The Supercar Registry - Barn Find 442 W30

I first heard about this 71 W30 Convertible in 1988, when I got a call from Merlin Cumming. Merlin had recently acquired the car from a fellow who bought it out of an Alberta Wrecking yard to take the engine for his boat. Merlin described the car as a red 70. He had called be about sourcing some parts. Although I never met Merlin we stayed in contact over the years and discussed the car. In a conversation in 1999 he said the car was a 71 and he had run the vin through GM Canada and had gotten a response.
The car was in fact a 71, special ordered and sold new through Corner Brook Garage Ltd in Corner Brook Newfoundland. The car is a special order paint code finished in the 1970 Rally Red or closer to Hugger Orange. I had worked in Corner Brook in the fall of 71 and again in 72 and recalled seeing an Orange 442 several times, I was more taken by the stunning brunette driving it.
The car must have made its way to Alberta in the late 70’s and by 1984 was put out to pasture. Merlin acquired the car in 1987 or 88 without engine and stored it away in Sicamous BC with the intention of restoring it someday. We spoke every year or so right up to 2008 but never met.
In October 2009 I got a call from Merlin’s wife Charlene who told me he passed away the previous July from injuries sustained from a freak bike accident. She had found my name among his car notes and called me to see what she could do with the car. I told her I had never seen the car but would be willing to see the car, now in Revelstoke BC, to give he an opinion on its value.
The car had been stored outside for many years and under a tarp. The floors were badly rotted and the top had long vaporized. A Pontiac engine was in the engine bay and hadn’t been run in years. Everything else on the car was intact. Merlin had once asked me what the car would be worth in Restored condition and I had told him $50,000 (about 1999). He had written this down in his notes along with my name and phone number. Charlene thought the car was worth $50,000 in 2009.
From 2009 to 2012 Charlene and I exchanged emails about obtaining a title, what it would take to restore it and other subjects about the car. In the fall of 2012 she said she was taking offers and would I like to make one. I could not at the time as I was up to my ears in business and not ready to take on a project of this magnitude.
I heard from her again in early April and she said “make me an offer”. I made an offer close to the number I gave her four years before as an opinion of value (low 5 figures) and we settled with another $1500.
I went to get the car on Friday May 10, the next day I started a deconstruction to locate a build card and found one in the driver’s side bucket seat. I am now on a hunt for the original motor which may still be in the central BC area.

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