What old or unusual things have you found after getting old car?

[JACK M 2,368]

On ‎3‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 7:57 AM, Matt Harwood said:

A handful of these in the center console of a 1993 Cadillac Allante we sold a few years ago...

 

 

These things are about thirty bucks each at the Pharmacy.

A hand full will get you several handfuls.

[JACK M 2,368]

On ‎3‎/‎24‎/‎2019 at 4:41 PM, GregLaR said:

3 vials of cocaine in one of my Corvettes.

3 hand guns in a '65 Chevrolet wagon.

 

I would have to make sure that it was indeed cocaine and make sure that there was no more evidence.

I opened up an old Harley tail light once at a swap meet that had a baggie full of (flower?) in it.

 

As for the guns.

I have a good friend and neighbor that is was a cop and later a detective. Now retired but still well connected.

I run all the questionable stuff thru him.

 

I recently picked up a hitch hiker that gave me a piece of jewelry that he claimed to have found on the side of the road before I came along.

I got to looking at it the next day and it is marked to be 14k gold. it also has what I hope are two rubies  and couple of small diamonds.

Not on any hot lists at this time so I may just have to get it appraised.

[JamesR 1,202]

12 hours ago, Grizz said:

What a great thread. I’ve never found anything cool but What about things you lost?! I once lost three vials of cocain in a corvette . 😂

LOL!

 

Another category would be "odd things put in an old vehicle," and I have a pretty good one:

 

My sister-in-law's brother -in-law (???) received a brand new Pontiac GTO as a college graduation present in 1969. He kept it for several years, but not being a car guy, he eventually gave it to his wife's elderly grandfather. As most of you know, the 1969 GTO's stylish front bumper was really more of a rubber-ish cushion than a bumper. As I was told the story, the grandfather said something like "that's no bumper" and mixed up a bunch of concrete and somehow jammed it into either the interior cavities of the front bumper or right behind it. I think it's safe to say he probably wasn't a member of the AACA. 😄 Imagine finding that in an old GTO.

[filozof97 22]

11 hours ago, JamesR said:

 As I was told the story, the grandfather said something like "that's no bumper" and mixed up a bunch of concrete and somehow jammed it into either the interior cavities of the front bumper or right behind it. I think it's safe to say he probably wasn't a member of the AACA. 😄 Imagine finding that in an old GTO.

 

That was actually pretty common practice in eastern bloc countries, but done not with bumpers, but with rocker panels. As all these cars - Fiat 126p, 125p, Ladas etc. rusted quickly, spare panels were on the scarce and waiting time for a new car was from eight to eighteen years, some people cuted small hole in top of the rusting rocker panel and filled it with concrete. Imagine tiny , 24 hp Fiat with extra 100 kg of concrete in it. Daemon of speed.

[Restorer32 2,179]

My ex father-in-law filled the wheel wells in the trunk of a Comet with concrete to increase traction on snowy roads. Worked OK until the wells rusted out and the crete fell out.

[63RedBrier 42]

About 15-20 years ago, I purchased a RUSTBUCKET Rampside pick up truck thru an ad in the Washington Post.  It was somewhere in Maryland...  When I went to look at it it was in pretty tough shape, but it yielded a few great parts - factory gas heater (relatively rare in an FC Corvair), straight as an arrow F&R bumpers, and an excellent windshield.  I offered $50 for it and said I would remove it from the property.  I think the "remove it from the property" was more important to the seller than the $50.  It was sad when I laid the two $20's and one $10 in the sellers hand.  The best part was the NOS FC-only gas heater exhaust pipe behind the seat!  That alone was worth more than the $50.  I sold the gas heater for $150!  Recently I paid $25/each to have the bumpers professionally blasted and I painted them with epoxy primer.  Another friend cut the DS panel out of the bed for a new skin for a ramp for another Rampside.  I still have the nose, which I will cut the DS corner to repair some accident damage on another RS I am making roadworthy...    

Edited March 27, 2019 by 63RedBrier
Correction! (see edit history)

[John348 1,653]

I picked up a 77 Chevrolet Monza Mirage Parts car in Michigan about 5 years ago and found a 1966 Micky Mantle Baseball Card under the seat, in real bad shape, coffee stains and frayed corners

[ron hausmann 752]

Before I retired, I was told by a fellow employee who restored military vehicles,  of his friend who had purchased a wrecked German SK251 half track in Europe in the early 2000’s. It was decrepit but restorable. When the guy got to stripping and disassembling it, he found a complete case  of German semi-automatc assault rifles, the mean ones issued at the end of WW2, in one of the tool crib compartments which was rusted and bent shut. I never was able to verify this, but likewise there was no reason to doubt the reality of this story either. If true, those rifles were possibly worth more than the half-track.

Ron Hausmann P.E.

[Joe in Canada 870]

Did not buy this car but in the early 70s a friend repossessed a car and locked it in the compound. I went through it with him making sure everything was ok the next morning and opened a small box that was in the trunk. It was full of shall we say compromising polaroid pictures. We were looking at them in the office when a car came speeding in so we cleared the counter of the evidence fast. The man demanded to see his car and when he came back from going through it wanted the box that was stolen from the trunk. Charley asked him to describe what was missing and I can not print here what was said as I might get a warning. He was really upset so we put the box back in the trunk after he left with most of the pictures back in it that he was not in. He was back again a few hr. later found the box and when he was leaving my friend asked if everything was ok and if he found what he was looking for. He never said a word and he left spinning his tires. I would not have wanted to be in his shoes if his wife / girlfriend knew what happened. Sorry  I can not remember what kind of car it was.

Edited March 28, 2019 by Joe in Canada (see edit history)

[adalah 3]

3 vials of cocaine in one of my Corvettes

Edited March 28, 2019 by adalah (see edit history)

[Buick35 268]

Just curious. I remember when I got my original 35 Buick I found an old chewing gum wrapper that looked like it might have been from the 30s.

[Skylark4367 81]

Not unusual, but I've found old road maps in at least two antique cars that I bought.  I sold the cars, but still have the maps.  

[Brass is Best 1,894]

I bought a 1929 Packard once and when I finally got around to looking under the front seat I found a complete tool kit. I called the gentleman I purchased the car from to thank him for the tools and he had no idea they were there. He didn't even know there was storage under the seat. 

Edited Friday at 01:17 PM by Brass is Best (see edit history)

[Buick35 268]

What a find!

[oldcarfudd 754]

Half a pack of Wings cigarettes.

[ojh 116]

A friend was restoring his Dad's Model A Tudor, he had pulled out the rear upholstery and found copper tanks inside the panels, they were joined together with plumbing and there was an outlet but no inlet.  He asked around and finally got a plausible answer, the area where they lived was 'The Plains' in Virginia a bit outside of DC, it was notorious back in the days of prohibition for the number of stills.  People would smuggle the hootch into DC for much needed cash and the tanks were a 'dealer installed' option.  He thinks just as his Dad bought his from the dealer the law was repealed and the tanks were never completed and just left in the car. 

They are still in it, covered but still there for the next restoration guy to puzzle over.

[Flivverking 255]

The usual,

Chicken bones,corn cobs,acorn and walnut shells,grungy cotton stuffing,seeds and intact mouse skeletons.

I've seen a couple of 20's southern cars with straw cased ,unlabled booze bottles wedged behind the rear seat cushions .

[padgett 2,433]

Most common for me is assorted relays with all the same color wiring and no apparent function. My 63 Corvette had a Whole Bunch (tm) in the passenger footwell.

[Walt G 3,771]

Mouse skeleton behind the panel that was above the windshield in my 1931 Plymouth on either side of the wiper motor.

Under the drivers  seat cushion of my 1931 Franklin Derham bodied victoria , was a steel plate that was part of the front seat structure. I unscrewed that and upon lifting it up found a huge pile of very small round yellow and black striped circle shaped things. I used a screw driver to poke at it and then realized it was the deceased inhabitants of a bees nest!  I jumped out and ran like hexx away but looked back and didn't see a swarm following me so went back and they were still there. the wings had fallen off decades ago and dissolved but the "bodies" remained. The car had been stored for many years in a garage with no door , so my guess was that in warm weather the bees decided it would make a good hotel.

[Buick35 268]

I was crawling around under my car and noticed on top of my frame rail toward the back where a lot of dirt,mud and small rocks have gotten lodged.I thought I had cleaned it before but I must have missed it.That got me wondering what else might be hidden.I guess I been watching Oak Island too much.I'm sure there's no money pit in there.

[JACK M 2,368]

I bought a 1936 Dodge parts car and found a 1936 penny. Sold the car still have the penny.

 

A hi school friend found a 38 Special under the back seat of a 56 Plymouth once.

 

I was buying a Chrysler convertible from a guy that couldn't get it started.

A couple of runs to his FLAPS and I had it running and was readying to make the 200 miles from Seattle to Oregon.

I was stupid enough to open the trunk to see if it had a spare when the seller was standing there.

I lifted the spare and he instantly remembered that he had stashed a coffee can (actually I recall it being a large cookie can) full of quarters there so his wife wouldn't know.

It probably contained about what I paid for the car. But I kept his old jumper cables.

 

Edited Thursday at 04:49 PM by JACK M (see edit history)

[AL1630 107]

I pulled out the back seat and found the remains of a parking ticket from 1968. Looks like someone didn't pay the meter! Unfortunately it was torn so I couldn't see what city it was from. Wonder if it was ever paid.

[Paul from PA 69]

I bought a 1963 Rambler wagon at an estate auction. Was in a garage, not a lot of light.  Got it home and found an old Texaco sign under the front floor mat on the passenger side. 

[CHuDWah 537]

Bumblebees and wasps...alive and ANGRY!  😲

 

I did find a 38 Special (the band, not the gun) tape in one car - a hot rod with a cassette deck.  And a handwritten bill of sale in another for what the guy I bought it from paid the year before - less than I did.  😒

[zepher 899]

We had a thread about this very subject awhile back.

 

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/324371-what-was-the-coolestoddest-antique-or-artifact-you-ever-found-in-an-old-car/?tab=comments#comment-1859004

[John_S_in_Penna 3,633]

31 minutes ago, zepher said:

We had a thread about this very subject awhile back.

 

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/324371-what-was-the-coolestoddest-antique-or-artifact-you-ever-found-in-an-old-car/?tab=comments#comment-1859004

 

Maybe our forum moderators can add these

new postings to continue that longer thread.

[rocketraider 812]

1 hour ago, Buick35 said:

I guess I been watching Oak Island too much.I'm sure there's no money pit in there.

Of course there is! You're just putting more money IN the pit than you're getting back OUT!🤑🙃

[JamesR 1,202]

Ok, this is my old thread resurrected. Hopefully it'll attain the glory it never achieved in it's first life.

 

Incidentally, Jack and CHuDwah, I wonder what the legal requirements are when finding a gun in an old car. Suppose it's a function of state law...😄

 

Edited Thursday at 11:44 PM by JamesR (see edit history)

[rocketraider 812]

Often called a "church key".

 

'Round heah anyways...😺

 

 

*edit* ??? What happened to the bottle opener???😶

[Bill Boudway 31]

Live, black widow spider under the running board when the Packard Twin Six arrived from Texas.

[Ben P. 667]

The strangest thing I ever found in an ‘old’ car when I got it was nothing. Literally nothing. It was clean as a whistle.

I was 12 years old and it was my first ‘old’ car (and I mean it was really old - it was as old as my Dad who was 34 at the time). The car had sat for many years after its owner died. His wife and daughters wouldn’t even move it out of its parking place because he had never allowed them to drive it when he was alive. Unfortunately he last parked it in the driveway instead of the garage so its body was in pretty bad shape. The tires had sunk 3 1/2“ into the asphalt driveway but somehow took air and we were able to rock it out. 

When we first got it home my Dad took the carburetor out to have it rebuilt and probably to keep me busy he told me to clean out the interior and suggested I might find “old coins or maybe even 1950’s cat eye sunglasses or something”.

Nope, I never found a thing in the 30 years I owned it.

Strangest thing I ever saw. Also the ugliest. 1952 Studebaker, legend has it the guys in the Stu plant dubbed it ‘the clam digger’ because of its front end. I don’t know if that’s true but it was so ugly that if someone was sipping on something when they first caught a glimpse of it reflex would force it to be spit out. That or they just couldn’t swallow and it would kind of drool down.... Ok I’m half joking, but that truly was the strangest thing I ever found in an old car.

That car has 6,700 miles on it when I gave it to a coworker 30 years later. I do not recall what the odometer read when I got it - I just remember when we got it home my Dad read the reading out loud and he and the neighbor (who lined me up with the car) briefly looked at each other and one of them said, “Do you think that’s true?” Then they both laughed out loud and simultaneously said, “NO, that must’ve rolled over.”

Nope, it hadn’t rolled over and it actually took me 30 years to figure that out. I’d explain how but have already written too much for a story about — nothing.

Edited Thursday at 10:38 PM by Ben P. (see edit history)

[sleeve-valve 12]

Nuts. Lots of nuts.

[Peter Gariepy 1,389]

I found...

• less money in the bank
• less space in the garage
• the need for more cars

 

[zepher 899]

Whichever Mod merged the two threads, you the real MVP.

 

 

[8E45E 1,427]

On 3/24/2019 at 6:46 PM, JamesR said:

Whoa! I hate to say this, Greg, but there's a disturbing pattern developing there! 😄

 

Sometimes the old-car pickin's can be pretty good in the "bad" end of town!  And sometimes you get a few freebies with your purchase!!

 

Craig

[Captain Harley 73]

I was cleaning out the gas tank in my '31 Model-A roadster and fund an old soda or beer bottle cap in it.  The cap was so old that it had a type of felt as a sealer instead of cork.  Gas had eaten all the writing (if there was any) off the cap, but the felt was still in pretty good shape.  Funny thing is Model-A Ford gas tanks have metal screens or spark arresters located inside the filler necks.  Many "A" owners over the ears will remove these screens, but my car still had its one in it!😊

 

Years ago a buddy told me about a friend of his who manged an auto wrecking yard.  The friend opened the trunk of a junk car once and found a box with two severed human heads in it.😬

 

Capt. Harley😉

[TAKerry 905]

I didnt find anything spectacular, a couple of pull tabs, a matchbox of the same model as my car, an old turn signal switch and some misc. sockets.  My car is a 1977 Trans Am and there was a similar thread to this on a Trans Am forum I belong to. Not surprisingly with this model of car, a lot of guys found roach clips, pot residue, condoms, etc.

 

 

 

[JACK M 2,368]

19 hours ago, JamesR said:

I wonder what the legal requirements are when finding a gun in an old car.

 

Interesting enough, my friends dad was the local Chief of Police.

The S/N raised no flags.

But, I don't know what ever happened to the pistol, I doubt the Chief would let his teenage son pack it around.

[JamesR 1,202]

19 hours ago, rocketraider said:

 

*edit* ??? What happened to the bottle opener???😶

 

Sorry, Rocketraider. After I'd posted my recent comment, I realized that this was my old thread in which I'd already made a reference to the bottle opener (in the first post of the thread.) I changed my recent post so I wouldn't be redundant.

[28 Chrysler 601]

This one is a bit on the unusual side.  A local mining museum did not want it to complete there blasting display.