A friend of mine who is an avid car collector of muscle cars bought
a 69 Cougar eliminator 428 4 speed car that was a complete car needing a total resto from a gentleman who supposedly specialized in restoring these cars who
lived in a neighboring state. When my friend went to pick up the car the guy
talked him into letting him restore the car vs. the local shop back home that normally does his restorations since he claimed he was an expert on these cars.
A bunch of money was paid up front and the guy was reporting the progress
that was taking place over the phone, and more money changed hands, etc.
This went on for a year then the guy quit answering his e-mails or his phone.
My friend went to retrieve his car and the shop was cleaned out and his car was gone. After hiring a private detective, the guy's brother was located who told him
that the car was stored at his Dad's house in a neighboring town. The Dad let him have the shell of the car which had been completely dismantled then parted out. The entire interior and driveline had been sold from the car and only the main body shell remained. The money from parting the car out had been
used to pay for the guy moving to California after he went through a divorce.
My friend is now restoring the car with the shop he normally uses after buying
a complete show quality 302 Cougar in the same colors to part out to build his
Cougar Eliminator.
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