Reunited With An Old Friend.

[Taylormade 723]

It's with a heavy heart that I've decided to sell my

great old 48 P15 four door sedan. I never would have considered letting it go

under normal circumstances, but an extrordinary thing happened over the weekend.

First,

a bit of history. It was 1965 and I was attending Syracuse University. One day

while walking to class, I spotted a large black sedan in the faculty parking

lot. I'd loved "old cars" since I was a little kid and this was an old one - a

long black four door with suicide doors and sidemounts right out of one of my

favorite TV shows - The Untouchables. I crunched through the

snow over to the ancient beauty and discovered a For Sale sign in the window. I

jotted down the number and that afternoon called the owner. He told me the car

was a 1932 Dodge DL Six and he wanted $400.

After spending some hours on the phone with my dad trying to weedle a loan

out of him, I finally talked him into forking over the cash and the next day I was

the proud owner of the Dodge.

I drove it rain, snow or shine for the next three years. It never failed to

start, always ran great and was the best car I've ever owned. Sadly, my brother

started college in my senior year and money got very tight - my Dad couldn't

afford the insurance anymore and I wasn't making enough to afford tuition, room,

board and car insurance. I was forced to sell the 32 to fellow Frat member Phil Kennedy and

I moved on with my life. But I bet I thought about my old Dodge at least once a

week for the next 45 years.

He she is on the day I bought her. Check out my grin - and the length of my pants.

About three years ago another Frat member contacted me and we spent some

time rehashing the old days. During the converstation, Phil's name came up

and my friend said he'd give Phil my contact information. Later Phil e-mailed

me a message and a picture of his "new" 32 DL that he'd just

purchased. I sent him photos of my 48 Plymouth, 50 dodge convertible and

promptly lost track of him for another three years.

A month or so ago my wife suggested I join Facebook and find my old college

friends - again. Facebook isn't really my thing, but I did end up reconnecting

with a bunch of old classmates and frat brothers.

In one of the posts I put up the photo of the old Dodge. Someone mentioned he

thought Phil still had it. I rummaged through my fading memory banks - had

Phil mentioned my old Dodge in his e-mail? I thought maybe he had. Could he really

still have "my" car?

After I finally got in touch with Phil I discovered he did - in his garage, where it had

been sitting on blocks for over 40 years! He said, by coincidence, he'd finally figured

two 32s was one too many and was thinking of selling my old car. And the first person he'd

thought of was - me. But he figured I already had too many cars to want another.

WRONG!

Long story short, my 32 is coming back home after 45 years. She has a few nicks and

bumps more than when I sold her, but she's still got shiny black paint and

doesn't look much different now than she did then. Sadly, I only have one

restoration left in me and need space in the workshop, so the 48 and my 50 Dodge

Wayfarer convertible are going to find new homes.

Life is funny sometimes. I'm sure glad I sold the Dodge to Phil, a guy who loved it as

much as I always did and kept it waiting for me.

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[keiser31 5,840]

Great story and I am so glad to see the car return to you. The main reason I never sold my first '31 was because I was afraid that selling it would haunt me the rest of my life.

[Taylormade 723]

You would have been right. Take it from someone who knows.

[Phil 32DL6 17]

Does this mean I'm about to be haunted for the rest of my life? :eek:

[Taylormade 723]

No second thoughts, please. I've been haunted for 45 years. Now it's your turn.

Edited January 10, 2013 by Taylormade (see edit history)

[beetles 1]

What a great story!In about 84 I saw for the first time, a 33 D.P.Brougham and tried to buy it a couple of times.

In 2004? I was reading a car mag on a plane when I saw what seemed like this Brougham for sale near my destination.

Sure enough it was the same car but the price was out of my reach. Damn!!

A month or so later I called the owner with an offer and he said to add another $500 and it was mine.

My thought was "I can always find $500 but NEVER this car so it is now in MY shed.

Maybe I'll take it for a spin tommorrow.