My Dale Chev Dusk Blue RS/Z Story

[Steve Shauger]

I saw a post about a Dale sold JL8 Z and I had to laugh. I have a great story, but it too late to provide details tonight. I flew out on business in 1986 to Chicago. While I was there I also looked up a car for sale in the area. I bought the car and it came with a protect -o- plate for documentation. Once I got home I looked the guy up listed on the pop, and he had all the original docs I posted below. I chuckled when I saw the post about the Dale sold Z28, because it reminded me of the letter the owner of my car wrote to his salesman at Dale Chev. My understanding is that Jim Hickok, the saleman at Dale contacted the owner of the Dusk Blue Z, soliciting names of friends who might be interested in purchasing a car. We hold these car with such high esteem, and you don't hear too many stories of owners bashing the fabulous 69 z28. He wrote this while he was in college at Syracuse Univ. He used the car to travel back and forth from college to Chicago.

The next chapter is driving the car from Chicago to my home in Long Island!!!

[69LM1]

"The windows won't close above 50mph"

:)

Rich

[combinefixer]

LMAO @ the "P.s." line. Like a cherry on the top.

[McCune]

Wow, what a great letter. I hear people say all the time "Don't you wish they built them like they used to" The owner thought his Z was a pile. I guess the letter says it was.

[Tarrytown SS427s]

Did he happen to mention any details on the 65 Impala SS vert he traded on? Curious if it was anything special.

[ZLP955]

That is absolute gold :worship:

[SuperNovaSS]

Steve,

Thanks for sharing. That is really funny.

Jason

[William]

We looked at a Z11 way back when, still with the original owner. The glove box was full of ROs-"repair hood to work" and "repair headlight doors to work."

This story sounds familiar-was this the former D & R drag car?

[70 copo]

A Z/28 with a 3.73-1 was going to lower your expectations quickly unless you wanted to travel with it....with that being said this car looks like a poster child for the issues that Detroit had with quality. By 1972 the term "Lemon" was pretty common. This guy had a great humor about it however in the letter.

[MosportGreen66]

Wow Steve thanks for sharing. That is wonderful!

Dan

[The Boss]

That's a GREAT letter!

[Mr70]

I read all that as a testament to how bullet proof those radios really are.

[mr 707]

original documentation like that gives me goosebumps. GREAT STUFF

[Xplantdad]

Very cool!:headbang:

[Steve Shauger]

We looked at a Z11 way back when, still with the original owner. The glove box was full of ROs-"repair hood to work" and "repair headlight doors to work."

This story sounds familiar-was this the former D & R drag car?

I knew you would remember the car, and yes Steve @ D&R raced the car. I think I shared the story with you years ago. Excellent memory Bill!!!!

[dykstra]

Absolutely the funniest thing I’ve read in a long time. Hilarious! Thanks for posting.

[Tracker1]

Hahaha! Built on a Friday afternoon?

Where is the car now? Pics?
thanks for sharing that Steve

[Steve Shauger]

Hahaha! Built on a Friday afternoon?

Where is the car now? Pics?
thanks for sharing that Steve

A friend in WI has owned it since 2005.

[enio45]

So cool

[jl8dale]

Hmmn, I don't remember this car from my Park Ridge days and I hung out with most of the hot rods in town. It appears that the original owner was about 4-5 blocks away from me. I had a Yellow Z in 1973 so we might have missed each other with our college commutes. Great car though even with all of the issues!

[NorCam]

Awesome read Steve!

I love the guys sense of humor, but bet he still had fun running it from WI to NY. Those were the days for sure. :3gears:

[belker6]

I like that guy. Humor, but made his point clear.

[Tenney]

Good thing he didn't get the "radio delete" ...

[Steve Shauger]

When I called the original owner Richard, he was excited to send me the letter. He and I had a good laugh and yes he has a great sense of humor. I wonder if the salesman Jin Hickok shared this with his coworkers, and what their reaction was :naughty:. Quality has certainly improved across all brands because of the monitoring systems and processes in place.

[resto4u]

The best part is we love these cars and hold them in high asteem. When we restore them that are 100% better than new. It is great to hear from a first person view of what they were like back then.