Re: 1969 Chevelle
Hi everyone. Its Doug, the original owner of copo 120.
I didn't think it was appropriate to comment before the end of the auction of what would appear to be my old Chevelle based on the questions asked on this forum.
The facts as I see it are as follows:
1) I purchased the car new from B&A Chevrolet in September of 1969.
2) I attempted to trace the car by talking to various owners that I knew, or they knew, of the next guy, in the mid 80's because I wanted the car back, not that it was worth anything back then.
3) I eventually found that I could do a Ministry search of the car by way of a computer in the mid 80's, which I did and they gave you a printout of that search of which I still have the originals. I searched both of my original 427 cars that I bought new, a 69 Chevelle and a 68 Pontiac Strato Chief.
4) The first car I went after was the COPO car. I researched my search and contacted the last owner that was shown on my printout, actually through a couple of other people. He advised me he was in an accident two years before and that the car was written off by the insurance company at the time. He gave me the name of the wrecking yard and I went there the next day. I have the name of the yard. The owner of the yard advised me at that time that he had purchased the wrecking yard six months prior to that and that he had crushed everything in the yard. I specifically asked about the Chevelle and he replied, everything; he could have been lying.
5) I thought I remembered what colour the car was when he wrecked it but I hesitated to tell anyone after 27 years from talking to him. I research for a living so I decided to look for one of the persons I talked to 27 years ago. Sure enough, my memory hadn't faded as much as I thought and the colour was blue as I remembered.
6) I somewhat regress here as we need to discuss the original engine. I know the names of the individuals involved here however I do know the people and am still acquainted with the people I'm speaking about. I traded the Chevelle for a 68 427 Vette. That owner raced the car for a couple of years and then removed the motor and installed it in a 69 Nova. I know he pulled the wheels of the Nova in front of MacD..... one night with another friend of mine in the passenger seat. I am still acquainted with both of these people. Enough of the engine.
7)The search that I made of this car is interesting in itself. Who could have possibly had the paperwork other than myself?
I gave a copy of my documentation to two guys only, one in Waterdown, Ontario, which I have his name on an item sent to me by him.
The other was traded to a person in the Kitchener/Waterloo area for a 68 SD Beaumont SD air cleaner which I have his name in my book of contacts.
These are the ONLY two. Of most interest to me is when talking to the vendors at present, they knew of the two female owners, which only surface from my Ontario Ministry search; they have a copy of that?; I don't remember giving it to any of them but obviously I did.
7) The last owner on my search had asked me why the car had a lot of SS stuff on it but it wasn't an SS, hence he didn't know what the car was. It had a small block in it when he totalled it. When it went to the yard it was basically an old used car hence the insurance company wrote it off. The question remains, how could anyone know from a wrecked used car that it could be a collectable car of the future.
8) The restoration job on the vehicle in my mind is unbelievable; far beyond what I could do and I think I'm pretty good.
9) As an aside, I was on the Chevelle site earlier and the only thing they could get their heads around was why the tires were not correct; I have a hard time thinking that a group of people could possibly get sidetracked by that, ie 5 pages of a forum. ::##@^*##::, but they really, really liked the car.
10) Did one of the two guys I gave the information to find the original body after I had gone to that yard to look for it? MMMMMM? MAYBE?
11) I had a discussion with the restoration person, not necessarily the owner, and he tells me the actual owner of the car is in Alberta, not BC.
12) My 70 Laurentian 454 car went to Alberta a couple of years ago and I had wondered how he could get the title converted as the ownership was lost here in Ontario. He told me that all they need is a bill of sale in Alberta. Ownership of the Chevelle appears to be from Alberta, not BC or Ontario. Is this how it works there?
13) Certainly the car can be absolutely correct but its up to the individual purchasing it to do his due diligence in ascertaining the correctness of the car for sale. Its not up to me to say one way or the other.
14) By the way, give me 30 seconds with that car and I will tell you if its correct. You have to wonder how I would know that, right; trust me,its from the dumbest photograph which I have never posted because I thought it was so uninteresting, but, I can. Doug.
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