HOT ROD TV: Mopar or No Car Part 2

MotorTrend

11/8/2023

We chat with Steve Juliano

Transcript

00:00 We're back with a lot more Hot Rod TV and a lot more Mopar Madness here at the incredible

00:14 Steven Giuliano Collection.

00:16 You can spend hours and hours and feel you've looked at everything and not even gotten halfway

00:21 there.

00:22 One visit, you can't soak all of this in.

00:26 Chrysler enthusiasts have always been very passionate about their brand.

00:31 We're real diehard Mopar guys.

00:34 We've been doing this forever.

00:35 These cars are just amazing.

00:36 The technology that went into them, the Hemi engine, all that it accomplished.

00:41 Their daily drivers are Mopars.

00:42 Their show cars are Mopars.

00:43 That's just all there is to them.

00:45 They stick together.

00:46 They definitely have allegiance to the Penta Star, to the Mopar tag.

00:50 They're probably the most enthusiastic of any of the automotive genres.

00:55 Whether we're crazy inside or born with it, I'm not sure.

01:06 We resume our tour of the collection with this 1970-71 RTS Caravan Duster 340.

01:15 It was used both years in the RTS Caravan program.

01:18 For 1971, it was repainted and restyled, resembling the look it has now.

01:24 My favorite is the Duster.

01:25 The Rapid Transit Duster is just an unbelievable piece.

01:28 This green machine here is both the 1970 and 1971 Plymouth Rapid Transit Caravan Factory

01:36 Show Car.

01:37 This car was used in 1970, the Tour of the Country.

01:41 Chrysler Corporation going from dealership to dealership as a red show car.

01:45 In 1971, they restyled the front end and painted it candy green.

01:49 Four headlights on a Duster is a quick indicator that something's not right with this car.

01:54 The car was found in a Detroit parking garage later to be fully restored.

01:55 Steven never knows where he'll find his next gem.

01:57 This car was found in a Detroit parking garage later to be fully restored.

02:01 The gentleman who parked it there paid storage for a number of years back in the '70s and

02:05 never came back.

02:08 In the car were some bizarre items.

02:11 A machete, leopard-skin rug, bullets.

02:17 It was an interesting find, to say the least.

02:21 The memorabilia is colorful, it's bright.

02:25 So when I discovered all the great concept cars that Chrysler made, to me they were signs

02:30 on wheels.

02:31 So I set out to find every concept car that Chrysler ever made.

02:35 I knew they were in the hands of the public.

02:37 It was just a matter of finding them.

02:39 And the very first car I found was the '71 RTS Roadrunner.

02:43 This 1971 Roadrunner was also in the big RTS Caravan.

02:48 It's yet another pure stunner here on display.

02:51 The '71 RTS Roadrunner turned out to be in the hands of the original builder, Chuck Miller,

02:57 who was famous for building the Red Baron.

03:00 And I phoned him one day, and he admitted to having the car and was happy to sell it.

03:06 I went to his shop, rolled the Red Baron out of the way, which was a day I'll never forget,

03:11 and there was the RTS Roadrunner behind it.

03:14 And from that day on, it's been a Mopar treasure hunt that has probably gotten a little bit

03:17 out of hand, but in a good way.

03:21 This 1971 Plymouth Hemikuda was originally owned by the R.J. Reynolds family, and when

03:26 Steven got it, the car had just over 2,000 miles on its barely used odometer.

03:32 Probably break the bank when that car sells.

03:34 That is the Pinnacle '71 hardtop that is out there right now.

03:38 It's a survivor, all original paint.

03:40 You just don't find them like that.

03:42 In 1971, the production was cut, in some cases by half, in some cases even more than half.

03:48 So the '71 Plymouth Hemikuda became one of the rarest cars available.

03:54 They've been special since the day they rolled off the factory line, and they are a true

03:58 ultimate muscle car.

04:00 Undoubtedly one of the best looking, most desired muscle cars of all time.

04:03 It is the car.

04:05 And the hits just keep on coming.

04:07 What we have here is a 1971 Hemi Charger RT, 9,000 original miles.

04:12 This car is 100% original, unrestored.

04:15 Hoses, wires, belts, tires, everything.

04:18 They were in Bullitt, which made them huge.

04:20 They were in Duke's Le Hazard, which made them huge.

04:22 Right now, the most famous car, it's got to be the General Lee Charger.

04:25 I mean, there's no two ifs, ands, or buts about it.

04:29 And here's a guy that agrees with that 100%.

04:32 Kenny Wayne Shepard's extreme Lee is proof that the love of the General Lee from Duke's

04:37 of Hazard is alive and well.

04:40 I drive up and down the road, and people, you know, you get thumbs up.

04:43 I mean, people love the lines and the looks of the '69 Chargers anyway.

04:48 But then when they see that, you know, that paint scheme and, you know, the zero one on

04:52 the door and everything, they, you know, it just takes people back to their childhood.

04:57 The only problem with building a one of a kind car is the time it takes to build a one

05:01 of a kind car.

05:03 I just couldn't wait long enough to get my hands on a '69 Charger.

05:06 The guys at Redline Gauge Works and Ted Mosher and Picture Car Warehouse were doing this

05:10 build for the extreme Lee, and this project had kind of taken on a life of its own.

05:15 But in the meantime, I went ahead and bought another '69 Charger because I just couldn't

05:18 wait, you know.

05:20 Way cool guy.

05:22 Mopar lover.

05:23 Duke's of Hazard lover.

05:25 Phenomenal musician and seems to be really enjoying being a new muscle car guy, a gearhead

05:32 guy.

05:33 Deep down in my heart and soul, I've always been a Mopar guy.

05:39 I've always been a car guy, period.

05:41 But Mopars are really just the ones that, I don't know, they just speak to me.

05:45 The lines and the history, you know, behind the Mopars, and I've always kind of been a

05:50 fan of whatever or whoever is the underdog.

05:55 Well, we've seen only some of the Mopar masterpieces in Steven's collection, but we're saving a

06:08 pair of the best for last.

06:10 Coming up, we'll see just how mod cars got in the late '60s, and we'll go in-depth with

06:15 the prize of the collection.

06:17 You're looking at the one and only.

06:20 I don't care where you look, you couldn't find another one.

06:22 All that and more when we return to Hot Rod TV.

06:25 (upbeat music)

HOT ROD TV: Mopar or No Car Part 2

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