1962-78 Dodge, Plymouth und Chrysler Cars, Parts und Service. Mopar only since 1994
A Race Down Memory Lane
An excerpt from the eventful history of the Moparshop - have fun, left turn signal and off to Memory Lane...
A golden Charger and what happened next
1991 - Oli's first Charger
Oliver's golden 1968 Dodge Charger R/T was preceded by the discovery of these vehicles. In 1990, still completely analog at the Essen Motor Show, Oliver Zinn spotted his first Charger. In this case a 1969, in dark blue. Its design made a lasting impression on him and so he immediately set off in search of his own vehicle. He finally found what he was looking for in the USA - apart from that, the supply was rather limited at the time. It was not easy to find something like this for someone who was not familiar with the German scene, if it existed at all.
He then had to make the decision about the approx. 20000 DM purchase price with the help of three color photos sent by letter from the USA. If you think about the flood of images that are generally available today, it was a downright scary situation and definitely a leap in the dark. Certainly also an explanation for why the subject was not as accessible to as many people back then as it is today...
1994 - Talent, demand and what you make of it...
As is the case when you start a new monster hobby without much prior knowledge, the first technical problems arose shortly afterwards. However, Oliver was able to get them all under control quite well. It soon became clear that others had the same problems, but not everyone was lucky enough to be able to screw like this. He quickly became known beyond his circle of friends for his talent as a mechanic.
The first joint orders for the necessary parts soon arrived from the USA. This topic was also rather adventurous at the time, as the major suppliers that already existed in Germany at the time were hardly able to supply anything. The first three years of Mopar ownership flew by and in 1994 a virtue was finally made of necessity - the Moparshop was registered as a motor vehicle parts dealer, making the knowledge gained in the meantime available to others.
1994 – 1. Mopar Meeting Germany
Back then, Mopar enthusiasts Carsten Woitenek and Oliver Zinn urgently wanted to do something to counter the large, commercial US car meetings. Entrance fees, fairground stalls, striptease and music were simply too much of a distraction away from the Mopar theme. They quickly decided to organize their own meeting just for Mopar enthusiasts. In 1994, 41 vehicles finally met in the parking lot of a kindergarten in Datteln. The foundation stone was laid - "The Rest is History". It was still a long way from then to today's Nationals - but even if the Nationals have grown considerably in the meantime, the original vibe of this event by enthusiasts for enthusiasts can be felt by everyone.
1999 – Blown 483ci HEMI in 68' Charger
In 1999, the most ambitious expansion stage of Oli's Charger was ignited - the 483 cu. in. "Stage IV" HEMI with a 14/71 Roots blower and lots of nice gadgets was successfully implanted. At that time, the vehicle became synonymous with the Moparshop and was even part of the logo when the first website went online. Not the first, and certainly not the last engine to come out of the Moparshop and cause a sensation... but essentially the same one that won the Street Eliminator racing series a few years later!
2003 - 1st drag race at Loemühle airfield
In 2003, the community came together for the first time at Loemühle airfield as part of the 9th Mopar Meeting. Since then, anyone who wants to can compete against each other in a relaxed atmosphere in an old-school drag shootout - without timekeeping and great technology, but with all the more fun. In the meantime, the whole thing has mutated into the not-so-secret highlight of today's Mopar Nationals... with no end in sight!
2005 - Move to the Moparshop in Olfen
After almost 10 years of operation, the former premises of the Moparshop were REALLY too small, and the search for a new location began. The aim was to combine all functions, including the fully equipped Mopar workshop, in one place, to save time and distances and to have a little space for expansion. In the end, the right location was found with the new hall in Olfen. After tidying up, setting up and some necessary alterations, the move took place in 2005. Various storage and other premises spread across half of Datteln and the surrounding area had to be cleared and a lot of material had to be moved. The result was impressive and is still improving bit by bit... this step represented the final milestone in terms of professionalization both internally and externally - the Moparshop had finally found its "real home"!
The first joint orders for the necessary parts soon arrived from the USA. This topic was also rather adventurous at the time, as the major suppliers that already existed in Germany at the time were hardly able to supply anything. The first three years of Mopar ownership flew by and in 1994 a virtue was finally made of necessity - the Moparshop was registered as a motor vehicle parts dealer, making the knowledge gained in the meantime available to others.
2005 – 1. Moparshop Season Closer
With the aim of presenting the new headquarters to all friends of the Moparshop, the first Season Closer took place at the Moparshop. However, because the weather in the entire catchment area was absolutely awful that weekend with rain, snow and ice, only a few die-hard fans made it to Olfen. For this reason, we decided that same evening to repeat the event next spring as a season opener in better weather. The pairing of opener and closer, originally planned as a one-off event, was thus established - the opener was a complete success! Only a short time later, a count of the Mopars present revealed that we had quite unintentionally created the second largest Mopar meeting in Germany after the Nationals.
2006 - Engine dynamometer purchased
Building powerful engines has been a central feature of the Moparshop from the very beginning. That's why an engine dynamometer had been on the wish list for a long time... the lack of economic efficiency always stood in the way of the great possibilities. For perfect tuning under laboratory conditions, there is no alternative... and in the end, the desire for a tool for perfect engine construction won out. In 2006, after some necessary installations and modifications to the fresh air and water supply of the system, the first test runs began - with resounding success! Since this acquisition, we have not only been able to prove the performance values of the engines built and tuned by the Moparshop in black and white, but also consistently increase them by several orders of magnitude compared to the previously potent, conventionally built engines.
The first joint orders for the necessary parts soon arrived from the USA. This topic was also rather adventurous at the time, and the major suppliers that already existed in Germany at the time were hardly able to supply anything. The first three years of Mopar ownership flew by and in 1994 a virtue was finally made of necessity - the Moparshop was registered as a motor vehicle parts dealer, making the knowledge gained in the meantime available to others.
2007 - Olympia Charger Hemi circuit racing car support
The Olympia Charger is a HEMI-powered 1972 circuit racing car that was driven by Team Doug & Hershel McGriff in the 1974 24 Hours of LeMans. Unfortunately, it only completed three laps before the engine failed with piston damage... The different octane designations for US and European racing gasoline had caused confusion during the planning stage! Inspired by this exciting story, Christophe Schwartz first started to build a 1974 Charger in order to take part in historic touring car races. Only vehicle types that had already taken part in races at the time were allowed to do so. He also kept in close contact with the then owner of the original Oly Charger in the USA, who was also still racing the car. When he unfortunately died suddenly, he received an offer from the widow to take over the car. The Moparshop team had already played a decisive role in the construction and set-up of the first vehicle. We were therefore also the first choice for the conversion from oval to circuit racer and provided the support team for the following racing seasons. During this time, the Oly-Charger raced in numerous historic circuit races and was able to make the usual suspects from Ferrari to Porsche sweat - it dominated the straights, did very well for a heavyweight of its kind and became the absolute sound favorite of the audience.
2007 - 199 Dodge RAM Van as company vehicle of the Moparshop
After the ageing T4 had previously covered several hundred thousand kilometers as the Moparshop's company vehicle, a new van, delivery van and towing vehicle was needed. Finally an adequate vehicle! That was the goal. The 1999 Dodge RAM B2500 long-wheelbase version finally emerged as the winner after various considerations - from a pickup to a 70s van. The van, which had previously seen little use in the US armed forces, was finally christened VANZILLA by the employees. Its 360cc engine was transformed into a real fuel-saving miracle by installing a large LPG tank and gas system. A long rear axle made it fit for comfortable 140 cruise speeds on the highway. Surprisingly economical to drive, it still had enough power for all tasks - as a towing vehicle for the logistics of customer or sales vehicles or for regular parts collection services.
2008 - 1st place Street Eliminator race series: Moparshop 1963 Belvedere Blown Hemi
Building a car that can drive straight ahead for 402.5 meters is actually not particularly difficult. Building a car whose engine can be switched off afterwards, starts up again ten minutes later without assistance and in which you can cruise home from the racetrack after stowing the racing slicks in the trunk, on the other hand, is an art in itself, which the racing team of the Moparshop's 63 Belvedere has proven to have mastered in addition to the main actors of Two Lane Blacktop. The Street Eliminator racing series was created for precisely this purpose: to show that street-legal vehicles that can survive a 50km road trip at a leisurely pace without any problems and are filled up with fuel from normal filling stations can also really raise the alarm on the drag strip. In 2008, Oliver Zinn and his team of enthusiasts not only managed to push the 483cui Blown HEMI in the Belvedere chassis, already familiar from Oliver's '68 Charger R/T, to new heights of performance, they were even rewarded with overall victory in the racing series. It was no easy feat to prevail against the strong opponents here, but it took a lot of time and effort - but that was clear when the 9-second sound barrier was broken. But that was forgiven and forgotten when the 9-second sound barrier was broken with a best time of 8.82.
2016 – 1963er Plymouth Savoy Station Street Car-Projekt with 1000+PS
1000+ hp, easy to drive on the road, with an unspent, original Survivor look. A project that Oliver had in mind for a long time and which has been going on for 11 years at the time of writing - the 1963 Plymouth Savoy Station "ProStreet". With Gen III Blown HEMI and some other interesting new features, cars like this are not so common in this country. Whether it's a 5-speed manual gearbox with hydraulic clutch, the front and rear axle designs, the period rims specially made for this car by the original manufacturer or the extremely low-profile, unobtrusive Kenne-Bell supercharger on the injector engine, enormous amounts of time, development effort and brainpower went into every corner of this vehicle, most of which was invested by Oliver himself. This is certainly one of the reasons why the Moparshop has always been at the forefront - Oliver has always experimented with his own cars and gathered all kinds of experience, which then directly benefits customer projects. One can argue about taste, the performance should be surprising for very few, but how Oli manages to do something like this in his free time in addition to his workload is astonishing even to people who have known him and the Moparshop for a very long time...
2018 - Opening of the ShoWroom
As the vehicle sales area in the Moparshop grew over time, a new solution was needed to accommodate the increasing number of vehicles for sale. The idea of a showroom was quickly born, but how should it be designed? With a sheltered storage area in the yard and a glass container tower with an advertising effect for 2-3 vehicles on the B 235, the ideas began to flow. In the end, a separate showroom with 600m2 of floor space and 30m of window frontage proved to be the most sensible and practicable solution. The showroom impresses with its combination of standard commercial building elements with cleverly planned details, which were finally presented to the public at the 2018 Season Closer.
Now sales vehicles no longer have to wait in the workshop for their new owners and the needs of customers interested in one of the Mopars on offer are not neglected either. Up to 20 vehicles are clearly presented in the interior, a turntable and a built-in lifting platform make inspections from all angles a pure pleasure and even when the showroom is not open, interested parties can regularly be found here, pressing their noses against the windshield - after all, that's how it should be.
