Carmine
Old Man with a Hat
Skip to the end if you are interested in the cars. I have come to find the stories surrounding them to be as interesting, so I am including that as well.
I became aware of a man liquidating a stash of Chrysler parts. Little did I know the parts were exclusively for 1974 to 1978 Imperial / New Yorker. These were the remnants of the estate of a man who passed away within the last few months. I drove through this neighborhood often enough to know where it was located without a map, but apparently not often enough to notice the cars in the driveway. Outer Drive is a main road through Detroit, and in its prime was considered one of the nicest residential areas. The reputation is far from that now. I believe the man who owned this house probably live there during its prime.
He was a Chrysler retiree, a skilled trades tool and die maker. I am told there were numerous blueprint drawings as part of the estate for various car parts. These were purchased before I became aware of the estate. The man who passed away apparently had no family, or at least no one who is interested in any aspect of the estate. Therefore it was all purchased by a gentleman who specializes in muscle car era parts. Among the estate were 15 whole cars, in various conditions, all of them four-door hardtops. Some of these cars were at a storage yard, some are located on the west side of Detroit, and some were located at the man's home on Detroit's East Side. Last Sunday, I was taken to the home and shown what were described as the two best cars from the estate. The man's place of employment would have literally been walking distance. The sign I'm showing from 2011 dates from the 1955 purchase of the building from the Briggs Body Company. In 2013 it was updated to the new independent Chrysler logo, and remains that way to this date. I have occasionally posed cars there for photographs.
The cars were locked up inside a cinder block garage, with the man door being brick walled from the inside. Once inside it appears that the newest registration date was 2001. So you can assume the cars have been sitting that long. I will say this garage appeared quite dry and free of any rodent / vermin. Those are the cars I'm posting in the pictures. Both are available for sale at $2,500 each. I have decided to pass.. either is a worthy project, but I simply do not have the spare time required to revive these cars.
The green car is very original with around 69,000 MI. The white car has been repainted pearl white. The interior of both cars appear to be an excellent condition. Although to be fair, I only took close looks at each driver's seat assuming that would have the most wear. The white car showed no evidence of rust, the green car appeared to only have been touched up on the lower quarter panels.. where they typically rust from damp carpet. It would definitely be worth the trouble when done. I would imagine a package deal would lubricate the price a little bit.
If anyone cares to direct message me, I can put you in touch with the seller. There is also a semi truck trailer filled with parts. The problem is, many of the saved parts came from Michigan used cars, so for example, I asked about the door handles. There were dozens of them, but any of them would have required replating to be better than what I already had.
The sad aspect here is that I imagine this man having Rain Man-like intelligence.. a die maker is quite skilled. But it appears his only interest were these cars, and at the end of his life that was all he had.
Again, if you're interested send me a private message and I will give you the phone number to the gentleman selling the cars. He is not interested in selling individual parts, he wants to make a deal that cleans out the semi trailer. Yes he has contacted the usual C body suspects, but as per usual they have not returned the phone call.
He will sell the cars individually, but obviously there is some labor involved with getting them onto a flatbed and shipped.
I became aware of a man liquidating a stash of Chrysler parts. Little did I know the parts were exclusively for 1974 to 1978 Imperial / New Yorker. These were the remnants of the estate of a man who passed away within the last few months. I drove through this neighborhood often enough to know where it was located without a map, but apparently not often enough to notice the cars in the driveway. Outer Drive is a main road through Detroit, and in its prime was considered one of the nicest residential areas. The reputation is far from that now. I believe the man who owned this house probably live there during its prime.
He was a Chrysler retiree, a skilled trades tool and die maker. I am told there were numerous blueprint drawings as part of the estate for various car parts. These were purchased before I became aware of the estate. The man who passed away apparently had no family, or at least no one who is interested in any aspect of the estate. Therefore it was all purchased by a gentleman who specializes in muscle car era parts. Among the estate were 15 whole cars, in various conditions, all of them four-door hardtops. Some of these cars were at a storage yard, some are located on the west side of Detroit, and some were located at the man's home on Detroit's East Side. Last Sunday, I was taken to the home and shown what were described as the two best cars from the estate. The man's place of employment would have literally been walking distance. The sign I'm showing from 2011 dates from the 1955 purchase of the building from the Briggs Body Company. In 2013 it was updated to the new independent Chrysler logo, and remains that way to this date. I have occasionally posed cars there for photographs.
The cars were locked up inside a cinder block garage, with the man door being brick walled from the inside. Once inside it appears that the newest registration date was 2001. So you can assume the cars have been sitting that long. I will say this garage appeared quite dry and free of any rodent / vermin. Those are the cars I'm posting in the pictures. Both are available for sale at $2,500 each. I have decided to pass.. either is a worthy project, but I simply do not have the spare time required to revive these cars.
The green car is very original with around 69,000 MI. The white car has been repainted pearl white. The interior of both cars appear to be an excellent condition. Although to be fair, I only took close looks at each driver's seat assuming that would have the most wear. The white car showed no evidence of rust, the green car appeared to only have been touched up on the lower quarter panels.. where they typically rust from damp carpet. It would definitely be worth the trouble when done. I would imagine a package deal would lubricate the price a little bit.
If anyone cares to direct message me, I can put you in touch with the seller. There is also a semi truck trailer filled with parts. The problem is, many of the saved parts came from Michigan used cars, so for example, I asked about the door handles. There were dozens of them, but any of them would have required replating to be better than what I already had.
The sad aspect here is that I imagine this man having Rain Man-like intelligence.. a die maker is quite skilled. But it appears his only interest were these cars, and at the end of his life that was all he had.
Again, if you're interested send me a private message and I will give you the phone number to the gentleman selling the cars. He is not interested in selling individual parts, he wants to make a deal that cleans out the semi trailer. Yes he has contacted the usual C body suspects, but as per usual they have not returned the phone call.
He will sell the cars individually, but obviously there is some labor involved with getting them onto a flatbed and shipped.
