red vert

["Wm. R. Ulman" <twolaneblacktop@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I was the owner of the '60 convertible.  I bought it from Jeff in 1996
and drove it for almost 4 years as my daily driver.  The car looks much
better in the pictures than in person.  The paint was not applied
properly and so it was completely pitted all over the car.  When I
bought it, it had no brakes (no brake parts at all on the car), no
transmission, and was a nightmare to get back on the road.  Because of
the 1960 having so many one year only parts on it, it was often a
problem to keep it on the road.  I did not know of the Imperial web site
at the time I had the car, so I had to rely on Jeff for parts, and 2
different mechanics to keep it on the road.  That car put me around
$20,000.00 in debt getting and keeping it running.  I swore I would
never part with it, but when the carrier bearing went out for a second
time (the first one was replaced with one for a hardtop, cut and welded
to the old one - don't ask me how- and put on the car) I went to Jeff
and he quoted me $800 - $1,200 for a convertible carrier bearing - if he
could find one.  Well, I was completely broke, and he had a beautiful
blue '66 convertible in his driveway and I traded the '60 for it.  If I
had know about the IML I would probably still have the '60 even with the
vinyl interior, bad paint, etc...  I do love my '66 though, and it is
much easier to get parts for.  I get just as much attention with the '66
as with the '60, which surprised me, and it drives and handles much
better.  The '60 Electroluminescent dash shorted out often due to
moisture here in Seattle, and the trunk was always a swimming pool due
to the poor design of the rear deck lid capturing and holding water.  I
never felt secure taking the car more than couple hundred miles on a
trip (I only did it once, and was nervous the whole time).  All in all,
I just bit off more than I could chew with the '60.  The '66 will take
me wherever I need or want to go with relative security, and great
comfort.  I put more like 30,000 miles on the car during the 4 years,
but who knows since the odometer was broken most of that time before I
had it replaced.  Oh, the flood of memories comes back to me now!

Bill Ulman
Seattle, WA
'66 Crown Convertible - Midnight Blue/White top/White Pearl Coat leather
- Doris Day is her name with vanity plates: FIT4AQN 
4562

-----Original Message-----
From: mailing-list-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:mailing-list-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
RandalPark@xxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, December 08, 2003 10:41 AM
To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: IML: red vert


I do not know where the car is today, but the last time that I saw it
was in Jeff Carter's driveway. That was about three years ago. Prior to
that I had seen it on the road around Seattle quite often. I believe
that it is still in the Seattle area.

I have been aquainted with this car since it belonged to a man named
Cliff Lavender in the late 1970's. He had purchased it through an ad in
the paper. After that it went through a series of owners. I seem to
remember that the seats were originally white leather, but I could be
wrong about that. Shortly after Cliff passed away, I saw the car at a
local upholstery shop called Durham Auto Upolstery in the middle 1980's
where the seats (and I believe the dorr panels also) were redone in
naugahide. 

In the middle 1990's the car appeared in a few local parades in Seattle
before I discovered that Jeff Carter and J.C. Auto had a hand in some of
the recent work that has been done to the car. That part of the story is
outlined on the page in the Website.

It started out as a pretty good original car, but needed a lot of body
work and upolstery. It also had numerous electrical problems that I
believe have been long since resolved.

Paul

In a message dated 12/8/2003 4:55:09 AM Eastern Standard Time,
lrblomberg@xxxxxxxxxxxx writes:

> Just wondering if anyone knows the whereabouts of the beautiful red
vert displayed at   
> http://www.imperialclub.org/Yr/1960/RedVert/index.htm
> It was restored by JC Auto Restoration.
>  
> Larry
> (1960 LeBaron Sedan)
> 
> 
> 
> 
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