dart165
Member
- Joined
- May 21, 2013
- Messages
- 70
- Reaction score
- 90
When I was a kid, my father used to take me to all the cars shows around. An avid Mopar guy and lover of land yachts, he had his share of Imperials, from a 54 Cunningham car, to more than a few mid to late 60's convertibles. One of my earliest memories is going to a show in his blue 68 crown coupe. When I graduated school and started working in the automotive industry in Detroit, the money started coming back in after years of it going out, so I started looking to build my own collection of toys.
Chapter 1. "The Find"
I came across this car in 09 while perusing Craigslist. It came up in Tampa FL. The ad was vague, there were no pictures and it had the phrase "would make a great parts car" in it. Usually that's 3 strikes and I just move on, but for some reason, maybe curiosity, I decided to respond to it. I got a call from the gentleman and we talked at length about the car. Turns out that the the original buyers in 1968 were an older couple. They bought the car new new and used it sparingly until 1981. In the garage it went, and sat there until they passed and eventually their estate was handled. The previous owner saw it in the garage at the estate sale, and bought it on the spot. (I want to say this was around 2002) He had it towed to a storage unit, and proceeded to attempt to get it running. His mechanical know how was lacking, so when a battery and some gas down the carburetor didn't yield results, he was stumped. He bought a bunch of parts, and fiddled with a few odds and ends like removing the front grille to repaint behind it, but never really got much of anything done. For the most part, he ended up sitting on it until 09, when years of storage fees and absolutely no enjoyment of the car made him list it up for sale. I was definitely interested at this point, since he had told me that the car was 100% solid, undamaged, and complete. "Can you send me pictures?" I asked. "Sure! whats your address?" A week later an envelope of 3x5 photos showed up. They were of the car when he'd had it delivered to the unit almost a decade before. No recent shots, no close ups, no interior shots.
Again... perhaps someone with more sense would walk away... I decided to roll the dice. From what I got out of him on the interior, it was a base model black. Not the greatest of interiors but what the hell, I cant afford 5k to replace a leather interior anyway. So I hit him with an offer, sight unseen, and a week later the car was loaded on a transport truck and headed back to the city that it was made in.
much more to come... ;)
Chapter 1. "The Find"
I came across this car in 09 while perusing Craigslist. It came up in Tampa FL. The ad was vague, there were no pictures and it had the phrase "would make a great parts car" in it. Usually that's 3 strikes and I just move on, but for some reason, maybe curiosity, I decided to respond to it. I got a call from the gentleman and we talked at length about the car. Turns out that the the original buyers in 1968 were an older couple. They bought the car new new and used it sparingly until 1981. In the garage it went, and sat there until they passed and eventually their estate was handled. The previous owner saw it in the garage at the estate sale, and bought it on the spot. (I want to say this was around 2002) He had it towed to a storage unit, and proceeded to attempt to get it running. His mechanical know how was lacking, so when a battery and some gas down the carburetor didn't yield results, he was stumped. He bought a bunch of parts, and fiddled with a few odds and ends like removing the front grille to repaint behind it, but never really got much of anything done. For the most part, he ended up sitting on it until 09, when years of storage fees and absolutely no enjoyment of the car made him list it up for sale. I was definitely interested at this point, since he had told me that the car was 100% solid, undamaged, and complete. "Can you send me pictures?" I asked. "Sure! whats your address?" A week later an envelope of 3x5 photos showed up. They were of the car when he'd had it delivered to the unit almost a decade before. No recent shots, no close ups, no interior shots.
Again... perhaps someone with more sense would walk away... I decided to roll the dice. From what I got out of him on the interior, it was a base model black. Not the greatest of interiors but what the hell, I cant afford 5k to replace a leather interior anyway. So I hit him with an offer, sight unseen, and a week later the car was loaded on a transport truck and headed back to the city that it was made in.
much more to come... ;)
