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View Full Version : Wild goose chases lookin' for old cars



Raceman
10-18-2003, 10:16 PM
We loaded up with the neighbors at the lake and went to the monthly cruise about an hour from here tonight. It was the last one of the season at this particular location, and the car population was a little weak by comparison to it's usual turnout.

Anyhow there were a couple of interesting Fords there that I haven't seen before. One was a super nice 69 Boss 429 Mustang (Shotgun motor) and right in front of it was a very nice 64 Fairlane sedan with a for sale sign. I got to talking to the owner of the Fairlane about his car, since I've always wanted to build a Thunderbolt clone. I thought he was a little high on it and was about to walk away, when he mentioned that he had a "real" Thunderbolt in the garage at home, but said it was real dissassembled and many of the important components were missing. After a little interogation about the car and it's history, we decided to hang around an extra hour and a half until the cruise was over and follow him home to look, instead of makin' another 2 1/2 hour round trip to do it later. When we got there the car was unbelievable, as most too good to be true car stories are. I was looking under the hood for the factory modification of the spring towers to verify that the car did have at least some chance of being authentic. As I was doing this, he pulled the cover back to reveal a 2 dr. hardtop. Everybody knows that all the Thunderbolts were sedans, so this one was eliminated right then. What a let down. Not only that, but this car didn't have the spring tower mods, or the holes in the radiator core support for the air induction hoses from the two inner headlights like all Thunderbolts had. After that it was a long ride home...................... seeing a glimmer of hope for finding one of the ultimate resto projects turn into no chance whatsoever in about 2 minutes.

WharfRat
10-18-2003, 10:45 PM
like you need another one, SHEESH:rolleyes:

Raceman
10-19-2003, 10:09 AM
"like you need another one, SHEESH"


Is that you honey????? How'd you get Wharf's screen name to give me grief here too????:eek:

clydecleinmark
10-21-2003, 02:17 PM
Ah, yes, the wonderful wild goose chases. Been on many of those. Back in the late 70's when old musclecars were starting to have value, I called on an original owner 87 Nova SS. He said he had only dragraced it since new-original paint, mint interior, etc. Don't recall if it had the origimnal motor (who cared then!) but it was a small block with factory 4 speed. Seems like it was $1200. I drove for about an hour and a half, he opens the garage door and from the front it looked pretty good. Then I see the side and he'd opened up the rear wheel weels for big slicks and had that chrome welt stuff around the edge of the opening. The best part was the interior was nice BUT he'd done a huge motor setback and the center of the firewall was gone. Oops, just saw my typo. It was a 67-not an 87. Always loved the term "mint" and how subjective it is. "No rust" means it doesn't have any today but you should have seen it before I sculpted the quarters and door bottoms with 6 gallons of bondo.

eautosales
10-21-2003, 04:33 PM
i have been on many of the wild goose chases & never found anything great but a good friend of mine scored a barn fresh unmolested superbird last year he was quite lucky.

Raceman
10-21-2003, 04:44 PM
Wild goose chases are one of my favorite passtimes and if most of em weren't a dissappointment, the ones that turn out to be worthwhile wouldn't be near as much fun.

sms
10-22-2003, 09:09 AM
I wish I knew how many miles I've driven on bad inteligence info! Still, It's the thrill of the chase. One of the worst was an electrician who told me about a 69 Vette he had for sale. It was a black coupe but did not run. He wanted 5 grand. I went to see it and found a radio delete 435hp car with mag wheels and bad paint. The original color was blue. The block was in the driveway with the heads off and rusting. I commented on the wheels and the guy said he has the original wheels and tires still mounted in the garage. I tried to stay calm and told him I'd take it, see you tomorrow with a trailer and cash. The next day I waited in his driveway from 4pm till midnite and he never came home. The next night, same thing but his wife was home and came out to report on Jim's eta. 2 hours to go. 6 hrs later I gave up. Next 2 days same crap. My wife was getting tired of hanging out with me in a bad neighborhood all night with a bunch of cash. The last evening I went over she said they decided not to sell it. I checked about every 6 months for years but could never get anywhere. The car sat deteriorating the whole time. Finally they moved and I gave up.

Also did you know the "some guy died in it"story is still around?
My nephew tried to tell me recently about a friend of a friend who knows a guy who knows about a car(some ricer, I can't remember exactly) that just needed a new interior to get the smell out.
When I was a teenager it was a $100 63 fuelie with no miles, when my dad was a kid it was a model t Ford!