Hey Everyone,
Been a while since Conrad or I posted... about anything really. However, We are -finally- able to share with you what we have been sitting on for almost two months now. Since Conrad is better in front of the camera, I'll let him give you the short story.
If you are still with us, here is (short) Long version:
On Tuesday March 26th, I got tagged to this Book of Faces post in one of the Corvette groups (I have removed names to protect the innocent)
With in 30min of him posting I was able to message him, and asked if he was serious, thinking that maybe it was just an outburst of frustration. He replied that he was indeed serious, and he needed to move the car quick. It was sitting at his mechanics, he had no where to store it, and didn't have the money to put into fixing. Even though this was his dream car that he bought only a year before, he figured his only options were to get it moved by the weekend or have it towed to the scrap yard (which he did not want to see). He figured he would only get a a couple hundred bucks scrap, and it would be better to give it to someone he hoped would fix it.
Not sure if this was some sort of scam, I asked for pictures and the VIN. The P.O. sent a pic from the dealer that he bough the car from and one when he got it home a year ago. The P.O. said he never got the title from the Dealer he bought it from (BIG red flag) Next he sent me the VIN from his registration, I ran it through a Corvette decoder and it was garbage. What he gave me was 1Z8797S****** and to be a correct Corvette VIN it should have been 1Z8789S****** . (This also sent up a red flag) I asked the P.O. to double check the VIN on the car. He replied that he could, but it was all the way uptown and going to be hard for him to get to. (another red flag). He then asked me where the VIN was on the car. It was that point I need to go see for myself.
Wednesday March 27, I took the afternoon off of work and drove the hour to where his mechanics shop was. Partly to see what I was dealing with, and partly to see if the car actually existed at all, as I was still had strong suspicions this was all a scam. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it did exist... but it was gorgeous!
but it did indeed have an air cooled oil pan..
After taking pictures for my own reference I call the Wisconsin DMV and had them run the VIN on the car through their system. I came out clean, and as something similar happened when we bought the Dirtball... I figure it was just a clerical error. I then messaged the PO, and said I would pick up the Car on Saturday if he could go down to the DMV and get a copy of his TITLE before then. He went to the DMV on that Thursday to try to get a copy but ran out of time, before he had to get to work. Leaving me a message saying he tried... but there is an issue with it and the VINs don't match (which I was already aware of)
I called the DMV on my Lunch hour Friday March 29th. I Laid out the scenario for the vehicle services department, with the two VIN numbers. The agent said both VINs were valid in their system. However, it looked like a clerical error on their part, and the PO could expect to see revised title in the mail in 10 to 14 days. I was thrilled, not only had I got the problem resolved but I just saved the PO $25 getting a copy of the his title.
Saturday the 30th, a buddy of mine and our wives took his truck and another friend's borrowed trailer the hour over to pick up the Vette. I met the PO for the first time, we signed a bill of sale I made up and as an extra thank you for his generosity and slight condolences losing his dream car I drew him a cartoon of the car as the Mach 5 (as I knew from FB he was Speed Racer and Comic book fan)
So, we parked it in Dirtball's garage stall... waiting for the title.
10 days, 14 days, two and half weeks went past with nothing. I called, and called and called... and every time got the same answer of:
"Wow, there is a lot of paper work here. We are going to have to review this and get back to you"
with the follow up of:
"The VIN is getting fixed, but there are some other things needing fixed too... just give it more time"
Finally, the Corrected Title arrived to the PO last weekend, and we met him Tuesday May 14th to sign it over. So it's a done deal... Free Corvette.
A lot of back story, but now for the fun part. A fellow forum member and I are hoping to build this car for the 2020 challenge. I have a plan, and have some parts but that will all be reviled as time goes on. I hope everyone enjoys following along!
