Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Coolest compliment of the month for a car guy.... and two good stories of buying cars

Your blog is like an old box of car parts hidden away in the corner of a favorite grand parents garage

Hey man just wanted to drop a line and say thanks for your blog, it is so much fun to go through.

I live in LA and have been a car nut ever since I was 9 I saw an old dilapidated and dusty 68/69Barracuda notchback sitting in a parking garage. I dreamt about how it probably belonged to an old lady who just couldn't drive it anymore. The lines of that car really got me wanting one. I used to stay up late with a flashlight, thumbing through endless ads in The Recycler until my fingers were black from the inked pages. I saw an ad for a 69 Barracuda notch and jumped when i saw the lowly price of 2700. I drove out to Glendale and saw the car of my dreams, in about 6 different shades of primer, with the original Spanish Gold metallic peaking through. A rattle canned Plum Crazy engine bay sealed the deal, and the poor old guy selling the car gave me the keys as his wife sat with her arms on her hips, tapping her foot as he signed his baby away to me. The car came with two extra pumpkins, one a 3.23 and the other a set of 3.11's. Also came with an extra dash, endless wiring, 3 sets of emblems, a spare window frame, two sets of ballast resistors and an old Maxwell coffee jar full of clips and fasteners. No doubt, the minute I left he handed the wad of cash over to his wife, the poor bastard.

It was a moment of pure joy to just sift through the box of what must have taken years and years of car shows to collect. i have not parted with my beloved car or one single item of spare parts.

On another note, I have a pretty nice 64 Buick Riviera that i am trying to sell. I saw it sitting in front of the house of my girlfriend (at the time) for a week or two, and then one day there was a tow away sticker on it. I broke into the car with a wire coat hanger so I could fish around the glove box for a registration card. I grabbed the card, walked around the block and knocked on the door of a second story apartment building. The dude answered and I told him that his car was going to be towed. He said that he was leaving for New York the next day and that he could not do anything about the car because it would not start. It was obvious that this guy knew nothing about Buick points distributers, or anything about cars in general. Well, I'd be damned if I was going to let that beauty go to the impound, so I told him that I would buy the car off of him for what he would have to pay to get it out of the impound. He fell for it, I grabbed the pink slip and the keys and got that old bitch running in an hour. I have been enjoying that old nail head for about 5 years now, but it is ready to pass on to another caretaker. If you know anyone who wants a nice Rivi, send me an email in return so I can send a few pictures.

Best,

Noah
My Zimbio