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Yep, Chrysler products had that very unique starter sound.  You always knew when one was starting or trying to start.  Jerry, I think I remember that scene in Dallas for that very reason lol. 
 
Agreed.  It almost never mattered what make the car was on TV.  Nearly all of them sounded like Chrysler products when they cranked up to a start.

 

Same thing with telephones.  On NBC in the '60s and '70s it didn't matter which show you were watching.  All phones had the exact same ringing sound dubbed in -- even Princess and Trimline models, which contain only a single gong.
 
Classic Mopar starter, aka the "Highland Park hummingbird"!

 

My favorite old TV show is Perry Mason, I've seen 'em all. For almost all of them Paul Drake drove Thunderbirds and more often than not Perry was in a Ford or Lincoln. For those cars they did use the correct old Ford starter, my family had enough Fords for me to know what those sounded like.

 

I don't recall GM starters as being very distinctive, perhaps because they rarely shared engines among divisions.
 
The GM

starters were pretty much the same Delco units across all GM lines. The difference was the drive end housing and how it mounted.

GM Delco units were, without a doubt, the worst engineered starters from the Big 3.

Mopar was #1 in my mind closely followed by Ford. Only Ford put the solenoid on the fender where it was easily replaceable and less prone to heat deterioration when compared to starter mounted units. Ford also used Fafnir needle bearings in the comm and and drive end. GM by contrast used the thinnest bushings and had overly long armature shafts that would get out of round in heavy use. GM/Delco starters also came with shim kits. If you hear a Chebby starting up and it sounds like a buzzsaw, then the starter mount needs shim kits. Ford and Mopar by contrast never needed those.

Mopar also used bushings but they were 5x thicker than those used by Delco. Mopar starters also had the most HP and torque of the big three and the best bendix drive setup. It was very hard to destroy a Mopar starter. Those starters could spin a 440 six pack up to speed like nobody's business. They were not prone to "hot" stalls like a Delco unit.
 
While I enjoyed the sound of a V-8 starting, it was the '76 Newport test drive vid that hooked me in.

A year later I BEGGED my dad (who was car-shopping at the time) to buy a '77 Newport as it would be the last. Alas, he bought a '77 Malibu instead. 305 4bbl. (I think), but otherwise a total stripper, not even a/c.

Alas, he slid even further downhill by trading it in for an '81 Cutlass Supreme for reasons unknown. The Cutlass was worse in every respect INCLUDING gas mileage.

I could sit here and watch these vids for hours. Thanks, Washman!

Jim
 
Tell me about it Jim

That Newport is off the chain! I bet it rides like a cloud. He was lucky it did not have the infamous Lean Burn setup. I'd figure out how to rework the RV2 compressor to get it to run on 134A so as to have A/C in this classic ride.
 
From our families 73 Plymouth Scamp, (that replaced the 56 Plymouth) to the neighbors with their Dodge Crestwood wagon, that starter sound has been always heard!..I always like the end of Mopar meets when everyone leaves at once, especially the muscle cars with their starters!
 
Mopar always had the best sound. GM starters were not strong in the 70's. My 98 with the 455 Police package would crank VERY slowly when it was hot. The dealer was useless. A friend of mine changed some sort of copper "donut" in the starter that helped but not totally. I really miss the land yachts. As big as they were it was still hard to get at all the engine stuff. The 98 wasn't horrible but the 67 Lincoln was a nightmare. Not to mention the power windows, wipers etc.
 
looking forward to it jerry

Hit me up when one comes up. I close on March 31 and will be spending the 1st half of April getting moved in.

After that, I should be good to go. Unless I need a chiropractor after all the lifting.

Do you remember the firing order on a small block Mopar v-8?
 
Watch Highway Patrol weekmornings on 'THIS' subchannel. They used the actual location sounds of cars starting. Though it was before the infamous Chrysler whee-whee, when they started a 56 Ford it really was one.
 

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