Recovery 63: The story about my 300 coupe.

dart165

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When I was 15, I thought my dad’s 63 Chrysler 300 coupe was pretty f’in cool. Red with factory white guts - a big ol’ Mopar barge. I remember putting swap meet bought Dodge Charger hubcaps on it. I even swiped some hideous flamed floor mats from the junkyard that I worked summers at and put them in it. (Did I mention that I was 15?)

When I was in college, I asked my dad if I could buy it off of him it since my Dart was still under construction. At the time he had it stored up at a guy’s shop who had done some work for him, and since he had other irons in the fire, he said we could work something out and i could have the car. Between me being busy up at school, my father switching careers, and the fact that the guy fell outta touch, it took us a while to actually make it out to the shop. When we did finally go up to grab the car on one of my breaks from school, we found that the dude had quite suddenly closed up shop, liquidated everything, car included, and skipped town. The car vanished. My old man had to write it off to bad business and I was severely bummed that I never got to cruise it.

A few weeks ago, I found myself hunting craigslist for deals as i often do. (I always look in NJ since that’s where my parents still live, and when I find anything interesting, I shoot the ad to my father and we gossip about how cool, or crappy the deals are.) Up comes an ad for a “1962 Chrysler coupe”, which I open to find a oddly familiar red 63 300.

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Upon some calls to a somewhat shady seller under the guise of a prospective buyer, I learn it’s got a white interior, but doesn’t have a title….Holy crap!

A few days later my father was over at the cars location, title in hand. (yes we've had it in a drawer for all this time). After some hemming and hawing and dancing around the issue, it came out that this dude was actually the one to by it off of the AWOL body man almost 20 years ago, and since had sold it and gotten it back. (Those of you on the east coast know what a pain in the butt it is to title something that you don't have paperwork for.) According to my dad, the guy was not very happy with the presence of the law and once it was a pretty well established fact that he was sitting on a stolen car, he had no choice but to hand it over.

A few days later, a car I haven't technically seen since leaving home in 2000 showed up on my doorstep. a bit crusty and rougher around the edges than it was 2 decades agao, but all there (including the flamed floor mats... lol)

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more to come!
 
361? Does it still run?

Push button txsm?

Tell us more about that beauty.
 
Good thing your dad held onto that title all this time. Glad to hear it's back in the family, especially the way you "reclaimed" it...... best story I have seen in ages.
 
Make it safe,road worthy and go on a road trip with your dad! A lot of history you can share!
Great end to a story from your youth! :thumbsup:
 
What a story, good to hear that it had a happy ending. Looking forward to seeing more of it
 
Man that is an awesome story, keep us posted as to your progress on getting her back on the road. Congrats....
 
Wow! Great story! Love how it all turned out. Best wishes for you, your Dad, and the 300 for the future.
 
:thumbsup::thumbsup:

I love to see a "no title" scumbag get caught. It'd be even better if they got prosecuted or had to pay restitution... :thankyou:

I have bought cars with invalid (open) titles... but no title= a big PITA, and the possibility of stealing someone else's dream.
 
First off, thanks for all the positive comments!

361? Does it still run?
Push button txsm?
Tell us more about that beauty.

It's a 383. Was a 2bbl, but it picked up an edelbrock intake and 4bbl at some point, along with dual exhaust and those mags. It is a push button auto.

"Running" would be a bit of a stretch... it did fire up, though it was missing super hard and almost immediately started bleeding oil, so i shut her down and rolled her into the garage for a closer look.
 
Way to go. It'll be fun to witness is resurrection to world of the living.
:thumbsup::thumbsup:

I love to see a "no title" scumbag get caught. It'd be even better if they got prosecuted or had to pay restitution... :thankyou:

I have bought cars with invalid (open) titles... but no title= a big PITA, and the possibility of stealing someone else's dream.
I once bought a car without a title, but beforehand a had title searches performed in the state where I was buying it and the last state that it had been registered in. Both states have me letters saying there was no record of it being stolen. I also got a notarized bill of sale from the sell. As it turns out that is the only car I've ever bought and sold that I made any money.
 
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