IML: Unsatisfacory free Imperial

["Hugh & Therese" <hugtrees@xxxxxxxx>]

Hi everyone.  Long time no see and all that.  My poor old 1958 is still in 
pieces.  Its engine has been rebuilt, along with the transmission, but both 
sit, shrink wrapped yet, on a pallet, waiting to be reinstalled.  The 
trucking company that volunteered to get the work done for the 
transportation museum I work for bought 36 eighteen wheeler tractor rigs and 
decided that refitting them was of greater importance than "my" Imperial. 
The philistines!

I have been so busy and am so broke I don't have enough time to pay 
attention, so I can ride out a year - almost - without an Imperial.  I 
think.

I went to see to cars today that were being offered to the museum as a gift 
for tax write off purposes.  One was a 1958 Packard.  The other was a 1967 
Imperial four door hardtop.  Did you notice I used the past tense?  Both 
were ruined beyond any hope of reasonable restoration.  I had to decline the 
offer.  How bad is that when an avowed 1958 Imperial fan turns down a free 
Imperial a free 1958 Packard?

Pretty bad, and it gets worse.  He also had a 1967 Imperial with the mobile 
director interior.  It was in worse shape than the four door hardtop.  Then 
he says he has recently put a couple of cars, including a 1964 Imperial, 
"over the scale."  In other words he sold them for scrap.  And so it goes.

He is not interested in selling the cars, only in using them for a tax 
write-off to off set some capital gains.  Its isn't my job to abuse people - 
feel free to laugh (or cry) - so what I said was he really should check with 
his accountant that it wasn't going to be a problem that he was going to use 
high values as a donation and that we would not as recipients.  He asked me 
how much we would write down.  I said maybe $100.00 a piece, tops.

The 67 Imperial was not that bad.  Body pretty straight and paint 
serviceable.  It looked white to me but he called it midnight blue.  The 
black vinyl roof was OK.  The interior was shot.  It rained last night and 
it smelled pretty rank.  Two guys were working under the hood.  I asked if 
they were getting it going but it turned out they were just reinstalling 
stuff.  Stuff like the heads.  Rusty cylinder walls, anyone?

The museum has been trying to unload some cars recently.  Cars that were 
taken in a long time ago under different leadership, to give juicy tax right 
offs to some wealthy city residents.  The game just isn't worth the candle. 
What happened is that our museum ended up looking like this guys quite large 
yard.  Dozens of cars in various states of decay being mercilessly attacked 
by the Texan sun.  Very attractive.

This guy had bought all these cars at rock bottom prices with a view to 
restoring them sooner or later.  It's a shame, really, this ignorant 
collecting that keeps good cars away from caring individuals.  The 1967 was 
probably a very nice car when this guy acquired it.

I am not slamming people who have large collections and take care of them. 
Make no mistake, the man I was talking with today is a wealthy guy.  Very. 
And he isn't interested in selling them.  I know someone who would like to 
get the 58 Packard but it will probably end up in the crusher, sooner or 
later.  I just cannot afford the time and energy required to get them, store 
them, sell them and ship them.  Not for just a couple hundred dollars.  It 
also isn't my job to create a tax dodge for the guy who has neglected all 
these cars for so long.  Who knows why he bought them in the first place? 
Who knows why so many?  I'm having a hard enough time already with the 1973 
Imperial, finding someone who wants to work on it since no one wants to buy 
it.  (It doesn't run, has been out in the sun for five years, looks bad and 
will cost over a grand to ship - but it is cheap!)

The 73 Imperial was taken in as a donor's tax write off as well.  One of the 
last we took for that reason.  We are more discriminating now.  We have to 
be.  Sometimes, even when it's free, it's still too expensive.

Hugh 




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