A fellow member PM'd me and pointed out that I might want to share this story in the main forum here.

It's kind of a neat story so, ok.

Some of you followed my 69 road runner revival thread, the build of my old Plymouth which I think might have spanned 3 years or so.

the build thread

I've had the road runner for around 4 years now. The major work is complete, it's fun stuff from here forward. Like bolting on a person's choice of wheels and tires, collecting all the factory reproduction decals to apply under the trunk lid, under the hood etc. Detailing things, washing and waxing, changing oil and checking tire pressure, driving it to local car shows etc.

I get a txt a week and a half ago from a car club friend. He says there is a guy been txting him and calling him like crazy. This guy is looking for me, wants to talk to me about my 69 road runner.

My buddy dint want to give out my number to a stranger without checking with me first.

So, I get the number for the guy and I call him. Turns out there is a search effort going on for this road runner I've got. This guy is like second or third owner of the car and he's trying to help the previous owner find the car.

(This really is a short version to this story too, I was on the phone with this guy for 2 hours)

A couple of days pass and I'm put in contact with the guy that's searching for his old car. He's been wanting it back for about 40 years.

He launched a serious search effort for it about 7 years ago.

He was shocked by the idea that the car still existed.

He was even more shocked by the fact the car was still numbers matching, still retains it's original engine, transmission, it's still all there.

He was further shocked to learn that it doesn't look like this:



Rather it looks like this today:



It's been his dream to find his old car from his high school days. He knew that was a lofty dream as 4 decades have passed. So he's been searching for a similar one, he would have settled for another T7 bronze hard top with white vinyl roof, 383/4 speed, air grabber hood.

One problem, there aren't any. He's been trying for years, they just don't exist.

Anyways, to the point here...

The guy is simply wild with excitement as I have agreed to sell him his first love from 40 years back. The car is going back to Iowa where it started out in life.

It truly is an unbelievable story, who else could something like this happen to?

Yeah, probably nobody.

Feels like it was meant to be, as hard as it is to part with it. The gentleman is offering above fair price due to his sentimental attachment to the car.

I have a dream myself. A dream that will take some money to pull off. I'd like to pursue that dream and this sale will really help that dream become a reality.

This is a nice story, everybody wins.

The end.

Very, very cool.

It must have been hard to part with it.

It's still sitting in my garage.

Yes, it's torture basically.

That's a great story all around. Good for him, good for you although that was a labour of love we all enjoyed with you.

May you do great things with the proceeds, and enjoy them even more.

Plus, you can now work on another Mopar project! How about, a '68 Dart 340 convertible? Or since you know the body type so well now, a '70 GTX?

440 6-pack or Hemi 4-speed!

Cool story Dave, good for you, I know it had to be tough.

I can't wait to hear your dream!

It would be cool if you could post some pics when he comes to get the keys and take it away.

It's a labor of love, Dave, and that is a fitting ending to this journey.

Thanks for sharing all of it with us.

Ed

That is one lucky car.

If it has to go, what better person for it to go to?

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for sharing the story Dave.

+1

OUTstanding story there ND... You gotta take some pics of the guy, you and the car when the event occurs..

Yeah, now we're wonderin' if a GTX might be in your future.. Or will you take the 3 mil and buy an island off HI somewhere.. (LMAO)

Good on you, my friend!
Start another project for us all to critique, please!

Mark

There will be lots of projects built in dave's future dream shop.

Karma baby.....

That is a great story! Thanks

Pretty cool story!

Maybe someday the 1st owner of my 72 E-Body shows up; I'm gonna be needin a kidney. lol


Hope you're at peace with all this. I would be on a pepti bismol iv drip.


Rest assured, a chevy owner would use the money for a penis implant.

I hope the new owner has(d) deep pockets and a long list of friends with similar interests that will keep you busy for many years Dave.

I say you fire it up one last time and do a big smokey in the garage.


Hurry up..... before Ma gets home.

I kind of know how this buyer must feel. Many years ago I lost, on trade, a fine Krag carbine. I hated to part with it but, owing to youth, I did. Lamenting it afterwards for years.

Fast forward to about twenty years ago. Cedar Rapids gun show. I'm just browsing along and eye a Krag carbine. Picking it up and looking at the SN I couldn't believe my eyes! Yes, it was the very rifle I traded in 1980ish.

So my original sixty dollar rifle purchase in 1966 was back in my rack in 1996. It's value had grown by a factor of six in the meantime but I was happy to pay.

This isn't a story, or a yarn, or a vignette......

it's a SAGA !

Sounds like you're gonna' plow some of it back into the shop, ......you CAN'T go wrong doing that.

kudos,

GTC

Best post I've read on here.... ever. You did a fantastic job on the car and it is awesome that is going to make the new owner happy as a clam.

Sounds like a mighty good name fer yer new business. Power to ya!

Read that MoPar to ya|

Bought both my E-bodies from the same original owner , he's dead now so they're mine forever.

Great story all the way around. I really liked the picture of the 'runner with the organic, growing larger and more powerful every day engine!

Bitter sweet Dave.

Life is simply amazing....

Well, congrats and condolences at the same time! Hope you post another thread on the progress of your new dream. The last one was fun to watch.

It was his car origianly? And now he is getting it back in better than new condition!
That is way too cool Dave.
I would ask that you ( or your kids ) keep in touch with him or his kin. It would make a great story about the car from here on.
And maybe even let one of your kids connect with it later.
Too many times, I have wondered, waht ever became of that '57 Chevy? Or My old 61 bubble top Impala?
Now with e mail, it would be easier than ever to keep track.

Wow! Can you say EPIC magazine article that includes the build and the Campfire followalong?

Congratulations all around! This is a great ending to (as Crossfire said) a saga.

You mentioned your dream on the RR thread.

It isn't the first time a mopar has helped a dream come through... (fondly remembering my 72 Challenger)

great stuff Northern Dave


and while I know it's little comfort

it runs true for most of us


the realization of great dreams are most often accompanied by great sacrifice


can't begin to tell you how fortunate I feel to have shared some of your life

from the angle I see it, it is indeed a good one.


Weezy's car,

your boy shaving

camp Chickenbuck


the RR build


and now this, how that build may lead to more of your obvious talent and dedication to making lots more old graybeards happy by restoring the cars of our youth


deeply grateful for you allowing us to share a bit of your life by what you post here.

wishing you every success and happiness

hey dave did u... turn the guy onto the build thread???...seems if he was looking for 7 years he would seen the thread ...a few of the rite words typed into "bing" brings a guy to the campfire....

I don't think he's much of a computer guy. I had considered floating him a link to the build thread here. I might do that.

Thanks for the great words of encouragement everybody, very nice.

Dave congratulations.


Hot rod magazine article for sure.

Ultimately it was a newspaper ad that helped him along in his search.

It really is an amazing story.

And, along the way I learned the history of the car. It really is amazing that this car retains it's VIN stamped engine and transmission. This car wasn't exactly babied in it's ownership through the mid 70's. It frequented several drag strips down in Iowa, just stock heads up racing.

The idea that this guy can get his car back after 40 years, it still blows me away.

I think of it like this, I'm 43, soon 44...

Like most gear heads I too would like to be reunited with my first car. I was 16 when I got it, like most of us were.

16 yrs old was a long time ago for me. If I found my actual first car today in restorable condition it would be a miracle.

If I found it still had it's engine that would be a bigger miracle.

Now, if I waited 20 years from today.... and found my actual car.... not just restorable, but actually restored?

Impossible is what I'd say. Not going to happen.

It's crazy.

Good on you Dave.

Good things are in your future me thinks.

Awesome story from the beginning of the restoration to it's return to someone who will cherish what it means to him and what you have done, both to the car and for him.

Kudos.

Excellent story, and I an sure this is not the final chapter yet.

This is just flat out amazing.

Dave, you should call the local TV station and see if they'd do a story. Great human interest stuff here.

For all your goodness -- if I was up there I would buy you a

I second that motion

The whole deal is just too cool for school from the getgo Dave. I know how you feel, good and bad all at the same time.

Start a new project and help us bench warmers live a bit.

Dave,

That's an amazing story and while I can understand you being bummed I think in the long term you'll have much fonder memories of being involved in an amazing one of a kind story.

I'm also glad to read the way the story turned out as when I first saw that title I thought uh-oh, you let your daughter drive it.

Dave, I think you will eventually get the RR back.

LMAO!!

You mean like this?

There is positively no better way to kick off a dream than by fulfilling one for someone else.

Good on ya. Godspeed.

The Papa John's owner tracked down his old car and bought it.

I couldn't resist.

I had my uh-dad moment on black friday last year, but fortunately not that bad. My son got up at 5 dark thirty to hit the malls with his friend, go figure. I'd parked behind his car and he asked if he could use my truck and I said no problem as the mall he said he was going to didn't have a parking garage.

The uh-dad moment started with him telling me he went to the other mall that does have a parking garage. I failed to mention my truck has (had) a ladder rack that I got last summer for toting the canoe. As soon as he mentioned the other mall, I knew exactly what he'd done. And he managed to take off not just the front rack, but the back as well. I asked why he didn't stop when he heard the noise of the front rack hitting, he said he wasn't sure what the noise was so kept on going!

Needless to say I'll need to order some replacement parts for the rack before canoing this year. The bed isn't as bad as it could be, but if I ever put on a shel it's going to need some body work.

Though I know you are getting paid for the car, it is still a mighty fine gesture on your part ND.

I'm hoping the guy I just sold my baby to, will do the same at some point.

Was it even restorable when you got rid of it?

For the record, I'm 36, soon to be 37, and I DO NOT want to find my first car. It was a 1981 AMC Concord 4door wagon. I blew up the motor, so I know it won't be in stock form. God help anybody that hot rodded it.

I'd love to get mine back: 70 LeMans Sport convertible that dad ordered. I still have some of the factory parts to it. Underdash 8-track, A/C condenser and original heads.

Great story for sure.

Great story Dave!
My first car, a '65 tri-power GTO convertible, went back to its original purchaser (also in Iowa). I had to have a Judge, so I was ready to part with the '65 if the price was right. He actually found the car (and me) by driving through the employee lot at the local Pontiac dealer where I was working part time.

Some you guys had cool first cars...mine was a Volkswagon Rabbit.

Believe it or not, there's a purplish looking car sticking out of the berry vines about 20 miles from here that looks sure enough like a Judge, what little I know. At one time they wrote "NO!" on the windshield. Can't imagine why can you??

Cool story. Happy ending.

remember you saying not so long ago u were wanting to build a shop and go full time ,
good luck with that .

norm

Thank you Norm.

I lay awake at night dreaming about it. I sit in the evenings and sketch out the equipment layout in the shop and I simulate working out there in my mind. Then I erase and move things that are in the wrong place...

I think I am getting very close to my goal of a seamless layout.

I'm probably just as wild as this guy that's getting his old road runner back, I am very excited for my shop.

The win-win aspect of the Roadrunner returning to the previous owner is better than I could have imagined.
I suspect you'll make the most of it, well done, Sir!

well like the guys have said keep us informed , stories pics , ups and downs , just like deer camp but better well maybe better

norm

PS wish I still had my 36 chev 2 door coach,

36 chev 2 door, NICE!

A Chevy 2 is PREZACTLY what you need Dave.
Free your mind from that Mopar junk.

ND... cool to know you can get this RR back to its old owner. Cooler to know that this will get you closer to your dream. Good luck and smooth transitions, amigo.

Doc

Plenty of Chevy projects laying around here Bart. One of the favorites out of my project row is a 54 chev 2 dr post, she's a sweetheart.



Thanks doc!

Dave,

Once again thanks for sharing another one of your car stories, they are IMHO my favorite threads to read on the campfire. I remember showing my wife the thread about weezie's stang build, I think that's the only thread I thought was so cool my wife would enjoy reading it. BTW, that was before the demise of the stang.

Looking forward to the completion of Northern Dave's motorhead lair and what comes out of it.

I'm also in the planning stages of at long last my first shop, albeit much smaller than I'd like and part of the house. In our local I had the option of a lot big enough for a stand alone shop but with a price tag on the dirt high there would be no funds for a shop, or a lot big enough for a house with a 4 car garage (really a 3 car with a tandem on the 3rd garage) and hopefully enough funds to build the house.

Don't forget to make motor and tool noises when planning out the shop

Sure can tell I will have to keep an eye out for 8-track players for your future projects.

Man - somebody smiled on your life lately, and I think we all know Who...

i wouldn't sell it. its like selling a kid after all that work.

There's plenty of that going on. Even at work!!!

I thought the same thing when I read that... " I bet he makes them when he scoots around in his chair and had a pretend steerign wheel.:



Am I right WB?

That would be correct but with the occasional grunts like tim the tool man.

Well, I put the air grabber back in the car (the black cowling on the underside of the hood). It looks great.



And I stripped and repainted the air cleaner lid, installed the new decal.





And on Sunday, We smashed snow with ole yeller... Shashed the 4uck out of that snow.



Cleared the snow off the future shop site, try to get the ground thawed quicker.

Geez do you own the whole state of Nort Dakota too?

Good deal. all the way around. if you didn't love cars Dave, you wouldn't have understood where the dude was coming from.

reminded me of the song "Riding With Private Malone"

Those trees you see in the background are in Canada.

Tell us about the boat.

Boat is good, 14' Lund, 15 HP Johnson.

Float heap big plenty.

Looking for non frozen water.

My first real car was a '68 Dodge Superbee. Red with the white bumblebee stripe, 383, 4 speed, and the only option it had was an a/m radio. I don't know how many times I've dreamed of getting that car back. Lotta fun smoking Chevelles and GTOs, but serious dating required an a/c and traded it for a Pontiac Lemans. Wasn't the last puzzy-related bad decision, but it was a ton of fun for a couple of years.

Cool story, Dave. Sometimes things happen that just scream out that certain things were meant to be.

This seems to be one of those stories.

I gotta agree with you 100%.

That is exactly how this feels.

I'm not too churchy, meaning I'm not sitting in church on sundays.

Not saying this is a religious thing, but it feels like someone planned it all to happen this way.

If that makes any sense?

Well is the car gone yet? Any parting pics with the happy new old owner picking up his baby?

I am being tortured with the presence of the car which still sits covered in my garage.

The new owner's funds have long since cleared and are in the bank waiting to be launched into our new shop project. He has the car transferred into his name and he is currently insuring the car. It's absolutely his car, a done deal.

But it's still in my garage, lol!

I have been tinkering with a few things for him. I detailed the air grabber duct work which was removed from the under side of the hood during restoration. The air grabber pieces have been refurbished and reinstalled, it all looks like brand new. The air cleaner lid has been stripped of it's old patina and freshly painted hemi orange and the new road runner/coyote decal has been applied. The car has a fresh original appearing battery, a mopar stamped yellow cap battery in this case. Wiring harneses have been cleaned up and re wrapped, just lots of little detail items.

The buyer of the car had a 1970 style Hurst pistol grip shifter in the car when he was a kid. He claims it was original to the car, stating that the car was a late production in it's production year and it left the factory with a pistol grip (1970 style) even though the car is a 69 model.

Regardless of the accuracy of that claim, he had a pistol grip in the car when he owned the car over 40 years ago so we're putting a pistol grip shifter back in it for him. I received the new shifter this week.

We are waiting for mother nature to commit to the idea of spring/summer before he comes up from Iowa with a trailer to tow the car back home.

I hope he comes soon so you don't have to stare at it everyday. That would be torture!

Well, it is covered, so that helps. lol.

Dude, you always have the best stories. Very cool!

Let's see some pic of the new details man

They would just be phone pictures as I have been updating the new owner, but i'll see what I've got.

Hey, maybe you should take one last run out to Chickenbuck with it??

Thanks, but I really, really hope the "Best" is yet to come, very soon.

Very cool

will you have the new shop done or at least a roof on before September??

norm

I'm hoping before the 4th of July.

It cant happen soon enough for me right now.

yep I'd say the "best" is yet to come


looking forward to them Dave


and like many here I'm very appreciative of the parts of your life you share with the rest of us here

from this angle you're pretty much a master at building cars, and family