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A VERY EXCITING DAY. LONG LOST BUICK FOUND


Dynaflash8

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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.   I joined BCA in 1966, attended the first BCA National in Flint in 1971, and again in 1972.  I was only 35 when I bought this car.  Now I'm 79 going on 80.  It's been a good ride in this hobby, and this sort of exciting experience is what makes the hobby one that keeps on giving.  I met the guy who knew how to do the research to help find this needle in a haystack right here on this thread and made a new friend too. 

The Governor 2.png

Edited by Dynaflash8
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Great story. I can’t imagine how excited you must have been when you found your previously owned car. So many people dream of being able to do this, including myself. It’s wonderful that you have such precise memories of the work you did all of those years ago. 

 

Thanks for posting this wonderful story.

 

Kevin

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24 minutes ago, kevin1221 said:

Great story. I can’t imagine how excited you must have been when you found your previously owned car. So many people dream of being able to do this, including myself. It’s wonderful that you have such precise memories of the work you did all of those years ago. 

 

Thanks for posting this wonderful story.

 

Kevin

Thanks Kevin. 

 

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Chris,

The thrill was just to find the car.  I did ask if he was interested in selling it and he said he'd never thought about it.  He was leaving work and driving, so it was difficult to talk very long.  He said he would call me back, but that didn't happen.  I thought it did, but looking closer I realized the call back was when we were cut off during the first  conversation ?.  I called both of his numbers this morning and left a message and then I sent him a text (I think he wasn't born when I restored that car...I think he said that)...so you young people like text....you know better than most how well I don't do text.  Anyway I managed to send him my email address.

 

Was I trying to buy the car back?  Well, not really.....I just wanted to find it.  Would I like to buy it back?  Is the Pope Catholic? ?  But at my advanced age I'd probably have to go into my mutual fund savings and that wouldn't be wise, but I've been known by my wife and others not to give "wise" too much consideration when it comes to a car I really want.  Some guys I know don't call me buy high, sell low for nothing.  I haven't made any money on a car in years....not since 1981 and 1985 and then I bought the 1985 sale back in 2000 for more than I sold it for, LOL.

 

I borrowed the money to buy that Limited the first time, but when it went away I was able to pay off the mortgage on my house and that was a good thing.  I've never had another mortgage.

Edited by Dynaflash8 (see edit history)
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On 7/27/2018 at 8:29 AM, Dynaflash8 said:

Thanks Kevin. 

 

Yeah if the current owner had ever even been willing to talk to me more than once.  My mistake.  I simply asked if he was interested in selling it, and I guess that was the wrong thing to do.  He would never answer the phone again.  Oh well.

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On 7/27/2018 at 2:50 PM, cjp69 said:

Congrats on finding the car, and Good luck on potentially buying it!  You are better at texting than you give yourself credit for.  :)

It is VERY difficult with big old fingers and a flip phone.  Hate trying to do it.

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