Well it’s April 2009 and John and Rick from Maryland Muscle Cars has come from Hagerstown, Maryland to Lorton, Virginia with their flatbed. The scene is bittersweet. Having a car since 1998, no matter what the condition, you get attached to it. Particularly since this is the same car that was purchased in 1985, when i was just 17 years old, with my Dad. Lots of memories in that car. Too bad I had to sell it in 1988, due to a whole host of reasons, no of them good.
In 1985, I got into a car accident. I was the passenger in my Dad’s Ford Granada that my older brother was driving. We were rear-ended by an SUV, the impact bend the Granada’s chassis and left me with injuries to the shoulder. I received a small settlement and decided to save that to purchase a car. Late summer of 1985, my Dad took me for a ride around Alexandria and Arlington, Virginia to see what cars were for sale. We came across a gas station that had a 1965 Mustang Convertible and a 1968 Oldsmobile 4-4-2 convertible. We looked over both cars and my Dad really liked the lines of the Olds. We negotiated a price and the rest was history.
After graduating from high school, I still enjoyed the Olds for a few more years. The car was powerful, reliable and just incredibly fun to drive. But then I had to start focusing on school and work – lowering my expenses such as gas, repair cost, insurance cost, etc. The car was sold for a little bit more than what I had purchased it for. That would be the last time I thought I would ever see this car.
Fast forward to 1998, by know I am at my third company in the information technology business, married and just found out that we have a bundle of joy on the way. A friend of my mine was browsing through Auto Traders and saw what looked to be a Olds that looked just like mine. I called the owner, who lives near Boston, Massachusetts. He told me about the car, clean title, runs, top functions manually (hydraulics are dead), engine replaced with a 455ci, since the original 400ci needed too much work. We negotiated a price over the phone and I took a train up to Boston and then a taxi over to his house. Car looked decent from 20-feet. Up close, you can see the rust blistering through the paint and the engine a greasy/grimy mess. He got in the car and tried to start it up and nothing happens. Turns out the battery is completely dead. He connects charger to the battery and we head upstairs and review the paperwork for the car and he signs over the title and digs out couple of boxes of parts. We chat and then about an hour later we go down to the garage and he turns the key and the Olds fires right up! I hit the highway, on my way back to Alexandria, Virginia.
After graduating from high school, I still enjoyed the Olds for a few more years. The car was powerful, reliable and just incredibly fun to drive. But then I had to start focusing on school and work – lowering my expenses such as gas, repair cost, insurance cost, etc. The car was sold for a little bit more than what I had purchased it for. That would be the last time I thought I would ever see this car.
Of course I wanted to restore her, but the timing was just bad. Child on the way, new job, new house – many responsibilities that trump the dream of a restored Olds. Ten years later, I start to research places where I can get the Olds in decent shape, structurally and mechanically. After a lot of work, I finally settled on Maryland Muscle Cars.
In early April 2009, I reviewed the project in detail with John and Rick. I felt comfortable with them and they seemed to be genuinely good people who knew the business when it came to cars. On the flatbed it went, on its way to a new journey. Little did I know that this is only the beginning of a very long journey.