalized the deal, and I picked the Bee up. That's the best trip I ever made; I've never been so proud!
The story doesn't end here. I was 23, and had never insured a car, and had no garage to park the car. It was very difficult to get insured, because I never had a car, and this car was special. A lot of insurance companies didn't want to insure the car, because it was unknown; they couldn't find this model in their files. Other ones didn't want to insure the vehicle because it was a "collectible". I should have had another daily driver to be able to insure the Charger... At the end, I managed to find an insurance company, which agreed to insure the Bee as my daily driver. I still had to find a garage.
That was not an easy task, because a Charger is a *BIG* car compared to European cars, and I didn't have much money left for this. Anyway, I succeeded in finding a place in a big barn with other old cars, far, far from home. I had to make a long trip by bicycle to get a short trip in the Charger... But the trip was worth it; it was such a blast to drive the car!
At that time, I was young and stupid, and was driving as if I had stolen it! I just scared everyone! Even muscle car aficionados were shocked when they were on board... That was a brutal car driven by a stupid driver. Eight years later, some of my friends still mention this time with fear. The only care I gave the car at that time was fuel and oil. After one year and a half of this treatment, some parts decided it was time for them to die. In 1999, the rear axle went south with the clutch. At that time, I found my first job, my wife, and our first house. That was the end of the first period with the Bee. It was parked and neglected, because I couldn't find money enough to mend the house and the Charger.
Two years later, the new clutch was installed, and the rear axle got new ... oil; I couldn't give more money to the car. I drove it from times to times, but I always feared a serious problem with the rear axle. So, I was never far from home; towing is expensive. I really wanted to change the rear end, but couldn't afford it, so I decided to change the wheels and tires. It took me two more years. This time, I had the money for the wheels and tires, but no time to do the job right (lots of work to do in the old house). I bought two new 15x8 Rallye Wheels, and sandblasted two of the old 15x7, but I met problems with the painting process, so it took me time to do it right. I got them on the Bee just a few weeks ago, even if I took them apart in 2003!
I don't know much about my Bee. I know it left Florida in 1994, and that the aesthetic changes were done before. As for the motor modifications done in Europe, I have somewhere the list of the parts used. Around 1998, I managed to find the guy who sold it to the Belgian owner, but he had just passed away (that's what I understood). I would love to find the complete history of this car, but I'm afraid it will be hard from this side of the Atlantic Ocean.
Thanks for your interest.
Bruno
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