So I am in Oklahoma helping my mom with a few things this week and have to go to Ft. Smith, AR to pick some stuff up. I take the short-cut, through Evansville and come upon a raggedy-ass house that has about 10 or so Fairmonts (posts, Futuras and wagons) just sitting there. Keep in mind that this is the Midwest and there is NO rust on any of them. There are two of those LTDII's there, a unibody Ford truck and an Anglia or two......................all just sitting there.
So I approach the house in my normal "I would really like to buy some of your yard ornaments" fashion and the woman that answered the door informed me that her ol' man was gonna restore them one day.............I didn't see buddy, but if he was as old as her, I would suggest hurryin' the F up!
What is wrong with people?
-Les
Wish I could find a F*** Anglia!!!!!!!!
There's an original Mini parked NEXT TO THE OCEAN near my office. It's been there for at least a week, maybe longer, it was behind a privacy fence that's been taken down. It's already getting some of that sharp fanged ocean rust :( I'd tow it away but there's a license plate on it.
If all the vehicles that were "going to be restored, someday soon" were put in one place....they'd take up an area the size of ? Rhode Island? Kentucky? Texas?
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/cto/934193162.html
This is about 70 (?) miles from my house. Not affiliated, of course, because it would already be mine.
-Les
Hey Derekshannon,where is this Kaiser? I live in Carver,real close to the Wareham line,and I would like to see this thing.
procker
New Reader
11/27/08 7:22 p.m.
dude, i totally hear ya...there was this '74 Porsche 911 a few streets up from me when I was in high school...just sittin in the driveway...rustin away...day by day...tried for two years to get that car into my hands...offered cash, yard work, mechanical help on their cars...all to no avail. The wife informed me that her husband was suffering from Alzheimers and that he was not going to get rid of the car and was planning on getting it fixed back up and racing it
...I dont know if that ever happend (highly doubt it)...all I know is that for two years I was totally obsessin over that car...its not in that driveway anymore, but I would still love a silver vintage Porsche...
Up in the woods behind my GF's parents home are several old cars, including a mid 60's Country Squire that is salvageable. I think the rest would crumple if you tried to pull them out. If only...
It happens badly sometimes.
At age 11 I was riding my bike and saw 2 cars sitting beside a house.
1956 Thunderbird and a 1967 Shelby Mustang!
This was 1971 and just knew they were cool cars.
Jump to age 15..been working mowing lawns and hauling hay and have a few dollars.
Talked to an elderly gent and discovered the T-Bird had a bad starter and the battery kept going dead on his sons Shelby...so they were waiting to be fixed.
I still offered him $2000 for either one of them.
Finished High school and started college....drove down the dead end road to see if they were still there....Yup!
Both still there but the tires are gone from the Mustang and it looked like someone had stomped the hood on the Bird.
Offered him $3500 for both......Nope, gonna fix them.
1984, young married guy and I check again.
Shelby in now sitting on the ground with the drivers window broken and the convertible top on the T-Bird is in tatters.
Still not for sale!
Made it a quest to check at least once a year and watched as the hood and carb disappear from the Mustang and the
TBird interior is now full of leaves.
1999 I check again and the house looks abandoned.
The old gent had died and the son does not care and only remembers that his car has a dead battery.
No deal!
I did take a good look and realized that just moving the Shelby would involve moving it in 2 large pieces as it had sunk into the ground to above the brakes and had 4 inch shrubbery growing through the radiator.
Thunderbird was covered in vines and the trunk was full of water filled trash.
City finally tagged them and a local fellow who likes old Fords worked a deal with the towing company and literally performed an archeological excavation on these 2 cars.
Satisfied the legal stuff for $550.
I wish him luck as our area was stripped of 67-68 Mustangs by Unique motors for making those damn Eleanor clones.
Bruce
When I was 13 I was working my first job on a ranch. I discovered in an old partially collapsing shed, a 1950's Ford business coupe (the one with no back seat for the sales mans trunk) and sitting right next to it was a 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A with a 340 and a six pack. The Ford had last had valid plates in the late 60's, the Challenger was last registered in the 80's. I begged and pleaded to buy either of them from him but he would not sell. Same story he was going to fix them up someday. I kept at it for years still nothing.
What if you had your high school pride and joy on the lawn, (you're 60 now) and some punk rolls in, raps on the door and tries to beat you out of it?
Good news, you weren't shot. 
Hey, Angliafiles, check out the new CM issue. A guy realized that an Anglia Prefect Van (Thames) is the same width as a BMW 2002! Whodathunk? Claims it's a shorter 2002 and 500 lbs. lighter! Gotta have it!
Dan
Man, I need to finish my shop................I have contemplated not even doing a Challenge car this year so that I am sure to get it done. If I could keep from buying "projects" for a couple of months, I may be able to get some work done.
Think about it, man, a fully-finished shop with heat and a/c and a lift and a refrigerator and pool table where we can work on our sh*t under cover instead of in the driveway and garage; man, I can't wait!
-Les
