What ever happened to that car in the driveway on Elm street

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Or local legends, diamonds and turds in the rough.

 

Ed's amphicar post reminded me on one lurking on tbe side of a garage in town around 78 or so.  While it drew little interest from our crowd, I had a decent working knowledge of potential projects that might be for sale around town, I bet a lot of others did also.  No particular order, but all within a couple miles walk:

 

Amphicar, red, partially tarped but exposed enough to identify.

 

Sunbeam Alpine, walking home one day in 9th grade it was in a driveway of a house with a one car garage with maybe 50 or so oddball parts all around it.  It got put back but the secret was out!  My guess is some older kid's project.  I would poke my nose now and then in the garage window and it sat back in it's spot for a long time..

 

TVR, Vixen, I think.  Never inquired about it.  Just watched it sit...

 

56 Chevy 210 2 door, in side yard of original owner.  50 kids must have approached that guy including me.  Went back with dad and his asking price but no joy.  I did get it though, after an older guy in the area had bought it and got laid off the week I heard about it and asked him if he would sell.  I believe he doubled his money but.. victory!

 

57 Chevy 4 door, 6 stone stock.  For some reason it really appealed to me but I missed it by a couple days.  It didn't have a for sale sign, but appeared one day in a driveway.  Come to find out it was advertised in some local flier, and was just sold.

 

I know there were others I canmot recall this instant, but may later.  Did anyone else track neighborhood cars, inquire or buy one?

[TAKerry]

There was a '71/'72sh Mach I sitting far away from the guys house in his back yard. I passed it on a regular basis. Finally worked up the nerve to inquire about it.  This was around '81/'82. I was either in school or just out and the slope back mustangs were not really popular at that time. Guy was kinda grumpy, his response was something to the effect of 'with everyone that stops by asking about that car it must be worth holding on to'. I watched that car for many many years as it slowly rotted into the ground, until one day it was gone. Hope that someone finally rescued it.

[Porsche 68]

When I was a kid 69 hurst olds sitting in driveway for years fast forward 20 years gone one night a friend and I were talking about it turns out the car is still there owner put it it in his backyard slowly returning to the earth 

[plymouthcranbrook]

There is a 65-66 Plymouth Barracuda sitting in a driveway of a relatively fancy house not far from me. Been there at least 35 years.  Also a Road Runner under a tarp about a mile from my house in a driveway that has been there since I moved into town.(40 years now).  Gets lower every year. More rust hanging down. And about 5 miles in another driveway sits a mid 60’s Ford full size two door sedan that has been there for over 20 years. I could name more but…

[alsancle]

It seemed like almost every town had a car parked next to a garage where the kid didn't make it back from Vietnam.   We had a 65 Corvette that sat for years before the dad moved it in to the garage because too many people bugged him about it.

[keiser31]

Not a neighborhood legend, but when I moved to San Diego I used to drive out Rosecrans Blvd. to Point Loma. I used to see one of these 1959 Facel Vegas sitting in a driveway. It was REAL different looking and I knew about the fact that there were only 60 built of this particular model in 1959. It was a slightly off-white color with a slight surface rust on the top, hood and trunk lid. Saw that thing there for YEARS until I went there one day with my architect boss to try to buy it for an investment. It was gone! Never saw it again.

[keiser31]

Back in about 1974 I lived in Inglewood, California for a year and worked at a drafting office on 132nd Street near Inglewood Avenue in Hawthorne. I used to walk around the block on my breaks. The first time I did, I walked past the Moose Lodge there on Inglewood Avenue and across the parking lot from the  Lodge was a body shop. As I walked past the open door of the shop area, I spied a car covered with boxes and other debris. This is about all I saw and I thought....Holy mackerel! Why is that Tucker covered in crap and dust like that? I never went in because the shop guys were busy, but there it was....my first sighting of PART of a REAL Tucker! Fast forward until about the time I joined this forum in 2004 or thereafter a guy (Tucker48?) on this forum was posting about Tuckers. I thought, what the heck, I will ask about that Tucker I saw. The guy actually knew the car and told me what had happened to it! I was amazed that he knew the history about it and he was amazed that I remembered that car in that place. I saw that rear grille and those pipes and right away I knew what I was looking at.

[lump]

I'm STILL trying to come up with a way to get the original owner of this very rusty 1970 Cuda to sell it to me. No dice, so far. It just keeps settling lower into the back yard. 

[Andy J]

lump,that's just like a '56 Chevy 210 two door wagon I've been watching for 35+ years. It's sitting in a dude's yard next to a major highway a few miles from my house. I know he's been asked a thousand times if he would sell the car. It's slowly returning whence it came,sinking back into the earth. I'll pass by it tomorrow,expecting him to come out and pull it into his shop to start the restoration.Yeah,right!

[auburnseeker]

When I was a kid back in the 80's there was a house that sat up on a hill and the bus went by it every day.  Sitting kind of out by the road but way up high on the bank there was a 49 Dodge Coupe.  I wanted that car really bad.  One day it was gone.  Went up to our local dump and the town decided to beautify the town and towed it up there , then ran it over several times with the bull dozer.  When I found it ,  along with 5 or 6 other old cars from around town I didn't know about,  including another 49 Dodge, all that I could salvage was a couple of hubcaps and a stoneshield.   What a shame.

 

Walking home from school when I moved to a city for 2 years for high school,  I walked by a 1950 Buick 2 door fastback.  That car was really cool looking. It was for sale but unfortunately too much money,  for what it was. It sat there a couple of years.  In front of the 2 car garage of all places,  slowly deteriorating.   I moved after 2 years and lost track of it after that. 

 

I used to mow the lawn for an older lady in our little town. Over in the neighbors back yard up on blocks covered with a tarp was a 63 Galaxie 500 convertible.  Original medium blue paint and black interior,  no engine.  I looked at that car every time I mowed her lawn.  Finally struck a deal up with the kid I went to school with as it was his Dad's car and ended up with it.  Never did much with it,  but I did put it inside and finally sold it for a little bit of a profit after I cleaned it up.  

 

Like alot of you,  as a gear head,  we were always aware of iron wherever we could spot it.  I could probably come up with atleast another 10 cars without thinking too much but nothing particularly rare or unusual. 

 

 

[Erska]

Our northern California college town does pretty well for projects and interesting cars, both then and now.  When we came here nearly 35 years ago, there were two MG TDs immobile under tarps in carports within a couple blocks of our house.  As a past TD owner, I did not follow up.  More interesting was the pristine Austin Healey 3000 also in the neighborhood, unfortunately over my budget.  

 

Over the years I've run across a rough but complete 1959 Chevrolet El Camino (in a hoarder's driveway, surrounded by junk), a 1970ish BMW 2800CS, baking in the sun (it sat in a driveway for at least ten years), and a like-new 1980s Porsche 911 retained in the family of its original owner.  There was also a professor emeritus a few blocks away with a Pierce Arrow sedan.  As I write tonight, there is a Model A Ford under a tarp, and a garaged but immobile early 911, both no more than a quarter mile from here.  Not bad for an academic town.   

[yachtflame]

There’s a ‘54 Olds Rocket 88 in a garage I passed every day for some 44 years. Some day, I’ll get back to it! It was my first car and I can’t seem to let it go.

[Bryan G]

When I was a little kid, there was a middle-aged couple that lived at the end of the road. He died around 1980 I think, and she never drove. I don't recall ever seeing that '66 Bel Air on the road. When she passed away, in the 2000s, I got to know her niece who became the cars new owner and really wanted to save it. I went and took at look...it was fairly solid up top, but everything my shins-down was gone. I'm not sure how they got it on the rollback. As far as I know, it's sitting at her place somewhere. 

 

A short walk from the shore of the Chesapeake Bay was an old garage, with 2 cars in it, one being a step-down Hudson. After seeing it for maybe 20 years, I drove by one day and it was gone. I have to think the salt air had done it no favors.

 

These days, there's a woman across town who refuses to sell her first car, a 47 Plymouth sedan. I've talked to several folks who've gone up and bothered her. I see her around town sometimes and it's tempting to suggest that I could resurrect it like I've done to some others. The car is parked next to a mid-60s Chevy pickup. Neither has moved in decades. Somedays I ride by and I can't see that old black car and I think, somebody finally got it! But, it was just some weeds in the way.

[AL1630]

There's a 1955 Chevy Bel Air 4-door slowly sinking into the ground a few blocks from my house. Been looking at it as I drive by for years. I've looked on google earth and from what I can tell it's been there since the late 1990s at least. Since it's so dry here rust isn't a huge problem, so it doesn't look like it's fully returning to the ground despite sitting so long. Still has something of an interior, good glass, and all the trim. It has 90s-era plates so I assume it was driven in there and just parked. I've never talked to the guy about it but I assume it's another one of those "I'll restore it someday" type projects.

 

My neighbor has a 60s Mercedes 230? just sitting as well. He claims it just needs an exhaust system but it's never moved and is currently on four flat tires. At least it's parked on concrete. Not really my interest as far as vehicles go but it would be nice to see it back out on the road.

[Joe Cocuzza]

6 hours ago, alsancle said:

It seemed like almost every town had a car parked next to a garage where the kid didn't make it back from Vietnam.   We had a 65 Corvette that sat for years before the dad moved it in to the garage because too many people bugged him about it.

Ours is/was (don't know if it is still there) a 57 Chevy 2-door hardtop.  Sitting outside on a very busy road. Been there since the 70's with a "NOT FOR SALE" sign on it.

[Joe Cocuzza]

All these recollections bring to mind the old saying: "You snooze you loose"

These were all by me as I was growing up. I wound up with some but most I did not

 

Late 1930's Packard sitting in a driveway for years. One day it was gone. Asked about it and the older owner said he junked it.

In a garage around the corner from me - 1936 Oldsmobile 2-door rumble seat coupe

In a garage owned by an old woman - 1968 Olds Cutlass 442 

In a garage owned by an old woman - 1953 Buick

In a garage - 1949 Frazer 4-door convertible - tried for 25 years to buy it - NOPE

Same house as the Frazer in the driveway - 1956 Olds 88 4-door hardtop

In a driveway up on ramps - 1969-70 Opel GT

In a garage - 1949 Dodge Coronet - bought it for $100.00 - drove it all over

In a garage - 1958 Cadillac 4 door

In a garage - 1935 Dodge sedan and a 1949 Packard sedan - knocked on the door - not for sale but I became very good friends with the owner

Across the street from me in a barn - 1960 Chrysler Windsor - Neighbor gave to to me

3 houses from me in a garage - 1969 Ford Country Squire Wagon - bought that one

Behind a business - 1949 Plymouth Business Coupe - bought for $100.00

In a yard with trees growing around it - 1949 DeSoto CarryAll - bought it for $100.00

In a garage - 1961 Falcon 2 door Sprint - Bought it for $50.00 - daily driver

In a gas station - 1939 LaSalle sedan for sale for $3000.00 - running driving - did not have the money

In a used car lot - 1956 Cadillac sedan - did not have have the money

In a garage - 1955 Cadillac Convertible - bad tranny - bought it for $1000.00

In a driveway I used to pass everyday on the way to grammar school - 1950's Nash Country Club Wagon - bought it for $100.00 when I was in high school

In a driveway - 1961 Comet - was a daily driver and then it sat - I asked and bought it for $50.00

Many, many others, too

 

All of these cars I stopped and asked if they were for sale. Most were but a few were out of my price range - like the 36 Olds coupe - wanted $6000.00

 

 

 

 

[TAKerry]

Another just over the line in DE, there was an old trans am sitting behind the owners garage covered in brush. It was white with blue stripes, my knowledge now has that narrowed down to '69-'72. I like to think it was a '69! I go by every now and then hoping that I can still spot a glimpse of that long gone ghost.

[auburnseeker]

There used to be an old drive in That was bought by a RV sales dealership.  My step Father at the time,  liked to go over and look at the trade ins,  which were scattered about the spots where the cars used to sit.  At one of the spots was a 59 Imperial 4 door.  It looks like it was the last car at the drive in when it closed and was the last thing there when the RV dealer closed.  Not sure what happened to it as they dozed the whole lot and put in offices or something.  Was really strange seeing it sit there a few spaces from the concession stand like someone forgot to go home one night and never made it back. 

[28 Chrysler]

We had a lot of old cars  in my small home town. When I was ready to take my 54 Ford wagon for the last ride to the Bone Yard I looked at a gray 1941 Olds Coupe that was parked in the weeds behind a shed.

The car had some of the typical Minnesota rust but not to bad. It had 20 year old 1954 plates on it, it was parked because of transmission problems.

I passed on the Olds and bought a 1941 Dodge Luxury Liner Coupe for my daily driver.

[jp1gt]

there was a 71 curious yellow cuda convertible that was seen in a town nearby. I had seen it but it was driving down the road. Finally a guy in the club got this gals (original owner) phone number. he did not have enough money or patience to get the car. I traded a nos chrome side view mirror that he just had to have for the phone number. It took 6 months but I was able to buy the car.

[auburnseeker]

Not in my town but one I tracked down.  A fellow bought a bunch of NOS GM parts off me real cheap when I was young and told me where there was a 54 Chevy Convertible in a Barn.  Now the area was not real populated so we took off,  about an hour and a half away on this quest.  We didn't find it the first time,  but I got back in touch with the guy and we went down a second time.  There it was up on blocks in one sort of addition off the barn.  Convertible top center ripped and laying on the seats,  all 4 wheels and tires missing.  It was the light blue color.  Probably a survivor by today's standards.  I don't recall any real rust on it.  The interior was all there and I don't even think significantly damaged just kind of dusty.    I really thought how cool it would be to have.  We got in touch with the owner as the property was an old abandoned farm.  He said if he sold it he would have to get I think it was something like 30 grand for it.  Obviously that was the end of that conversation.  

I don't recall exactly where it was now other than I could probably get you in a 20 mile radius of it.  The shame was the barn was in pretty tough shape and I can only imagine it collapsed not many years after I saw it. 

 

Shame if it did. 

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Middle school gym teacher had an already collectible Superbird in his garage, I think one of his older kids owned it.  You can tell non runners as they often become shelves which was the case here.  Even then I knew it was out of my range but we all knew it was in there.  

 

I covered the guy who put up a fence around his 57 Nomad here before, a town over.  Was there for decades, on a busy corner now gone.

 

I did get dad to go with me to look at a harbor blue 57 Chevy Sport sedan I spotted in someone's yard, cannot recall if it was for sale or not with any signage but it was three steps from the junkyard.

 

One family in a bigger, nice place kept a 57 Chevy Belaire wagon, yellow and green, never did shows or events but another local fixture.  Never inquired but I recall it was in excellent shape.

 

Was thinking of tracking local cars from around age 14 to 22 or so when I posted, and mentally limited to "civillians"  stuff.  No known fellow car guys stuff, just my thoughts here but these are all great stories for a winter weekday!

[oldcarfudd]

Decades ago I commuted between Montclair, NJ and Newark on the DL&W railroad.  Approaching Summit, there was a Hebmuller VW in a back yard.  Always in the same place; never moved.  The Hebmuller was a semi-custom two-seater convertible that looked like it had two VW front ends, one in front and one in back.  I wasn't  collector then, and didn't pursue it.  I hope it survived; those things are rare.

[JRHaelig]

I remember 2 wing cars sitting next to a house in Finderne, NJ. Saw them every day on the way to school in '73-'74.

[1912Staver]

I was a young teen when I noticed a very interesting front end visible through the open door of a small  dilapidated garage near my house, about 1973.  It was a 54 Merc. Convertible , mild custom. Scalloped paint , lowered, custom grill bars. Quite nicely done , but sitting for probably a decade. 

 Went back with my father and knocked on the door. A man answered and said it was his sons who was living on his own by that time and gave us his phone number. He said it was probably for sale and would like his garage back.

 Rang the owner up and went over to his place. Yes it was for sale, but he wanted a fair bit for it. A brand new engine had been installed several years before and never fired up. So he wanted the cost of the engine plus $100.00  for the car. Around $850.00. Too much for my paper boy income . It sat a couple more years and eventually disappeared. Never seen it since so I assume it was eventually towed away for junk.

[JACK M]

This car !!

I moved to this neighborhood in 1974 as I found a sweet deal on a house here.

A couple of months later I got a knock on the door and it turned out to be another Mopar geek from about a quarter mile away.

He asked if I would happen to have any 53 Chrysler stuff as my DD was parked out front. I did and he bought it. Wheels I think.

I dropped by his place a couple of months after that as his shop door was open.

Back in the corner was this 65 300. I noticed it but didn't take a very close look at it. I never did see him driving it.

However, one day he casually told me that he had bought it from a late friends wife. The friend ordered it specifically to join the 300 club.

Turns out that he had to make it his wife's car to be able to swing the deal. It was never a DD, just driven to the 300 club events.

By now I realized that it only had 16,000 miles on it and was a four speed car.

On a couple of occasions, the neighbor guy would move it from shop to garage to shed but never saw it on the road.

He would not consider selling it because it was his wife's car.

When his wife died he still would not sell it because it now was her daughters car.

When he died the car disappeared.

About two years later there was an auction at his place and I stumbled into the daughter. I asked about the 65 and she was embarrassed to tell me that it was sitting outside her house and she didn't know how to drive a stick. She said that it probably would not start and was out in the weather. The title was STILL tied up in the estate. I offered to bring it to my warehouse to get it out of the weather, store it for free in exchange for first right to refuse.

She was elated, I trailered it home and pressure washed the moss off of it and stashed it away.

A couple of years later she produced a title and the deal was made.

All of this took over 40 years. But I finally got it and still have it.

Edited January 24, 2023 by JACK M (see edit history)

[Scott Bonesteel]

19 hours ago, keiser31 said:

Not a neighborhood legend, but when I moved to San Diego I used to drive out Rosecrans Blvd. to Point Loma. I used to see one of these 1959 Facel Vegas sitting in a driveway. It was REAL different looking and I knew about the fact that there were only 60 built of this particular model in 1959. It was a slightly off-white color with a slight surface rust on the top, hood and trunk lid. Saw that thing there for YEARS until I went there one day with my architect boss to try to buy it for an investment. It was gone! Never saw it again.

I live in the Point and I also remember that car!  Last time I saw it was parked next to the old Chevron station at the corner of Nimitz and Harbor Drive.  Disappeared from there and never saw it again.  Station itself is gone now.

[alsancle]

Two more I remember vividly.

 

1.  A 66 GTO 389/four speed hardtop that sat outside next to a gas station in town for years.  Not decades like the Corvette but quite a while.  Never asked about it.

 

2.  A 69 Camaro Pace Car convertible sitting outside in NH around 1988.  At that point it had to have been sitting for a decade.  Half covered by a tarp. 

[Terry Harper]

I remember well a Champagne?? color 1963 Studebaker Avanti R2 four speed sitting behind a service station in Falmouth, ME. in the late 80's. I did ask about it and was told it needed transmission work. It needed a refresh but was very decent original shape. Sat there for a long, long time then disappeared.

[Joe Cocuzza]

More:

1949 DeSoto Suburban (1 of 129) sitting behind a restoration shop - bought it for $100.00. Drove it as my daily driver

1947 DeSoto Suburban sitting for sale in a Gulf station - bought it for $1200.00

1963 Chevy pickup sitting in a driveway 4 blocks from me - new paint,gas tank - ran and drove - bought it for $2000.00

In a garage in town - 1960's Studebaker Hawk - asked but not for sale - was later auctioned and a friend almost bought it.

1947 Town & Country sedan sitting in a garage - I was at a local car flea market (around 1981) and I owned the 47 DeSoto mentioned above.

I asked a guy if he had any DeSoto stuff and he gave me a phone # to call. He said that person had a lot of NOS stuff. Called the guy and went to his house to look at the NOS stuff and there it sat in the garage - 47 T & C sedan.

Of course I asked if it was for sale and the answer was no  just as it it always was for the next  20 years. I was finally able to buy it in 2000 and now it resides in my garage. BTW, same guy had a running, driving 54 Caddy convertible which I kept telling him I wanted to buy when he was ready to sell. Unfortunately, a few years ago he forgot I wanted it and sold it.

MANY, many more to go. Just need to remember them.

[Marty Roth]

Late 1930s Lincoln Zephyr Sedan -

 

After returning to Louisiana and building a new home in early 1977 just off Lake Pontchartrain, I would generally take Transcontinental Boulevard through the Pontchartrain Gardens subdivision. There, over the next several years, I frequently noted a mature lady driving a late 1930s Lincoln-Zephyr sedan, presumably as a daily driver. Each time I was able to speak with her, she would immediately advise that she was not interested in selling her car, nor was she interested in showing it to anybody, or even disclosing where she lived. I suppose I could have discretely followed her, but chose not to invade her privacy or possibly upset her. I was able to speak with her a couple of times at a neighborhood grocery. I offered to provide any assistance, help with maintenance, support from local AACA and HCCA club members, or just help taking care of the car. She seemed almost overly concerned that all younger people wanted to "Hot-Rod" her car. I assured, or tried to assure that my interests were preservation of antique and collectible vehicles - all to no avail. Eventually she was no longer to be seen, and I have no idea what happened to the Zephyr. I can only hope it found a good home prior to August 29, 2005 when Hurricane Katrina flooded the area, as there would have been as much as 2 - 3 feet of water in that neighborhood.

Or, maybe she lived someplace, hopefully high and dry, and was just visiting someone else, not really living there at all?

She was quite a bit my senior, and I've now entered my 9th decade, so the assumption is that I may never know the outcome, nor the fate of the lady, nor the "Louisiana Zephyr".

Edited January 25, 2023 by Marty Roth
additional note (see edit history)

[Dave Henderson]

The dormant cars I discovered in the '44-'46 period when I had become a hardened car nut but was still too young to get a license were: a '33 Chevy coupe resting in a back yard for the duration of WW11; a '31 Oldsmobile sedan stored in a neighbor's garage; a '35 Pontiac sedan up on cinder blocks, no wheels or windows, in an alley behind apartments.... this one I eventually bought for $15, bingo, my first car; a '34 Ford five window coupe in a back yard, for sale but no title; a '32 Model B Ford roadster under an apple tree whose owner was a soldier overseas who sadly didn't return; and finally the real zinger, a '33 big series Buick convertible coupe, acquired by the father of an acquaintance, awaiting resuscitation using parts from a sedan.  It did eventually get going, but the owner's son totaled it against two trees.  I believe it was a model 86C of which only 90 were built.  I've never seen another.  So rare, what a shame.

[auburnseeker]

I used to hang out at a local garage the next town over once a week and BS with the guys.  The owner had a 49 Chevy 3100 series short bed pickup.  It was in decent shape and he used it as a daily driver.  Well sometimes it would spend part of the winter outside under the snow bank,  but it surprisingly didn't get rusty.  The paint faded,  a couple cracks came in it and it lifted a little in a couple of spots but it was still in pretty good shape and perfect for a beater truck in the summer. Fast forward 10 years,  I moved away and hadn't visited him in years.  My Dad However still did and had him work on his cars.  Well my Dad inquired into it,  as it had made it's way into the back room of his shop and was starting to become a fixture with the bed full of parts and tires.

Low and behold he said I think I might sell it if your son is interested. 

I took a spin up to check out a couple of other cars I found out might be for sale (all along the lines of this thread) and stopped in to see the truck.  He got in it, said it hadn't been running in a couple of years.  Started cranking it over and it eventually took off.  After a couple of minutes the darn thing was running really good.  I hemmed and hawed but didn't make him an offer then.  

Dad and I went for lunch as it was pretty late at that point and the more I thought about it,  I said I better go back and make him an offer or someone else is going to find out and buy it.  

He was one of those guys that when he decided to sell something it was sold and often at a real reasonable price.  It needed brakes and tires,  they were all bald.  Funny as he ran an inspection station.  

 

I went to his house offered him $4500 for it and we made a deal right there. 

 

I drove it for a couple of years then sold it after I bought my Hudson. 

 

It really was a great driver.  The old weathered wood in the bed with transmission fluid soaked in half of it from the tranny that sat in the back in the shop was perfect.  I hauled all kinds of crap in it.  Didn't have to worry about scratching up any nice varnished planks. 

[SC38dls]

My best friend worked in a body shop after high school. There was a tarp covering something in the back corner he had no idea what it covered up. I was there one day and asked him what was there and his boss heard me and said an old bike. We took the tarp off and there sat a 1949 Harley Chicago Police Bike set up for a side car with a tank shift on it. My friend asked his boss if it was for sale and he said sure everything is for sale. He traded a weeks pay for the bike. We got it home and running in a few days. We had a ball on that bike for a couple years until he sold it for a 61 Pontiac. 
dave s 

[TAKerry]

After digesting this thread I AM that guy down the street. I have more junk in my back yard than someone should be able to have fun with 🤔

I had a guy knock on my door a couple of weeks ago wanting to know if my material handler was for sale. I declined, I wish he wanted the truck that is back there!

 

I told my son about some ideas I had on a privacy fence, his reply was 'wouldn't it be easier to get rid of the junk?'

I think he is correct!!

Edited January 25, 2023 by TAKerry (see edit history)

[Terry Harper]

A friend of mine was renting a house in Falmouth Foreside, Maine back in the early 1980's. While hanging out one day he told be there was "some old car" in what use to be the carriage shed. Sure enough, while peeking through the dirty window there it was covered in grime and junk. I later learned through a conversation with the property owner that it was a 1916 or 17 Cadillac limo that "the family" had owned since new. No idea what happened to it. 

 

Edited January 26, 2023 by Terry Harper (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

After I got that 63 Galaxie convertible I stored it in an old Lady's garage down the street. Right before she let me use it,  it had been home to her 1969 Chevelle Malibu 2 door hardtop. Small V8.  That creamy yellow with black interior and Vinyl top.  I don't remember if she or her Husband bought it new.  He was long passed when We became friends with her.  It had something like 37KMI on it.   It was a summer place that we started taking care of,  after it was neglected for years.  She was in her 80's when we met her and she still drove it a couple of times in the summer when she was up.   Funny thing is she owned the house,  but I think stayed in a motel up the street part of the time.   It was decent sized house on a big corner lot with a huge lawn that overlooked the pond. I knew that part well as I mowed it every few weeks.   It had a big wrap around porch as well.  I wanted to buy the house but another person she knew in town swept in and bought it before I even knew it was for sale,  then sold it to a company that tore it down to build the new Post office.  What a shame.  

 

The car was supposably taken down to NY city where she lived and a Nephew I think ended up with it.  I was never into Muscle cars , or cars of that era but it was still neat to see and in pretty good survivor type shape.

Edited January 25, 2023 by auburnseeker (see edit history)

[58 Apache]

How about the ones lost?  In 1969, I had a Flathead 80 Harley, two Panheads, and a 1957 "E" Thunderbird with both tops, all parked in an open carport at my mother's house.  I quit college midterm of my senior year and joined the Marines and went to Vietnam.  When I got home many months later, I discovered my mother and sister had sold my car and gave away the Harley's because they were "in the way".  They sold the T'Bird for $1800.  I tried to buy the T'Bird back from the dentist that bought it, but he wanted $20K.  They gave the Harley's to a MSU student who stopped by to look at them.  He had finished school and disappeared.  I knew the guy and looked for him for years.  I finally discovered he had opened a Harley dealership on the Gulf Coast, but was killed in an auto accident shortly afterward.  His wife sold the business. 

 

Moral of story:  Don't leave your treasures where people can see them, and don't assume your mother knows how valuable your treasures are.

 

There was a Stude Golden Hawk that sat under a tree in deep weeds next to the main drag in Baxley, GA for many years.  I went there once a year.  I finally decided I was going to buy it on my next trip, but it was gone.  Act when you see them - don't put it off.

[TAKerry]

58 Apache, if it werent for the Harleys I would think I know you well. I had a buddy and co worker for many years. He enlisted in the Marines for a free trip to Viet Nam. Said he had a beautiful '57 T bird that his parents sold as soon as he left. When he got out of the service he bought a Judge with his combat pay.

[58 Apache]

I bought a 2-door '69 Chevy Impala Custom.  Beautiful car.  I wish I still had it.  My last check from the Corps was for $1.24.  It is framed with my HD.