VintageMusclecar
09-20-2005, 09:53 PM
Bizarre turn of events today. This is gonna be kinda long, but there's quite a few points I need to hit to tie this story together. Sort of a "Back To The Future" story, so please bear with me.
As some of you may have seen in this thread (http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/159134/an/0/page/0#159134) I posted the other day, I've been looking for a project car, with a strong preference for a `67 Chevelle.
Right after I posted that thread, someone emailed me about a `67 SS they have for sale, but they don't have a title for it. I contacted my local title office today to see what hoops I'd have to jump through to get that car titled should I decide to buy it. That's another story, so lest I digress...
Rewind 23 years ago: I was 16 years old, and already a `67 Chevelle junkie. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif I happened across a `67 SS (a real 138 car) in the local paper for a mere $200.00. (remember THOSE days?!?) I bought the car and drug the remnants of it home, and proceeded to begin my learning curve. Someone had already pirated the engine, trans, 12 bolt and the SS hood. I didn't have much to work with, but it was a start!
Soon, the car had a 396 in it, with 11-1 forged pistons, prepped rods, a steel crank, OPCC heads, a nice lumpy Crane solid cam, and an OEM iron Holley intake. Since a 4-speed was a luxury I couldn't afford at the time, I stuck in a 400 turbo with a Vega converter (again, remember those days?), and my "deal-of-the-year", a fresh 12-bolt with 4.56 gears I scored for a measely $400.00.
It was loud, it was ugly, and it was fast! It did great burn-outs too, as witnessed by the attached pic. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/burnout.gif
http://www.yenko.net/attachments/159713-First67chevelleburnout.jpg
(that was taken in front of a friend's house at his prompting...he had a few shots left on a roll of film he wanted to spend, and asked me if I'd oblige him with an "action shot" in front of his house...so I did http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif )
Anyhow, a few years later, after several driveline incarnations, I decided to pull the car down to a bare body and frame to start fixing things the way they should be done. Boy, did I ever get in over my head on that one. One thing led to another, and after a couple of years of staring at the carcass in my gagare, I decided I wasn't going to be able to complete the car anytime soon. A friend had been bugging me to sell it to him anyways, so we struck a deal and he bought the car.
Part of the deal was that should he decide to sell it, I had first dibs to buy it back. It didn't quite pan out that way, unfortunately.
In the short time he owned it, he rebuilt the front suspension, stuck in a rebuilt 396 (based on a legit L78 block I might add), a 4-speed, a 12 bolt, and a nice set of rallys and tires.
Then he decides it's time to get married and settle down, so he needs to sell the car to scrape up the $$$ for a down-payment on a house. Despite my frantic efforts to scrape up the $$$ to buy the car back, he sold it to someone else.
(FWIW...that marriage didn't even last as long as his ownership of the car did...and he lost the house soon after that. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif )
Anyhow...
As I still have the VIN for my old Chevelle, I've tried several times over the years to track the car down, but to no avail. That is, until today.
Fast-forward back to today...I'm on the horn with the local title bureau regarding the other `67, the one with no title. Just on a whim, I asked the lady on the other end of the line if there was any way she could see if my old car was still titled in Ohio if I provided her with the VIN. *NOTE*...I'd asked this before on a few occasions and was told "no" each time in no uncertain terms.
At any rate, she says she can try the #, but she wouldn't be allowed to divulge the current owner because of the privacy act. I asked her to proceed anyhow, and she obliged.
To my utter amazement, the car was, and IS still here in Ohio!
Now for the bad news...it's at a dealership. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
I asked her if she could divulge the owner's name since it was a dealership instead of a private party, and she said "yes."
2 minutes later, having googled the dealership, I'm on the phone with "G***", the current owner of the car. He gave me the basic run-down on the car; It has newer quarters (partials), and they weren't installed very well, starting to break out at the weld lines. The car is now turquoise, the interior is "mostly" there sans console which he says he has, and the wheels/tires are toast. He himself described the car as "sorta rough and needs work."
Other than that, "I could jump in it, fire it up and drive it anywhere I want to."
Pardon my skepticism, but I've heard that line many times before.
Then he told me his price. Apparently, he's suffering from "eBay-itis." http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif (that is, if the car's in the condition he's lead me to believe it's in).
He's supposed to email me pictures in the next day or 2, so providing he follows through, I'll go from there.
I'm not holding my breath. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
On one hand, I'm happy the car is still around and hasn't met it's fate at the crusher or anything similar. On the other hand, I've dreamed of finding the car for many years, and would LOVE to have the car back again, but it's not looking like that's going to happen unless the car is a LOT nicer than he led me to believe it is over the phone.
Nearly 20 years of dreams are looking to meet a rather anticlimactic conclusion. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
Anyhow, that's my story, just thought I'd share.
As some of you may have seen in this thread (http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/159134/an/0/page/0#159134) I posted the other day, I've been looking for a project car, with a strong preference for a `67 Chevelle.
Right after I posted that thread, someone emailed me about a `67 SS they have for sale, but they don't have a title for it. I contacted my local title office today to see what hoops I'd have to jump through to get that car titled should I decide to buy it. That's another story, so lest I digress...
Rewind 23 years ago: I was 16 years old, and already a `67 Chevelle junkie. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif I happened across a `67 SS (a real 138 car) in the local paper for a mere $200.00. (remember THOSE days?!?) I bought the car and drug the remnants of it home, and proceeded to begin my learning curve. Someone had already pirated the engine, trans, 12 bolt and the SS hood. I didn't have much to work with, but it was a start!
Soon, the car had a 396 in it, with 11-1 forged pistons, prepped rods, a steel crank, OPCC heads, a nice lumpy Crane solid cam, and an OEM iron Holley intake. Since a 4-speed was a luxury I couldn't afford at the time, I stuck in a 400 turbo with a Vega converter (again, remember those days?), and my "deal-of-the-year", a fresh 12-bolt with 4.56 gears I scored for a measely $400.00.
It was loud, it was ugly, and it was fast! It did great burn-outs too, as witnessed by the attached pic. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/burnout.gif
http://www.yenko.net/attachments/159713-First67chevelleburnout.jpg
(that was taken in front of a friend's house at his prompting...he had a few shots left on a roll of film he wanted to spend, and asked me if I'd oblige him with an "action shot" in front of his house...so I did http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif )
Anyhow, a few years later, after several driveline incarnations, I decided to pull the car down to a bare body and frame to start fixing things the way they should be done. Boy, did I ever get in over my head on that one. One thing led to another, and after a couple of years of staring at the carcass in my gagare, I decided I wasn't going to be able to complete the car anytime soon. A friend had been bugging me to sell it to him anyways, so we struck a deal and he bought the car.
Part of the deal was that should he decide to sell it, I had first dibs to buy it back. It didn't quite pan out that way, unfortunately.
In the short time he owned it, he rebuilt the front suspension, stuck in a rebuilt 396 (based on a legit L78 block I might add), a 4-speed, a 12 bolt, and a nice set of rallys and tires.
Then he decides it's time to get married and settle down, so he needs to sell the car to scrape up the $$$ for a down-payment on a house. Despite my frantic efforts to scrape up the $$$ to buy the car back, he sold it to someone else.
(FWIW...that marriage didn't even last as long as his ownership of the car did...and he lost the house soon after that. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif )
Anyhow...
As I still have the VIN for my old Chevelle, I've tried several times over the years to track the car down, but to no avail. That is, until today.
Fast-forward back to today...I'm on the horn with the local title bureau regarding the other `67, the one with no title. Just on a whim, I asked the lady on the other end of the line if there was any way she could see if my old car was still titled in Ohio if I provided her with the VIN. *NOTE*...I'd asked this before on a few occasions and was told "no" each time in no uncertain terms.
At any rate, she says she can try the #, but she wouldn't be allowed to divulge the current owner because of the privacy act. I asked her to proceed anyhow, and she obliged.
To my utter amazement, the car was, and IS still here in Ohio!
Now for the bad news...it's at a dealership. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
I asked her if she could divulge the owner's name since it was a dealership instead of a private party, and she said "yes."
2 minutes later, having googled the dealership, I'm on the phone with "G***", the current owner of the car. He gave me the basic run-down on the car; It has newer quarters (partials), and they weren't installed very well, starting to break out at the weld lines. The car is now turquoise, the interior is "mostly" there sans console which he says he has, and the wheels/tires are toast. He himself described the car as "sorta rough and needs work."
Other than that, "I could jump in it, fire it up and drive it anywhere I want to."
Pardon my skepticism, but I've heard that line many times before.
Then he told me his price. Apparently, he's suffering from "eBay-itis." http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif (that is, if the car's in the condition he's lead me to believe it's in).
He's supposed to email me pictures in the next day or 2, so providing he follows through, I'll go from there.
I'm not holding my breath. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
On one hand, I'm happy the car is still around and hasn't met it's fate at the crusher or anything similar. On the other hand, I've dreamed of finding the car for many years, and would LOVE to have the car back again, but it's not looking like that's going to happen unless the car is a LOT nicer than he led me to believe it is over the phone.
Nearly 20 years of dreams are looking to meet a rather anticlimactic conclusion. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
Anyhow, that's my story, just thought I'd share.