Memories of Mopar heaven

CAR enthusiasts are wonderful people. They can find something lovable about even the most obscure bunch of steel and rubber. Ladas, Skodas, Fiats, Cortinas and so on all have their devotees.
But the standouts among the obsessed have to be fans of the Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep family, the Mopar men.
They are, well .... "one-eyed" offers Allen Miller, a Masterton fencing contractor and lifetime Mopar fan. That's an understatement, but it will do.
And there's only one place a Mopar man wants to be in August each year ? the Mopar nationals in Columbus, Ohio.
Which is where Allen and his wife Sue found themselves a few weeks back.
They did a nine-week tour of the United States, all of it based around the Mopar Nationals. They did 7000 miles by Greyhound bus, from east to west, from Canada to Mexico, plus a couple of flights.
They endured grumpy drivers and unspeakable loos, the busting of dope-smokers and illegal immigrants, but they also hooked up with the REAL America and met some wonderful people.
They did the total tourist thing, visiting every attraction you could think of and a lot more besides, and returned laden down with souvenirs, photos, mementos. Memories of monster cactus in Arizona, of temperatures in the hundreds.
But it's the amazing new Chrysler and Dodge vehicles that over-ride everything.
Allen phoned after seeing a photo of the latest Chrysler C300 in the Times-Age when he got home.
"I've driven it," he said.
"And I'm going to buy one," adds the man who already has a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a classic 1975 Chrysler ute under restoration.
Allen's from a family of Mopar enthusiasts and says he's owned around 60 American cars in his lifetime. Most of them have been Dodges, the performance branch of the company, compared with the family-oriented Chryslers.
Allen and Sue's trip included visits to the stainless steel Chrysler building in New York, Chrysler headquarters at Auburn Hills, Detroit, and the Mopar Nationals in Columbus, Ohio.
The headquarters complex includes the Chrysler Museum, the proving grounds and the race track.
Highlight for Allen was driving the new C300 on the racetrack. For Sue it was a Wrangler on the proving ground, an obstacle course where the objective appeared to be to find the vehicle's limit in uneven terrain.
They were fortunate to catch the Chrysler publicity machine at the start of a 13-city tour. The only Kiwis in attendance, they were able to register to drive a host of the company's products.
An interesting (and courageous, for Chrysler) feature was the presence of major competitors in each category, so drivers were able to make direct comparisons between the marques.
Then there was the Mopar nationals, the biggest single-marque event in the world, three days of full-on action: 500 drag cars, 1000 cars on show, 1000 vendors selling parts. A petrolhead Mecca.
Allen and Sue drove there in a small rental Dodge Stratus ... you wouldn't dare take a Ford or Chevy to a do like this.
And what a collection of cars they saw:
- The Chrysler C300, first launched in 1955. The 300 then referred to the horsepower, which has since risen to 400-odd. - There was the Crossfire Sports, a supercharged V6 340hp 150mph screamer: - the ME 412 supercar, 0-100mph in 6.2 seconds, 0-60 in 2.9, quarter mile of 10.6 @ 136 mph. - A V12 four-turbo race car. - The Dodge Ram, fastest pickup in the world with its 500 cubic inch V10 Viper engine. - A top secret line of plastic-bodied offroaders. - Chrysler's answer to the Hummer. - A convertible PT Cruiser turbo - The latest Jeep Grand Cherokee
And that's just a few of them
You could even rent a 200mph Viper ... at $500 a day.
It was the trip of a lifetime, but it was worth it, Allen and Sue reckon.
It was Allen's second visit to the Mopar nationals. He'd like to do it one more time - perhaps leading a group of fellow enthusiasts. In the meantime the pair have memories that will never fade.