Trying to buy back a car my dad ordered in 1962. Hasn't ran in years. Need someone trustworthy to get it out of a garage from the guy to whom he sold it in the early 70s. I'm here in Florida but will have to get it shipped back to Ohio.
Any help would be appreciated.
I will need to act fast. Thanks
Make a deal with the local flatbed tow truck guy to pull it and hold it until you return from Penske or Uhaul with a truck and trailer combo.
Unless you have your own truck then Uhaul will rent the trailer.
Above seems to be the best idea. Do you have a timeline off when it needs to be picked up and when it'll get sent to Ohio?
In reply to plance1 :
Any photos of the car from back in the day when your father owned it?
In reply to plance1 :
Two things:
There's several good folks in Florida, surely someone will be along with assistance soon.
Ahh hell, I could probably go get it (and store it for a couple of weeks) with the mighty ramp truck. What is your time frame?
Tim Suddard said:Ahh hell, I could probably go get it (and store it for a couple of weeks) with the mighty ramp truck. What is your time frame?
Motorsport Marketing wins at customer service!
Tim Suddard said:Ahh hell, I could probably go get it (and store it for a couple of weeks) with the mighty ramp truck. What is your time frame?
...pretty sure there is a story in there!
In reply to Datsun310Guy :
I found a decent place, Lee's Towing. They seemed pretty reasonable about getting the car out of where it is located. One outfit responded by stating they couldn't do anything unless the title was in my name because that would be "grand theft auto" lol. Such drama queens. Who has a title for a car in your name the minute you buy it?
In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :
I don't have any. I'm trying to secure a few from slides from relatives.
In reply to Stampie :
This is a long-term project, buying this car. I last saw it sitting in a shed in the 1990s. I thought I was going to be able to make something happen when I was in Florida last week but it didn't come to pass.
In reply to Indy - Guy :
Thanks
In reply to Tim Suddard :
Thanks. But it didn't happen.
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
This kind of customer service is much appreciated. PS. I'm not angry but I do own a 63 Corvair Spyder.
In reply to SV reX :
The story may or may not interest others.
My dad was an engineering student at Carnegie Mellon (then known as Carnegie Tech) in 1962. He was on his second Studebaker Hawk which he had souped up quite a bit. See photos below. He worked on his friends cars and was on a full scholarship so had accumulated a decent sum of money. He approached multiple Chevy dealers in the fall of 62 in an attempt to order a 63 Corvette but was told to leave by at least one salesman who thought he was too young to be able to afford one and was there playing some kind of prank.
He managed to find a dealer who took him seriously and he traded in his Hawk for it.
I guess he didn't want to mess with fuel injection so he ended up getting the solid lifter, 340 hp engine. The redline was 7,500 but according to him would do 8,000. It had a close-ratio 4 speed and he stated it would do 70 mph in 1st gear, 90 in second, 110 in third and was limited to 140 due to the 3.70 axle. I honestly don't know why anyone would get a wide-ratio trans but then again what do I know.
He said the car was very fast but still managed to lose a "drag race" to a Pennsylvania State Trooper who had 460 cubic inch dual quad Ford. I didn't know they made dual quad 460 fords back then but I may be mistaken or maybe Dad was about the exact cubic inches. He mentioned the trooper appeared out of nowhere when he was doing over 100 and got on his rear bumper but let him go after showing my Dad what his cop car could do.
The car with options cost $4,895.
My dad traded the car in the early 70's to a buddy from grade school who wanted it. My mom begged him not to get rid of it. I believe part of the deal was my dad received both a 64 Cadillac and a 65 Cadillac although I don't recall the details. I just remember riding in Cadillacs in the 70's so some version of that transaction must be true.
I only saw the car once as a kid when my dad went to visit his friend who had the Corvette in a barn. I barely remember it. The guy ended up moving to Florida.
When I was in junior high or high school, without my Dad's knowledge, I went through his list of contacts and found his friends address and phone number. When I graduated with my undergraduate degree in the mid 1990's I had visions of buying the car back so I looked up the owner. I wrote a few letters and managed to get his ok to come visit the car which was a big deal because I work a lot and don't travel much. The trip was a nightmare, my 96 Z-28 broke down and I ended up having to get a rental car in Georgia in order to make the journey from Ohio.
When I finally had a chance to see the car it ended up being a huge letdown. It was barricaded in various ways and covered with boxes in an old shed. It wasn't even what you'd call a barn. A "shed-find" is more like it. It was sunk down in the dirt and because the shed didn't even have a door, the front of the car was sticking out and the paint had blistered after decades of exposure to the Florida sun. The convertible top was ripped and when I asked the owner why he told me that his dog liked to climb up on the car and sleep there. I guess I left my camera in my Camaro because I didn't get any pictures.
The owner was real nice but made clear he had no intention of selling. His daughter lives down the same street a block away and he mentioned that she was going to want the car.
After that I stayed in touch with him via letters but I never made it back there for a variety of reasons. For the past couple years Covid was my best excuse. At some point he stopped responding. Didn't respond to any voice mails either. So fearing the worst I started copying his daughter on my letters. No one responded for the past couple years.
Last week I took the family to Disney. I decided to let my wife handle the kids and I went to visit the car owner in person. His phone number is still active so I called before arriving. Normally I wouldn't invite myself over to someone's place but sometimes you just got to do what you got to do. He didn't answer the door and he didn't call me back. the shed was no longer there. The car appeared to have been moved into the house's garage and I could see various methods were used to secure the doors from anyone getting inside.
I went down to his daughter's house next but no one answered. Her phone number was disconnected. I went next-door to the neighbors house (I'm not very shy, can you tell?) and they told me the car owner had died. I was sad to hear that because he had always been nice to me. I was disappointed that the daughter didn't make me aware of that. I felt pretty foolish writing these letters and leaving these voicemails. They miraculously had a different phone number for the daughter so I called and was told by her husband she would be back at 7pm.
So had to decide what to do. I was determined to see the car so I decided to go find a place nearby to hangout for a few hours and wait for her to get back from work. That's when I started optimistically to call around and post in this forum to see if there is a way anyone would help me if I was able to get her to sell me the car.
Well, she never called back. I tried again after 7 and I was told she wasn't home. So I went back to Disney, got back around 10pm. Luckily I have a pretty understanding wife. Another day went by and again, no one called me.
I decided to make one last ditch effort. On my last full day in Florida I typed up a letter for the daughter at the hotel and drove back again another hour and half out to the guy's house. I left it on the windshield of one of the vehicles that was being used to barricade the car in the garage. I didn't think it made sense to try and buy a car via letter so at this point I merely asked if I could see the car and take a few pictures. But first I told her I was sorry her Dad died. I noted that she didn't seem interested in allowing me to see the car so I just asked her to let me know if she ever changed her mind.
I didn't get any response over the past week. That is up until two days ago. Out of the blue she texted me and said she found the letter I left on the windshield. She said she was pretty busy but would try and send me a few pictures of the car. So as far as I'm concerned that is a win. A huge win. The extra effort of writing a letter and driving back and forth for three hours (along with the extra level of patience from my wife) was worth it to me just to hear back from this lady.
It's true, at the end of the day this is just a car but still it would be nice to be able see it and buy it back so I'm going to keep trying.
Great story and hope eventually you can make the transaction happen!
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