A week or so back I posted that I was going up to check on a rumor that the old guy who had some Imperials and a BUNCH of other stuff was finally selling. Drove up Saturday after church only to find no one there.
Wendesday while out cruizing in my greating running 73, I drove past his place and saw the man in the yard. I quickly pulled in the yard.
Here is this old guy, about 90, all bent over and grizzled with his head stuck in the back seat of a K car. Looks up, sees me, puts his head back in the car.
I walk up to his car and say, "Hello."
He looks up, and puts his head back down.
Not knowing quite how to proceed I say, "Rumor has it you are selling some of your cars."
"Yep" he replies. He speaks I thought. Puts his head back in the car.
Talking to his back, "Well, I'm interested in the Imperials."
"Sold already."
"Dang" I thought. "The 54 is still available I think." he says over his shoulder. "What will you give me for it"
Now the 54 is ROUGH!. Valve train is off the motor, radiator out, Ac compressor missing. pot metal shot, etc. Doors are locked. Hood crunched, grill cracked. and cant' even get to the back for the briars. The left rear door looks promising and I need that to complete my 54 parts car which has a NY door on it with different trim.
"Well, maybe a couple hundred," I replied to his back.
After a minute or two he said, "Well, I cant make any decisions now, I'm working on my taxes and I cant think about selling cars now.. Call me in a week." Dang, almost a conversation.
I did get his name and phone number.
Today, I convinced my wife to go that way, stop by the place in case the old man's daughter was there and end up at WalMart. When we arrived she was there and was very nice. quickly made a deal for the 54 and a 55 Desoto Wagon with hemi engine. but pretty sad shape.
There was a guy there getting some cars that I recognized. Turns out to be the guy I bought the 60 Windsor and two sets of 413 cross rams from a few months back. He had a wrecker and agreed to pull the 54 out of the weeds. Boy is it sad. Going to take a rollback to get it home for stripping. The carcas will go to the scrapyard. Steering wheel is locked to one side, brakes are locked, sad sad. Stainless, glass look good as do a couple doors. The left taillight bezel that Arron is needing is complete but pitted although restorable. If I get the car, I'll give it to him.
About this time, the daughter and old man come up and she tries to verify the deal with him. He's deaf as a post and cant see very well.
"Do I have to make a decision today? I just want to work on my taxes..."
To make a long story shorter, I did not leave any money but did emails and phone numbers for the daughter and her son who seem sane and reasonable.
Inside this falling down two story building are a 54 Desoto and a 56 Chrysler that look to be in decent shape. Problem is that the second floor joists have collapsed and there is no way to get the cars out unless the building is dismantled from the top down which won't happen while the old guy is living. To be honest, the cost of extraction is probably more than the cars would be worth and it literally would be a life threatening effort to extract them. I suspect they will be bulldozed with the building when he dies. Too bad, There are a bunch of 50's glass, bumpers, etc.
He's 93 and was apparantly an early electronics pioneer. While literally crawling throught he ground floor and bypassing the areas where the roof had collapsed, I spotted a couple pieces of metal working equiptment I put a 'claim' on with the grandson.
My long suffering wife waited in the truck and couldn't understand why I was having so much fun...
There was also a 56 Chrysler wagon minus motor/trans. Pretty rough. shame about the other Imps, The guy is going to pull the hemis and sell the other parts. I'll keep in touch and let everyone know what is available. Stainless and glass will be about it. The 56 would be restorable for someone who was VERY capable with rust repair and willing to have a lot of pitted pot metal restored. The grandson remembered riding in it and commented on how fast it was..
Also a 54 NY with factory air that actually looked in 'decent' complete shape.
I'm optmistic I'll end up with some of this rust.
Kerryp
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