[retengw31]

Wondered when the cat would come out of the bag on this car. This is a good example of what can be done with an original car without tearing it apart to repaint it. 9/10 people probably would have done that rather than work with the original stuff.

I was really happy when Bob contacted me on this car and I hooked him up with Les. I put a plug in for it here right after Les told me about it. Most people were very skeptical of what it was. Classic example of if you snooze you lose on this one. Les suspicioned himself that it was something neat as he has 2 or 3 63 409 SS cars himself.

There was a 69 Nova 2 door in that garage beside it that Les got also and sold immediately before I heard about it. It wasn't anything special, but also low mileage. Blue with a black vinyl top. Also a six cylinder, but an automatic. Car appeared to be built that way.

The old guy that had them died recently and his only heir (a daughter) was in some sort of mental hospital. Les' father either knew him or heard about these cars and the rest is history. I was surprised they came with clear titles.

Having bought a 1950 Bel Air Hardtop in my wife's family under similar circumstances (in 1970) with similar mileage I wonder if the scenario was the same on this car. It was bought new by my wife's cousin and put away when he went to the Korean war soon after. He did come home but lived in a VA hospital until he died. His dad kept the car in his garage and we got it after he died.

My guess is this Bel Air was his son's car and didn't return from Vietnam. Timing is right. There were lots of cars like this put away while the owners were at war. It wouldn't fit for the old guy to be the owner, but stranger things have happened. As far as why the drivetrain was changed, who knows.

Glad it went to a good home. Les was going to put one of his 409's in it and add it to his collection, but he wouldn't have done anywhere near the superb job that Bob did on this. The car merited someone like this to appreciate it. Congrats on a fine job.