IML: My Imperial Dilemma

[jmeyer75 <jmeyer75@xxxxxxx>]

Hi Folks,

I've had my 1965 Crown now for a little over 13 years. In that time  
I've had a lot of fun with it, spent a lot of money on it, been in  
love with it and wanted to push it over a cliff. I was one of the  
earliest members of this club back in the Tony Lindsey days and I've  
learned a lot here and gotten a lot of support.

But now I have to decide what to do with my Imperial. I still love  
driving it and it's costing me very little to keep, but I don't have  
the motivation to do anything with it. The cosmetic work I had done  
to it (mainly the paint) now needs to be redone thanks to the harsh  
Arizona sun and some unfortunate scrapes and bruises. I have some  
money from insurance stashed but while it'll cover the damage it  
won't cover an all new paint job, much less an extension to my  
carport to give it some shade.

I go around and around with this - some days I want just to not have  
it any more and of course when I drive it I tend the other way, to  
get it refinished and proceed like I did before. One factor is that I  
was never a very good mechanic but I was willing to do things like  
replace the window and antenna motors and change all the dash lights.  
Nowadays I just don't feel like doing that any more.

So I've been sitting on it the last couple of years, buying some  
parts here and there, driving it once or twice a week, and thinking  
of how cool it would be if I got back into it. But that doesn't seem  
to be happening.

Since I've owned it I've had practically everything mechanical  
replaced and/or rebuilt except for the differential. I've had it  
painted and reupholstered. I've collected a bunch of spare parts  
including a set of flat-top .030 pistons and a pair of torsion bars  
which is a long story all by itself.

Right now it runs and drives really well but it sure ain't pretty any  
more. I could never seem to keep it pretty and running all at once -  
after I got it painted I had to get the engine rebuilt, etc. etc.  
etc. I had some bad luck choosing shops and people who made some of  
this much harder than it should have been. I've had good luck too  
with some good people, but I'm just not in the mood to turn it over  
to a body shop and go through that again.

The car is special to me for the fun I've had with it and especially  
a couple of road trips between Illinois and Arizona with my Dad which  
I'll never forget, and driving my best friends from their wedding  
with a bunch of Schlitz cans tied to the back (another long story).  
It's hard to think about letting it go - it's a big part of me. But   
nothing is happening with it and my interests are elsewhere so I'm  
not sure that keeping it with the idea of re-restoring it is such a  
good idea.

I guess you can all see where I'm leaning by now: it's probably time  
to sell. I wouldn't feel bad if I sold it to someone who'd pick up  
where I left off, someone who could see beyond its cosmetic state to  
all the good stuff underneath.

Anyways, let me know your thoughts and if anybody might be interested  
let me know.

John Meyer
1965 Crown
Tucson


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