5,000 Miles in the Mopar 10

Well, Monday August 6th, 2012 was just a regular day for most folks...It was a regular day for me, but with a twist.

The Mopar 10, fresh off the 2012 Midwest Meet Show, clicked over to 5,000 Miles!

I know some may balk at that as they keep their cars in a bubble waiting to cash in several decades down the line.

I got the car to enjoy it.  I can't justify getting the car and parking it.  Would that be nice?  Sure.  Would I have liked to keep it like a time capsule?  Would be neat...

The simple fact is, I don't know what a day will bring.  I could leave the world tomorrow, or in a few years when the M10 commands 1/2 the price it cost new.

The thing with myself, and hopefully most M10 Owners is we don't plan to sell the cars.  I didn't get the car thinking, "Well, in 2050 the car will be 40 Years Old and based on the AAR and T/A and Daytona/Superbird I should be able to sell it for "X" and profit "Y."

I don't even know if we'll have fuel for current cars by then, let alone any other variable that may arise.

If the car and I make it to 2050 and it is worth 5x sticker that will be great...but I will still plan on keeping it AND driving it.

Should that day come when all the "bubble" cars start getting auctioned off for huge profits, the people buying the "bubble M10s" will be doing so based on what the drivers did back in the day.  I hope they'll look back or recollect this blog, the Mopar 10 Registry, or seeing one at a show/race and be glad they got the opportunity to pick up the car that made such an impression on them.

I've always been mindful of the car's future legacy (First Ever Mopar branded car, Limited Edition, etc) and thus have kept what I do, even when some view it as extreme, able to be reversed.  If I want the car to go back to stock I have the factory's pathetic speakers.  If I want the OE Fog Light Bulb installed, I can pull the blue ones.  Cloud 10's Footwell Lights and Underbody Lighting?  Totally able to be removed with no traces left on the car.

That said, I did those things for a reason.  They enhance the car to me...they make it that much MORE enjoyable to drive.  To date, the stereo has still been the best thing I've done.  I get to use it every time I'm in the car and it rocks, literally.

I have more things I plan to do, many coming up very soon, but they will always be done to enhance what I enjoy about the car, make up for what I think the factory SHOULD HAVE DONE, and of course they will remain reversible should I ever opt to go back.

Either way you cut it, you can't go wrong.  I know 5k miles isn't much for a car that has been on the road for over 18 months, but I do drive it almost daily (main down time is due to installing parts etc).  I will probably continue to document things at various "milestones" (Did you pick up on that one?  I know, lame, but I couldn't resist!).

The big perk/rumor/urban legend of clipping 5k miles is that the factory computer cuts loose a bit and you notice a performance gain.  I can't say that I did, but I do think between now and when the car was at 500 miles it has picked up a bit.

I had hoped to prove the hypothesis via track times in Noble, but sadly the heat and humidity kept me running about what I did here in town when the car was still under 1k miles.

Nonetheless, here is to more great times and fun in the M10: