Event Coverage Funniest, sorriest, worst thing ever happen while going and picking up a car?

In High School I helped a friend pick up a 57 Chevy he bought. It could drive but was not licensed so we flat towed it with a chain behind my Dad's 60 Chevy. Going across a steel deck bridge, I noticed the 57 looked further behind me than the length of the chain. I stopped and my buddy caught up and asked why I stopped. Apparently the chain unhooked from his 57 so he decided to try driving over it so if there were any Cops around it would look like we were still connected. I then explained to him that dragging a chain with a hook connected to my Dad's rear bumper over an open grate steel bridge was not exactly the smartest thing to do. I am sure if the hook had got caught in in the grating, I would have had some explaining to do with my Dad.
In later years still remembering this flat tow experience, if I had to move a car that could run, I would sometimes zipper plate the vehicle with a license plate from my Son's 50 state collection we had hanging on the garage wall.

 

My craziest story is actually me selling a car to a guy. He saw my ad on Facebook decided to come get it. He had been messaging me back and forth and another message appears on my phone. When I opened it, it was a video of taken by him of him pleasuring himself. I'm like WTF is this? You know that is not going to get you the car for any cheaper. He replied "oh I am so sorry that was meant to be for my wife. Can I still buy the car?" He already had my address and was coming for the car in the morning so I still sold it to him. But when he got there he wanted to shake my hand and I had to respectfully decline as I didn't want to touch it LOL, Weirded me out behond belief.

 

Now that was funny..

 

Ewwwww...wouldn't shake hands either. He borrows my pen...keep it!!!!!
Can I still buy the car? Sure...come on over

Sent from my SM-S320VL using Tapatalk

 

Haven't I talked about the BB sedan delivery.....paid the cash for it....went to the street and waited to flag down my wrecker guy....as my wrecker guy was getting it ready - I went to secure the hood - just in case with a safety strap - and lifting the hood - missing were the early Moon valve covers and some Morroso were in place of them....I said SHIT to the seller dude - and he says - those are my dad's - they are not included.....bullshit on that........I just let it go and got out of there....he was a flipper anyway....one you just wanted to smack all about - but his dad was in the shadows.......

 

A few years back a good friend of mine here in Iowa sold a 60 something caddy convertible project car. He’d realized he wasn’t going to ever get to it & decided to sell it on line. Ended up being contacted by a kid from Louisiana who was head over heels in love with the car. Now this car had been parked for several years in a less than perfect garage / raccoon hotel. The interior was, shall we say “rough” & smelled like mildew & raccoons - but that was ok because while the top mechanism operated smoothly, the top itself had rotted away long ago.
The ad clearly stated the cars condition, & that while it would run & drive, it should only be trailered. Kid agrees to purchase conditions, sends a deposit & says he’ll be there in a week. A couple days b4 he’s set to arrive he calls my friend & says he’s on his was & can we meet him at the bus station. Ok- so he’s going rent a truck & trailer it back home right? Nope he’s gonna drive it back to Louisiana. From Iowa. In November...
Trying to give him a little protection from the elements, (& a fighting chance of making it) we rigged him up a top of sorts made from several layers of heavy duty plastic tarps taped around the conv. top frame, threw on a used set of 1/2 way decent tires, changed the belts & fluids etc.
He showed up on the bus @ 10:30 pm - gave the car a quick walk around said “cool” paid the balance due, signed the paperwork, tossed his duffle bag in the back & asked for directions to I-35 south & headed out.
The next morning he called from somewhere near Little Rock asking how to add oil to the car cause it was smoking some... My friend tells him add it into the cap on the valve cover- long pause & the kid asks “where is that in relation to the big round thing on the top of the engine?”
The car ended up making it all the way to Louisiana - have always wondered if it’s still around or if it disappeared in a hurricane.

 

A couple of years ago I sold a 66 Buick Gran Sport to a guy about 8 hours drive from me. He asked the normal questions about the car and looked over all the pictures I had posted. He asked if it would make it driving about 500 miles. I told him it probably would but it had set for about 3 years and I had not drove it much and the tires were pretty old so I would recommend hauling it that far. He sent the payment and said he would have a hauler pick it up in a week or so. A few more days and he calls and said he can't find anyone to pick it up and he was coming to get it on his own and that he would be here about 7PM on Friday. Friday evening comes and he pulls in the driveway in a clapped out mini van with a rented U-Haul dolly I would not have trusted that old van to get me to the end of the road but it didn't bother him and the money was in my pocket. He had me drive the Buick on the dolly and he half assed strapped it down. He didn't even take the driveshaft out. I told him the trans was a 400 turbo and would still be turning and it would burn it out and I wouldn't trust the old tires. He said just put it in neutral, it would be fine. I gave him the title and away he went. Never heard from him again so he must have made it.

 

My father got stuck in a ditch with me in the car. I was really little anyway this 80 something year old and his wife stopped by in the fancy new truck they had just purchased. Hooked up the tow strap and backed up. He started sliding down the hill we started sliding down the hill and then we absolutely folded the front end of this truck with our car.. Dude didn't even flinch asked us if we were OK and peeled outta there.

 

Kid sounds like most of us at that age. More balls than brains or knowledge.

 

I once had a similar experience. I made a deal to purchase a 6os Z28 OT car, sans motor, trans. Good deal but when I went to pay for it and pick it up, the dude had removed the rare tic tok tach. He said it belonged to his friend. I told him no deal, I don't deal like that and passed on it. Hell the tach was worth as much as the clapped out Z28.

 

I sold a crusty old '82 Chevy wagon to a guy who saw it on Craigs List, I was asking $500, he said $250 and I said SOLD. His wife (I guess...) was going to follow him home in an old diesel Mercedes, he just took the front plate off it and put it on the wagon. Where the Mercedes was idling... there was this 5' diameter pool of engine oil left behind. It stained the road for months later. I did see my old wagon dressed up as a taxi a few times on the road.

 

Don't recall how, but back in the early '80's, I heard about a '37 Chevy 1/2T for sale near Albany, NY, about 200-miles from where I lived. I told my wife I was going to look at it and, uncharacteristically, she piped up and said "You're NOT buying another old vehicle". Now we'd been married for 20-years at the time and she was always an old car gal and supportive of my collecting.

So naturally, being a dutiful husband, I ignored her, hitched the trailer up and took off to go look at it.
The truck turned out to be an incomplete, non-running, project vehicle In negotiating a lower price (he was asking $500), I pointed out all that was missing. The owner said, "My dad has a '37 truck he might be looking to sell and it's complete." I asked where it was and turned out he only lived 4-miles away, so off I went to look at it. Wound up being more complete that his kid's truck, so I asked him how much? He told me $700, but if I bought his sons's turck, too, I could have them both for $900. Of course, I said "Sold!" and we loaded it up and I drove it home, planning to return the following weekend to pick up the other truck.

When I got home, I walked into the kitchen where my wife was and she said, "Well, I supposed you bought a truck, didn't you?" I said, "No, you told me not to buy a truck, so I bought TWO of them!". She got over it eventually and we're still married, 30-years later.

Here's pics of the two trucks:
37truck1 by TagMan, on Flickr

37truck2 by TagMan, on Flickr

 

@TagMan , smart man. Wife said dont buy another, so you buy 2. Teach her them technicalities!

 

I remember flat towing the green one with a home made tow bar TagMan from your house to mine with my Son and Nephew. When we got there I thought my Nephew who was steering was crying but it was just some dirt that flew in the window and got in his eye. Took me several years and buying more trucks to do the build I wanted. Grandsons loved the Truck and I drove it to Michigan several times for the Woodward Dream Cruise. It is still around and is currently owned by my Son in Michigan where our Granddaughter now enjoys riding in it. The grille is still sitting in my barn. Can't remember but the other truck looks like one of the parts trucks I had and sold to a friend. He built it and sold it. The last time I saw it was at Autorama it was still red with the brown interior. The next owner had done some upgrades and added flames. Did I buy that one too from you?

 

Towed a '60 Pontiac home- no brakes, no battery so no horn either and too short of tow strap- wife drove our 4 x 4 and I told her to go slow- she normally drives her Corvette so slow to her was 55 mph or so- I had my arm out window waving and cussing up a storm- she slowed to about 35 mph at corners- one I ended up almost passing her as I slingshot around that corner- that scared her enough to go much slower- I did pretty much shit myself though-

 

Ray,
I'm pretty sure you took both trucks. They went to a good home - glad to hear they're both still around and being enjoyed.
-Bob

 

I talked to my friend and the second 37 was the one I sold him for his build. Found a finished picture of it in one of my folders. I know eventually I had two 37's and one 38 that I used to build the custom Kingcab.

 

I had given up on towing cars with a rope or chain. There was a tow bar around that I could borrow, but it wasn't always around when I needed it. My brother had a '75 Ford with a burst radiator by where he worked, so we went after it and PUSHED it home with my '68 Impala. He drove it until it got hot, them I nerfed him the rest of the way with a tire tied to the front of my Chevy. We used hand motions and it worked out fine. Now the cars today, lots of luck pushing anything using a plastic bumper...

 

My dad bought a 68 Mustang Fastback because he wanted the 4-speed top loader out of it. It was about 30 minutes down a state highway from his house so he decided to chain it home with my steering it. I had just turned 16 and had not had my license for very long and I had never been pulled with a chain before. He is clipping down the highway doing about 50 mph when shortly into the trip the hood comes open, the hinges bend and the hood lies back on the windshield so I could not see. No battery in the car so I could not honk to get his attention so I start to swerve back and forth so he would see that something was wrong and stop. Not only did he not slow up and stop but I think he actually sped up a little! I am hanging my head out the window doing my best to keep on the road. Probably 15 – 20 minutes later he finally gets to town and comes to a stop sign. He gets out and walks back to check on me. I ask him if he did not see that the hood had come open on me and that I was having issues steering. He says “yeah I saw that when it happened. Made for a pretty exciting ride for you didn’t it?”
A few years later my dad bought another car about 1-1/2 hours away. He chained that car home and had my 16 year old brother steer it all the way down Interstate 80. It was baptism by fire growing up with my dad but it made my brother and me tougher.

 

Also not car related but I was at a local fair the tractor show was being held around the horse track and a younger kid was talking to a older gentleman about hearing a tractor run.. The owner of the tractor being hesitant to start it because it smoked. Well the kid talked the guy into starting it said hey give it some gas! Pulled the throttle lever up and it chucked the rod right out of the block. He brought it to the show for years after left alone rod just hanging there.

 

This story was probably funny to watch. My convertible came from Mt Bethel, PA. A friend was transporting cars at the time, he had a Model A to drop off near Chicago. We headed east on interstate 80 headed to PA. We got the A dropped in Chicago drove straight thru swapped drivers when we stopped for fuel. Got to the destination early in the morning. This was early in March and it snowed overnight. The guy that owned the convertible lived in the country. The barn that had my car in it was on a small hill. The grass was snow covered, and very slick. When I got out of the truck I didn’t check very close and took a couple of steps and fell on my ass. I could have made snow angels. I was so embarrassed, got up wiped the snow from my clothes and took much smaller steps from then on

 

I got my first 39 Ford tub (Convertible Sedan) and was towing it from San Diego to Sunland Ca. . Stopped in a gas station and a kid in his early teens came over looked inside and outside and said" Is this a WWII army tank?". It was grey primer, chopped top with a black Carson top and very rough, kinda like an Army Tank.

 

Here is my story.
Back in the early 1990's I bought my 57 chevy truck. It was located about 10 miles from my house. I arrived early on a Saturday morning to pump up the tires etc. My friend showed up with his tow truck and hooked it up. My friend towing my truck was following me, on a city street that was 4 lanes wide. I hear this loud crash on the far side of the street and see this random car going across all 4 lanes and heading to my truck. The car had hit a bus stop on the far side of the street and came veering over towards my truck, missed, but went flying across the curb and into a store parking lot and hitting a tree.
This was about 8 am on a Saturday. Turns out the driver was a building cleaner and had worked all night and fell asleep at the wheel. They missed hitting and totaling my truck by about 10 feet.

 

Not a car but a piece of equipment that weights over 5 tons, Sam & I left Virginia in his huge rollback and drove to the far end of Illinois to the address provided by the seller, it was late when we called him sitting at the end of his driveway - 'what are you doing here?' he asked? 'the machine is in Iowa!'
Things went downhill from there, I did get the machine but the rest of the storey is best not told.

 

Cops will write you a more expensive ticket for switched plates than no plates

 

I was driving my 57 chevy wagon the other day and a 19 yr old kid asked if it was a hearse

 

I bought my very first car back in 1967, a 1951 Dodge Coronet more door sedan for the princely sum of $20. Got it from the back lot of the local Esso gas station in town. The garage owner wouldn't sell it to me until he had time to get it up and running first. Finally he was ready to sell so my dear old Dad offered to help in transporting it the 5 miles or so to our back yard. I'm not old enough yet to drive, so Dad was in the Dodge and the station's 1949 GMC 1 ton shop truck was called into service. We used a chain to flat tow the beast. Best part of the story; As Dad would tell the story years later the chain kept getting shorter and the speed we achieved kept getting higher. After that experience I first rented and then bought a tow bar!

 

I used chain wrapped around the back bumper of my 39 Ford 1/2 ton and around the front bumper of my 39 1 1/2 ton truck. Got home with no problem, The 1/2 ton has a 4" pipe bumper

 

Another one. I have this POS 69 international. I had rigged a gin pole in the bed and would hang a chain hoist from it and used that to lift a wrecker sling. this was 32 years ago. We went to a Saturdaty auction way out on Y highway west of Doniphan Mo our youngest son Zack was three. Randall Jr was 15 and Chris was 13. Randall Jr bought a pilot house Dodge for $100. I bought a heavy disk. We loaded the disk in the Dodge bed. and hooked it up. those dodge tires where old 16 inch dry rotted but still holding air. We hadn't made it to hwy 142 at Doniphan and had a flat on the rear of the international. Hot July day. We put on the spare . and made it almost to the Current River bridge and had another flat on the rear of the wrecker. It was sweltering hot . No more spares . So Randall Jr, Chris and I took turns rolling the flat back uphill to a gas station about two miles and got the tire fixed. Rolled it back and Debbie and Zack where setting in the shade and the other rear tire was flat. So we installed the reciently fixed tire. Removed the other flat and rolled it back. The gas station was now closed. There was a guy at the ford garage washing cars. We went there and I guy let us use a bumper jack and jack handles to break down the tire. Randall Jr went to a parts store and bought patches and glue. We patched the tube. and the car wash guy had let us use the air hose. We all where just at the end of our rope. Hot and sweaty nobody was saying a word. We get back to the Truck and Zack was using a stick to scrape up hot tar that was bubbling up in the asphalt. We had ran out of drinking water. Tempers all simmering ready to boil over. Me Debbie and the Three sons all packed in the cab. that 100 degree heat blowing from the vent windows felt great. I stopped at Dean town liquor store to let Debbie go inside to get something for us to drink. Her and Zack went inside. Me and the two teens set in the shade. Debbie came out and gave me a quart can of cold beer. I drank in short order and she produced another one. We made it home without any more problems. No Donny brook or murders just silence. I went inside to take a shower. Not Randall jr and Chris. They had also cold beer and they went to working on the Dodge pickup. Had it running in a hour. Ran really great. We still have that Cursed dammed International , the Dodge and the chain hoist. That international was the very worst vehicle we have ever owned. Always sumthin going wrong with it.

 

Had to laugh at that one, I get that all the time with my “ other” 65!


PS: I ask..... have you ever seen glass packs on a Hearse? Lol





Bones