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Do you know your cars history??
Every old car that Ive bought has come with some sort of history. In a couple of cases, I bought the car BECAUSE of the history behind it. I thought it might be pretty cool to hear the stories traced back in time about the cars we all own.....
Post em up?? Im the third owner of my car and it was restored frame off by a father and son who bought it from the original owner which dates back about 15 years ago now. Turns out the project was one in which the team took the car and wanted to do a project together with the hopes that it would bring the two of them closer togeter. From my contact with the second owner going back about 7 years ago, he claims they are now closer than ever. And it all started with my car. Every once in a while I pick up and look the the first owner but never had any luck. |
Yes....:D
(I laugh because I think you know the story)... For those who are not familiar, basically we've had my '65 since new. It was a racecar and then sat for about 30 years. Now it just does parades and shows for historically significant vehicles. More detail can be found here (start with post #8): http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=560524 Now - relative to my Grand Prix: I bought it in September of last year and, as you say, pretty much bought it for the paperwork it had. It came with the original window sticker, protectoplate, owner's manual, tire warranty folder - and - a "thank you" card from the selling dealership! It was sold from the west side of the state (Ludington, MI) to a family here locally (Taylor MI). I am intrigued by that and the fact that it is a very loaded car, very expensive, but seems to have been given to the son as a Christmas present: there is a handwritten note in the owner's manual that says: "Merry early Christmas Andy, love Mom and Dad". I have their name and will see if I can track them down. http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...0Prix/GPLF.jpg http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...Pbrochures.jpg Last one: for my Chevelle, my dad ordered it for my mom to drive. It is a factory police package, 454, TH400 etc, so it has always been a good runner. Mom drove it for four years and then I picked it up after that. I drove it two years and it has been a full time racer since then. This year marks 30 years racing that same car! Check inside the garage in this photo: http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...001/img078.jpg http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...son2007109.jpg K |
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Yes! I remember reading that. Cool story! K |
Kieth, we can always count on you (and I was) to add to a thread of this type. I like the old pic with your Goat in the garage. When you get more info on th GP...Please post!!
I didint see that thread Pontiac_Defender. Very nice story. |
My first GTO wasn't anything special, but the owner listed on the Protecto Plate still lived at the same address.
My father purchased a '67 corvette once and tracked down the original owner who swore it was originally a L88 car. |
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I`m the 2`nd owner of mine. It was purchased here in my home town by Eugene Martin. He gave it to his high school son. They brought it to high school football games and would dance on top of it. Poor sheet metal. Then, they caught the origional 350 2 bbl on fire and warped the hood. Then, they parked it without the carb. Well, you know what eventually happened. The motor locked up. So, the car sat until 1982 when I got it for $200. I bought a junkyard 455 for $35. No sh!t. I still have the car today.
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My 72 GTO was ordered for a doctors wife in San Antonio. I have every sales document after her and it has been passed onto 3 or 4 owners since her. I still have the original leather key case which she got when it was new. Another memeber found it in Arlington, Texas and started to restore it then sold it to another Pontiac guy who swapped it to a 4 speed then I came along and completed it. Guess it is finally at home now never leaving Texas.
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My 69 GTO Judge was purchased by Robert Dolinger at Epperly Pontiac in Christiansburg, VA in March 1969. He traded in a 66 GTO. I have a copy of the sales invoice showing the deal. I spoke to Robert in the early 1980's and need to try to locate him again.
There were two other owners that had the car a short time before my Dad purchased it for me in 1979 in High Point, N.C. when I was 19. I still have the car and hope to get it out to a show again this Fall or early Spring. I will eventually put my story in POCI, but have not taken the time to do it. |
400 Firebird cop car!
My 69 Firebird was sold out of Myrtle Motors in New York. It's a Liberty Blue 400 coupe which is a very dark royal blue color. It was owned by a New York City police officer, he added a siren, police radio and a red flashing light. The glove box door still has the bracket for the microphone and the NYPD sticker is still on the windshield. It must have been a cool sight to see a 400 Bird cop car hauling azz down the streets of New York in the 70's! DJ |
I fell into my 70 GTO. My brother had ordered his GTO from Right-Way Pontiac in DeKalb, IL. Shortly after buying the car, he moved to Long Beach, CA, where he drove it daily. In 1983 he decided it was time for a new car. He called me and asked if I wanted it. I quickly said yes but wondered how much he would want for it and how I would get it back to Illinois.
A few weeks later he called again and proposed that I fly to CA and he and I would drive it home for Christmas. It sounded like a lot of fun and adventure. Another week later he changed the plan. He said "My wife and I will drive the GTO home for Christmas. If you buy two one-way tickets from Chicago to Long Beach, the car is yours." I about crapped my pants and said, "You got a deal." When I finally got the car there was a brick on the driver's side floor that he had used for cruise control! |
I once bought a 64 Bonne convert from the daughter of the original owner. Her mother used it as a daily ride until a year or so before I bought it. She apparently was no longer able to drive. The daughter told me stories for a couple of hours about the car and when dad first brought it home from the dealer. She learned how to drive in the car.
I didn't even like the car. But the history was everything to me and at the time, felt like it was rare to have know the detailed history of any car like this one. When I bought the Bonne, it came with the original papers signed at the time of delivery including a bill of sale. I ended up selling when my daughter was born to pay off some bills that would allow my then wife to stay home with our child. The buyer bought the car simply to have it pained and resell it. He could have cared a less about the cars history. I might still have the cars paperwork. I figured what he didn't know about the car wouldn't kill 'em. |
My 71.....no my 73 TA
My Trans am started life out as a 71 Espirit. I saw it in the back yard of a stranger's house and thought I should stop and ask about it. Here in ND it is hard to find a 70-73 firebird/TA. Well the next time I went to the junk yard there it sat, stripped out. Just a rolling shell left. Every time I was at the yard I would pat the car on the roof and tell it "Some day you'll come home with me". Well as you can guess that day came and for $125 they dropped it at my garage. As I worked on the car, I noticed the round cupped dents in the car all over. I ran into a friend of the last owner and found out he was messing around and his wife or girlfriend took after the car with a ball peen hammer. OUCH! After 10 years of scrounding and many different years of TA parts into the car. It now looks like the Buc. Red TA you see here. I call it my "JOHNNY CASH CAR" from the song "ONE PIECE AT A TIME". If your up on your TA you can tell the corners I cut. Go to http://www.ravely.com/TA%20BC.html and see it come to life.
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When I graduated from college in June 1968, I bought a used 1967 Firebird 400 convertible, 4 spd, 3.55 posi-trac with 16K miles on it. The car was locally sold and owned with the original window sticker.
I kept the car till 1986 when I sold it to my younger brother with 96K miles on it. He still owns it and it only has 110K miles now. All original except the convertible top. No rips or tears in the upholstery, no cracks in the dash. Never wrecked or raced. Was repainted the original medium blue in the early 1980s. Although my wife thought we should get rid of it in 1986 (we had 4 cars), she wishes we had it back now. She inherited a 1939 Oldsmobile from her dad in 2003 which she had driven in high school 35 years ago. Having too much sentimental value to get rid of, we street rodded that car and she has much more interest in classic cars now. John |
I am the fifth owner of my car.
Found some receipts in the trunk with a name and address. Said why not. I wrote a letter and a month later a reply arrived via email. The lady was a widower who kept the car for 30+ years, even after her husband died in the 70's. Bought from a doctor in MA who was trying to trade it on a .... ugh... VW Beetle because of the cost of fuel! 1967 Lemans Convertible 326.... sorry but currently cloning. |
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I dont know the complete history of my 1971 T-37,but I do know a few things about it.It was sold new at a dealer in NC,at some point it was brought to Ohio in the Eighties. I found paper work in the glove box from 1983 a guy who must have worked at Napa had owned this car,there are a bunch of receits w/his name on them. Not sure how long he owned it for. Then There is a registration from 1984 with a womens name,date of purchase was 11/05/84. She traded or sold the car to a dealer in 1994. That is when my dads friend bought it. He sold the car to me in 1998. On the receits the mileage in 1983 was 61,000,in 1984 it was 68,341,in 1994 it was 70,100,now has 73,000 miles. Car has sat for long peroids of time even now I dont drive it much,that and the engine isn't finished yet. Id like to find the guy who worked at Napa and bought alot of parts for this car,including NOS wheel well molding's from Classic Chevrolet in Mentor Ohio. Price on the receit for the moldings was $34.00.
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California born & raised....
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I thought the story behind my '69 Firebird was rather interesting.....
The original "Lady" owner in the Fall of 1968 told her two older brothers that she was going to buy a brand new 1969 Firebird. Her brothers both driving GTO's at the time said to her...you cant just buy one off the lot, you need to order one with the right stuff! I think she ordered a great combination and the one option she wanted most was the fold-down rear seat to have a place to lay her dresses to and from the dry cleaners. She retired the car in the late 80's basically handing it over to her son, although it was never titled in his name and remained in her name until I purchased it earlier this year. I am technically the second "registered" owner. The guy I bought the car from basically lucked into it. While answering an ad for some old Model A wheels he was asked by the owner if he knew anyone that wanted a '69 Firebird? In the corner of their large shop/garage was this car that had been sitting for a few years with a bad water pump. He was a Camaro guy not really knowing what it was, but quickly educated himself and went back to buy the car a few days later. He basically just "flipped" the car for a nice profit, never titled it in his name and sold it to me in March, less than two months later. The car came with literally every annual registration card from new, the original salesman's business card and a few other documents. It also retains its originally issued black & yellow CA plates with the very first 1969 sticker still intact. She needs to be restored, but is a nice driver as is for now. Here's a link to the original thread where the seller was asking what the car might be worth and also some pictures of the car before and after I bought it..... http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=548940 |
I'll trade you a 69 ho grand prix and a black 70 gto red int rust free go getter 4 speed . For that nice bird .Gotta keep trying .
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Naah, I'm thinking I should just keep this one. A mint original '69 GP SJ just might get it though!
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My cars:
69 GTO convertible Bought it from the original owner in 93, San Antonio car, guy was a retired Air Force General and car was a weekend-pleasure car from new. 69 Lemans convertible Bought from the original owner in 2005, she got it new as a 25th wedding aniversary gift from her husband (in Birmingham Alabama), again it was a never a daily driver even new. she sold it because she lost her license and the kids did not want it. 69 GTO hardtop bought in fall 2006 from third owner (a flipper about a mile from my house) but I almost bought it from the first owner in Tucson (where the car stayed until 2006) in 93 same time I bought my GTO convertible. small world that it ended up a mile from my house. 69 GP SJ Bought it also in fall of 2006 from original owner in Los Angeles (through a broker), she was half chinese half spanish and about 4`8```. Car is still 100% original paint. her dad bought it new for her in 69. 69 Bonneville brougham convertible Bought it fall 2007 on eBay from second owner in Grants pass Oregon. Car racked up 104,000 miles by 1974 and now has 105,000. nice rustfree car but suffered from some sitting issues. |
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Don't know anything about my 65 GTO except that I've had it 25yrs.and plan to have it at least another 25. My dad bought his 66 GTO new out of the showroom in Nov.1965.My mom still has all the paperwork,window sticker,finance papers,etc.She told me the monthly payments were $33.00mth.and were hard to keep paid.We still have the car,it's 98% unrestored and in beautiful shape.It was the family car and my dad street raced it 3-4 times a week until the early '70s.It's a numbers matching tri-power,4-speed car with 93,000 miles and still has the original clutch.I was 4 when he bought it and this is the car that started my love affair with GTOs and performance cars.My dad passed away in 1999 at the age of 57.I drove the car in his funeral,it hasn't been driven since.I could go on and on with many stories about the car,I love talking about it.I've been trying to post pix of it for months but no luck.Maybe someday.
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If you would like to email pics to me at [email protected] I can post 'em up for you. K |
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Thanks for the comments guys.A little more about the 66.It's Montero Red mostly original,just a few touch-ups in the early 70s.Parchment interior.It came with whitewalls and deluxe or custom deluxe hubcaps,not sure the exact name.It now has Keystone Classic wheels on G70-14,H70-14 Road hugger bias tires.Wheels/tires were put on around 1974-75.Gauges,no console,walnut shift knob,pushbutton am radio.Remote mirror.tripower,m21,3:90 posi.Power steering.Not long after buying the car my dad ordered a ram air kit from Royal.My mom said he borrowed the money from his mom for it because money was real tight back then.It was the pan,open scoop which came primered.He cut the hood brace as needed and painted the scoop some shade of red that doesn't match at all.The pan/scoop are still in the trunk just as they were 40 yrs ago.Although the foam seal is in very bad shape.It has never been 'chopped up' or hit or apart.Engine,trans.rear never out.Still has some orig.hoses,clamps.He never felt any need to modify it,no headers,add-on gauges,radios,etc.Only the usual belts,hoses,exhuast replaced with stock parts.I did notice today that the tires sidewalls are cracking a bit.Hope this was not boring.I'll get pix on here soon I hope.
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I bought my Pontiac from the original owners grandson. The car was built in Arlington, Tx, Sold new at Superior Pontiac in San Antonio (which still exists today) and was sold to me in San Antonio. The grandson told me his grandpa bought the car brand new in 1958 and when he got too old to drive he gave the car to his grandson in 2001. The car ran until 2003 and I bought it in early 2006. As far as I can tell it's an original Tri power car with hardly any options. I found receipts dating back to the early 60s with the original owners name on them matching the name of the guy I bought the car from.
I bought a parts 59 and Buick from a lady who said that the 59 was her aunts car and the 60 was her parents car. Both bought new at Covert GM in Austin. The cars were driven until the late 60s or early 70s and have not moved since. I found in the glovebox of the '59 the original owners manual along with the accessory manual and the protection policy and and Buick owners Delco battery warranty sheet dated 10-30-1958 Covert Auto 1958. The other '59 buick i have I bought from a guy who got the car from the second owner's ex wife. They got a divorce and she ended up with the car. She sold it just to spite him and I ended up with it. |
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Small world, my GTO convertible is from the same dealer in San Antonio, bought it in 93 from the original owner.
I think the dealer still exists but now sells a bunch of asian stuff as well. |
John, are you talking about Superior? They are now Superior GM instead of just Superior Pontiac. They still have the 50 foot tall Indian out front though. My dad grew up in San Antonio and he said when he was a kid people would shoot arrows into the big indian statue. haha I don't know if that's true or not but thats what he says.
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Some cool stories in this thread.
Here's mine: I know the history of my '66 from 1982. My father bought it from a local guy who was bringing cars/trucks up from the south. This car was brought up to PA from Highpoint, NC. It was sold new at Bob Neill Pontiac in Winston-Salem, NC (I just noticed that the selling dealer's name is the same as my mother's maiden name - Neill, kinda interesting). When my dad bought this car, it had a Pontiac 350 with a Qjet on it, ralley IIs, 3.90 rear gears, and glasspacks. My family had been on a trip to the World's Fair in Tennessee (with the exception of my dad - he owned his own business & decided to stay home to get a big job done). When we were unloading the luggage out of my Grandfather's Cadillac, here comes this beautiful red '66 GTO up the street, sounding mean & looking sweet (I was 12 years old - this is exactly the type of car a 12 year old is interested in). Low & behold, my father is driving it. I was in love with this car then & knew that I wanted a '66 GTO right then. For the next 3 years, my father did his best to restore the car to factory specs. There was no PHS then, but my father had somehow known that this car was a tripower car & he built a 389 with trips on it, put 3.36 gears in it (for driveability), repainted it & installed the original spoke hubcaps with whitewall tires. In the pic below, it had ET aluminum wheels with the whitewalls, but he later changed it to the spokes. Also in the pic below, the car wears the same paint as when he got it. His heavily modified '73 El Camino is sitting next to it. It had a complete Pontiac Grand Am interior, drivetrain, 400 RAIII, 4spd, '77 El Camino front end, Trans Am fender vents, shaker, etc, etc. He is a Pontiac guy through & through. He wants to put a Pontiac motor in his 4wd Chevy pickup. Picture taken sometime in 1982, possibly early 1983, at the Pittsburgh Convention Center during a car show. http://www.akvalley.net/~ss/66GTOcon...center1982.jpg During the first 3 years he owned it, it had 3 different engine fires (2 small ones that he had fixed in the same day & one large one that took the car off the road for 20+ years). The last fire was in June of 1985. He then decided to do a frame-off resto & then he was hurt in a bad car accident in 1987, so the GTO just sat in his garage until December 2006, when I uncovered it & pulled it to safety, so to speak. In August of 2007, his house was struck by lightning & burned to the ground. I saved the '66 from the fire by a mere 8 months. My website takes over from this point. www.akvalley.net/~ss/1966GTO.html What it looked like when I got it... http://www.akvalley.net/~ss/GTO_rear.jpg What it looks like now... http://www.akvalley.net/~ss/66GTO_LR_09212008.jpg My father was into GTO's from when they first came out. He had bought a '64 GTO new in 1964 (3x2, 4spd & pretty much stripped otherwise) right after my parents were married (his first "new" car). He only owned his '64 for 18 months & he said it was a POS that was back to the dealer all the time. He ended up trading it in on a '65 Olds full size convt, for my mother & he went back to driving Studebakers. I bought a GTO new in 2004 (my first "new" car, also), 40 years after my father bought his. I bought a Quicksilver/Redhot 2004 with a 6 speed. Gorgeous car, but it was a POS & had many visits back to the dealership, as well. I traded it in on a family car when we found out my son was on the way. I kinda miss the '04, but I'm happier that I was able to save this '66 from it's untimely death. my 2004... http://www.akvalley.net/~ss/GTOLside.jpg http://www.akvalley.net/~ss/GTORear.jpg |
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Do you have a picture of the sticker? Mine also has a sticker and the metal "Superior" badge. Cool stuff.
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My car is a '61 Bonneville, with a 348hp tripower engine and a four speed transmission. Besides the drivetrain configuration (which is not very common for a Bonneville) it's unusual in other ways; it's pretty much a stripper - no power steering or brakes, no tinted window or day/night mirror, not even outside rear view mirrors. None of the things you'd expect to find on a Bonneville. In fact, the only other options listed in the PHS documents are a radio and antifreeze, and special order paint.
It has a two tone paint job; the body is Mandalay Red and the roof is Cameo Ivory, which were regular production colors in 1959. When compared to Coronado Red, which was a common Pontic color in 1961 (on Chevys it was called Honduras Maroon) it's a lot brighter and has some orange in it, so it stands out and makes the car pretty distinctive. Because of that, I've had several people come up to me at shows who remembered the car from when it was new. They've all said the same thing: "Hey, is that Vern's old car?" From talking to these people I've pieced together the car's history. Apparently, ol' Vern had previously owned a '59 tripower Bonneville, also painted Mandalay Red and Cameo Ivory, so when it was time to get a new car he went down to the dealer and special ordered this one painted in the same colors. He also put 1959 Tripower badges on the front fenders. There were two reasons for ordering a snazzy Bonneville with the hi-po engine and transmission - for one, he was a street racer; and secondly, he was also something of a lady's man. ;) He sold vacuum cleaners during the day (which I suppose gave him access to plenty of lonely housewives) and then at night he and his buddies would go out and terrorize the streets. I understand the car was pretty successful in its day. He owned the car until about 1980, when he finally put it up for sale. It was bought by a teenager, but when the kid brought the car home his dad took one look at it and told him he wasn't going to let him drive it...I guess he figured it was a little too much car for his son. They put it in the garage, and it pretty much stayed there for the next 12 years, only coming out occasionally. Finally, by then he was grown up and he wanted to buy a bass boat, so he put the car up for sale again and that's when I bought it. It only had 42,000 miles on it when I got it, and the body and interior showed it - they were really nice. However, from the condition of the drivetrain you could tell it had lived a hard life in its youth - the engine needed a full rebuild (oddly enough, it had a McKellar #10 solid lifter cam in it) and 1st, 2nd and 3rd gears in the transmission were trashed. I don't know if Vern is still around, but if he is I'd sure like to sit down with him and buy him a beer. :) |
Stuart--
That's a great story! I suggest that you do some searches and make some calls to find Vern. Like most of the people that purchased our cars new, he is probably not a "spring chicken" any longer. I know that I enjoyed talking to my car's original owner. It was worth the chance! Michael |
killer Story and killer Bonneville!!!
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If anyone could find old Vern, it would be Stuart. He's very good with finding things on the net.
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You all have some great stories. I purchased the car this past February. I bought it from a couple in Key Largo Florida. The reciepts in th car show it was owned previously by at least 2 owners in the Miami area. I did a florida registration search and I can trace it back to 1998 to a couple in Clearwater Florida. But what I discovered is that I am the 5th owner in 10 years. Seems like the car was past around due to folks not wanting to put any "love" into it. My PHS documents show the car was sent to McAndrew Pontiac in Manchester MA in june of 70. It was not ordered by anyone, It showed it was purchased by General Motors Acceptance Corp. So I fugure it was sent as "lot filler" or a lease. I guess I need to send the Clearwater people a letter and see if they can shed some light on the car. I would love to know its history.
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Mike,
Sounds like it became a snowbird car. Does the body tell you how much time it probably spent up north before ending up in Florida (mass = lower rust, FLa = upper rust) |
John,
According to my body guy the rear quarters were replaced. Probably about the same time the interior was replaced. It had PUI door panels that were pretty worn and faded. My body guy had to replace / fix metal in the rockers towards the rear and some door metal in the lower front doors. The front fenders seem original. There was really no upper rust except under the trunk moulding bedind the rear bumper. The top had been replaced from black to white. So my guess is it spent at least the first 10 years in Mass. Mike McAndrew Pontiac does not seem to exist anymore... So no chance of history there |
Sounds like it might have gone to florida in the 90`s as a restored collector car rather than earlier as a `regular`car
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I would say more of a kinda-restored driver. At least the previous owners have kept it alive.
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68 bought with my house
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Story starts, Looking to buy new house here in NH. Looked at this house a couple of times and saw a car sitting in garage half torn down, but never payed much attention to it.
Well then we stated going back and forth with offers. After a couple of offers being denied, and finding out the hubby had all ready moved out in a condo (divorce). I made one more offer and stated car stays put with all parts or I am moving on to next house. They took it. We moved in, got settled in and a year later (2005)I started the resto, and now its done this was the first summer I drove the car. It is a 68 GTO clone (cloning was already started when I took owner ship) Love the car and would take a lot to get rid of it, as I did all the work, except paint. Would like to fine the other owners to get pics of it as a Lemans. Dominick |
Nothin to interesting with mine. Was imported into Canada in the late 70's ( from Seattle area), already had a transplant at that time, was supposed to be a 400, my brother had purchased it from the importer in the early 80's and drove the crap out of it. Killing the 400, wouldn't stand up to 300*f. He decided to store it away in about 85, so we trailered it from one spot to another then finally to my place in 91. He never did anything with it so I bought it in 95 and put it inside. started working on it in 2004, made it driveable in 2007. One day it will get a new shiney coat, if I quit spending the money on other car parts, LOL. I love to drive it and it makes my daughters smile when they ride in it.
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With my mom's '64 Catalina. Pictures taken around '75-'76. With Don Gay's car. You can see the left quarter of my dad's GTO in the photo. This photo is from about '67. Same pose as first pic but taken around '71-'72.
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