I have my dream car, an all original 1964 crown, with 80,000 miles in 1.5 condition. I am 39, and all my car friends have muscle cars, but I am proud that I have the only boat pulling up to car shows. Which brings me to my next point, since when does Mopar mean muscle car, I went to a Mopar meet, and everyone was staring at me like, "which one of these cars does not belong", excuse me for not having a Hemi!!! P.S. I also have my dream wife! ----- Original Message ----- From: Kenyon Wills <imperialist1960@xxxxxxxxx> Date: Thursday, April 20, 2006 6:38 pm Subject: Re: IML: Question of the Day > What cars would I want? > > I'm currently working on an Imperial collection. > -One from each body style, 53-75. > > Also (not me in that photo): > http://brokenwings.net/holly/motorcycle_superhawk.html > And: > http://www.superformance.com/ > And: > http://www.hodgescustomhaulers.com/haulers.html > > > > Why Imperials? > > Just worked out that way after an initial purchase of > a '60 and subsequent heightenened awareness of 'em, > and as long as you don't have a sweet tooth for > convertibles or completely restored fin-cars, they're > delightfully inexpensive to get. The LeBarons are a > hell of a car, and nobody pays them much attention > (compared to the verts and finned cars and '57 > chevvy's). How can you argue with a loaded, top of > the line car with tremendous and unique styling > features, Chrysler engineering excellence, and near > crash invulnerability for $1500 a shot? > > I got side-tracked on a Model T but sold it after > almost breaking an arm (twice) starting it. Decided > that I didn't need to go through two mechanical > learning curves at once and wanted to finish my > Imperial restorations without the fuss of a Pre WWI > FORD product. > > > > How: > > I bought a 1960 some years ago. The story is here: > http://imperialclub.com/Yr/1960/Kenyon/Page01.htm > > It had a cracked windscreen. I went to look at a '63 > with the intention of swapping the screens out. '63 > was too nice to part out, so I sold the '60 and had > regrets within 30 seconds of accepting cash. Drove > the 63, but it just wasn't the same despite being a > really decent automobile. > > Sold the 63 later and went on a quest to get another > 60. A 73 fell into my lap for a little more than the > cost to drive to get it. Nice car. > > Fell into a '70 from Doc that was too good to pass up. > > Then another club-member had their car toss its > cookies and need an engine. I bartered doing labor to > install another engine for a 50% stake in the car, as > that wasn't in their skill set. I drove it once - > it's REALLY nice - have to get around to borrowing > back "my" 50% of the car sometime, but with so many > carb throats to feed, who has the time? The other > person garages it, feeds it, and pays the insurance > nut on it, so I'm not complaining. It really is a > nice car. Just living somewhere else, and I visit > when the thing hiccups and have agreed to tow it home > if it breaks down someplace (which it thankfully > hasn't). > > Next a '62 presented itself locally for $900. It > "only" needed an engine rebuild that I didn't know > about till I got home and cranked it so that I could > hear the con rod knocking about. Seemed like a good > idea until I heard that noise. I'm still trying to get > back to it so that I can fire the engine and drive it > for the first time almost a year later. You'd think > that a guy would be dying to fire his recently built > engine and go drive the car. No - I like to age mine > like wine so that I can pay attention to other things, > like: > > The restored '66 convertible that I got for "free" if > you don't count nearly a year of sweat equity and > selling things to pay for it on ebay. Thank you to > eBay store and my many victims! > > I'm in the middle of scoring that car and the '55 with > the crunched roof came along and the owner > subsequently bailed out on splitting the redo costs > and now I own that thing, which is otherwise pretty > much all done and begging to be completed. -Why do > other stuff when you can do free-form Bondo sculpture? > I am now focused on finishing that thing, and not > letting pesky things like the 4-week wait on a > water-pump rebuild or missing parts get in my way. > > So now I have a parts car for the '60, the '60, and > all of the other ones and I'm up to 10. A car that I > knew and had a standing offer on came up on Craigslist > recently and I wound up getting a very polite pass > from the first person in line, a fellow member that > was geographically challenged, and that car came into > the garage. That's the one that my girlfriend, Liz, > mistakenly wrote in here about in order to announce > her plans to turn it into the "spicy spider" > low-rider-flame-tintedwindow-abomination-thing. > > That series of plans has not come to pass, and that > car will probably leave my stable (thankfully) > unmolested for another person to finish, as it has its > needs and frankly, I just can't see getting to it, and > since it's a '70 and I already have one of my > own....(want to trade your 53, 54, 68, or 57-59 for > it? Helluva car!) > > Lastly, I got that '68 for free the other day. The > guys were going to torch it in half and put both > halves into the debris bin to get it off the property. > I'll burn in hell for it, but since nobody here > stepped up, the car is now in the clutches of Dr. > Evil, who is probably spray painting the tires two > contrasting colors as I write this. Car gave me a > bloody nose, crushed one of the lights on my trailer, > and snapped my winch cable, so "good riddance" is all > I can say on that one. > > So that's what I'm doing. > > > > Nobody else here got anything to say? > > There ARE 700 of us here. How about we hear from one > of the lurkers? One of the folks that NEVER posts a > thing? I can hear you breathing. I KNOW you're out > there. Speak up, Chuck. > > > ----------------- http://www.imperialclub.com ----------------- > This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. Please > reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your response will be > shared with everyone. Private messages (and attachments) for the > Administrators should be sent to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to http://imperialclub.com/unsubscribe.htm > > ----------------- http://www.imperialclub.com ----------------- This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. 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