As much as you guys don't like it, the guy who has his name on the title has the right to do whatever he wants with his car. He can restore it to better then it was when it left the factory, or he could hot rod it and beat the crap out of it, or he could let it sit and rot away for what ever reason he has, or he could butcher it up to make it his very own dream car. You think it just sucks because he is not doing what you would do with it, if it was yours.
One thing that people forget is at some time all those cars were worth pretty much nothing. I bought a car from the 70's 20 years ago at a price that you can't even buy a perfect door for it nowadays. Someone once gave me a car that is now worth between 10 and 12G. Many years ago I threw away a Mercedes 190sl complete grille because I was tired of moving it around, would I do that today ? Absolutely not. Time change. Value of stuff too.
Absolute truth. Starting back in as early as 77 or 78, I was buying Mopar cars and trucks that looked much better then most of the Mopars pictured on this thread for around $100. I had one of those factory jobs that actually paid really well at the time, and I always carried a $100 bill in my wallet because I never knew when the chance to buy another performance Mopar would surface. I bought a 70 Charger RT with somewhere around 70K miles on it that had a 440, 4 speed, Dana with 3:55 sure grip rear, and new dual exhaust for $100 cash. It had some rust on the quarters and was a bit abused. The guy bought the car, was doing burnouts in front of his mother's house and spun a rod bearing. The car had been sitting in his mom's driveway for 3 days, and she was demanding he get rid of it. I showed up at his mom's place on a Thursday evening with that $100 which was 3x what the local junk yard was willing to pay him for it, if he delivered it to them. I drove the car home! I had the car stripped of everything I had space to put the parts in 3 days, right in front of my house. Then I called by buddy at the junk yard to come and get the body, and he gave me another $50, he and I had an arrangement we had been working for a few years already at that time. When I bought and stripped a car, and told him to pick it up, he was there the next morning. I kept the 440, the 4 speed and all the linkage, that Dana, both doors with the RT scoops on them, and a bunch of small stuff. I sold the exhaust for more then I paid for the entire car! I kept the 440 for a dew years, used the doors on a 69 Charger I had, and the Hemi 4 speed on my 70 Road Runner street racer. That car was a money maker for sure! Just one of many! At the advice of a local police officer I knew, We were allowed to work on our own cars in front of our houses back then. I could buy a car on Thursday and park it in front of my house. The city would mark the tires (with chalk) of any car without plates (the 1st day the tires were marked at the body, the 2nd day they were marked at the street, (rubbing the chalk off the tires delayed the process, but after a couple days, the Police would start getting serious) as long as the car was moved every 24 hours, there was nothing they could do (or at least nothing they did do). Then I could start stripping it out, but I had to keep the outer shell intact so it still looked like a car on Friday. Sat morning I would move the car 12" forward (or rearward) and could continue stripping it (still leaving the shell intact). Then Sun morning I would move it back to its original position (or a bit farther then it originally was). On Sunday I could remove anything I wanted (or had room) to keep, but Monday morning I wanted it to be gone! At the time I didn't have a garage at home, but was renting one across town. I had my dirt track car there and there was not enough space for 2 cars, so the parts cars were stripped in front of my house! I did this for nearly 7 years (probably 3-4 cars a year), before I bought a place where I had a garage and space to strip cars and store parts. I knew most of the city police at the time, I know they knew what I was doing, but other then the car thing, I really was an upstanding citizen.
This sits on farmland near me, where sure bet it floods almost every year. On a dead-end road with not much traffic. I've never seen the car other than how it sits covered with a tarp; you can see at this time a fairly fresh tarp. I know two guys who live on this road, both have told pretty much the same tale. The car is a 69 Charger RT 440 4 speed and the only time you see the car is when a flood has removed the tarp, or the tattered old tarp is being replaced. And of course, "Not for sale".
The Jalopy Journal
