OK. So I offered up the 1964 that I got 6 months ago for free last night, and lucky contestant number one lives in southern California. I drove the car 70 miles to my house and it made it OK, but was definitely rough around the edges.
He asked me if it'd make it to LA, and I said "maybe" and that the prudent thing to do would be to tow it, but the adventurous thing to do would be to drive it with a buddy in a chase vehicle.
Fortunately he's my kinda guy and has opted for a life of adventure and will be driving it home. Now, the car's solid enough, but it's also an unknown quantity. The guy had been driving it into the ground for the last 20 years as an old-man-car, and it has settled into that happy state of loose, worn-together assembly of parts that is not unlike a worn pair of sneakers. Probably not the best thing for the job, but so comfortable that you can't let go.
Anyway, I'll be pulling the car out and cleaning it this weekend. Get it running and make sure that nothing's changed.
Contestant number one now has to get the thing registered and will then don whatever cosmonaut suit he's going to wear in his new unheated car that only has one vent window that opens and blast off into the great emptiness that is highway 5 down the center of California.
I'll take some pictures before he leaves and hopefully he'll be a sport and give us a blow-by-blow account of whatever lady luck has in store for his acquisition.
This might turn into an interesting story. I gave him a 7 out of 10 chance of making it the whole way with a smile. If ever there were a reason to look at the Imperial highway for safe harbors, this might be it, so if you live in the central valley and see a white 64 circling and looking for a landing spot near your house, you'll know what's going on...
I'll update on my end, and invite the new buyer to step up if he's game and complete the story as it unfolds.
I'll let everyone know why I'm offing this car for free hopefully this weekend.
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