How Fine Originals are Created and Preserved for the Enthusiast

[Pomeroy41144]

Over the years, while living in and working in my city, I have noticed a certain 1984 Cadillac Eldorado driving around; I see it maybe three or six times in a year. The car is beautiful and appears to be in great condtion--burgundy with a stainless steel roof. My father had one just like it in the 1980s and 90s. I only see the car out in the best weathers. I never have really got a good look at the driver.

During the same time frame, I have noticed a certain woman. She appears to me to be in her 70s. I see her walking down Michigan City Road pulling one of those little pull-type, two-wheeled shopping basket/carts. This road is a two lane, higher speed road (with no sidewalks) in a wooded area that leads to the main N/S streets. I see her on Wentworth Ave too--the same deal, no sidewalks and wooded.

Apparently when I see her, she is on her way to or on her way back from some stores on US Route 6. I see her walking down the road with her cart in all kinds of weathers, cold and snow, hot and humid, fair and mild. She appears physically able. When I see her, I feel sorry for her and often think she needs a ride or should have a car (She refuses rides). Walking on the busy streets with no sidewalk is dangerous. She lives in a very nice neighborhood in a nice looking house.

Last week, when it was very mild here weather wise, I noticed the Eldorado driving on Michigan City Road. I was very near it and pulled up closer. Who was driving? The grocery cart lady! Wow. She looked both ways and sped off in her beautiful Eldo. I was flabbergasted. She has this Eldo, yet walks almost everywhere. Not sure of her motives, but her walking is saving this Eldo. Maybe the walking is saving her too.

Apparently, this is one way how fine Survivor type / barn find / long-stored estate cars are born. Who knows why she walks instead of drives. Maybe she is an enthusiast interested in preserving the Eldo, but I doubt it. Maybe the ghost of the old man is in her ear, admonishing her not to take the Eldo out in the rain or snow. This lady's walking is saving this Eldo for some lucky enthusiast in the future.

What does the future hold? My Guess---Eventually she will be unable to make the trek to the store on foot and she may even drive the Eldo for her last several good months. She will eventually get too feeble to drive and the car will sit. If it takes her a few more years to die, the car will sit in the garage if it has not been scooped up by a relative. When she finally dies and her estate is settled, the car will eventually be sold after several years of storage/non-use. If the car was stored in decent conditions, it will need very little-- a little clean up and some maintenance and you have an awesome survivor in great shape. All because the old lady walked to the store every week.

PP

Edited February 4, 2012 by Pomeroy41144
No start when hot (see edit history)

[West Peterson]

I have a similar story, about a similar type of car, but much older.

This one has an ending...

My brother discovered and bought (not really discovered, but answered an ad) a 1942 Packard formal sedan tucked away in an old garage in Iowa. The second owner of the car had taken good care of it and preserved it, and it had just 40,000 miles on it. Unfortunately, between the time my brother bought it, a son (or grandson) got a hold of the car and and totally demolished it. The old man's wife somehow got it back, and stored it in the garage.

Most who saw this car thought it was just a parts car, although complete (and equipped with factory air conditioning, electromagnetic clutch, etc.). He bought it for about $5,000, and tore it apart in his own garage and restored it to 98-point condition.

The Eldorado very easily could suffer the same fate without the happy ending, with some grandson acquiring the car without any attachment or concern for its collectibility. The difference between the Eldorado and the Packard, is that the Packard is one of just a few built, and with less than a handful known to exist. The Eldorado, if abused, will end up being a parts car.

Good fodder for an editorial.

[Restorer32]

A few years ago at Hershey we sold a 1978 Camaro with 7000 or so original miles. My brother's mother-in-law was a bit, shall we say, different. She was afraid of air conditioning so when her husband bought the Camaro new she would not allow him to buy one with air. She then would not ride in it because it was too hot so it sat in the garage mostly unused for 25+ years.

[LINC400]

Unfortunately, between the time my brother bought it, a son (or grandson) got a hold of the car and and totally demolished it. The old man's wife somehow got it back, and stored it in the garage.

.

The Eldorado very easily could suffer the same fate without the happy ending, with some grandson acquiring the car without any attachment or concern for its collectibility. .

My thoughts exactly. I have seen and heard about many nice original cars that had the same thing happen to them.

There was a 1976 Coupe DeVille, triple black with 1930's type naked woman Cadillac hood ornament and padded landau roof covering the Collonade windows that I would see a couple of years ago. There would be an old lady with jet black dyed huge beehive hairdo and bright red lipstick driving it on occasion. Then all the sudden the car started looking shabbier, and within 2 years it was pretty trashed and then just gone. I have to imagine she died and some lowlife relative got a hold of it, because it was always in very good shape before that.

I would be tempted to track down the old lady, and leave my name, phone number, and promise to take care of it in case she gets to the point where she cannot drive it anymore. Even if you just sell it to someone that will preserve it.

Edited February 5, 2012 by LINC400 (see edit history)

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Ahh, the stories we live for - yet it does not even need to be a super rare or desirable car.

Having the history and maybe some knowledge of the original owner only sweetens the deal. One way to find a car like this (unless you have it present under your nose like in Pomeroy's case) is to ask the local gas pump jockeys. A six pack of soda may help you - "Say, I am a couple towns over, and I really like older cars - do you know of any that come in here for gas?"

While the full serve gas station is largely gone if you look you can find them in most places, general repair garages are not bad places to ask around either. As I kid I worked in a Shell station and knew of more than one "one owner creampuff" and scads of original cars that were starting to be collectible at the time.

One lady would pay me 25 cents each week to check the air in her tires - mint late 60s Chevy Impala around 1982. Then there was the '64 Cadillac with something like 12,000 miles, the '63 or '64 black Buick convertible (Wildcat?) with bucket seats and a floorshift - red interior, the rusty TR-4 original owner "going to restore this car someday boys", etc. ..... They are flooding back now, one of our mechanics bought a mid-50s Oldsmobile with very low miles in really great shape for the princely sum of $500 - the oldest car I can remember coming into someone's hands as a result of coming into the station.

Pomeroy, are you going after this one? The story needs a happy ending... The lady may not be an enthusiast but she probably treasures her car - they were a high end car in their day, maybe it marked an anniversary or some other special day, or it was a goal she or her husband were working towards, and they finally bought a brand new Cadillac - who knows. You just know every record pertaining to it is safe and sound somewhere in her house. A visit may pay off if you like the car, or even if you bought it to "flip" - so be it, good for you for finding it. An editorial West, should include a call to action, IMHO, for situations like this..

Edited February 6, 2012 by Steve_Mack_CT (see edit history)

[DAVE A]

a son (or grandson) got a hold of the car and and totally demolished it.

West:

A good friend of mine (and AACA member) had a somewhat similar event happen without the happy outcome. He discovered a Bandini with the DOHC engine resting in a barn in a nearby town. The old gentleman who owned it had raced it in his younger days and had suffered a crash that had crinkled one fender and bent the suspension. It had very few miles on it but it was parked never to see the light of day. A deal was struck with a return date set to finalize and my friend returned home after leaving a deposit and getting assurances that the car was his. When he returned to pay the vehicle off and pick it up, he was told that the elderly gentleman's family had intervened and decided they wanted the car. They were also unwilling to return the deposit (5,000 dollars). My friend left threatening court action and got the local sheriff to intervene and demand the car. When he returned the next time, he was shown a pile of cut up metal and told that the elderly gentleman's grandson had cut the car to pieces and scrapped the motor. He went to the local salvage yard where he was told that, yes the engine had been there, but it had since been disposed of. That was 2 years ago, and he still doesn't have his money returned!!!

[cutlasguy]

Back in 1990, I bought a brand new Mercury Cougar XR7 with the ground effects package and fog lights. It was loaded up with all the options and had the appealing digital dash. I drove it for a few months and parked it in the garage! I hated the damn thing! It just wasn't my style. In 1993, a friend from work invited me to go with him to Fall Hershey and I was hooked! While there, I saw cars I really could see myself driving, and in showroom condition no less! I sold the Cougar to my daughter for half of what I paid, (it had only 6k miles on it), and headed for Hershey with the cash! In 1994 I found what I was looking for! A 72 Cutlass "S" in Flame Orange with a white interior, and only 35k miles to boot! Far too pristine to drive every day, I brought it up to show condition and purchaced a triple black 89 Caprice Classic from the Paper Shop several years later to use as a daily driver. It too was mint with only 30K on the clock when I bought it in 2004! Now, no matter which one I'm in, I'm driving with class! If only today's car manufacturers could see it that way!

[Guest 89 Maui]

I was born in the late 40's and my dad was a Buick mechanic and he would take me to the garage on Saturdays. Spending time around cars gave me alot of excitement before I was seven. I started observing some of the cars around town (of 1,000 people) and saw an old neighbor lady driving her 48 green Chrysler with wooden sides, a 54 Cadillac convertible or a white Chrysler with 300 in a chrome circle. Those really excited me then and I have often wondered what became of them.

But my dad would get a long distance call from is uncle John, 150 miles away, to have my dad do a tune-up on his 1925 Buick that he had bought new. We would make the 150 mile drive and after my dad worked on it I got to ride in it. Years went by and one day in 1967 Uncle John received a call from an executive of Buick Motor division of General Motors offering Uncle John to trade the 1925 (original w/34,000 miles) with a new 1967 Buick Riviera. He declined due to his failing eyes, but Buick offered him $10,000 and he accepted. The 1925 had been sitting in their museum ever since. Maybe it didn't go to an enthusiast but it is there for those to admire.

[1937hd45]

West:

A good friend of mine (and AACA member) had a somewhat similar event happen without the happy outcome. He discovered a Bandini with the DOHC engine resting in a barn in a nearby town. The old gentleman who owned it had raced it in his younger days and had suffered a crash that had crinkled one fender and bent the suspension. It had very few miles on it but it was parked never to see the light of day. A deal was struck with a return date set to finalize and my friend returned home after leaving a deposit and getting assurances that the car was his. When he returned to pay the vehicle off and pick it up, he was told that the elderly gentleman's family had intervened and decided they wanted the car. They were also unwilling to return the deposit (5,000 dollars). My friend left threatening court action and got the local sheriff to intervene and demand the car. When he returned the next time, he was shown a pile of cut up metal and told that the elderly gentleman's grandson had cut the car to pieces and scrapped the motor. He went to the local salvage yard where he was told that, yes the engine had been there, but it had since been disposed of. That was 2 years ago, and he still doesn't have his money returned!!!

WOW! A Bandini with history and the people cut it up and stole $5,000! Dave, there has to be a "Rest of the story", was the guy that is out the five grand from Newtown, Ct. ?

[Pomeroy41144]

Pomeroy, are you going after this one? The story needs a happy ending... The lady may not be an enthusiast but she probably treasures her car - they were a high end car in their day, maybe it marked an anniversary or some other special day, or it was a goal she or her husband were working towards, and they finally bought a brand new Cadillac - who knows. You just know every record pertaining to it is safe and sound somewhere in her house. A visit may pay off if you like the car, or even if you bought it to "flip" - so be it, good for you for finding it. An editorial West, should include a call to action, IMHO, for situations like this..

No, I am not going to try and get it. At least not right now. I got something else going on. But the car is nice and my father had one just like it. I'll keep my eye out and will talk with her the next time I see her.

PP

[Pomeroy41144]

I saw the Eldo on Friday. Same old lady driving. Car still looks great. Haven't seen her walking lately though.