mauls

After finding my Protect O Plates, I did some internet investigating, and looked up the original owners name, was able to find his phone number. I was a little nervous about calling though, because this guy bought the car 46 years ago and some stranger was about to call him about it.

I built up the courage and called him, asked him if he owned a 1965 Oldsmobile Jetstar 88, and he about had a heart attack! He couldn't believe it. He had a thousand questions for me, and even more stories. He asked about the condition of the car, the paint, if the top still worked etc.

Also told me stories about he bought the car just before he got married when he was 30, used to drive around for no reason with his golden retrievers in the back seat, and his daughter used to call it the batmobile.

We talked for a while, exchanged numbers, address and emails, and he's going to see if he happens to have any more paper work on the car.

I emailed him some "preview" pictures of the car, and I'm going to put together a photo album of it and mail it to him. He's only 3hrs away in STL, so I'm going to purchase tickets to the cardinals game, and let him have the car for a whole weekend while me and my lady watch the baseball game!!

He just kept going on about how excited he was, and how he couldn't believe he got a call like this, and even used the phrase "You made me feel immortal"

It just felt really good inside to make another person feel so happy.

Sorry for the long read!

bjtstarfire

That is very cool.

Aron Nance

Absolutely fantastic story! Would that we could each do the same thing,with the original owner(s) of our car(s)! One of those "made me smile sittin' in front of the 'puter" stories. Let us know how it all turns out when you go to the ball game.

mauls

Thanks guys! I didn't know how he would feel about it, or if he was even a car guy.

He sold his 1960 Corvette for the Jetstar, that's gotta tell you something!

I find it very interesting and can't wait to meet him!

cutlassjoe

That is very, very cool. It does make you feel good. Let us know how this plays out. If you every come to Detroit to watch a ball game let me know. I would love to have that car for the weekend....lol.

Jamesbo

Cool, we should all pay it forward

stevengerard

great story and very kind of you to lend him back the car for a weekend

citcapp

Neat story and a neat thing you're doing.

mauls

I sent him an email with several pictures and a video of it, here's his reply

"Wow! What a blast, Shawn. I couldn't believe I was looking at my old car. It's beautiful. Nice job. From the sound on the video, you've really put some power into it. Thanks so much for sending these. By the way, when I had the car, the top was black. And the rear window was glass, not plastic... not sure what it is now. The interior is spectacular, too. I look forward to getting the binder"

On a side note, I've never seen a dark blue jetstar with a black top, anybody else?

cutlassgal

What a nice thing you did! That is soooo cool! I can imagine how excited he is, lol. I know I would be! That just warms the heart!!

mauls

Thanks! I bet he thought he'd never get a phone call like this

I think I may put the original wheels and hub caps on when I take it to him. I think he'd like that a lot more than the muscle wheels I have on now.

cutlassgal

I'm sure he's gonna love it no matter what!

tru-blue 442

That is too cool. I am hoping when I get my '69 442 all together I can take a trip
to Amarillo TX. The ol boy I got it from bought it new right after coming home from
Nam.

64Todd

Well done! Terrific story! I would love to track down the first owner of my car....

Jaybird

Hey Shawn: Great story! When you meet the former owner, take lots of pics! I think most of us would like to meet our car's original keeper.

Jaybird

kartmaster

Pretty awesome story. I found the name of the original owner of my Toronado, but never worked up the guts to contact him. I did make a trip to the old (now defunct) dealership it was sold at. The old guy who sold the car was there and even remembered it! He even knew what the original color was! Said it was "the nicest car he ever sold". Prolly just said that to make me feel good. Haha.

rustyroger

Don't you feel good when that happens?.
It happens quite often over here, but the furthest points of Great Britain only being 700 miles apart makes the chances of it happening better. American cars over here are are rarities and the same people tend to come to the shows, I have met several previous owners of the cars I have taken to shows and seen a few of mine as well.
I went to a classic show one time and came across a Wolseley I had owned in the '70s, it was in great shape - much better than when I owned it. The owner was really pleased to hear a little of its history and let me take it for a spin - what a let down!, I remembered it as smooth comfortable and quite swift, it was slow rough and noisy. There was nothing wrong with the car, as I said, it was in better shape than when I owned it, I hadn't realised how much cars have improved in the last 35 years until then.

jpc647

I tried to call the original owner of my car. He couldn't remember anything about the car, no idea who he sold it to, thought the car was silver... I was disappointed.

mauls

Thanks for your comments guys!

Here's an update for anybody following along. He found his original license plates and has offered to give them to me!

Also he he sent me some old pictures of his kids and the car.

olds.jpg

Decorated for his daughter during a parade in 1980
RingoOldsMarv.jpg

His daughter and son by the car
RingoOldsMarv_0002.jpg

mauls

Aww thats a shame, but at least you tried! Props

442much

That's very cool. In my case the original owner found me. I was living in a National Park (Jasper) when this van pulls up. The town is 4500 pop but gets 2 million visitors a year so cars park where they can. The guy gets out along with his wife and kids and asks if they can look at the car because they had one just like it.

His wife walks around the back and says "Oh my God! This was our car!" She noticed the dealer plate still on the car. Turns out they were the original owners who I bought the car off of.

They lived in the next town (outside the park) and the guys father, who was with him when the bought the car, was going to be visiting. He asked if I would mind driving over so he could show his dad the car. I agreed and drove over the next weekend. His dad couldn't believe that the car still existed.

Anyway, because I did that lttle favour for him, he mailed me the first pictures they took when they bought the car. You can see them at my Cardomain site if interested on the page titled "Through The Years".
I love a great car story. Thanks for sharing yours. Keep us updated on any new developments.

Lady72nRob71

Wow - great story and even better outcome!!
Glad to hear you got the fires burning like that. Very heartwarming...

I tried contacting the previous previous owner of Lady but never a reply. I am almost thinking he knew some things best left untold... As I am finding out, she was abused long ago.

cutlassgal

What cool old pictures!! I think that's just great!! To see the car how it was "back in the day" with the family..... priceless!

mauls

Aww well thats a shame, but the good news is that it's in a better home now!

mauls

Thanks, It would be really cool if he came up with the original window sticker

mauls

Here's an update. Gerry, the original owner sent me this link to a blog that he wrote!

http://heyyouhoser.blogspot.com/2011...d-with-me.html


I'm getting kinda nervous about letting him see the car, I'm afraid he'll have his check book out the minute I arrive

64Todd

This story just keeps getting better...and like his blog says, this is the first time he has been without a convertible. You are right, he probably will indeed have a check book ready upon your arrival.

OLD SKL 69

Great story. I have tried to reach out in the past to previous owners too, but I didn't have that much luck.

1964CutlassSC

This story is awesome. How neat is this!! I can't wait for more updates.

I so wish the original owner of my car hadn't passed away. Many times I've taken to the internet to see if anyone with the same name still lives in NJ. I found a couple names, but haven't had the courage to cold call them as I don't even know if they were related since they aren't in the same city. Not that Dibiase was a common last name like Smith I suppose!

citcapp

That's going to be one cool reunion. Keep the story going we all want to here the more.

Thanks for a great story

mauls

Thanks guys! If i can get the video camera working I might make a little video about it.

I plan on going down there June 16th!

cutlassgal

I hope you mean July 16th, or otherwise, you're late, lol!! I wish I could see his face! It's going to be great. I was fortunate with Teepo.... I spoke to the original owner's daughter and she told me how they bought the car new for her mom in 1972, and how she drove Teepo around to the store and to church and such. She lived a pampered life, lol!

Then when I found her build sheet and saw the dealer she came from, Ketcham Oldsmobile in Missouri, I looked it up, and Mr. Ketcham had passed away and the dealership is now a cadillac place, but I googled Mr. Ketcham's children and found them both! Exchanged lots of emails and pictures, and they sent me original items from the dealership that they still had!

I'm still in touch with the Service Manager, Don, who still works for the Cadillac dealer now, and he sent me the cool Olds Rocket flags that flew at the dealership, belt buckles, and original newspaper articles from the 70's that show the dealership and such! He's sent me so much original stuff!! Such a great guy! I send him pictures of Teepo and let him know how she's doing, lol. I sent him an Olds calendar too this year! He really likes it. So my trunk display this year is her "roots". I have all the dealership items displayed in the trunk with the newspaper articles about the dealership. People enjoy reading and looking at the stuff! Makes my heart smile!

I'm sure your visit with the original owner is gonna be worth it's weight in gold!

1964CutlassSC

Hey Cutlassgal! That's cool! How did you know it was his children? I've been trying to find a good way to search out siblings or other relatives to give them an update on the car.. I don't have a build sheet in my car (still has the tags attached to all the carpet, etc. that match the VIN #, which I am told is about as good as it gets for 64 @ the Lansing plant where it was built) but I have the original bill of sale with her name and address. So far no luck with information even on the dealership. Although someone at the Olds Homecoming saw my bill of sale on the car and his was from the same dealership! It was Laing Motor Car Co in Plainfield NJ. He too couldn't find anything, not even any old pictures of the dealership online. I told him I found a few old ads from the early 60s in scanned newspapers online but that's it.

mauls

Oops, yup you are right, July 16th!

I replaced my glovebox door with a NOS one a while back, Thinking about signing and dating it, and mailing it to him in the mean time?

1964CutlassSC

Hey Mauls! I took your story and put forth a bunch of effort in trying to contact the original family that owned my car. I found an email address for a retired police chief in the area with the same last name and same general address (same street and city that the original owner lived on). He took a week or so but he's replied back asking me to call him! Could I have hit the jackpot too??

cutlassgal

.....Hey Cutlassgal! That's cool! How did you know it was his children?

Because Mr. Ketcham's obituary was on line when I was looking for info on the dealership, and it listed his son and daughter by name. Sad but true, lol! There were email addresses for both of them when I Googled them too, because they are both in like professional businesses, so they had email addresses listed. I lucked out!!

mauls

here's a little update. I'm doing all I can to make the car look as good / original as possible.

I replaced the white convertible top with the factory black top today.

IMAG0334.jpg

IMAG0333.jpg

Going to mount the factory hub caps later in the week.

1964CutlassSC

Wow you're going all out!!!

mauls

haha thanks! I figured this is a once in a lifetime thing so might as well

1964CutlassSC

I think it's great and agree it's a once in a lifetime opportunity..