{"id":47874,"date":"2021-01-25T08:31:52","date_gmt":"2021-01-25T13:31:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=47874"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:21:37","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:21:37","slug":"mo-par-city-is-closing-its-doors-after-50-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/gallery\/2021\/01\/mo-par-city-is-closing-its-doors-after-50-years.html","title":{"rendered":"Mo-Par City Is Closing Its Doors After 50 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Time Has Run Out for These Classic Mopar\u00ae<\/sub> Project Cars: Buy Them or They Go to the Crusher <\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Hurry! The clock is ticking. If you\u2019re looking for a Mopar\u00ae<\/sub> project car to restore, you need to contact Larry Pontnack, owner of Mo-Par City in Oregon, Illinois. And do it soon, what isn\u2019t sold within the next few months will be crushed.<\/em> Larry tells us it will break his heart to scrap these vintage Mopar vehicles, but at nearly 80 years of age and with over 50 years of service to the Mopar restoration community, its time to retire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Larry
Larry Pontnack isn\u2019t happy about closing shop and hopes some enterprising individual(s) will rescue his life\u2019s work from oblivion. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A few of us DodgeGarage contributors have visited Larry’s Mo-Par City over the years and are always in awe of the shear mass of Mopar inventory in one place. Back in 2013, I was hosting a Dodge Dart road trip when I stopped to check in with Larry and talk about his one-of-a-kind business. We chatted for hours before I had to get back on the road, but it was a visit I won’t soon forget. My fellow DodgeGarage contributor, David Hakim, stopped by back in 2019 while writing “Mopar Crypt Keeper”<\/a> and got the lesson of a lifetime when referring to Larry’s business as a “junk yard”. He won’t make that mistake again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mo-Par City is a turn-key business with tons of valuable stock that could be taken over by a younger team and run profitably for decades to come. In fact, Larry began posting national advertisements stating this fact 10 years ago, but hasn\u2019t yet found the right buyer. So if you\u2019ve ever thought about starting a classic Mopar cars and parts business, forget about finding a suitable plot of land and scrounging the country side for parts cars. Larry has done all that for you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Classic
The E-body section contains plenty of solid cores \u2013 including some R\/Ts and \u2018Cudas – that could be revived. Larry says most were purchased in the early 1980s when they were worth more in parts than as rusty or crashed used cars. Today, virtually anything <\/em>is regarded as savable thanks to the healthy restoration parts industry. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Mo-Par City is located on a large plot of business-zoned land situated just 90 miles from Chicago. In addition to the hundreds of viable A-, B-, C- and E-body project cars, vans and trucks, the lot includes six storage buildings and workshops with over 30,000 feet of covered space that\u2019s jam packed with thousands of loose Mopar parts, ranging from date-coded glass to vintage Clutch-Flite drag race transmissions, engines and N.O.S. parts in factory wrappers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Classic
Likewise, the B-body section still contains plenty of solid cores like this shell of a 1969 440, 4-speed GTX. In many cases, matching-numbers engines, transmissions and rear axles are still present inside one of the storage buildings. There are also several C-bodies on site waiting for rescue. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re not as ambitious as that, why not buy a core vehicle and start a restoration project? Larry is happy to negotiate attractive prices rather than watch the crusher get them. So that\u2019s the story at Mo-Par City as another valuable hoard of classic Mopar metal faces oblivion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Classic
The early B-body section appeals to Super Stock fans with plenty of two-door models and pillar-coupes. Lately, the scarcity of two-doors has led to the discovery that four-door models can be converted into two-doors with relative ease, making cars like the gold \u201964 Plymouth four-door viable targets for Max Wedge clone projects. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

With luck, Larry\u2019s legacy will live on in the hands of new owners. In a darker scenario, the crusher will move in and eliminate everything. The time has come to act. If you\u2019re in the market for a Mopar project \u2013 or see the value of taking control of this lucrative business \u2013 contact Larry Pontnack and work a deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n