Finally contacted/visiting original owner

[GrumpyJeff]

After purchasing my wife a nice 70 Chevelle SS396 locally last summer. I finally tracked down the Original owner off of the POP. Turns out he still lives in the same town, only a few miles from the Dealership (El-Mor Chevrolet) in Morgantown Pa where he ordered the car new as a junior in high school, Spent about 2 hrs on the Phone with him the other evening. So Tomorrow I will be paying him a visit with the Car. He's already shared lots of stories & pictures of the Car. But tomorrow he's gonna get to drive it again ! says he sold it in 1980 to buy a new Toyata Celica GT haha. Not sure who's more excited him or I ?

[Bill Pritchard]

Very cool! Hope all goes well. The original owner of my convertible lived only 2 blocks away from me when we lived back in IL and she was excited to see the car, shared some old pictures of her with the car, but did not want to drive it :dunno: She did let me take her for a ride in it though.

[SS427]

That's is pretty cool. I think that would be so neat to reunite a car with its original owner. Unfortunately, the original owner's of both of our cars are long gone. Both were one owner cars so that would really have been cool to get together with them.

[GrumpyJeff]

Very cool! Hope all goes well. The original owner of my convertible lived only 2 blocks away from me when we lived back in IL and she was excited to see the car, shared some old pictures of her with the car, but did not want to drive it :dunno: She did let me take her for a ride in it though.

Yeah I'm really excited, said last he heard the guy he sold it to raced it a little at Maple Grove which kind of disappointed him. But said he never saw or heard of the car after that, until he got a letter in the mail from me early last week. But he still had framed pics of it on the wall of his house .

[markinnaples]

Yeah I'm really excited, said last he heard the guy he sold it to raced it a little at Maple Grove which kind of disappointed him. But said he never saw or heard of the car after that, until he got a letter in the mail from me early last week. But he still had framed pics of it on the wall of his house .

Congrats, good deal. Any pics of it?

[GrumpyJeff]

Congrats, good deal. Any pics of it?

He sent me some , but I’m limited with my pic posting skills . He said he has a bunch of slides he’ll let me have tomorrow

[R68GTO]

Your going to have a great time bringing the car back to the OO. In my case it wasn't the OO but was the surviving son of the 2nd owner who raced it BITD. It is the highlight moment of my ownership of the car.

[NorCam]

Very cool news Jeff. Excited for both of you and can't wait to see the pics.

I'll shoot you a PM regarding picture hosting. :biggthumpup:

[flyingn]

After purchasing my wife a nice 70 Chevelle SS396 locally last summer. I finally tracked down the Original owner off of the POP. Turns out he still lives in the same town, only a few miles from the Dealership (El-Mor Chevrolet) in Morgantown Pa where he ordered the car new as a junior in high school, Spent about 2 hrs on the Phone with him the other evening. So Tomorrow I will be paying him a visit with the Car. He's already shared lots of stories & pictures of the Car. But tomorrow he's gonna get to drive it again ! says he sold it in 1980 to buy a new Toyata Celica GT haha. Not sure who's more excited him or I ?

We will be nearby tomorrow. Heading to Landisville pa for a pontiac show. Good luck

[NorCam]

A few pics of Jeff & Renee's 70 Chevelle. Timeless to say the least.

Pics from Original Owner - Circa 1970
https://i.ibb.co/GMvD50V/image1.jpg

Original Owner/s - 1970 Morgantown PA
https://i.ibb.co/HxCVQQy/image0.jpg

Current Owner/s - 2020 Manheim PA
https://i.ibb.co/CHSY3kG/image4.jpg

[bluel78]

Cool story but dang, that’s a great looking machine.

[bugsy]

looks really nice Jeff. Great story and enjo u the car.

[KLars1]

What an awesome stance....that car belongs in the "does stance matter..." thread! Beautiful!

[JKZ27]

How cool! There's nothing like watching a fella get behind the wheel of his car he bought new. You could take a video for him to keep.

[A12pilot]

Man that’s a tough looking car. Looking forward to seeing the original owner next to it! I remember seeing the original owner of my Super Bee standing next to it after a 40 year break. When he was running his hand along the fender, I could only imagine what thoughts were going through his mind!!!

Cheers
Dave

[markinnaples]

Man, that's a beautiful Chevelle, congrats

[Bill Pritchard]

Cragars look perfect on there :biggthumpup:

[NorCam]

Here are some pics to be added for Jeff. The first picture shows the Impala that was traded in when the original owner bought the Chevelle. That's followed by some old pictures of the car from back in the day, and a couple Jeff took with the original owner earlier today. I like that the O/O was wearing an appropriate shirt!

Very cool Jeff. :burnout:

https://i.ibb.co/pX1V8py/IMG-7180.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/n6RXtD3/IMG-7182.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/mDRVrVs/IMG-7183.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/ynNrSJp/IMG-7185.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/Yh6j3Td/IMG-7189.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/qjZVr7F/IMG-7196.jpg

[GrumpyJeff]

Such a great day reuniting the Chevelle today with Charles , After a few hours of his stories and my questions , he took me on a cruise around town (Morgantown) we drove past the Old El-Mor dealership ,Now Turnpike Chevrolet, showed my the exact window he sat inside when he ordered the car in March 1970, Then a couple blocks later we backed into his Ex mother & father in laws driveway (where a couple of the old pics were taken) and out comes a very elderly couple in their early 90's ? who seemed very very happy to share memories of Charlie and his car. Then we stopped at another guys house that used to carpool with Charlie in the Chevelle when they worked together. Epic day for him and I !!!

[Zedder]

Beauty!

[AnthonyS]

Very cool!

[Billohio]

My buddy and his dad had matching forest green ss396 cheveles about 1985. He found the vin and his dads showed up online at one of the big car dealers like streetside or RK. He still has the build sheet on his and we figured out it was actually a clone! He has no idea where it went

[GrumpyJeff]

One of the cooler stories he told me about the car was how he planned on ordering the car in Red w/black stripes like the car on all the brochures, but on the way to the dealership he passed an older guy that lived up the block in his Forrest Green ,white stripe 69 Z28. So at the last minute changed his mind to code 48

[GrumpyJeff]

He also mentioned El-Mor had already sold a Forest green 1970 L78 ,4spd Chevelle to a local guy , But they never had SS cars on the lot , they had to be ordered. He also said the salesman tried to talk him out of “ The Big Motor” thats why he got the L34 , His car payments were $90 a month

[Mr70]

True,I know the owner today.

[GrumpyJeff]

Wow ! very Cool ! Dumb question but being both cars sold from the same dealership what factored into what plant the cars came from ? My car is a Atlanta built car and see the L78 car was a Baltimore car.

[GrumpyJeff]

True,I know the owner today.

Is this car still in the north east area ? Charles did say El-Mor wasn't really a performance minded Dealer , they sold mostly family cars & trucks, He also mentioned if you were a motorhead in the area you were either a Chevy guy or a Mopar guy. And the local Plymouth dealer up the street sold quite a few Muscle cars

[Mr70]

Wow ! very Cool ! Dumb question but being both cars sold from the same dealership what factored into what plant the cars came from ? My car is a Atlanta built car and see the L78 car was a Baltimore car.

Imagine it was Chevrolet looking at which plants had the parts & availability at that time,not necessarily who was closest.
The Owner is not in the Northeast today.

[bbbenny]

Great story Jeff. Congrads on the History of the car! BBBenny

[1967Z28]

Awesome story, Jeff. Thanks for sharing.

[GMC_Typhoon]

It's always great to see a car that looks clean enough to lick. Nice car.

[chevyman0429]

It's always great to see a car that looks clean enough to lick. Nice car.

Lmao I heard that!

[NorCam]

Looks like someone scored a couple gifts today?

https://i.ibb.co/3zQmv7x/IMG-7202-1.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/ynwdXK5/IMG-7201-1.jpg

[DW31S]

Awesome Jeff!

[mockingbird812]

Great story and photos! Love it! Thanks for sharing with us Jeff! We LOVE this stuff!!!:biggthumpup::biggthumpup::biggthumpup:

[GrumpyJeff]

Looks like someone scored a couple gifts today?

https://i.ibb.co/3zQmv7x/IMG-7202-1.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/ynwdXK5/IMG-7201-1.jpg

Before I left Saturday I asked Charlie if he still had anything relating to the car or dealership stashed ? and he says " I don't know , Maybe ? Ill look. He calls me Sunday and says " found a couple old shirts if you want them ? Haha Good Karma I guess ?!

[Mr70]

Get a Hat too..

[GrumpyJeff]

Get a Hat too..

Yep , it’s even Green 👍

[PLATINUM6BBL]

That's cool you went to visit the original owner!

I went to visit the family of the 2nd owner of my A12 on Saturday. Sadly it was for his memorial as he passed early this year. Here's what I posted elsewhere:

Went to a special event yesterday unbeknownst to the family I was going to attend. Here’s what I posted over on FB:
You know I’ve put very few miles on the old silver slug in 30 plus years I’ve owned it. In fact less than a thousand miles on it since was last inspected in August of 1986 😔! But the miles yesterday to the 2nd caretakers home and time spent with his family was priceless.
They didn’t know that Rick’s old Road Runner was making the trek back to its 2nd home to honor him. I just wish I had done it last year when he was still with us.
As I was nearing his house and could see people heading into the garage where I first laid eyes on it in April of 1987 I could literally see jaws dropping and hands going to their mouths. Pulling in I could see tears being wiped away. The words “Rick had a car just like this” were met with my own words “this was Rick’s car!”
You know I said there’d be pics and stories to post from yesterday’s gathering to celebrate Rick’s life but honestly, I took no pictures. Yesterday was about family getting to see, feel and touch what was once a very special part of Rick’s life. They said it was the one car he would constantly talk about.
A special part of the time spent with them was asking his ex-wife Linda if she wanted to wheel it again. I think if she had slid the seat forward it would have been more than just getting a second shift tire chirp! Linda said “oh the flood of memories!” His sister Amy said the same. Misty got the “Rick treatment” with 6bbl’s open and tires bawling!
Thank you Rick (and Linda) for saving a significant car in A12 Mopar world out of an Oil City area salvage yard in 1972.

RIP Rick Kline

[dykstra]

Such great stories. It really is fantastic to read these. Congrats!

[markinnaples]

Great story Platinum; congrats on making that families day a little brighter than it normally would have been.

Where in W PA are you from? I used to haunt Oil City and Franklin for work and there always seemed to be some cool muscle car floating around in garages as I drove by.

[Kurt S]

I used to haunt Oil City and Franklin for work and there always seemed to be some cool muscle car floating around in garages as I drove by.
Going there tomorrow.....literally. A Yenko Chevelle came out of Grove City. Still supposed to be another one in the area.

[PLATINUM6BBL]

Great story Platinum; congrats on making that families day a little brighter than it normally would have been.

Where in W PA are you from? I used to haunt Oil City and Franklin for work and there always seemed to be some cool muscle car floating around in garages as I drove by.
Originally from Knox but now live in Parker. Lots of stuff in garages still...

[PLATINUM6BBL]

Going there tomorrow.....literally. A Yenko Chevelle came out of Grove City. Still supposed to be another one in the area.
Recently?! I'm not far away and would love to see a barn / garage find with you!

[PLATINUM6BBL]

Great story Platinum; congrats on making that families day a little brighter than it normally would have been.

Where in W PA are you from? I used to haunt Oil City and Franklin for work and there always seemed to be some cool muscle car floating around in garages as I drove by.
What time frame was it? The 70 FC7 hemi-cuda convertible that Blakes own now came from my cousins dealership.

[PLATINUM6BBL]

Going there tomorrow.....literally. A Yenko Chevelle came out of Grove City. Still supposed to be another one in the area.
Knew of a 427 Nova out of the area that ended up being crushed 10-12 years ago (maybe a little longer)

[markinnaples]

My travels there were in the 90's when I still lived in the south hills of Pittsburgh. Been in FL for 21+ years now, but I do miss the car scene in W PA as it was way more muscle car focused than the more exotic scene here.

[PLATINUM6BBL]

My travels there were in the 90's when I still lived in the south hills of Pittsburgh. Been in FL for 21+ years now, but I do miss the car scene in W PA as it was way more muscle car focused than the more exotic scene here.
I hear there is still some street action over on 157 at the county line.

[GrumpyJeff]

Awesome story, Jeff. Thanks for sharing.

Hey Jon , I believe I met you a few weeks ago at the Hot rod Ranch in Lompoc ? I was the guy from PA on vacation talking about your 67 Z's. Small world when it comes to these old cars

[1967Z28]

Jeff, yes that was me and you're right about it being a small world sometimes.

[JP Emerson]

Hope I'm not stepping on toes here but these are exactly the type of stories I am always looking for.

Awesome post and thanks for sharing.


JP Emerson
Automotive author/journalist
jpemerson.com (https://www.jpemerson.com/)

[GrumpyJeff]

Hope I'm not stepping on toes here but these are exactly the type of stories I am always looking for.

Awesome post and thanks for sharing.


JP Emerson
Automotive author/journalist
jpemerson.com (https://www.jpemerson.com/)

If you would like to talk to Charlie the OO ? message me and ill give you his contact info. I'm sure there's nothing he would rather do more than talk and tell more stories about his old Chevelle

[JP Emerson]

If you would like to talk to Charlie the OO ? message me and ill give you his contact info. I'm sure there's nothing he would rather do more than talk and tell more stories about his old Chevelle

Sure would! Shoot me an email. [email protected]