Folks Of Interest Veterans..Did you leave a car in someone's care when you went into service?

The downside to this thread is that it brings back memories that I try to forget.
The upside is finding out that I wasn't the only one to have parents with "questionable" judgement.

 

Had model A Tudor when I went in in '66. It was a project and was left with a pal who had a garage with his cousin. When I was out in '70 I went to see him to get it home. They had sold it to pay a fine from the township for their mess around the garage. We see each other but we were never pals again.

 

I had a 62 Olds F-85 with the 215 v8, 4bbl and 4 speed. The tranny (BW T-10) had been stolen out of it just before I left in '66 and I returned in '68, and my car was put all back together by my family and ready to roll. Traded it in on a '68 Camaro SS 350 shortly after I got back.

 

Left my '58 Chev convertible in a shed at my uncle's farm, up on blocks when I left for Fort Jackson in Aug '64. The next to the last week of Basic we got an overnight pass (noon Saturday until 6:00PM Sunday - with a 45 mile limit). A friend and I flew home (Philadelphia, PA area), called my stepdad from the airport saying we were on the way. He got it off the blocks, put the wheels on and a new battery.

We left for South Carolina about 10:00 that Sat night, had no place to put the car near Jackson so we left it at another Uncle's place in Concord, North Carolina and took a bus back to Jackson - arrived 2 hours late but nobody made a big deal about it. After Basic I took a bus back to Concord and parked the car in one of the parking lots outside the Base gate.

 

Drafted in '67. Was driving my cherry '60 chevy Biscayne 2-door post with a '61 fuelie engine and 4:56 p0sitraction. Tried to sell the car and couldn't so talked to the local chevy new car sales manager and he gave me a credit slip for a new vehicle when I returned. Car went on the used car lot. When I got back from VN in '69 I used the credit and bought a '69 Z28. I later saw my '60 in a back alley, beat to hell with no engine in it.

 

Speaking on behalf of the rest of that had dead beat dad's... I would have dreamed of having a dad as cool as yours! Wow, what a true gentleman! I am sad that he is gone too. What a guy!

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Left my 62 Impala SS in the loving care of my fiancé when I shipped out to RVN in 69. Six months later, this annoying red light on the dashboard kept coming on. Three months later she threw a rod thru the block. Seems that damned oil light never would go away. And, I never did marry her either.


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Thanks He was!

 

Enlisted in the Army in 1966. Selected to do other stuff in the middle of basic. Discharged from Army, moved to Florida, ...bought a nice 1962 Fairlane a drove it to the Cape. My '56 Fords front end was worn out. I flew back to Atlanta to see parents and my dad had the front end on my '56 Ford repaired. (ball joint's were probably square)

What a great suprise, ..thanks again Dad...!!

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Agreed, but our past has made us what we are!

 

I kept her another 30 years, and yep on the chains. I'll post some other pics of her changes. Hint it ran 11.00 with a 331 SBC and a Doug Nash Magnesium 5 speed at Maple Grove, full steel down to the bumper brackets.

 

Left my 1959 Corvette in my mother-in-laws garage in 1969 with specific instructions to my wife on how to care for it- neither the mother-in-law or wife did anything- when I later was sent overseas sold it rather than see it sit and rot-

 

Left my 67 Mustang at my fathers house when I got drafted, came home after boot camp no car. No one made my payments while I was gone. car was repoed, I went to the dealer where I bought it and there it was down in the basement covered in dust with a blown transmission.. I got a loan from the Army credit union paid it off got it back on the road traded for a 58 Corvette

 

Not me but my father left N.S.P in St.paul in 1951 went into the Army, spent it all at fort Leonard Wood left his 37 ford 2 door slant in his mothers garage, they dident drive so it should be safe...
When He was finished with his 4 years, he went to get his car and yes you guessed it, his mother said "oh that old thing? some guy gave me 15.00 for it" ( his story may not have been 100% accurate )

But I know he longed for a 37 slant forever

 

Drafted in '69 so enlisted in the Navy. Left my '69 Charger at the folks and my '55 Chevy at my girlfriends house a 100 miles away. After boot was able to drive the Charger to California and stashed the '55 at the folk's. After a couple years they wanted it gone so I took leave and drove it to California and sold the Charger. Couple months later marching papers. Parked it in a storage yard for 16 months.

 

I'm stating to see a pattern here.HRP

 

I had a Jag XK-140 when I got orders to go to South Korea from Ft. Belvoir, Va. (1969). I rented a garage, put the car on cinder blocks, got it up to temp, and flooded it with Mystery Oil. My Father was enlisted to go check on it. My Old Man was an artist , and didn't know which end of a screwdriver to use and I think it gave him the horrors to take on the job. I think I wrote home a couple of times a month, and all I asked about was the CAR. ( the baby).
Came back home in a year, put in fresh plugs and it fired right up. By then the Old Man was ready for a nervous breakdown! ( Then I brought it back to the house and got it ready to repaint- big burnt spot on the lawn ( his anal compulsion) and the car and I got our own place.

 

Nice car Mike. HRP

 

When I left for boot camp in 1966 I left my 63 Ford Fairlane with my wife of three days, later when she was with me in Germany (yeah, I was lucky and didn't get a trip to the jungle) I have no clue where the car was stored??? Never thought about it until now. After I got out we drove it from Iowa to New Mexico and I returned to college, I had that car until the 80's and gave the body with no engine or transmission to a friends son. He had it for years, and no, I have no real regrets about selling that car, I liked it, had fun with it, did engine and transmission swaps, learned a lot, but was glad to see someone else have fun with it. I guess it was too "late model" for me

 

I never was in Uncle Sugars Military Camp , but I did care for a few buddies Harley's while they worked on the farm . Safe and sound on their return , they would have done same for me . Uncle was USMC MOS 8541 returned home after 3 tours in country , nuttier that a s$)t house rat . 6 months in Leavenworth, he didn't want to play war games anymore . Bought a new 440 Charger , dead 2 weeks later , buried with full Military Honors . Sad time in most of our lives , I gave thanks to all that served and I hope all that are on here enjoy this wonderful hobby , Im here to return help to you anyway I possibly can help you . You deserve more respect that I can ever express to you . Thank you again .

 

I built my '32 three window, and drove it for 6 months before being drafted, at 19 years old, in May of '71. My Dad was a car guy, so I was good there, we found a place to store the car. Now the pile of '32 parts I had accumulated was another story, Dad said they had to go. I had a stack of about 5 '32 frames, started calling my car club buddies, come & get 'em, $15 bucks apiece !!
I had that '32 for 10 years & put 125,000 miles on it !

 

I graduated high school in 64 and left my 57 BelAir Sport Sedan inside my folks large barn.
When I returned home it looked the same as I left it except there was alight coating of road salt on its perfect white pained exterior.
My mother explained to me she used it for a couple of trips around town doing errands over the past 2 years.
She normally drove her 64 Olds Super 88 hardtop but the Olds needed periodic service so she used my BelAir.
She told me the kids downtown gave her a lot of whistles and thumbs up. It was a Hurst rowed stick with a Rochester Fuel Injected engine.
She did complain the clutch was kind of stiff but the car was manageable.
I still laugh to this day picturing this 5 foot blond lady, mother of 5 kids loping around town, going to grocery store in the crazy Chevy.
She kept it nice for my return.


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I had a double deferment one for being married and another for being an apprentice. One day got a wild hare up my ass and enlisted in the USMC in 1969. Had a nice 1967 390 4 speed Mustang fastback that I bought from a dealership and repainted. Left the Mustang with my then future ex-wife during USMC boot camp and drove it to Memphis (millington) air base for school. She joined me later and we soon realized we couldn't keep up the car payments and insurance on my $76.00 and her $100.00 allotment monthly.

So back to the dealership where I bought it and the same salesman that let me & HIM test drive a brand new 19681/2 Mustang COBRAJET that they had just got in.

Explained the problem to this GREAT GUY and he said they had a 1964 1/2 Mustang convertible 289 four barrel four speed they would give me and pay off the note on the 1967 Mustang and take it back and I would owe NO MONEY I would be out from under and still have a car to drive.

I couldn't believe it and asked why the good deal. He winked and said his son had recently joined in the USMC also.

I don't know if they are still around and I'm sure he is long retired or passed on but if you are in the neighborhood Saville Ford in Thomsaton Ct. is a good place to do business.

Kept the mustang for awhile then got a promotion and moved up to a 1967 Comet Cyclone which got me through the USMC.

 

How about the rest of the story as Paul Harvey would say? Why was the engine even out of the car and tires sitting in the corner ? Lol


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How did he sell it if the title was in your name? It's illegal to sale any vehicle that's not in your name how is it so many of these boneheads have gotten away with this? No way do I let anything like that slide with my car they would go to jail or pay me one or the other jmo


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Bought my first new car in '66 a Fairlane 500 Hardtop, 289, auto. Took payments for 24 months.......got drafted in '67.
Left it with my Mum and sister as they had no means of transportation. Made almost all of the rest of the payments on my Army pay! They took pretty good care of it.
Had that car 11 years and put 110k miles on it.
Yeah, that's me May of '69, the surf bum!

 

My guess is that he put a lien on it, labeled it as a abandoned car. Not sure.....

I did go after the guy that stripped my 1977 Chevy Monte Carlo. Someone beat me to it! Come to find out, he stole a radiator from a guys farm tractor. The guy with the tractor knew the guy who collects scrap, so he was able to hunt the thief down. He drove over to the asshole's house, and beat that prick within a hair of his life. His face was caved in, literally, and he had several broken bones. His eye was beaten out of his skull, and teeth were missing too. The idiot looked at me and said, go ahead, kick my ass, I don't think that I can put up much of a fight here....

I turned around and walked away. I figured that Karma caught up with him.

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I had my brother come over and start both my 35 Ford PU and my 34 Ford Sedan while I was in Iraq for end of 2008 and all of 2009. I told him I was ok with my driving either just to put some use on them, but he didn't. He said he didn't want to be responsible in case anything went wrong or if there was an accident. He did start them up every other month though just like he promised (wife verified).

 

Dirk35, your brother did good!

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In 1969 I left my '64 Polara with my brother when I joined the Army. He managed to wreck it while I was in AIT. So, I bought a '68 GTX and left it with my brother when I went to Vietnam. He managed to wreck it.............we don't talk much anymore.

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