So at this point I have a 48 Plymouth coupe and a Harley Davidson Shovelhead sitting in the driveway and garage respectively, neither of which are getting any attention, nor are they exactly family friendly.
Both needed attention that i had no energy for. I work on other peoples cars 50-60 hrs a week, so when I get home the last thing I want to do is turn more wrenches. So what to do?
It was a pretty simple choice. Actually it was the same choice that got me into all that trouble with the Kliche Koupe , sell everything that needs work and find a car that suits my needs and requires minimal physical investment. So that's what I did. I put everything up on Craigslist while simultaneously blowing my entire month's bandwidth allotment searching for my new jewel.
The Plymouth sold on Good Friday and the Harley went away 9 days later. It was that day that I came across this little gem.
I had been showing my Beloved every ad that I was attracted to. We have pretty similar taste, which resulted in the Kilche Koupe, but this time, we weren't jiving on much. I passed on a ton of really killer deals because I knew that if mama aint happy, aint nobody happy. When I showed her the ad for this one, she had me call the guy.
He was a young family man, a professional auto technician. He had bought the car semi-done and dropped more time, money and energy in to it before realizing that his passions lied elsewhere. It was priced fairly for what it is, and based on our conversation, it seemed worth the drive out to Hemet to look at it. We set a price, i wadded up a roll of hundreds and went to look at it. He kept emphasizing that it was no show car and I kept assuring him that I wasn't looking for one. After a quick inspection under the fluorescent lighting of his garage on an April night in the desert, and a quick test drive around the block, I knew I had to have it. As we pulled back into the garage, with the engine still running, I looked over and said "Let's go do some paperwork." His expression was priceless, but his response even more so. "You're not Bull $#!++!ng." To which I responded, "I don't mess around when it comes to my time or money. I didn't drive 2 1/2 hours with all this cash in my pocket if i wasn't serious." He recounted his experiences over the last few weeks of every Craigslist stroker who wasted his time and left him hanging at ever turn. It was getting late, I wanted the car and I had a long drive home. "Let's go do some paperwork."
We went in to the house where his wife greeted us with offers of cold beverages over ice, which I gladly accepted. Their young daughter was on the floor in front of the TV intently watching Woody Woodpecker cartoons, which I must admit, gave me dose of hope for all humanity. "She chose the show", her mom said. Inside, my heart shed a small tear of joy.
We sat at the table, handling paperwork while his wife meticulously counted and inspected each and every bill for legitimacy. After what seemed like an eternity of slaps of distrust with every bill she held to the light, she finally signed off on the deal and we were on the way.
My final question was "I'm not gonna have any problems getting home am I?" To which he responded, "I don't know. I hope not. I've never driven it that far." So I asked, "No problem at Fwy speed?" To which he responded, "Well, on the way home from upholstery, I got it up to about 65-70 on HWY XXX. It felt pretty good." I'm a gambler. I drive my cars. I drove it home.
The speedo wasn't hooked up, but the stereo was so I gassed it up and jumped on the road. I quickly downloaded a GPS speedo App at the gas station, and the car ran super smooth at 65-70. Mid-trip I get a text: "Text me when you get home, I want to make sure you made it alright." (Of course i didn't check my phone while driving. I got it when i pulled into my driveway.)
The car made it without incident and I can honestly say that this is probably dollar for dollar the best money i've ever spent on a car in the last 25 years. Other than a front end rebuild it needs nothing. I couldn't live with the tires or hubcaps so I took care of that ASAP, and now, I drive.
The seller told me it was a 6 cylinder car that had a V8 conversion that looked like a factory job. A quick VIN decoding indicated that it was in fact an original 210 V8. It has a late model Vortec 5.7 and a 4 speed with a stock rear end. Drum brakes at all 4 corners with heated coils up front and trac-bars on stock springs out back. The interior had probably been sat on 3 times before i bought it, and all the important stuff works.
I have no plans beyond some small cosmetic items, other than to drive the snot out of it.
happy life.
