Cars the owners are going to fix-up one day

[michel88]

For the last 4 years I have been walking my dog and seeing a Jaguar XJ6 that never moves. It is solid and rust free but is slowly going down hill. It has 4 flat tires now and the paint is looking worse.

After about 2 years I asked him if he would like to sell. Nope! he is saving by not putting on any miles and is going to fix it up one day. I have seen this a lot and I guess we all have some stories like this.

[Shop Rat]

Sure have. A neighbor of mine when I was young had what was a nice 1956 blue and white Chevy. Several guys tried to get the owner, one of the laziest men I ever saw in my life, to sell it rather than store cardboard boxes and junk in it. Nope he was going to fix it up and give it to his two sons someday.

Then the Secretary of State of W. Va. started a program called R.E.A.P. and one of the neighbors called them and they came and hauled the car away.

Our current neighbor's yard has many cars, trucks and at least two boats sitting idle in the yard since he died about six years ago. Not sure why his widow hasn't called R.E.A.P. to come get them but most likley they will have to be called when she dies or moves to get rid of them.

[Dave Henderson]

We call that R.A.P.E. around here! Hate to see them sitting just rusting away, but even worse being towed of to jalopy heaven, (or is that hell?) If owners would just be a bit considerate of their neighbors and cover idle cars, some could stay to be saved later, and they would be in a better state of preservation too. Over the years various attacks on old car owners have sprung up here. One, which was fortunately defeated, would have prohibited owners from working on their cars, even in their own garages! Fairfax County tends to be uppity, to say the least. Luckily, cooler heads prevailed.

[keiser31]

I have one of those cars...

Edited December 28, 2010 by keiser31 (see edit history)

[Shop Rat]

We call that R.A.P.E. around here! Hate to see them sitting just rusting away, but even worse being towed of to jalopy heaven, (or is that hell?) If owners would just be a bit considerate of their neighbors and cover idle cars, some could stay to be saved later, and they would be in a better state of preservation too. Over the years various attacks on old car owners have sprung up here. One, which was fortunately defeated, would have prohibited owners from working on their cars, even in their own garages! Fairfax County tends to be uppity, to say the least. Luckily, cooler heads prevailed.

In our neighbor's case he was a "collector/hoarder" and from what we understood from him before his passing there is automobile stuff stashed in many places. He bought out the stock of NOS parts from a Ford dealership that closed and put all that in a building somewhere. There is a fairly nice, or at least it was, Model A in the garage. We have lived here for twenty-eight years and it never moved in that time.

I feel badly for their two sons as they will have to deal with their father's collections.

Bill has talked to the one son that lives here and offered to help guide him on how to market the parts rather than just dump them somewhere.

[Mark Huston]

In the nearly 40 years I have been actively involved in the collector car hobby I have encountered many people with the “I am going to fix-it-up one day” attitude. One of the most depressing ones I encountered back in the 1970s was a guy who inherited his aunt’s 1932 Plymouth dual side mount rumble seat coupe which she had purchased new. The car was in excellent running and well maintained condition when he acquired the car upon his aunt’s passing. The nephew parked the car in the driveway, next to the house, and directly in front of the garage door. The car sat in the driveway for years slowly deteriorating until it was covered with surface rust, the fabric top had rotted away, the interior was rained on, and the tires were all flat. At this point the car needed restored and was now a hot ticket item for both restores and hot rodders. The nephew got tired of people asking him to sell the car and he finally opened the garage door and pushed what was left of the Plymouth into the garage. I never saw the car again. For all I know it is still in the garage, at least out of the weather.

Around 1980 I was driving up in the mountains of California and encountered a run down home in the woods with a 1962 Studebaker convertible sitting out in the pine trees. The car was solid but starting to show the effects of being in the weather with the top rotted away. I spoke with a guy who stated the car was his and he was willing to sell it because he had cancer and did not have long to live. A price was agreed upon and I made arrangements to come back the following weekend with a truck and trailer to haul the car away. The next weekend I showed up with cash, truck and trailer only to be run off by the guys wife (she had a gun) the entire time she is waving the gun and screaming at me for taking advantage of her sick husband and that the car was not for sale. Years later I drove by the house and the Studebaker convertible was still sitting outside under the pine trees and it looked like it was only good enough to be used as a parts car now.

[Restorer32]

Local farmer bought a 1 year old '55 Ford Victoria coupe with 7000 miles on the odometer and had it delivered to just outside his barn. It sat out for years until finally he drove/pushed it into the barn. I passed the barn every day for 20 years and still pass it every day. I watched as the barn roof decayed, as the barn siding decayed and as the barn beams decayed. I stopped and offered to drag the car from the barn but he refused my help. Finally the floor of the bank barn gave way and the car pitched upside down into the cattle pen and was slowly covered by ivy. As far as I know the car is still there. I did manage to buy a '21 Overland from the old guy but that's a different story.

[DAVE A]

A couple of years ago, I was speaking with an older gentleman who had a large collection of mostly air cooled cars. It included over 40 Corvairs, numerous VW's including several vans (at least 2 crew cabs) and pickups, Fiat 500's and 600's , Autobianchis, Subaru 360s, Hondas, Crosleys, a couple Model A Fords, an early Desoto, a couple 40's Chevys, A Cletrac bulldozer, some Cushmans, NSUs, Panhards, Renaults, and a lot of other cars, about 200 in all. He was somewhat eccentric and all the cars were stored outside in a patch of woods. There was also about a ton of NOS sheet metal for Subaru 360s, (also outside) and 3 school busses filled with NOS parts for all of the above vehicles. He had sold a lot of stuff, but some days, nothing was for sale, that's just the way he was. He told me that his biggest fear was that when he died, his daughter would come in with a crusher and it would all be gone.(he even published that in his ad in various magazines)

Well several months later, I was looking at the local newspaper, and sure enough, there was his obituary. I tried for 3 months to get intouch with his daughter to meet with her (primarily to buy his Crosley stuff) but also to see if I could prevent losing all those cars. When I finally did get to talk to her on the phone, she told me I had better hurry up because the crusher was on the way!!! When I arrived at his house a week later, there was a 30 yard dumpster in the yard and stuff was flying out the window. It seemed in addition to cars and parts he also collected literature and had club periodicals and tech and service manusla for all of the above vehicles.

I managed to get most of the literature sold on e-bay and many of the parts in the buses into the hands of collectors and dealers before the crusher got there. (and yes I bought all the Crosley stuff), but the cars were a different matter. To be fair, a lot of them had rusted so badly that they would have been of little use except for parts and a few went that way. A pair of Panhard Dynas were stolen along with most of one busload of parts. Most of the cars ended up crushed. She was adamant about getting the lot cleared in a limited amount of time. A few of those cars still haunt me such as the early Honda coupe, Mercury Turnpike cruiser, Willys pickup made into a wrecker, Model A pickup, Cushman mailster, and several others.

The moral of the story for us all is to make CONCRETE arrangements with someone to handle your cars if something happens to you. The loss is to your family in dollars and to the hobby as a whole for the loss of the vehicles. The lot is an open patch of woods. there are 2 Renaults left. His daughter kept his Freeway and his Grunman all aluminum van that's all that is left!!!

[Steve Braverman]

When we moved to a new town in 1982, my dad and I noticed a nice 1968 Barracuda convertible sitting in a driveway around the corner. It had a 340 and a 4-speed, and was in very nice condition. We knocked at the door, and an older lady told us it belonged to her son, and he was going to fix it up some day. I made several more inquiries about the car over the years as I grew up, but the answer was always the same.

Now, almost thirty years later, the car is still sitting in the exact same spot. The old lady must be in her 90s. I don't live in that town anymore, but I sometimes pass by. It's now covered by a blue plastic tarp, which occasionally rots away or blows off, and is now rotten beyond repair and worthless other than for parts. Makes me sad.

[Larry Schramm]

Looked at same type of thing as DaveA in Indiana. Could not make a deal on some Buicks and they went to the crusher because the township was on her to get the place clean yesterday and the daughter had a take it or leave it attitude. Oh well can not say that I did not try to beat the crusher.

[HarryJ]

Folks, what I hate worst is to see someone tear a car all to pieces "with the intent to restore" and then realize the job of restoring the car is a great time consuming task. The poor car then has the parts lost and may never see the road again.

[bhclark]

There's a late '70s corvette at the end of my street. according to Google maps, it hasn't moved in about 10 years. flat tires, etc. There's a nice looking modern Acura sitting behind it on flat tires as well. Both are off the street on side of house driveways.

While my neighbors have filed complaints about me and my cars, I haven't bothered them about these...but next time anyone says anything about my cars, I will report them both.

It's a $500 a day fine in my township to have an unlicensed, or non-operative car in plain sight.

There's a prominent real estate agent who lives at the end of my cul-de-sac. Guess who filed the complaint on me? But, she is apparently buddy buddy with the house across the street from her with the 2 non-ops.

I even bought another house (with a 2.5 car garage) about 10 miles away because the township wouldn't let me build a garage!!!!! ARRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!

I need to move to the country......

[keiser31]

Folks, what I hate worst is to see someone tear a car all to pieces "with the intent to restore" and then realize the job of restoring the car is a great time consuming task. The poor car then has the parts lost and may never see the road again.

With a lot of luck, I have not lost any parts other than one which I finally found. My car is in pieces, but all pieces are accounted for.

[PONTIAC1953]

i remember when i moved to fresno, calif in 1976, 13 miles south is the little city of selma, there was a vacant lot there with a bunch of old cars in need of everything to be restored on them. one car was a 1953 pontiac chieftain deluxe convertible, i ask the owner if he would sell the car, "nope, my son and i are going to fix that one up", ten years later, the car was still there, again i ask, again, the same reply. what a shame. charles coker, 1953 pontiac tech advisor.

Edited January 4, 2011 by pontiac1953
correct spelling (see edit history)

[HarryJ]

Keiser31,,,,,,,,,I have confidence in you,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,You seem to be somewhat like me. I tore into my '28 Chrysler some 35 years ago, but, I have tried to remain loyal to my survior. (see the current restoration section). By the way, that looks like a very interesting car.

[oldwood]

I inquired about a 1 owner 1965 Rambler Cross Country today and left my # and a $500 offer. The car has sat outside for 14+ yrs and the owner said if $500 is all he could get he would let it rot. I've also been chasing a 1 owner 57 chevy 2dr,6cl,3 on tree car for 5 yrs and the owner won't sell. I did get to open the door a yr. ago and the floor pans were shot. It sort of makes me mad but you can't say anything or you loose an opportunity some day to buy these cars. We all know the out come but we still hope for the best.

[Guest Backyardmechanic]

Good reading:

I too have been there and done that.There a guiy near here has a 55 chevy conv.in a dirt floor garage sunk to the frames has had big offers for it says nope "gona to give it to the boy"His son is in his mid 20s have said that he's not interest . This guy has planted subs across the garage door that has grown to 6 feet tall.The same guy has a 58 chevy Cameo truck just rotted to the ground was driven to the spot.

Another guy near here has a 39 chevy coupe that he drove back from Calf.when he was discharge from the service back in 1958 built a house and to stall garage park the coupe and haven't touch it since Have appouch him many tmes Nope not for sale not costing me

anything setting there

[Guest quadfins]

For years, I would pass by a carport in northern Virginia, and see the unique fins of a '59 Buick leering back at me. One day I was bold enough to stop and inquire. It was her departed husband's, she said, and she had given it to her daughter. Said daughter seemed to have no interest, and every year the tires got flatter, and the rust got thicker. I have not been by in years, but I expect that it is either still there, or at the crusher, by now.

Tragic.

Jim

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Persistance sometimes pays off. When I was in high school in the late 70s there were a few of us chasing a '56 Chevy 210 2-door, V-8 automatic parked not far from the school. The original owner would entertain us, never be rude but never sell. So I got the idea to go back with my dad so he knew I was serious (and to sell dad on the idea as I was around 15 at the time, not yet driving) we had a long visit, convinced him we did not want to hot rod the car and how we would take care of it, etc. Well he said he thought he was ready to sell and we agreed on $400 - a real good price even then. Well, later that week we show up with $450, just in case he needed a nudge, but he had of course changed his mind. "This car is old and worn out, but I just like it, like old slippers" were his exact words - I remember them well over 30 years later.

Well, I did get the car but not from him. 5 years later I am looking at a '57 Chevy which turned out to be a clunker, but coincidently the '56 from 5 years ago was parked a few houses down from the car I had an appointment to see! So of course I stopped. Lucky me - owner was just laid off, and I got the car but this time it cost me $1,000! The car was basically untouched - not sure when the original owner finally gave in but the new owner did nothing, (which truly was lucky as I have learned sometimes that beats someone getting into a project, making a mess and walking away...) and after sleeping on it he relucatnly sold it to me for a grand. I was thrilled.

Treated that 56 to a pretty extensive restoration and swapped for a Corvette - my biggest automotive regret but that is another story...

I bought another car, a '30 Model A by watching it in a driveway and stopping one day after a couple years. Coincidently he had just begun advertising the car, so if I did not stop I could have lost out on the chance even though he wanted to sell.

It is all about persistance, timing and in some cases dealing with rejection!

Edited December 29, 2010 by Steve_Mack_CT
added line & spelling (see edit history)

[keiser31]

For years, I drove by a 1960 Facel Vega four door in a driveway every day on my way to work in San Diego. Priced at $12,800 new, it was a VERY rare car as only 60 were built. It was in Point Loma peninsula area of San Diego and was light tan or off white with a very slight surface rust on the hood, top and deck lid. Well, one day I finally talked my boss into investing in an old car and we went to see about the Facel. It was gone. It was there on the way to work, but not any more. Never did find out where it went.

Edited December 29, 2010 by keiser31 (see edit history)

[Guest windjamer]

There is a early 30s Chrys/ or dodge coupe on my road,disasambled but all there on blocks in a small garage.Was there in 1972 and untuched since. Garage fell down around it and the owner just had a new one built with out moving the car. I have tryed to buy it a couple times,last time the lazy a$$ told me ( Ide sell my wife befor I sell that car.) Being a gentleman?? I didnt say anything,but almost told him I didnt want to buy his wife.:eek:

[OldsDoug]

For years, I drove by a 1960 Facel Vega four door in a driveway every day on my way to work in San Diego. Priced at $12,800 new, it was a VERY rare car as only 60 were built. It was in Point Loma peninsula area of San Diego and was light tan or off white with a very slight surface rust on the hood, top and deck lid. Well, one day I finally talked my boss into investing in an old car and we went to see about the Facel. It was gone. It was there on the way to work, but not any more. Never did find out where it went.

Gosh, I think Tom McCahill road tested one of those in Mechanix Illustrated back then... I may have the magazine around here somewhere...

[jim5618]

There is a guy near me who has a 70's corvette under a cover in his driveway. I have been in my house 14 years and never seen it move or the cover off. Keep hoping to run into him on one of my walks.

[ex98thdrill]

We've had cars in our stable for almost 40 years that all we did was haul them home and put them in the barn. Otherwise they haven't been touched.

We are getting around to it, but we can only do one car at a time.

[Joe Cocuzza]

Many years ago I was put in touch with a woman who supposedly had an old car in the garage. The house was easy to find - "look for the 56 Olds in the driveway".

Found the house, knocked on the door, was told to come back in a couple of days.

Long story short - I kept knocking on that door for 20+ years and became very good friends with the woman and her sister, I was even told by her I was like the son she never had. However, I could never convince her to sell me the car in the garage - "it was her late daughters and her ex boyfriend wanted to fix it up and drive it around".

She died and her estate went to some long-lost "nephew".

BTW - the car was a 1949 Frazer 4-door convertible !!!!!!!

BUT, persistence DOES pay off - sometimes.

I called the owner of my Chrysler T & C sedan, at least 2 times a year, for 22 years to see if the car was for sale. Finally, the answer was YES and I bought it.

So, you win some and you lose some.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

If the T&C guy did not hang up on you Joe he was inviting you to keep in touch, and did right by you.

You never know the reasons people do things. The Model A I bought was a pretty good amateur restoration by it's owner of nearly 30 years. He got into woodworking and it took over his 2 car garage to the point he simply moved the A outside. Fender paint and top began to deteriorate, too bad but if he did not move the car I certainly would not have known it was there..

[Restorer32]

Tried to buy a '32 Packard parts car for several years. Owner just liked looking at it sitting in the field. I'd check with him every year or so. Finally a tree fell near the car and he wanted to cut it up for firewood and the Packard was in the way. On the day we picked it up he disappeared into one of his tumble down sheds and came back after 30 minutes or so with the original owner's manual, title, clock and sales brochure.

[earl e rizer]

I have a friend who has no money but a stash of old Chrysler products. I tried to buy a 70 300 convertible from him as I found a rotted 30 Hurst and wanted to make one like the promo car from Indy that Linda Vaughn posed on many times. He also has a 300 Hurst and decided not to sell me the convertible as he wanted to build one after I told him my plans. That was 8 years ago and none of the cars have moved since. He also has a 70 Challenger 440 6pack and many others. I think he just likes teasing people by dangling them as bait once and awhile and then won't sell them.

It doesn't bother me anymore as I realize there are more cars for sale for real than I will ever be able to buy; so why waste my time and get frustrated chasing ones that aren't really for sale? Besides if he sells them then he wont have anything to talk about.

[Guest Aircooledrules]

I live in a big city ( Vancouver ) and there are loads of cars like that which sit around and people drive by all day long.

a mile down from me there is a 1969 of 1970 Mustang Mach1 sitting on blocks under a tarp in the drive way on a busy street that has not moved since atleast the 80s i would say.

Ive lived in the area since 1992 and ive never seen it move. I purchased a early 80s bmw 320i from the house a couple years back and asked about the mustang and it belongs to the guys brother who lives in California or something like that.

I cant believe someone hasn't offered enough cash to buy it, i mean muscle cars have been super hot the last 5 years.

Also theres a 1966-7 Chevrolet Beaumont Sport Deluxe, White, 2-door V8 sitting in a garage with no garage door on it about 5 miles away, Also on blocks and in need of a restoration soon or it will be to late.

Ive knocked on the door about 100 times and no one is ever home or around, ive knocked on the neighbors doors, across the street and could never find the house owner. One day i was telling my buddy about it and figured id drive by and show him the car and knock on the door, but i told him not to get his hopes up because the chances of anyone being there are Zero.

This time the old timer was out in his front yard mowing the grass, so i approached him. Turns out he is the original owner and was going to fix the car up with his son one day. His son was shot in the head years ago and has never really been the same, i guess the guy is hoping that maybe one day he would still want it. In any case, i understand that its a difficult situation. The sticker on the licence plate reads 1986.

Also theres a guy in the area with a bunch of old cars in his yard that have bushes and crap growing all over them, and i once made an attempt to try and buy them but the guy told me to F off pretty quick and that he was not interested in selling.

Theres a early 70s Cutlass S convertible, a Volvo P1800 and a early Ford Cortina in there, but they are all beyond hope, but still lots of good parts.

I buy and sell cars and parts all the time so ive seen this countless times.

Lets end this on a positive note. I gratuated from high school in 2003 and everyone knows im into Aircooled VWs so if they know of any they tell me about them.

One day a friend of my Dads comes by and says he was out and about and found a 60s beetle sitting and i should check it out, so i made the trip with a friend of mine and what we found was i believe a 1962 white beetle with red/white interior sitting in front of a complex building. we start looking at the car when a man walks up to us and says he is the Manager/Care taker of the building, so we ask him whats up with the car.

The story went like this,

The owner bought the car brand new and him and his wife drove the car down to florida, where his wife was killed and when he got back home he was never the same and stopped driving the car. The car had 14,000 miles and looked like new. The manager hated seeing the car parked out in front of the building rotting, so he would always fill up the tires and give it a wash once in a while to keep it presentable. The owner only talked to the manager and the means on wheels people and other then that kept to himself.

Once in a while i would drive by and look to see if the car was still there and sure enough it was, the manager told us that the owner wouldnt sell it and it was going to sit thee until he passed away he was sure.

This passed year, my friend who i was with that day bought the car for something rediculous like $1000. He sold the car for a tidy profit but atleast its in someones hands now who will do something with it, i hope.