[Verdoro 68]

Some of you might have seen the earlier thread on the '74 GTO I was poking at. My son continued the hunt for a project car and found a Fernmist Green '74 Ventura earlier in the week that he fell in love with. My wife, who has zero interest in old cars, took a liking to the car too because of it's groovy color combo. This seemed like a rare moment where stars aligned. However, the car was a 9 hour drive away in Portland, Oregon. I had a nice chat with the seller over the phone, and decided to take a day trip up to Portland this weekend to check out the car.

We left the house at 4:30am to catch a 6:50am flight. On the way to the airport, the PHS for the car arrived in my email. Timely! The original plan was to meet the seller mid-morning, check out the car and explore Portland the rest of the day and head back on the 7:50pm flight. Unfortunately while taxing down the runway there was a mechanical issue with the plane that caused a 4 hour delay.

We eventually landed at 1pm and I headed over to get our rental car. Unfortunately the rental company had completely overbooked against their inventory. I was fuming. I found another company that claimed to have cars and made a reservation on my phone. All seemed well until we got to the lot. It was empty and there was a line of 30 very angry people waiting for cars that did not exist.

The clock was ticking. Determined to meet the seller, I got creative and I ended up taking a cab to pick up a ZipCar which rents by the hour. Finally some transportation! We made it to the seller's location around 3:45pm.

We gave the car a thorough inspection and it was as advertised. The 350 2bbl ran surprisingly well for what it is. Interior is very tired and dirty. Some dents and dings on the exterior, but nothing show stopping. Very minimal rust. It's a fairly original car (most plug wires were original date coded!) with 100k miles so it needs a little bit of everything. Kind of oddly ordered with RTS, a/c, p/s, manual drum brakes and an open rear end. It also has a factory block heater.

I couldn't get a read on what my son thought of it as we walked around. In my head, the parts list, work and $$ was growing, but as it turns out, he was inspired. We talk it over and make a deal to buy the car. I have him put his name on the title. I have never seen him so over the moon and beaming with pride.

After we finished up, we had just enough time to turn the rental in and head back to the airport. We got back home to California at 11pm. Whew.

The day started out stressful, but it became one of the best days ever. While he works on and drives my cars, I underestimated how important choosing his own car and having a financial stake in it is to him. He already has so many plans for it. On the way home on the plane he discovered the chase scene in The Seven Ups and had the biggest grin while watching it.

On paper, this was not the most economical purchase considering all the travel and the fact that I have to have the car transported down from Portland. but it was worth every penny. This day will be a memory and a story we share forever.

We'll be hitting you '74 guys up for some parts