Reunited, and it feels so gooood!

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cosgig

cosgig

MoBro Inc.
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Pinckney, Michigan
Yes, I like Peaches and Herb. But that is not the subject of this thread. Today, I got to do something that I’ve never experienced before, going to pick up the original owner of my car and enjoying the day driving it with him. It has been my main goal since I acquired the car to get it running, leave it as close to the way it left the road for good that day in 1978, and take it back over to show him. Well, today was that day.

I just love to hear stories about the car from the man himself, the day he bought it, the things he did with it, why he parked it and everything in between. He knew I was coming, I called a couple days ahead. He had been thinking about the car and what he would do when he saw it. He called his son and told him I was coming today, so he was prepared, or so he thought. When he walked out the door and saw it sitting his driveway, a lot of emotions came flooding over him. He was overjoyed to see it, and ran his hand over the paint, and looked at it like a long lost love now found again.

He said he didn’t want to drive it, he didn’t know if he could. So I took him for a ride, his eyes were sparkling over the sound, he was videoed the ride, a couple times, and sent them right to his son. Then I pulled over and asked him again if he’d like to drive it, and he said yes. He was just so blown away that he was behind the wheel of the car again. I told him to go wherever he wanted, and he did. A new Vette turned in behind us, and he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to show off a little. Sure, the Vette could take us, but he didn’t care. He beeped the horn at a couple of pretty girls, he waved to his neighbors, and went the long way around. It was the best feeling I’ve ever had with a Mopar I’ve owned, seeing him living through those years again. He told me he knew it was in good hands, and thanked me again and again for giving him the opportunity to enjoy the car once more.

Here’s a picture of him behind the wheel when we got back to his house, I think it pretty much says it all. He also got out his trophy for winning his class at Milan back in ‘72. He didn’t have any pictures of the car from back in the day, but he does now. It was an experience I’ll never forget, and one that I’m sure not too many people get to have from an old car. It won’t be the last time I go and share the car with him, but it certainly will be the best!

Enjoy those cars people, they’re very special indeed!

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Great story! I'm glad you shared this experience with the previous owner, your one classy Mopar enthusiast!
 
THAT'S what this hobby is all about!

Bringing back memories for the folks who had or rode in or wanted one of these back in the day.

Thanks for sharing your awesome day with us!
 
Man that is awesome that you carried through with taking it back and showing him and letting him enjoy it again.
When I bought my 67 GT "decoy" I asked my old neighbor Mr Bill if he wanted to ride about 75 miles with me to pick it up. When we got there and loaded it up I could tell he wasn't impressed. He looked over at me and said "I hope you can see something in that SOB because I damn sure can't". I told him it just needed some tlc.After I had worked months on getting it finished I drove down to his house and asked him to go for a ride. He told me he couldn't so I said just come out here and look at it and he said "Joe I don't even feel like getting out of this chair". They took him to hospice the next week and he never got to ride in it or even see it. Geoff you are a blessed man, Joe
 
That is a grand story...did you buy the car from him? (The original owner) If not, how did you find the original owner? Man! I would share his feelings, if someone would show up with my 65 Commando, Barracuda, that I had owned since it was six months old. Traded it in on a new 1975 Chevy step side, one of the dumbest things I've ever done. I've tried finding it for years. Had dreams about finding it.
 
I'm glad you actually followed through and let him see, and drive his old car again. So many times people say they will bring it back when they are done, and never do. I told the previous owner of my car that I would keep him updated on my progress. I kept his email and sent the link to my Youtube video when it came back from paint. He about flipped when he saw it. I hope when it is done, he will get to see it in person.
 
God bless you. That was a wonderful thing you did. You should be proud of the happiness you gave that man. He is grinning from ear to ear.
 
That is totally awesome. We can see how happy the guy is in the pics. God bless u 4 doing this. U experienced a once in a lifetime experience. Kim
 
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Fantastic story......but Peaches and Herb never did it for me. lol
 
Geoff, you did great. A friend of mine contacted the original owner of my Barracuda after searching many yrs. He lives in California and only had it a few yrs until his family grew. He asked if he ever made it up to Minn could he stop and look. I said he could drive it! Lost contact with him.
 
circlepilot said:
That is a grand story...did you buy the car from him? (The original owner) If not, how did you find the original owner? Man! I would share his feelings, if someone would show up with my 65 Commando, Barracuda, that I had owned since it was six months old. Traded it in on a new 1975 Chevy step side, one of the dumbest things I've ever done. I've tried finding it for years. Had dreams about finding it.
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Well, sort of. I bought it from his nephew, who only had it about 6 months and knew he wasn’t going to do anything with it. The nephew was supposed to put me in touch with Jerry, but after waiting almost a year, I decided to try to find Jerry by going by an old registration in the packet of paperwork I received with the car. The nephew was too scared to tell Jerry that he sold the car. There was a 3rd party involved who found the car for me, but we won’t go into details about that. In the end, the car is in the right hands and that’s all that matters to myself and Jerry. My next step is to go pick up the nephew, who’s has seen the car since he was a little kid, but never heard it run or ridden in it.
 
Nice story. My Dart came from the wife of the PO, who sadly passed away all too early. I am in touch with the whole family sending photos and updates as I get it road worthy. It's a fun thing from my end, but it really means a lot for them to see the car moving forward to being finished (hahaha) and driving on the street.

Good on you for going out of the way for the previous owner.
 
Great story Geoff, I have a similar story myself, I purchased my 74 Challenger in 1997 from the original owner in 1997. The car was painted black at the time. It did run and drive but the trans. was not working well. His story goes when he returned from Vietnam in 1973 he wanted a Challenger in black, his wife wanted yellow so he bought a yellow car. In 1985 he had the car painted black as he said he was no longer with the wife. It needed TLC also and I drove the car for 3 years before deciding to paint the car back to yellow. Long story short I took the car back over to his house in 2001 after finishing the paint and body work. The look on his face and the emotions were priceless to say the least. We talked for a while but he did not want to drive it or go for a ride in it as it would have brought out many more emotions. I have been back by where he used to live but have lost contact with him. Again great story and I know you/we make the previous owner proud when we show the cars to them after they have not seen them in years.
Kevin
 
Great story Geoff. We need to hear more of this kind of thing nowdays.
 
The PO of my Satellite made it the only condition of the sale, that I was under no circumstances, EVER to come back and show him how the car looked after repairs.
 
YY1 said:
The PO of my Satellite made it the only condition of the sale, that I was under no circumstances, EVER to come back and show him how the car looked after repairs.
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Very much understood as well. Sometimes it’s probably too much for someone to relive those memories, and especially the cars that were owned by loved ones who never returned. Everybody has their own reasons for what they want in their lives, and our job is to abide by those wishes. Good on you that the torch has been passed, and that you can go about making your own memories in it.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Fantastic story......but Peaches and Herb never did it for me. lol
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That’s because you’ve never boogie oogie oogie’d until you just couldn’t boogie no more. You gotta get out more Rob, there’s a whole big world out there for you to see and do!
 
cosgig said:
That’s because you’ve never boogie oogie oogie’d until you just couldn’t boogie no more. You gotta get out more Rob, there’s a whole big world out there for you to see and do!
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Well yeah, I have....and that wasn't Peaches and Herb. That was A Taste of Honey that did that one. Cool song. I love 70s funk and disco.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Well yeah, I have....and that wasn't Peaches and Herb. That was A Taste of Honey that did that one. Cool song. I love 70s funk and disco.
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ok, you passed the test!! I, on the other hand, was pretty high most of the time during the disco era, one of my favorite times in my life!
 
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