Thread: Lost hotrods

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abandoned muscle cars - YouTube

Every time I see a car like one of those my mind can't help but think that there was that first day the original buyer was proud as punch to drive a new, sweet smelling, shiny ride off the dealer's lot. Carefully parked it, washed it regularly, fretted over when he'd get the first parking lot ding..................

Yea thats funny Bob me too. I would venture to say that 90% of these owners would say that they are not for sale ,I plan on rebuilding some day. Such a waste.

I've checked out and tried to deal on some of the cars on the Barnfind site---never got anywhere on what I wanted but some of them are decent and can be bought....

What bothers me is that if you can even get into negotiations with an owner, his idea of value is often so far out of reality that even if you could buy it, it would end up cost wise beyond any stretch of the imagination. Yep there are those that say that someday they're "gonna fix her up". Most of those folks don't have a clue either on how to do it nor the bucks to get it done (nor ever will - for either)

A former employer of mine had me in the very nice city of Des Moines for a couple of years. I was single then and was in a financial position to find something I had wanted for a long time: A '58 Chrysler 300 two door hardtop. Preferably black.

A lady who worked for me was married to an Iowa State Trooper. He mentioned to me that he occasionally got word of interesting cars when he was out traveling the state. I told him what I was looking for. He said that he knew of one in Illinois. He had not seen it but he knew that it was owned by a widow and it been parked inside for several years. She was asking a fair price for it.

Supposedly it had no dings or dents and had a good engine and nice interior.

That turned out to be true.

BUT ...... after a long drive I saw it and nearly cried. I had never (still haven't) seen such rust in my life. All four fenders, the under-hood sheet metal, and floor boards were rusted through. Big holes. All the running gear looked terrible.

She said they had bought it new in Florida and used it there for a few years

I guess undercoating must have been a pretty expensive option in the fifties.

Common sense must have been scarce, too!


Jim