Bryan
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 15, 2012
- Messages
- 830
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*edit* -- Sorry about the novel, got carried away. Didn't realize the length... If I have breeched etiquitte for length, I'll keep future posts short.
Hello everyone. I posted an introduction of me and my 65 Chrysler in the Early C Bodies section last week, then realized later there was a "Welcome Wagon" forum too, so I thought I would introduce here too. I retired from the USAF several years ago and live in North Dakota. When I was younger, I pretty much wouldn't have anything except a Mopar or AMC product. Mostly big full sized cars, but there were some smaller ones thrown in here and there. Some of the MOPAR cars I owned in my prime were.
1959 Plymouth Suburban Wagon
1960 Dodge Dart Phoenix 4 dr
1960 Plymouth Savoy 2 dr
1962 Chrysler 300 hardtop
1964 Dodge Cornet 440 4 dr
1966 Plymouth VIP 2 Dr
1969 Chrysler Newport 4 dr
1969 Chrysler 300 Convertible
1970 Dodge SuperBee HemiBee
1971 Plymouth Fury Gran Coupe (I loved most of them, but truly loved this one)
Then there were several AMC products scattered in there too.
Between family life and the hassle of keeping an old car with the constant moving around in the military, I kind of lost touch with my roots and didn't have an old Mopar car for many years. a while before I retired from the USAF in the 90's, I started getting interested in classic Iron again, but couldn't find what I was looking for in a Chrysler... I wanted a really nice, really cheap --- big C body convertible.
Something completely rust free, low miles, in really good condition, big block...... and low priced..... Seems a lot of cars met most of the requirements, but not all of them... Mainly price and prior rust.... "picky, picky" why didn't these guys want to sell at my price!!!
I ended up finding a really nice and really cheap car that I bought...... Trouble is, it was a 55 Pontiac 2 Door Wagon. I kept that for several years, but never really got "involved" with it. ended up selling it to a guy in Ohio about 8 years ago when EBAY was still an easy place for the common man to use. I ended up with a really nice AMC Concord with 31000 miles, but that was just a nice boring, second car... Sold that to an AMC collector who thought more of it than I did. In 2008, I bought a little two seater MG... Now that was a fun car... but it is a two seater and totally unsuited for North Dakota roads, which are straight... and endless.... Up here, you go straight for many miles, turn 90 degrees, go straight for many more miles......repeat until you get there. I really liked the car, but in addition to the aforementioned unsuitability of the car, I recently developed rhumatoid arthritis and became extremely limited in what I can do, and what car(s) I can get in and out of.... The MG had to go. It went via the internet, to a really nice guy in Kansas City who had been looking for that specific year and color combinbation for several years... I was in the market again.. This time it was going to be a big Chrysler Product.. No matter what... In addition to the prerequisites stated earlier my top choices were
1. A 1964 Dodge 880 2 Dr hardtop or Convertible.
2. A second 1969 300 Convertible.
3. Any C body Convertible with Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth and Imperial being the order of preference. Top preference in this wide open last ditch class was 65-67 Chrysler Convertible.
After many weeks of searching and talking to people with high prices, or lots of rust, or both... I happened on a 65 Newport listed on a regional classified site. The car was located in South Dakota, about 200 miles away. The web price was kind of high and the car looked a little too good to be true.. 59000 miles, fairly original, dry plains car, never any rust. Mostly original interior, original engine, recently rebuilt with receipts, repainted in 1997 in the original color. The seller said the paint job wasn't the greatest (he was accurate), but was a 10 footer. Due to the price, I filed the car away in my mind, and continued looking.... I tried for a pretty solid 66 Newport convertible, a pretty solid 67 300 convertible and a very questionable 69 300 convertible. I missed out on the 66 and 67 because the reserves were far above what anyone was willing to pay evidently.. I missed out on the 69 300 because It looked like it contained numerous cans of Bondo, and I wasn't willing to take the chance on a ripply, freshly painted northeastern car. During this period, I deterimed to myself that Ebay pretty much sucks........
After a time, I rediscovered the pretty spanish red 65 Newport living just down the road.. I called the owner again and made arrangements to drive down with my son in law the following Saturday to look at the car. I told the fellow, I wasn't willing to come close to what he was asking, and he said he was flexible. He had recently moved out of town onto a gravel road, wanted to sell the car to get a pickup, which he would actually use. He didn't like driving the Chrysler now that he would have to drive on mud and gravel. Besides, he lived in the middle of nowhere in N central SD and no one he knew was interested in old cars, and it is hard to maintain an interest himself..
We drove down there a few Saturday's ago and found the place after a time.. When I saw the car, I couldn't believe it.... It was everything I was looking for. Low miles, runs and drives like a new car, clean as a 4-5 year old car... Looks perfect from 10 feet...... As he said, the paint ain't the greatest when you get close and examine it.... I like it fine. Anyway, I got the car for $5000 less than he originally wanted, $500 more than I originally offered, plus, he and changed the oil, serviced the car, checked the air in the tires and filled the tank with premium gasoline before got there. I handed him cash, he handed me two sets of keys and the title showing him a third owner, and I drove the car home with my son in law following. I drove mostly in the 65 range, but ran it up to 85-90 fo a while on I-94, west of Bismarck.. It floated... Since I got it home, I have not been the least bit dissapointed, and have had no surprises (other than a seeping core plug on the right side of the block, and a dripping power steering pump). Anyway, after many years in the wildeness... I'm Baaack!
Hello everyone. I posted an introduction of me and my 65 Chrysler in the Early C Bodies section last week, then realized later there was a "Welcome Wagon" forum too, so I thought I would introduce here too. I retired from the USAF several years ago and live in North Dakota. When I was younger, I pretty much wouldn't have anything except a Mopar or AMC product. Mostly big full sized cars, but there were some smaller ones thrown in here and there. Some of the MOPAR cars I owned in my prime were.
1959 Plymouth Suburban Wagon
1960 Dodge Dart Phoenix 4 dr
1960 Plymouth Savoy 2 dr
1962 Chrysler 300 hardtop
1964 Dodge Cornet 440 4 dr
1966 Plymouth VIP 2 Dr
1969 Chrysler Newport 4 dr
1969 Chrysler 300 Convertible
1970 Dodge SuperBee HemiBee
1971 Plymouth Fury Gran Coupe (I loved most of them, but truly loved this one)
Then there were several AMC products scattered in there too.
Between family life and the hassle of keeping an old car with the constant moving around in the military, I kind of lost touch with my roots and didn't have an old Mopar car for many years. a while before I retired from the USAF in the 90's, I started getting interested in classic Iron again, but couldn't find what I was looking for in a Chrysler... I wanted a really nice, really cheap --- big C body convertible.
Something completely rust free, low miles, in really good condition, big block...... and low priced..... Seems a lot of cars met most of the requirements, but not all of them... Mainly price and prior rust.... "picky, picky" why didn't these guys want to sell at my price!!!I ended up finding a really nice and really cheap car that I bought...... Trouble is, it was a 55 Pontiac 2 Door Wagon. I kept that for several years, but never really got "involved" with it. ended up selling it to a guy in Ohio about 8 years ago when EBAY was still an easy place for the common man to use. I ended up with a really nice AMC Concord with 31000 miles, but that was just a nice boring, second car... Sold that to an AMC collector who thought more of it than I did. In 2008, I bought a little two seater MG... Now that was a fun car... but it is a two seater and totally unsuited for North Dakota roads, which are straight... and endless.... Up here, you go straight for many miles, turn 90 degrees, go straight for many more miles......repeat until you get there. I really liked the car, but in addition to the aforementioned unsuitability of the car, I recently developed rhumatoid arthritis and became extremely limited in what I can do, and what car(s) I can get in and out of.... The MG had to go. It went via the internet, to a really nice guy in Kansas City who had been looking for that specific year and color combinbation for several years... I was in the market again.. This time it was going to be a big Chrysler Product.. No matter what... In addition to the prerequisites stated earlier my top choices were
1. A 1964 Dodge 880 2 Dr hardtop or Convertible.
2. A second 1969 300 Convertible.
3. Any C body Convertible with Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth and Imperial being the order of preference. Top preference in this wide open last ditch class was 65-67 Chrysler Convertible.
After many weeks of searching and talking to people with high prices, or lots of rust, or both... I happened on a 65 Newport listed on a regional classified site. The car was located in South Dakota, about 200 miles away. The web price was kind of high and the car looked a little too good to be true.. 59000 miles, fairly original, dry plains car, never any rust. Mostly original interior, original engine, recently rebuilt with receipts, repainted in 1997 in the original color. The seller said the paint job wasn't the greatest (he was accurate), but was a 10 footer. Due to the price, I filed the car away in my mind, and continued looking.... I tried for a pretty solid 66 Newport convertible, a pretty solid 67 300 convertible and a very questionable 69 300 convertible. I missed out on the 66 and 67 because the reserves were far above what anyone was willing to pay evidently.. I missed out on the 69 300 because It looked like it contained numerous cans of Bondo, and I wasn't willing to take the chance on a ripply, freshly painted northeastern car. During this period, I deterimed to myself that Ebay pretty much sucks........
After a time, I rediscovered the pretty spanish red 65 Newport living just down the road.. I called the owner again and made arrangements to drive down with my son in law the following Saturday to look at the car. I told the fellow, I wasn't willing to come close to what he was asking, and he said he was flexible. He had recently moved out of town onto a gravel road, wanted to sell the car to get a pickup, which he would actually use. He didn't like driving the Chrysler now that he would have to drive on mud and gravel. Besides, he lived in the middle of nowhere in N central SD and no one he knew was interested in old cars, and it is hard to maintain an interest himself..
We drove down there a few Saturday's ago and found the place after a time.. When I saw the car, I couldn't believe it.... It was everything I was looking for. Low miles, runs and drives like a new car, clean as a 4-5 year old car... Looks perfect from 10 feet...... As he said, the paint ain't the greatest when you get close and examine it.... I like it fine. Anyway, I got the car for $5000 less than he originally wanted, $500 more than I originally offered, plus, he and changed the oil, serviced the car, checked the air in the tires and filled the tank with premium gasoline before got there. I handed him cash, he handed me two sets of keys and the title showing him a third owner, and I drove the car home with my son in law following. I drove mostly in the 65 range, but ran it up to 85-90 fo a while on I-94, west of Bismarck.. It floated... Since I got it home, I have not been the least bit dissapointed, and have had no surprises (other than a seeping core plug on the right side of the block, and a dripping power steering pump). Anyway, after many years in the wildeness... I'm Baaack!
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