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intersting stories about finding your car (barn stories,etc.)


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I would like to start a thread where you will tell about finding an old car. Looking for interesting stories about the car or truck "discovered" in a barn or garage. Stories about a car you might have been trying to acquire for a long time and finally got it. Stories about the nice and possibly valuable vehicle that you discovered and paid almost nothing for.<BR>I think it might uncover some great stories.

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Guest AWBE

I found my 1955-76R for sale in a service station 32 years ago. It was in excellent condition, had never been hit, and was for sale by the elderly female original owner for the magnificent sum of $300. I had $19.00 on me and gave the service station operator $15.00 as earnest money (he wanted cash) until I could get a check cashed. I got the remaining $285.00, went by and told him I would pick it up in a day or so. What to tell my wife??? I had 7 kids and I knew I would get eaten out.Soooooo-On Sunday , after church we went out to dinner to celebrate my birthday. On the way home we passed by the station and I said "Man---look at that beautiful old Buick for sale---I want to look at it." We examined it and my wife and all 7 kids agreed it would be a wonderful Birthday present for me. And that's how I got my Buick which I have owned for 32 years. If my wife ever finds how I manuevered it OR how much dough I have soent on it in the last 18 months to get it in class 1.5 condition , my goose is cooked. I plan on driving it to the Buick Nationals in 2003. I showed at the Nationals in Minneapolis in 1979 and got a 3rd (after dring it 1210 miles to get there.

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Guest Shaffer

Well Marty, you know where I found my old Buick I used to have, but I will post for the few newer members that may not know. I had a want ad posted on the Buick bombsite website, stating I was wanting to buy a 1971-1973 Buick Electra. Someone only about 10 miles away e-mailed me and said they was local and had one in their barn that had belonged to their dad who passed away a few years ago. The original owner was a local doctor. His wife was no longer able to drive, so the car was actually all of the kids. They agreed to sell it. He had stated in the e-mail it had a few dents and "landau top", which was actually just a basic full-vinyl top, not the half vinyl. Since he mentioned that, I was not sure what year it was, although he said it was a 1972. Anyway, I hurried up there the next day with my grandfather to see the car. It turned out to be a 1972 Buick Electra 225 Custom 4-door hardtop sedan. Color antique gold, with sandalwood color cloth interior and vinyl top. It was difficult to see, as it had lots of dust on it and white dots, as the chickens had sat over top of it in the beams of the barn. he said he had started it in October, which was about 6 months before I bought it. Bought in April. The car started after only about 25 seconds of cranking. A/C was on and was putting out ice cubes. He said it had never had to be recharged. The valve covers was leaking a little. It was 100% rust free with original paint (minor surface rust on hood) and a few dents. It had ALL books and records with it. Interior was like new, but the front seat did unravel a little after I had it about a month. I ended up buying it a week later for $1,500. The car started to weather badly during this past winter, so sadly, I sold it to someone in South Carolina for $1,700. They was going to totally restore it. I hope it was restored. I really miss that car. Thats my old car story. So I literally found my car in a barn.<P>My uncle knows someone who just a very few years ago went to look at a car that they thought was a 1-owner 1963 Chevrolet Corvair for $200. It was in a newspaper ad as a 63 Corvair. He went to look at it, the old lady told him it was in the barn. He went in to look at it and to his suprise it turned out to be a 100% original 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray coupe. Needless to say he bought it immedietly, told her the car was worth much, much more, but she refused to take anymore money. He did finally get her to take $1,000, which was still 1,000s less than it was worth, but was still $800 more than she even originally wanted to take. She said she just wanted it to go to a good home. That was luck. I would like to find a deal like that.<P>[ 06-30-2002: Message edited by: Shaffer ]<p>[ 06-30-2002: Message edited by: Shaffer ]

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Well, although some of you might know this story from my website,<BR>here goes:<BR>My father in law bought out '66 Skylark Conv. new in 1966.<BR>Back then, this was a very unusual car here in Germany! He had a tow bar fitted,<BR>and it was used as a holiday car for the whole family. <BR>They travelled all over Europe, towing a motorboat and having fun at the <BR>seasides.<BR>In 1990, he decided to sell the car cause he bought a new convertible two years before.<BR>I was short of storage space at the time, so I let it go away. <BR>My wife was very sad about that, cause she loved the car very much.<BR>My father-in-law died in 1997, and since then she always said how she'd like <BR>that we wouldn't have sold the ol' buick.<BR>In September 1999, I read the ads in a German car mag, and see "Buick Skylark<BR>Convertible, 1966, needs resto, ...". Since these cars are VERY rare over here,<BR>I called the number immediateley and it turned out to be our Buick! It was still<BR>owned by the guy who bought it from us! I bought it back right away, <BR>and went there the next day to pay it. I was surprised to find the car in<BR>not too bad condition, the body still being very solid generally.<BR>When I presented my wife the car's paperwork (still showing her father's name as previous owner),<BR>we opened a bottle of champagne and this was a very emotional moment, <BR>you bet!<P>Stefan Knappe<BR>Frankfurt/Germany

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well here is my story:<BR>i had a 55 buick that i wanted to sell so i posted it in our buictown chapter news letter. i also ran an add stateing that i was looking for a buick up to 1960 and it must be a two door hard top. will pay up to $7,000 for a decent car.<BR>a few days later the phone rang and my wife answered it and thought that someone was calling about the 55 buick. when i started to tell him about the 55 he stopped me and said no he was calling about the buick wanted add. he was not a member, but he got my add from another member.<BR>he proceded to tell me about the 58 buick he was selling, and his price was $10,000. i thanked him for his call and told him the budget was $7,000.<BR>after much pursasion on his part i agreed to at look at it.<BR>when i arrived at his house he opened that garage door, my jaw went to floor and i started to drool puddles. here sat this beautiful all black 58 buick century two door hard top.<BR>the car had four flat tires and no battery, very minor dings, but not a spec of rust and i mean not a spec anywhere. the interior was just about mint on this 70,000 mile car. as i am looking over this car and wiping up slobber and drool of my chin he proceeded to to tell me the history of the car.<BR>he bought it when he was 16 yrs. old, at a auction of cars that was on display at the soan museum in flint mi. (which reminds me, i must see if i can verify this story one day)he had owned this car 21 years, but had not started it in quite awhile. i then told him that 10k was not in my budget and he said he would take $8,500 for it. i then told him that i would bring a battery and see if it would run and drive the following weekend.<BR>now as soon as we got into the car my wife said. YOU ARE GOING TO BUY THAT CAR ARN'T YOU? i said maybe? and left it at that.<BR>the following weekend we drove down with a new battery and a mechanic friend of mine along with our friend debbie from shultz upholstory in flint mi. we hooked up the battery and put in fresh gas and she fired up and ran like a top. the tires would not hold air they were so bad and the brake cyls. were frozen up, but it did move.<BR>i asked him if he would do better whith the price, but he stuck to the $8,500 price tag, so i thanked him and told him 7k was all that was in the budget, then we left. as we left his house my wife reminded me that we left the new battery in the car. i just smiled and said yes, we did..didn,t we..<BR>two days later he called and talked to my wife while i was at work (just as i hoped he would) and told my wife that he realized it needs some work so he would take $7,500. i would have paid it, but my wife drives a hard bargin and told him no, that is not in our budget and you must only want 7k for it beacuse you answered his add knowing that he would only pay 7k. finally after talking to her he agreed to the 7k and asked to be payed in cash. after paying in cash we had the car hauled back to midland (where we lived at the time) and less than $600 dollars later for tires and brake cyls.and an oil change, we were crusing around with it. the stiching on the seats started coming undone, so we had it repaired, then i touched up the stone chips and wheeled it out and she looks almost as good as new.<BR>so after a few nips and tucks the old gal looks much younger than her age.<BR>thats my story, and i envision the old gal will be in this family for a long long time and i will never restore her as long as she looks as good as she does.<BR>P.S. i call her the old gal in honer of my nother who was in her own way a classic lady and i will always miss her.<BR>camman.8<BR>58 buick 66r

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Excellent stories! I am still waiting for my great old car discovery story. All of my cars have been acquired in a pretty traditional way with no great stories yet. I did however acquire my 72 Electra at what I think was a great price. It was owned by the uncle of the person I bought it from for all but 2 years of its life. He drove it very little and kept it in a garage. The guy said he drove it every day down the long lane to the mailbox to get the mail and on special occasions. It had 37K when I got it about 2 years ago. The drivers seat was worn pretty badly as the uncle was a heavy man and I suppose getting in and out of the car so much wore it out prematurely. The passenger side front door had a pretty big dent in it. I had the front seat reupholstered and bought a used door from a local junkyard then repainted it. I have never had to do any mechanical work on it and it runs and drives like new. I paid $925 for it and have less than $1500 in it. It is my favorite car in my collection!

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I'm not good at writing, let alone a story, but here goes one....<BR>In 1995 I saw an ad for a 56 Special in the local paper for $4500.00. I went to look at the car and I saw a pretty straight, 4 door with 72,000 miles on her. It had a decent paint job, good tires and really good original interior. <BR>The owner, a little old lady,<I>really</I>, said she had just bought the car from a couple, who got it from their old highschool teacher. She had bought it on a passionate whim and didn't realize the car did not have power steering or power brakes. frown.gif" border="0 <BR>I started her up, took her for a test drive...<B>the car!</B> tongue.gif" border="0 The ol' Buick drove great! I only had $2200.00 cash on me at the time and began to explain to the lady that we would need to negotiate a compromise when she immediately said, <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>It's a deal!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I was floored! shocked.gif" border="0 <BR>So the lady signed the title over, I drove <B>JUNE</B> home, the name given to the car by someone along the way, after Mrs. Clever. <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><I>Where's the Beave?</I><HR></BLOCKQUOTE> <BR>I had the carb rebuilt, as the float was blown and a few other parts damaged or missing. For about two years, June was my daily driver, I got the thumbs up, family stories and lustful looks everywhere and everyday.... none of course where for me... it was all attention for JUNE!<BR>I don't drive her everyday, now. She mostly sits at home in the garage, but is always ready for a little road trip for a family outing or cruise. grin.gif" border="0 <BR>I have another story about my 57 but I'll give you guys a break and let someone else tell their story. wink.gif" border="0 <BR>Keep on Cruising America! cool.gif" border="0

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Hello, I have two short stories. We were told of a farm auction that was coming up in Ulysses, Kansas with a 59 Buick in it. It was supposedly an all-original 59 Electra coupe with low miles. Yeah, right. Well, we just called the auctioneer and he helped us contact the seller, who proceeded to tell us that it was nothing less than a pristine original Lido Lavender and white Electra coupe with 44,000 miles on it. He assured us that there will be no dissappoitments with this one. We were interested, but we could not be there for the actual auction, so a phone bid was made. The day of the auction came and went, as well as two weeks. We, by this time, had figured someone elso won the bid, so it was pretty much forgotten until a nice woman called and asked my father's name. He told her, and she said, in perfect Kansas deadpan, 'Well, it looks like you boys just bought yourself a Buick.' Oh man what have we done? The seller told us that if it is not what we expected he would take it back. He delivered it (how cool is that?) to us the next weekend, and when it came in the driveway on the trailer it was obvious that it was what as described and more. To make a long story short, it was basically a flawless untouched original Electra. It still had the original mufflers, resonators, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, owners manual, even the original 1959 title. Needless to say it is one of a kind.<BR> The next one just happened last week. About a half mile from my business there is a warehouse that I have been driving by for years. Well, I recently went in it and found a 1953 Roadmaster Estate wood wagon in extremely nice ORIGINAL condition plus a nice original 53 Roadmaster sedan. The wagon has perfect original wood and very nice original ivory and tan interior. There is a VERY cool story behind this particular car. I am picking it up tomorrow, so I will update when I get all the facts. Have a cool Fourth, Matt.

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As a kid growing up during the 1960's, I would often go with my Dad on Saturday mornings when it was time to have the oil changed in our '61 LeSabre and, later on, our '65 Wildcat. These outings gave me an opportunity to explore some of the back rooms used for vehicle storage at the Baker Garage, which has been a Buick dealership since 1913 in my hometown of Baker City, Oregon. Those back rooms always held some captivating automotive treasures, including a majestic 1940 Buick Limited that was sold to a buyer outside the area about the time I entered high school. Among the stored cars was always a silver 1959 Buick Electra flattop, and I often noticed the way the light from a distant window glinted on the delta wing tail fins. The car looked like some kind of futuristic aircraft concealed by the semi-darkness. <P>Year-after-year, the Buick was still there. It was there when I bought my first car, a used 1969 Skylark in 1972. It was there when I ordered my new 1980 Skylark in the spring of 1979.<P>I rarely returned to the Baker Garage as an adult living nearly 500 miles away, but the vision of that '59 remained fixed in my mind. Whenever I thought about it, I asked my parents if the car was still there, and the report was always the same: "I haven't seen that car for years." Sadly, I concluded that the Buick no longer existed or had sold to some aggressive collector who searched the rural communities for their hidden automotive jewels.<P>Imagine my surprise in 1998 when I visited my parents. I drove Mom past the elementary school where she had taught for many years. As we gazed across the ball field, there was the long-remembered '59 sitting in the driveway. We lost little time driving to the home of Gert Neuberger, whose uncle, Gershon, had purchased the Buick new and had died in 1960. The Buick had passed to Gershon's brother, Berthoud, who died in 1965 and left the Buick to his nephews, Bert and Gert. Gert was the final survivor of his generation, and, now in his mid-'80's, he decided it was -- at long last -- time to sell the '59 Buick. I noted that the car had not been licensed for six years, and it was out of the garage only for the purpose of photo-taking.<P>Here was my opportunity. This was a fine, rust-free survivor that had a nearly perfect original interior. The car was covered in dust and showed some bumps, dings, and areas of mis-matched paint, but it was still that beautiful delta-winged wonder that I had dreamed of for decades. Gert's asking price was, in my opinion, too high. I suggested that he advertise the car in "The Oregonian", thinking that this would reveal to him that he was asking too much. That suggestion nearly cost me the car; substantial offers were received from prospective buyers in Portland and Boise. But Gert -- a man of his word -- called to give me a final chance, preferring that the car go to the hometown boy who would preserve the car's history. How could I pass up an opportunity to make a decades-long dream come true over a few hundred dollars?<P>I took delivery of the '59 Electra on May 1, 1999. After an oil change, fuel filter replacement, and new tires to replace the ancient bias ply tires, I took to the road for the long drive home to the Seattle area. The Buick ran flawlessly, and, as I crossed the Blue Mountains and assured myself that all of the gauges were functioning perfectly, I switched on the original Sonomatic AM radio, tuning in to Pendleton's KUMA. As the radio tubes warmed and the radio came to life, Perry Como was singing "Catch a Falling Star", my favorite song of 1959 and the one my sister called the radio station to play for my sixth birthday way back in the summer of '59. The Buick and the immortal "Mr. C" moved me to tears that day on the Interstate, and the long wait for my delta-winged starship was finally over.<P>My wife and I continue to enjoy the car thoroughly. And Gershon Neuberger's '59 Buick will be in Flint next year to celebrate a great, pioneering auto maker and the unique histories of thousands of other Buick automobiles!<P>[ 07-04-2002: Message edited by: Centurion ]<p>[ 07-04-2002: Message edited by: Centurion ]

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Great stories! Keep them coming. Centurion, that was a great story and just the type I was hoping for. I can only imagine the joy you felt driving that 59 after dreaming about it all those years. Just goes to show you that dreams can come true. That is the joy that comes with being a "car guy".

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In 1989,an ad in Hemmings was for a barn full of Buicks,in N. Muskegon,Mi,right on lake Huron,about 125 mi.from me.I drove over and saw a huge steel bld. with 10 or 12 Buicks and one other car.All were red except a 67 special deluxe 4 dr with 47000 mi.Most of the others were GS,s.He even had a rare 67 cpe with gs emblems on it.which Buick had as an option.I had to chose between a 4-speed conv or an auto. conv with air,both red.I bought the GS with air& the low mi. 4-dr.which was a very clean car.I told a friend about the 4- sp and he bought it and raced it for several years. I still have the conv and would bring it to Kokomo but the air quit.35 years and has only 100000 mi.The top may be origional. I often wonder what happened to the rest.I think mine was 3000 $ Norb

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Guest Shaffer

Here is a interesting story my uncle told me about a while back. Someone he knew seen an ad for a 1-owner 1963 Chevrolet Corvair for $300. He really wanted the car, as it was supposed to be in VGC. When he got there, a old lady - yes a old lady pointed to the barn and said the car was there and for him top go look at it. When he went in he was suprised to see it was NOT a 1963 Corvair. What is actually was - was a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette in nearly #2 condition. shocked.gif" border="0 The old woman not knowing what it really was, had listed it in the newspaper as a Corvair. He went back and told her it was a Corvette, and it was worth much more. She insisted she still wanted $300 for it, as that it what it was in the paper for. He did talk her into taking $1000. for the car. It was still worth 20 times that. I am sure this is something that does not happen often.

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1966 Riviera GS story:<P>My story begins on Friday, July 7, 1988 driving past a Buick dealership about 30 miles from home. On the front row of the used car lot sat a Riviera Red 1966 Riviera in excellent condition. The mileage showing was 59,262 and I had only recently seen one of these cars two weeks prior to finding this one. The exciting part was the car was the lower production "GS" model with many options.<P>Well, I am greeted by a salesman and he informs me that the car was a one owner car owned by an elderly couple which was taken in on trade in 1984 for a new Buick Century. It was repainted in 1984 the original color and then stored in a vacant Pic-Way Shoe Store adjacent to the dealership. The salesman also mentioned that the dealer had stored two cars in the store. The other was a '66 Dodge Charger that sold before ever hitting the sales lot.<P>The '66 Riviera had a perfect black interior with console shifter and to this day is in mint condition. They were asking $3795 for the car, so I took her for a spin and then left the dealership to think it over some more. A person here in town had a '66 so I took them along Saturday morning to see if they could find anything wrong with the car. They immediately were drooling over the car and even hinted to offering to buy the car from the dealer and selling their '66 because this one was a GS. Hmmmm....possible competition as a buyer! We took the car for spin again and returned. I offered the salesman $2500 for the car and my offer was quickly shrugged off, so as I was driving off to go home the salesman walked by my car window and stated that if I could get the offer up to $3000 he would see what he could do in getting the dealer manager to approve.<P>Wow, another restless night and another 50 minute trip on Sunday trip down to the dealer lot. Yes, can you beleive they were leaving this car set out on the outdoor lot? I crawled under the car and just kept looking at the beauty. People were driving up, lifting the hood, pulling out the oil dipstick, and then asking me if I knew what the asking price was. Most would say, I'll bet they are asking $6000 for the car and I just had to say in most likelihood they were right knowing better. Talk about hearts racing, butterfiles, etc. I just knew the car would go quickly.<P>On Monday morning, July 11th, I phoned the salesman and told him I would be down to make a final offer on the car. I guess a younger man had tried to get his father to purchase the car for him, but his father decided it was too much car for a young driver and didn't give his son the money. Well, at least that obstacle was over. How many more potential buyers before work ended that day. I told them I would be down after work, so they commented that since I had been back two times pondering the buy that they would hold the car until 6PM for me to make a decision. I rushed to the bank at noon, withdrew $3300 from my savings prepared to go that high and brought my friend along incase I bought the car to drive it home.<P>We arrived at 5:50PM and there sat a light blue metalic '65 Riviera with a black vinyl top in the dealer parking area. The older guy owning that car was dealing with another salesman and my salesman, John Morton, came running toward my car when I pulled in. He met me at the '66 Riviera and I popped the hood. Well, the tense moment had arrived and so I offered him $2800 for the car. He replied that there was a problem with the offer. The older guy in the '65 Riviera had offered the other salesman $2900 for the car. However, since I had been given until 6PM to take the car and had been actively considering the car they would sell it to me for $2900. I blurted out I wasn't going to quibble over $100, and I mentioned I had the money sticking in the bank evelop in my shirt pocket. Cash always talks and since the other guy in the '65 Riv had no money in his pocket the sale was mine. Wow, was that guy peeved and drove off in a hurry!<P>After taking care of the details and having all the needed paper work completed, I had my friend drive the car home for me as I followed in my car. We arrived home safely. How many people would trust their friend driving their purchase home from the sale? (Well, that friendship ended some 10 years later when I went to look at buying a '66 Toronado with 11,000 miles hidden in a rural one stall garage and asked the friend to go along for a drive with me to look at the car as before. He became an immediate competitive buyer on the '66 Toro when he saw the mint condition of this forgotten treasure. Today he has the '66 Toronado, but traded one of the best friendships he ever had for the betrayal of his friend. Sorry about that, I got off the subject. I will post the story of finding the '66 Toronado at a later time. <P>Back to the '66 Riviera story in 1988. I immediately began taking the car to local shows and it was surprising how many people had seen the car for sale and had considered buying it that I was unaware of. People would come up at shows and comment wanting to buy the car, but when they returned it was sold from the lot.<P>Nearly a year later, I stopped by the dealership and had the salesman check their records for any names on the former owner as the old registration card in the glovebox from 1975 was no longer a valid address for the lady. The car was registered in her maiden name and so he found the owners' name from the 1984 Buick Century sale. I arranged to visit them in Buckhannon and they filled me in on the history of the car. <P>The car belonged to Gae(Cutright) and Glenn Linger of Buckhannon, WV and they had been chicken farmers and he a truck driver. He specially ordered the car at Andrews Buick in Weston, WV and took delivery in December 1965. It is an early '66 Riv with many early '66 oddities that were changed in later months by GM. A "red Rooster" for the chicken farm being a GS and it was garaged in a section of the barn for years. I even found a few chicken feathers in the compartment behind the litter bin of the console...ha ha!<P>He mentioned how they wanted to trade the car for a new 1984 Buick and kept driving up to the various Buick dealerships and offering to part with his '66 Buick for $1800. The dealers just laughed. He had paid $5400 for the car when new. The car was setting in his barn with a dead battery, so it only took one dealer who had enough interest in the car to go look at the car at their farm. His shop guys put in a battery and drove the car to the dealership, gave the Lingers $1800 on trade for their new '84 Century Limited, and gave the shop guys something to toy with for the next few months. The shop broke the one motor mount in front of the dealership one day punching the gas pedal to see what she could do.<P>The Lingers were unaware of what had happened to the '66 Riviera GS after they traded it in. They were surprised to hear that a new owner had bought the car from the dealership 4 years later when I called them. Upon my visit, Mrs. Linger was in tears and it was just like adopting new geandparents. They have since moved two times more and were in their upper 80's living in Parkersburg, WV. Regretfully, I have lost contact with them and hope to visit with them once again.<P>The car is equipped with 2-4's and nearly every factory and dealer installed option. I even added factory cruise control and air conditioning to the car in 1990. I now have 84,000 miles on the car after 14 years. The car doesn't set in a barn anymore, but a new garage in place of where an "old barn" used to reside on my property. Sorry, the red Rooster was not reunited with the chickens...ha ha, but it and I found each other when we both needed something more in life.<P><BR>Barry<BR>Lee66-67

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Guest Skyking

In 1970 my oldest brother worked in Providence at a Sears auto store. On his way to work one morning he spotted a 1957 Chevy BelAir 2dr ht. parked in a yard near the store. He went up to the house and asked the guy if the car was for sale. The guy said "hey! I know you, you work at Sears". My brother said he did and the guy said if you buy me one of those car alarms, you can have the car. He went right over to the store and picked up the alarm for $25.00 and went back to get the car. He still owns the car today. It is all restored.

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Boy she was ugly. Really ugly. When she crept out into the dark and humid mid west summers night all the boys in their polished Camaro, Mustangs and Hotrods laughed at her. By day, the young kids would point and stare. <BR> Decades of neglect and bad habits had taken their toll. Long gone were the badges that so proudly announced she was a special breed of Pontiac. However, if one looked close enough one could make out the faded outlines of a G , a T, and an O.<BR> The once beautifully sleek body lines that General Motors had graced her with back in the year of nineteen sixty nine were almost all but gone. Each and every section of her body was damaged, rusty, and dented. Her once golden body had given away to patches of primer and assorted "sayings" spray painted on her to note previous accidents. The words "1979 Cadillac" were crudely painted across a huge dent in the front fender . "Soda machine" was painted in rustolium white along with an arrow pointing to a crumpled front corner of her Ram Air hood. The drivers side rear quarter panel was not only rusty, but was completely pushed inward from a massive impact. Spray painted with black primer and in all capitol letters was the explaination: "TREE" <BR>Also in black primer was the words "Telephone pole" with and arrow pointing to a respectively shaped indent on the rear bumper and trunk lid. One of the most interesting notes pointed to a dented and paint scraped damage trail that extend all along the entire passenger side . With minimal expertise in accident reconstruction, anyone could tell it must have been some sort of spectacular sideswipe accident. However, no one knew the details behind its label : "Police Car". (Even the auction guys at the Police impound yard where we bought her for $250 offered no story about that one) Bottom line... it was one ugly car! Anyone who saw her would agree... almost. <BR> <BR> There were just a few who knew of her true inner beauty. My friend Rick and I stumbled upon it completely by chance hours after towing her home from the auction. You see, we bought the car for parts. Spacifically its interior. Rick had a 1968 Pontiac LeMans with a perfect body but a shabby interior, and the GTO at the auction had a surprisingly good interior. (Pontiac put nearly identical interiors in both models). What we didnt know when we bought the car was wheather or not it ran. Heck, the guys at the auction didn't know if it ran either because they "couldn't even get the dang hood open" to find out. Well, after a half hour of wrench turning and prybar working the hood was freed up and opened. What followed left us momentarly speechless. We had been put in pure awe of the beasts beauty. I just stood there grinning from ear to ear while from Ricks mouth came a hundred "Wow"s and half as many "Holy S#*T "s. It was beautiful. It was immaculant. It was AWSOME! Shining in chrome and glod anadized plating was a fire breathing dual carburated, Nitrous Oxide injected, Ported and Polished, aircraft plummed, tuned headered ,3 inch exhausted .. 455 cubic inch monster (that was later dyno tested and verified at 560 HORSE POWER!) <P> Okay, for those of you who have no idea what that last paragraph of "car talk" was about, I'll sum it up. Under the hood was a high dollar professionally built race car engine that was so clean one could eat their dinner off of it. <P><BR> Back to the car and a quick not to finish things up.... The guy (it had to have been a guy) that built and owned this car must have been a complete engineering genius, a raving madman , some type of Mad Max Road Warrior or a mix of all. Its creators identity has been lost in a bureaucratic cloud of red tape. Along with the sideswipe dents labeled "Police Car" , the story remains a mystery.<P> Perhaps Rick and I will never know who created that ugly beast, but of her beauty .... we will never forget.....

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