My Dad's T/As Quest #2

[Koby]

Quest #1 can be found here: http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=89547.0

On September 18, 2016 I was given a bag of papers that belonged to my dad from his high school to college years that my grandma still had (she had moved to a nursing home). My aunt had been cleaning her house up and wanted to give me things of my dad's (He passed away in a car accident when I was 14 months old in 1987).

Amongst the papers was a check, for the T/A he purchased on 2/14/1972. It was FC7, black top, black interior, 4-speed. See the check below, but the dealer had written the VIN on the check after my dad gave it to him. He paid $1300 for it and also traded in a '70 VW beetle. He had this car when my mother and him started dating and even on their honeymoon. See other pictures below from May 1973. In October of 1973, the car broke down when mom was driving it to work in Oklahoma City and since it was their only car, they traded for something more reliable (a brand new 74 Mustang, eh). He regretted this and in 1986 after being more established, found another FC7 T/A.

Check


Mom 5/1973


Dad 5/1973


I emailed Barry Washington and he told me the car was for sale in Southern California in 2014. He tried to email the person that had asked him about the car to see if they bought it, but never got a response. I tried to have a friendly law enforcement officer run the VIN, but nothing came back. Several months went by and I had basically given up.

The evening of 12/18/16, after we put the kids to bed, I decided to do some research on my own. I spent about 45 minutes straight googling using all kinds of different keyword search terms and hit many dead ends. Finally, I came across this ad: http://www.forebodiesonly.com/forum/threads/1970-dodge-challenger-t-a-plum-crazy-purple-numbers-matching-4-speed.8221/
It was the second result in that search. I looked at the pictures and saw the fender tag, the VIN was a match! The ad included more photos on the seller's Facebook page. I got excited and messaged him to see who he sold it to. Then I read on his page a post as him by his girlfriend, he had passed away about 18 months prior. She left her email address, so I messaged her, but she didn't respond for several weeks and by then I had figured it all out.

I replied on the ad, and Autoxcuda knew who bought the car and linked to their website where a phone number was listed to the buyer. I called him that day and talked to him. He told me how he'd been looking for a project car that was "T/A only, numbers matching, 4-speed, and high impact color" for years and this one fit the bill. He said "the car isn't for sale, hasn't been for sale, and won't be for sale, but....I will sell it to you and you only." We made a deal and I went and picked it up on 1/6/17.

When I was picking up the car, I opened the passenger door and there were a couple papers between the door and the dash. An invoice from 1977 for a crank balancing and another from Carquest Auto Parts. They both had the owner's name. We got home on 1/9/17 and I got on whitepages.com and looked him up. I called and left a message, not knowing if it was the right person. He called back the next day and talked to me quite awhile. He ended up emailing me numerous pictures including some from the 70s. He had purchased the car
in 1974 and owned until 2014.

Here's his story of the car: "We got married April 1974. That's the pics with the stock wheels. I got back from Viet Nam in Mid-1975 and got the indies. Moved to California and blew the engine when a nut from the air breather went into the piston. Got the engine rebuilt and moved back to Oklahoma when I was discharged from the Marine Corps, 1977. Started college at OU and had the paint and body work done, got tired of getting tickets because my tires extended beyond the body. Cops in Norman were a pain in the a**. The hood was reinforced when I had the body work done because it was warping. If you look at your pictures you'll see the hood has start to bow up.
The crunch in the hood was by from a frat rat at OU with no insurance. We moved back to California in 1984 and I spun a main bearing in 1985 blowing the motor again. It's been garaged or towed from state to state since then."

Someday I plan to restore it to original and drive it!

[Timbbuc2]

@Koby  either you are very lucky in researching this car or you are the best investigator know to man. Well done. Your father would be proud.

[anlauto]

Fascinating stuff Koby....At least this one is numbers matching, that saves you one more investigating journey...

Maybe someday you want to restore it ?

[fc7cuda]

Great story Koby.

I did get confused, is this the first TA your dad bought or the second?

I can relate, we still have the 70 RT Charger my dad bought new.

Tom

[Cuda Cody]

Love this story.  Man you are so lucky!!!!!!  Super happy it all worked out for you.   

[Spikedog08]

That's awesome!  Congratulations!   

[anlauto]

Great story Koby.

I did get confused, is this the first TA your dad bought or the second?

I can relate, we still have the 70 RT Charger my dad bought new.

Tom

This is the second T/A that Koby has bought which is the first T/A his Dad bought...The second T/A that his Dad bought is the first T/A Koby bought (in Japan of all places)

[Brads70]

Great story! I actually like the quarter panel flairs!     I suspect at some point you will restore it back to original though.

[Cuda Cody]

How cool would it be if Alan did the restoration on this TA for Koby!

[Brads70]

How cool would it be if Alan did the restoration on this TA for Koby!

    Ya that way Alan could save those quarters for me! 

[anlauto]

I'm game...When do I start

[HP_Cuda]

Truly amazing story Koby, for the second time.

Which leads me to believe that Karma is real.

[Cuda Cody]

Seriously, I love this story.

Question, if your dad & mom owned a Challenger T/A, and you found it 40+ years later...  would you buy it if you could?  And would you pay 5 or 10% more then the going fair market value? 

I will say that I do not know the exact amount Kory ended up paying for the car, but I feel that if I was in that situation I would pay over fair market to own a piece of my family history.  AND to have those cool photos!!!   

[anlauto]

My Dad was never as cool as Koby's Dad....and huge props go out to Koby's Mom for keeping her late husbands spirit alive and well as her children grew up. For Koby to even follow in his Father's footsteps and become a pharmacist speaks volumes of the love and admiration he had for a man he barely knew. (insert angle wing smilie)   

[autoxcuda]

Koby,

Glad I could help. Hope you got all the parts shown in the all the pictures I sent you of when the guy Duster Dave was selling it.

The girl that emailed you back was the sellers roommate. Not girlfriend.