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So,
I set out on my car quest about 8 months ago I was nearing retirement and had decided after never being unemployed since I was 13 years old (first job golf caddie) that I was going to buy myself a well deserved retirement present, something to keep me out of the recliner, I have other interest , wood working, Grand kids, home improvement etc... but I have always been a car guy and have had some great cars but you know sometimes life happens and you have to make sacrifices for children
(3 daughters) and family. past cars include a 1957 Chevy sedan delivery that I had when I really was to young to realize what I had (it was a hot,hot rod) a 1965 GTO , my other cars included a really nice 1969 Impala Custom and a beautiful 1972 Buick Le Sabre my cars didn't always have to be fast just nice.
When I started looking my spectrum was wide 1930 - 1970 any make any model , stock, restomod, mild customs, but no Gassers or high zoot blown vehicles. I answered scam adds, classifieds private sales, looked at vehicles parked on street corners with no luck, I did not want a project car been there done that 1964 Chevy Belair, took it to about 95% complete .I looked at 3 consignment vehicles and was disappointed when they didn't make it through the test drive ! a/c compressor failed on one and fuel pump on the other I considered these to be bad omens and passed also its bad enough that you get taxed both state and federal takes when moving your money around the consignment places in AZ are car dealers and have to charge sales tax !!, DOUBLE WHAMMY that adds significantly to the price of the car so I backed off, gave up on my search !! figured it wasn't meant to be , that's when out of the blue came a text message from a cousin who is part of the car culture and it said Hey this 56 Olds is for sale would you be interested ? went to look at it love at first sight !! checked every one of my boxes !!
So after multiple disappointments and throwing in the Towel I believe this was Destiny !!! may even name her that ! sorry for the long post suffering from Sunday night insomnia right now,
Any way whats your story ? did you find your car ? did it find you ? inheritance ? did you stalk the previous owner till they gave in and sold it to you , is your car your ultimate dream car , did you settle for less than you wanted and wound up falling in love with it anyway ? lets hear it !! I have added some photo's I wanted to wait until I had better ones, these are from date of sale just quickies from a cell phone, lets hear those stories on how you acquired your beauties !!
Last edited by solly; Jun 29, 2020 at 06:47 AM.
Reason: added photo's
Some one must have a story ? my buddy was a city employee, sanitation engineer ( garbage man) passed the same house for over 5 years in a retirement community some times the garage door on this one house was open and he noticed a 1966 Impala that never seemed to move, so he went up to the door and inquired if the veh was for sale , the woman had advised no, he thanked her and got back in his truck, about a month later she flagged him down told him she had cataracts and was going to have surgery and no longer planned on driving , he made her a fair offer and to this day is only the second owner of a 1966 Impala sport coupe !! I remember being quite jealous always said you are one lucky S.O.B. !! so come on I know there are other stories out there !!
Back in 1989 I got my first real job and was looking for something to replace the rusting out 1970 Cutlass Supreme that I had been driving since high school. Saw an ad for a 1971 Cutlass Supreme convertible for sale in a small town just outside the small town I was living in, so I went to have a look. The car was in a salvage yard lot "for sale" section and was complete but well used. So I had saved enough money to either buy this car for $700 or buy a new 286 computer with a 287 math co-processor.
So I bought the Cutlass for $700 and drove it for the next 9 years while I repaired, rebuilt, or replaced just about everything on it to bring it up to its current state.
It's not really a restoration, just a nice driver. It pales in comparison to the cars in the local Olds Club and in 20 years of going to our annual All Olds car show it has received an award only one time, 3rd place, and that was when there were only 3 cars in its class.
It's not really a restoration, just a nice driver. It pales in comparison to the cars in the local Olds Club and in 20 years of going to our annual All Olds car show it has received an award only one time, 3rd place, and that was when there were only 3 cars in its class.
You will learn to despise those seat covers every time the North wind develops and you touch anything metal. Shocked will be your middle name....... Tedd
You will learn to despise those seat covers every time the North wind develops and you touch anything metal. Shocked will be your middle name....... Tedd
Agree with that except don't have to wait til then. He's in the metro Phoenix area and according to my backyard weather station the humidity is currently in the single digits and the internet shows just over 10% for the majority of town. But yeah, the static gets worse in the winter when folks are wearing more static generating clothing.
Probably the reason you aren't getting many car stories is because this has been done numerous times already. I personally feel like I have beat my car to death on this forum and am personally a little embarrassed to parade the old girl around again.... Just me...Tedd
Tedd,
I checked your profile and photo album, which old girls are you embarrassed to parade around ? the 2 legged ones or the 4 wheeled ones ? I don't think I would have a problem with either one PARADE AWAY PLEASE !! I also noticed your a retired gunsmith, maybe we can chat about the possible broken firing pin on my 1916 Western Field
20 GA (it's a John Browning design) it has no real value except sentimental to me, once I get a little better at navigating this site I'll look for those older post to satisfy my curiosity. But who knows maybe there are new stories.
In about 1978 Shortly after American Gratify came out my dad and I were looking for a project to build, something in the fifties or earlier, something different. We received this lead about a 56 Packard convertible that was available for sale in the little mill town of Westwood Ca. about 80 miles distance from my dad's farm in Dayton Ca.
Well the Packard turned into a Oldsmobile convertible somewhere in between Chico and Westwood as these rumer leads often do get mixed up in the telling but there the Old lady was jammed into this milltown Model T shed barely enough room to open a door without hitting the building.After checking it out best I could spiders and all laying on my back like a reptile with a flashlight. We put a jumper on it, a little gas down the carburetor and a jug of water in the radiator and she fired up, sounded good with no smoke. moved back and forth.... But there was this bad drip coming from somewhere I couldn't see, not a good thing as I knew I closes the radiator valve before we started the Old girl up. After we drove the car into the light and up on a wood block I could see water dripping from the block near the freeze plug and block valve Not a good sign. They had drained the radiator but not the block and at 5000 feet elevation stuff freezes. The price just went down. After some notogations(we got it cheap even with 1978 dollars) and two jugs of Bars leak and a jerry can of extra water we headed down to Dayton and the ranch. Dad took my mom for a convertible ride that evening then put it in a equipment shed and there it sat till about 1997.There was a 1963 Oldsmobile that had to be restored that held up the 55 and by that time my dad who always had three jobs going at the same time was burnt out. I bugged him very little and he said If I wanted it go for it... So I did... Took about 4 years, all my money and time but she came out fine. By the way after a pressure wash that crack turned out tobe about 11 inches long, different block time....Tedd... Sorry about the book, way to long.
Packard turned Oldsmobile I love it , thanks Tedd !! in my search I found a 1954 Packard Clipper,very nice (not quite as nice as the Olds)had a straight 8 with auto trans I passed thinking it may be a little more difficult for parts and it had no A/C ironically it too still had the plastic seat covers on it ,they were of the dimpled /diamond variety, also at a consignment shop would have had to pay sales tax,
..... Tedd
