The car I wanted in College

Being a confirmed Buick nut since my Dads 55, I always loved the 68,69 and 70 Buicks, all of them. These being my final years of high school, I was always jealous of the cool cars all the rich kids drove. While I was proud of the 65 Electra we had, it was lacking the sport of the Mustangs and 442's, and endless Chrysler products. While in College, one friend buys a 68 GS 400. Nice car alright, but not a sweet as another friend driving a 69 Stage one with a 4 speed. At this point I purchased a 57 Special Convertible, but never got it on the road. Then I drove the old mans?s 69 Cutlass convertible, and followed with my first 56, a Roadmaster. But then college was done and family ways prevented me from following up on any other vehicles. Oh I had a few, but most were high milage cars that were rusted or damaged and never restored.

Then, in 1992 while attending a family function at my sisters home, her neighbor pulled in to their own driveway with his red 69GS 400 Convertible. Milage in the low 20's but wait, what?s that on the hood? Joe, part owner says ? Oh, the original owner was a bit eccentric?. He had a Jaguar hood ornament mounted smack dab between the ram air scoops. He also had a Police spot light mounted through the drivers side A pillar. But still, a low milage GS conv, it was odd looking but still nice.

Fast forward to June 2003. Somewhat flush, I began to wonder what ever happened to the GS? A call to my sister reveals she hadn?t seen the car in years but she?d ask anyway as she was still good friends with ?Joe?. Three weeks later she e mails me and says, guess what, Joe still owns the car and he is somewhat interested in selling. So here?s his e mail address.

I wrote right away and my wife rolled her eyes. ?You really don?t need another car?. But I said common, a Skylark convertible? Lets just look. See, after all this time I had forgotten it was a GS. I knew it was red, and I thought I remembered a white bucket seat interior. My sister knew it was a Buick, but that?s it. My wife was not happy.

So we wait a month, with nothing from Joe. I called my sister again and she agreed to ask Joe what was up. Then Joe writes that he is in partnership with George who has the car at his house for several years now. Joe hasn?t seen the car in a while and if George was willing to sell, he?d go along. So here?s Georges e mail address.

Firing one off to George, my wife gets nuts. Where are you going to put another car??? Finish what you already have , etc...

Anyway I hear nothing. One week drags into 4 weeks later, and then George e mails. By this point I figured I best not even open the e mail, but he titled it ?GS 400". I held off for about 10 hours and then caved like a tin hut in a hurricane. Yes, George was willing to sell and here?s where you can see the car.

Around this time I had a job to do at my parents house so I loaded my son up and off we went. I knew the location of the GS but didn?t tell my wife where I was going. Upon completion of the job we took off to see the car. All the way I kept saying Mom?s gonna be mad. Doug keeps saying, GS 400 convertible... come on, She?ll get over it. And further we go.

When we arrived the car was sitting in the drive way. Top down. Red, Black bench seat interior, Rallye Wheels and in need of a lot of cleaning.

http://www.aaca.org/photopost/data/500/11481GSfront-med.jpg?7156

George told the story. His wife?s Uncle bought it new in the Bronx. He was his own man, so the Jag hood ornament and spot light, both of which George removed ages ago. The dent in the front bumper came from Uncle hitting the concrete in the front of the garage. That way he knew he was in far enough to close the garage door. When Uncle # 1 was gone, Uncle # 2 inherited it. He couldn?t explain where the rest of the dents came from but there were dents everywhere. But the car still had all the original parts except tires, exhaust, and the starter. Even though George kept it garaged, there was a humidity condition caused by the dryer vent in front of the car blowing all the dryer exhaust directly into the grill. Several years ago a brake line broke so it sat unused since. Anyway, Joe and he would let it go for $7,500.

I wasn?t sure about explaining this to my wife. So I put him off and left. On the way home I called her so she could blow off the steam by the time I got home. Of course that didn?t work and we had a few tough days. I pretty much figured it wasn?t worth a divorce, so I let the matter drop.

A week later she says did you ever get back to George. I told her , ?No. It took him a month to get a hold of me in the first place, so if it?s sold I?m not gonna worry about it.? But Doug said, Come-on, it?s a GS 400, 325 HP, CONVERTIBLE, you know you want it.

I said it has a bench seat. I don?t want it. My wife says you know you want it, call him up and make an offer.. I told her I don?t want to hear about this the rest of my life. I?m not calling!

As luck would have it the following weekend we were scheduled to go to this sisters house again and Joe is invited. Naturally the subject of the car comes up. And my wife says make him an offer. You know you want the car... So my emotions got the best of me and I blurted out, Joe, if you guys want, I?ll give you 5K for it.

Joe says I?ll talk to George. I?d be satisfied with that, but it?s up to George.

3 agonizing weeks later, George calls.. Okay, it?s yours. Come and get it.

http://www.aaca.org/photopost/data/500/11481GS_drivers_rear-thumb.jpg

And that?s how I wound up with the car I always wanted in college...

Great story JohnD. The 69GS is the ultimate especially a convertible. I looked at a couple when my son was trying to decide what he wanted. I definitely saw one I liked. It was dark blue with black bucket seats. Sweet!!!! So sounds like you got a keeper. Hope to see it (and the family) in Batavia. After all, the family that cruises together, stays together.

Great story and terrific car, John! Thanks for sharing.

Thaks Mr earl and Centurion. I had to stop there. Picking up the car was another adventure. It involves a broken down U haul truck and trailer. Don't know if anyone wants to hear that one...

JD

John, of course we want to hear the rest of the story!

Part II

Once we knew we were getting the car, we knew it had to be towed home due to the broken brake line. I wanted to tow it on a trailer behind my 2002 Ranger pickup. The pickup is small. But it has the 4.0 V6 engine and 4.11 gears. The car and trailer would have been close to my gross tow capacity.

I call U-haul, but they were not willing to rent the trailer unless I used one of their trucks. Then I went to Nations Rent, who told me to forget about it. Said I?d have no problem getting the combo moving but once the car was on it, they predicted big problems steering and stopping.

Since I had to have transportation there and back , I couldn?t just use a one way rental. And after checking Ryder and Budget, U-Haul was the only place I could even rent the equipment. So, two weeks before my trip I reserved a 14' truck and a car carrier. I told the agent what my plans were. The car was over 3 hours away from me, so I wanted to make sure we had good quality equipment. I was assured no problem. The vehicle sports an AM/FM radio and Automatic trans plus A/C.

Upon arrival to pickup the truck and trailer, I was somewhat stunned. The truck was a ford f 350 converted to a 14 foot van. This thing looked kinda old. Dirty was an understatement but it was a diesel and with the only other vehicle on the property a well used gas Chevy, I told the attendant that I was concerned, but none-the- less I was pretty much stuck.

The attendant backed up to the one car carrier as well, and while he went about connecting things, I start to look over the equipment. Remembering the story a while back about bad tires on U-Hauls, I paid close attention to these. While they all looked good, one on the trailer had a 1/4 inch gouge completely around the side wall. I questioned the attendant who claimed the tire was okay and stepped on it to prove it. So I completed the rent. ?Don?t worry,? the guy said. ? Here?s an 800 number for roadside service if you have any problems. ?

The next day I planned to leave at 6 AM . At that rate I figured I have the car loaded and be back on the road by noon the latest. Should be home by 5 PM outside. But my sweetheart says she wants to go along for the ride too. This immediately puts me one hour behind. But what the hey, I have all weekend. I cleaned the windows while waiting and noted this truck was pushing several hundred thousand miles on the odometer. I said my prayers and off we went.

Things went smoothly. The radio had one speaker and no tuning knobs. But the sky was clear and temperature was mild. Predictions of late afternoon heat didn?t bother me much since I?d be home at 5 pm anyway. Boy, that diesel was loud and smelly too. Felt like it was right in the cab with us, but it didn?t miss a beat.

While cruising east before the NYS Thruway turns southward at Albany, the sun suddenly blinds us. I guess the clean window really didn?t matter as the glass was all pitted anyways. But I pull down the sunvisor and boom, it drops directly into my line of vision because the bracket was broken. Of course this was better than the other side of the truck where the visor was missing alltogether. Luckilly the trip made the turn for the south so the sun was on my side and we could see for the next 3 hours. I swing the visor to the side and keep moving. The visor kept drifting into my side and I had to keep adjusting it, finally I rolled the window up crushing the thing into the door to hold it in place. This worked pretty well. And we had an uneventful trip the rest of the way to get the car.

When we finally got to our destination, it was just around 11 AM. We spent some time with the sellers discussing just about everything under the sun. Then it came time to load the car up. It was just around noon now and we were pretty much on schedule.

But as soon as the car hits the top of the ramp, that scuffed tire goes flat.

No problem says George. The U-haul dealer is right on the other side of town. I have an air tank, We can put some air in the tire and then you can follow me down there. Good plan!

We head out to go downtown. I?m driving pretty cautiously but I think George is in a bit of a rush. As we hit the three lane around the town, I stepped on it to keep up and was pretty glad when we exited the highway. As we drove towards downtown, we make a left, and then I see the low bridge sign. Knowing it is lower than my truck I called George on the cell phone. George answers and says yes he saw that sign but he is sure there is a way around the tracks down here. So we proceed. We get to the bridge and I can see the dealer on the other side. George makes the last left before the bridge and I follow suit onto a narrow two lane road.

A few hundred feet up the road George pulls into a driveway and turns around. Says he was wrong about the thoroughfare but knows the right way now.

What a hassle turning that truck and trailer around on that street. Took close to 10 minutes I think. Forward, Back. Forward back. Geeze, how many times do I have to do this? But finally we get it around between mailboxes, parked trucks and cars etc without doing any damage...

Heading back I see the dealer again, but now we are headed back towards the interstate. George makes another left and we travel up a steep hill. At the top we have to make another left across traffic but this road is very busy.

George gets a break and goes. I said I can??t lose him now so I pulled out too. Amazingly no one even beeped their horns or anything, and a few minutes later we arrived at the U-haul dealer.

There were several youngish looking employees in the place and they swarmed out ogling the GS. Okay I can deal with that. One boy says ?Man I never even seen one of these. I mean you see them in the movies but this is the first real one I?ve seen.? I looked around and there were several car carriers and other trailers with similar tires and I figure I?m going to be okay. But wait, They can?t change the tire for me because they do not have any spares on the premises. Also, they can?t pull a tire off another trailer and swap it for me, nor change out the trailers. I have to call the 800 number.

So I dialed it up. ? Hello, I have a flat tire... I?m parked in your dealership # 25.. No I don?t know the road it?s on, wait let me ask the attendant... on West street in Danbury Conn. .. No, I don?t know the cross street... It?s your dealership # 25, don?t you know where that?s located?... Wait let me ask the staff... One of them is running out to get the name off the sign.... Okay, great you?ll be here in an hour after the mechanic finishes up the job he?s on. We?ll wait.

So now we?re sitting around. 1 hour, 1 ½ hours, 2 hours... I asked one of the attendants what the heck is going on? The teenaged attendants looks at me and says ?Yea, this is bull s- -t. I Told the man! We ought to just change the Muther F_ _ ckers tire and get him going, but no can do man...?

Another call to the 800 # and the operator says the repair man is on the scene. I looked around and asked what?s he driving cause I don?t see any repair truck here. They said ?wait a minute I?ll have the driver call you directly .? So a few minutes later the guy calls. Says ?I?m here on West Street but there?s nothing but a bunch of houses. There?s no U-haul here.? I said ?something?s wrong because I?m standing right in front of the place.? He said ?West Street in DERBY, right?? I said ?No, West Street in Danbury.?

?Danbury! ?! They told me Derby.?

I asked how far away is Derby?

?Oh man, it?s about an hour drive.?

?Another hour? Cant these kids change the tire for me so I can get going, It?s 3 pm, and we haven?t even had lunch yet.?

? No those kids can?t change the tire it;?s our contract... I?m sorry but I?ll be there as fast as I can. ?

So the repair truck rolls in around 4 pm, and he starts setting up the compressor and pulling hand tools off the back. I asked if he was just going to change the rim and tire? No, he had to break the tire down and replace the tire on the rim. Just another half hour or so...

Anyway, by now it?s 4:30 and we are just heading back. We stopped for a fast food lunch, then checked the chains and all and headed out. Now we are driving directly west into the afternoon sun. It?s tough to see out the window plus all that hot sun all day really heated up the truck. No problem, we?ll kick on the AC and till we cool off, except within a few minutes it?s obvious the A/C is non operational.

So 4 hours later we finally pulled into home. Tired, Sweaty, overheated and generally deaf from that diesel. We were well behind schedule but one look at our prize, and a large smile came over my face. Now I really had that car I always wanted in college.

The next day I took the truck and trailer back. I immediately asked the attendant ? please give me your managers name and phone number. I intend to place a complaint about this equipment and I don?t want to bore you with the details.?

He asked what happened?

I rattled off the list of problems and told him just how disgusted I was . He said ? wait! You took that truck to Danbury Conn??

? Yes? I said, ? I told the agent what I needed it for when I placed my reservation. When I came in to pick it up that?s all that was left here.?

He said, we never should have rented that truck to go that far. When these things reach that age we only rent them out for round town use. I?m going to cancel all the charges...

And so it was that all?s well that ends well..