The kind of thing that makes AACA a lifetime Hobby

[Dynaflash8]

A friend in Buena Park, CA, the late Al Newman, drove one of these cars from CA to Baltimore in 1967 for the first car show of a new club I was involved in starting. That was the first 41 Limited I ever saw. In 1971 he did it again from Fullerton, CA. I made up my mind then that I wanted one. In 1973 In I bought this car from Wally Rank Buick in Milwaukee, WI it was silver on the bottom and black on the top. The first airplane ride of my life was from Baltimore to Milwaukee and back to see this car and another one he had in his collection. Rank had bought it from a guy in Napa, CA. That guy, the late David Bissell, told me it had once belonged to CA Gov Goodwin Knight. In 2004 I saw a car at a CA AACA National Meet and that guy said, NO, his car had belonged to the Governor. Somebody had reupholstered the door panels and seats in brown naugahyde. Don Prather of Waldorf, MD reupholstered those areas to match the rest of the original interior. My friend repainted the car in my new garage with a Silver French Gray top and Lancaster Gray bottom, which I picked out of the Prestige Brochure. I paid $225 for the NOS trunk ornament, the most I had ever paid for a part to that time. Skirts came from California. They were standard on this model. I was cleaning out Buick dealerships in the DelMarVA area and selling parts at the time and kept all the NOS for myself. Every piece of chrome was NOS, some I did have to buy at Hershey Flea Markets, some I had. I had every piece of the transmission and a young mechanic neighbor named Bill Bond totally rebuilt the transmission with every part new. We rebuilt the speedometer and turned it back to zero and had the woodgraining redone by a local restoration shop. Both carburetors were rebuilt by an expert or were NOS. The tires came with the car and were called Lincoln Highway. I even found NOS hubcaps. In 1977 we drove the car to Hershey on a rainy day and I won a First Junior Award....my first-ever AACA National First. Once I sold it in 1981 I never saw or heard of it again. About 5-6 years ago I got a burr in my saddle to try and find it again. I named it "The Governor", but maybe it wasn't that car after all. Yesterday, after 37 years I found it. It was a very exciting day for me. It is in good hands.

Edited July 27, 2018 by Dynaflash8
Put in picture (see edit history)

[Terry Bond]

Nice story Earl.  I think there needs to be a Volume 2 for your book.

Terry

[Dynaflash8]

LOL, tell that to my co-author friend Ralph Towner.

[Walt G]

What an absolutely wonderful story , thank you for sharing it with all of us.

[Dynaflash8]

Glad you liked it Walt.  The owner called me last night and I missed the call ?

 

I tried to call him today and had to leave a message.  I also sent him a text with my email addee.  He was driving when he answered the phone last night so it was hectic for him to talk on the phone.

[Walt G]

I too own a Buick and like to drive the cars in my collection. I never show them so I can win an award, I just have never had an interest in trophy's.  We each have our own reason to own the cars we do. My Buick is a 1940 71C series Roadmaster convertible sedan that had a cosmetic restoration in 1972 and the mechanical bits were sorted and fine tuned by Doug Seybold of Ohio several years ago. Join a club and get active - AACA and BCA are great as is CCCA. "Old cars are best viewed when in motion " -  A friend and his wife who live in England said that at Hershey in 1988 as we were walking back to our modern car from the Blue Field (remember the Blue field?)  and a late 1930s LaSalle sedan drive by. No truer words have ever been spoken .

[Paul Dobbin]

Really awesome looking car!  I see why you would want it back.   

 

A lesson here for those who love a particular car,  Don't sell you babies, let you heirs do that!  Sell only the ones you can live without regrets about.  

[Dynaflash8]

On 7/28/2018 at 9:36 AM, Paul Dobbin said:

Really awesome looking car!  I see why you would want it back.   

 

A lesson here for those who love a particular car,  Don't sell you babies, let you heirs do that!  Sell only the ones you can live without regrets about.  

I sold it to pay off my mortgage and live happily ever after.  I sold the yellow convertible to build my second house and have it without a mortgage.  A mortgage will tie your hands behind you, and I sure don't regret selling the car from that standpoint.  When my Dad passed, I knew where it was and bought it back 15 years later.  The Limited is another matter.  I didn't know where it was for 37 years and now I think the guy likes it as well as I did and won't sell it.  That's apparently true.  At my age the string of time is getting shorter fast

Edited July 29, 2018 by Dynaflash8 (see edit history)