What car do you wish you had back?

[Mr70]

I called the local Police to file a report.
Afterwards they said it was highly improbable I would ever find who did this..They told me to call it a total,and drove away.My insurance Co. agreed.
I refused to listen to them or let this happen,as I had to much heart & soul into her,and I was not about to give up.
The frame was not bent.The Damage looked worse then it really was.My insurance Co. considered this a Total,as it was worth much less than the estimate bodyshops gave me of $2500.00.
I was determined to get her fixed.
But something else was tugging at me also.
I picked up over 500 small pieces of the car that hit me at the accident scene.I went home and put them all together like a puzzle,and created a complete 1981 Ford Tempo front end,colored blue.

[raw muscle cars]

I own 2 now a hemi cuda and a 427 nova. but i want this car baaaaaaaad!!!!

http://www.mecumauction.com/auctions...D=KC0406-34314

[Mr70]

I immediately noted all the part numbers on those parts,and confirmed them with the local Ford dealer parts man.I was right on the car model.
This was only 4 days after the accident,so I then proceeded to the local Bodyshops to see if any cars fitting that description had come in for an estimate.
At the second bodyshop I visited,the manager said a Blue Ford Tempo had come showing the same damage of the grill I showed him
When I asked for the name of that very customer,he refused to release it,saying it wasn't good policy for them.
After pleading with him,he still refused.
I went right to the Police and layed out everything up to that moment,6 officers looked at me like I had 3 heads.Dumfounded they followed me back to that Bodyshop and Ordered that manager to release the name of that cars owner.
He sheepishly did.

[Mr70]

I took that driver to court,and won a settlememnt of $3000.00.
The Driver who hit me was a School teacher from Milwaukee who was visiting his parents that weekend down here,and was out driving drunk.He said he didn't even know he hit a car until he woke up the next morning and saw the damage to his car.He actually got an estimate in the town he hit me in,then drove 2&1/2 hours back to Milwaukee to go about his daily life.
After I paid my lawyer his third,my friend & I completely dismantled my Chevelle and rebuilt her on the frame as factory stock.Long Chevrolet was the major Parts supplier I went to back then.

[Mr70]

She was my sweat & blood and I knew every inch of her.Her small block 350 was one of the Best engines I ever felt to this day.I did add a few modifications over stock.
I kept her until September of 1984 where I sold her for $4000.00 to a kid at Chevy VetteFest at Arlington Park Race track.I tried to find him to buy her back years later,but I couldn't locate him.
I soon saw her many years later at Victory Auto wreckers after being wrapped around a tree and harvested.
I pulled her rear Bumper SS pad emblem,withdrew the buildsheet from the backseat and never looked back.
I wish I had her back...

[Charley Lillard]

I wish I still had my 67 RS Z28, Red with red deluxe...

[MrsBillyBobcat]

Rick,

VERY cool story on your first car! I am really glad you went after the guy who did it!

A very similar thing happened to my 2nd car. It was hit by a drunk driver at 3 am while parked in front of my parents house. I still remember the sound...I thought he had hit every car on our street! I only had the car a year and had just got it painted. I had bought rally wheels for it, sanded them down and painted them with extra paint from my car. Unfortunately, my car was totalled before I ever got to put them on (I was going to get new white letter tires that week). Since I never got to see my car with the new wheels and tires, I would want this one back more than the others (even though I would love to have any of them back! )

The guy who did this "hit & run" got away with it. I knew who it was, it was the boyfriend of a neighbor down the street. He claimed "his friend" took his car that night , but I found his extra set of keys that he had in one of those magnetic boxes in the street. I guess they had fallen off when he hit my car.

[PeteLeathersac]

Cool story and reminded me of another of my lost loves although far from my first. . Pretty sure it was Dec. '81....I was working at the boneyard and answered the phone from a guy asking what we were paying for cars. . I told him the standard answer of $40 for complete w/ battery, rad etc and asked what he had. . A 70 Chev. 2 dr. was the reply and since I knew a guy w/ a '69 Impala 2 Dr. Hdtp who needed doors I told him I'd give more if the doors were good. . A day or so later a guy walked into the shop about 5 minutes to closing and said he had the '70 Chev outside. . I walked out the door and there it was....a '70 Chevelle 2 Dr. Hdtp. w/ 307 and Turbo-350, red w/ perfect white bench interior and only 57,000 thou on it! . His wife was waiting in a new Malibu and honked at him as if to hurry up so I paid him the $45 he asked me for and off he went. . The only thing bad was the rear bumper chrome and I remember pulling a beautiful one off a green 4 door, adding front shocks and a headlight and hit the road. . Great car, great times for a year or so 'til a lady in a '73 Impala came around a corner and creamed my complete driver's side writing off the car. . The insurance gave me $1800 I think and the car back. . I put on a used orange fender and door, welded on a quarter w/ a rusty wheel lip and cut the good lip section off the mangled fender and welded it to the rusty quarter. . Some guy bought it off me before I put even any bondo to it and I never saw it again. . Be great to do it all again and nothing to do w/ the Chevelle but here's what I'm thinking now after reflecting....I wonder why did Chevy only offer a full size 2 Dr. Hdtp. and no Post Sedan for '70 when it was the same bodys as '69??? ~ Pete

[1railman]

1969 Corvette 427/430 2nd design late car. Cortez silver black guts. Real powerhouse!

[DaJudge]

Very cool story Rick and nice first car.