Introducing........RAT’S NEST

[R68GTO]

Originally Posted by R68GTO

In the late 1960's, the 2nd owner campaigned an L79 Nova post car. Here's a scan of one of the scrapbook pages with some photos. The top photo shows him in the far lane at the US Nationals going up against Grumpy's Toy. According to his racing partner, his buddy had the jump on Jenkins but broke a valve spring during the run and ultimately got beat as this photo shows.
The smaller photo in the upper left shows my car's 2nd owner checking out his new race car....if you look closely you can see the signature chrome dual opposed snorkel L79 air cleaner.

Visited Rick Wilkin this week. Rick is the guy that painted Rat's Nest back in 1970. I brought him a 1968 Bell helmet I bought off Ebay. Rick is going to paint it up just like the helmet he painted in 1970 for his buddy Doug using the original helmet as a pattern. He told me the story of this L79...Rick was working at Mattson Chevrolet in Hillsboro in the mid-60's. Rick ordered this car (lower RH in photo) for his friend Doug Davis (2nd owner of my car) strictly for racing. Marina blue, L79 4 speed, 3.73:1 rear, rubber floor mats and no options - didn't think it even came with a radio. Told his boss to not figure on prepping the car as it was going straight to the strip. Got a heads up on the delivery date so he drove his 1959 1 ton Chevy flatbed to work that day. The L79 was backed off the transporter truck and drove up on his flatbed using 2x12 wood ramps in the dealer parking lot.
I was born 15 years too late.......just love these stories!

[R68GTO]

Back to topic.....Rick and I spent some time talking about the paint he used on Rat's Nest BITD. He was not able to locate any leftover paint in his shop like I discussed in an earlier post about the tail panel color. He did go to an old file cabinet and pull out this color card booklet by MetalFlake Corporation. He opened it up and showed me the exact paint colors used on the car. He said he painted the whole car with the white base, then did the entire car in silver mist pearl, taped off and sprayed the Iced Blue pearl, taped off and sprayed the Fire Red candy apple. All in lacquer, then topped with several coats of clear. We talked quite a bit about how all the photos show the silver as very "white". He said that Doug did not like how some of the white pearl paints had that goldish/tan cast to them so they went with the silver over a white base.
The Rat's Nest name was hand-applied by Tom Blackstone "Stoney" (deceased). The letters were gold leaf with a white outline.

[R68GTO]

Originally Posted by carnut4life

Hi R68GTO,

Kinda freaky how many similarities our cars and stories have in common. Glad to hear you're you having lucky tracking down it's history and meeting previous owners, that's always my favorite part of having a old car. Congratulations, Chad

Chad, your post prompted me to re-read your car's story.....wow, there are quite a few similarities. Maybe someday I'll find out who my car's OO was, although it doesn't sound like he had it very long.
Jim

[carnut4life]

I sure hope you do Jim, I love hearing about and reading stories like this. Best of luck, Chad

[67BelAir427]

Great story and research on owner history ! I have a question, and I am in no way attempting to dampen the spirit or be critical in any way. The difference between the price you paid and the actual value of the car on the day you took delivery, I assume is not a small amount ? There was a landmark court case here in Canada where a sale was reversed because the purchaser was slightly more knowledgable than the seller . The amount was less than $5000 . Seeing as we all have had our "great score" stories, but few have been as fortunate to have one as spectacular as yours, I just wondered if you were at all concerned that the seller might have remorse and want it back ? Or ask you for more money ? With our litigation prone society and the internet I just wondered if it was a concern?

[R68GTO]

Originally Posted by 67BelAir427

Great story and research on owner history ! I have a question, and I am in no way attempting to dampen the spirit or be critical in any way. The difference between the price you paid and the actual value of the car on the day you took delivery, I assume is not a small amount ? There was a landmark court case here in Canada where a sale was reversed because the purchaser was slightly more knowledgable than the seller . The amount was less than $5000 . Seeing as we all have had our "great score" stories, but few have been as fortunate to have one as spectacular as yours, I just wondered if you were at all concerned that the seller might have remorse and want it back ? Or ask you for more money ? With our litigation prone society and the internet I just wondered if it was a concern?

It's not a concern of mine for a couple of reasons....1) I myself was not sure what the car was when I bought it. 2) the owner openly discussed with me the possibility of it being a COPO car several times over the years including the day I bought it. Several years prior, he had a "local expert" check it out for that very reason and was told it was not. He had ample opportunity to get on the internet and do some homework.
I know the guy and like him very much, and will likely pay him a visit if/when I sell the car - if my investment total is significantly lower than the selling price. Tough to do these days.....as the saying goes "ya know how to make a small fortune selling collector cars? Start with a large fortune!"

[cook_dw]

Originally Posted by 67BelAir427

There was a landmark court case here in Canada where a sale was reversed because the purchaser was slightly more knowledgable than the seller . The amount was less than $5000 . Seeing as we all have had our "great score" stories, but few have been as fortunate to have one as spectacular as yours, I just wondered if you were at all concerned that the seller might have remorse and want it back ? Or ask you for more money ? With our litigation prone society and the internet I just wondered if it was a concern?

Are you serious..??.. That is one of the dumbest court cases I have heard of in a while.. Shame on the seller for not doing their homework.. He agreed to the selling price originally. Suck it up buttercup and learn from your life lesson. What is this world coming to..


Now in the case of this car like I have seen with others in the past local to me if a car was purchased cheap and then flipped for considerably more money MOST people with a conscious will go back to the previous seller and give a little "kickback".

[Tracker1]

Originally Posted by cook_dw

Are you serious..??.. That is one of the dumbest court cases I have heard of in a while.. Shame on the seller for not doing their homework.. He agreed to the selling price originally. Suck it up buttercup and learn from your life lesson. What is this world coming to..


Now in the case of this car like I have seen with others in the past local to me if a car was purchased cheap and then flipped for considerably more money MOST people with a conscious will go back to the previous seller and give a little "kickback".

Agreed.

[iluv69s]

Originally Posted by Tracker1

Agreed.

I disagree... sounds good in theory, but I believe that very few would do that.

Jmho

[bergy]

I have negotiated an agreement with the seller for a future additional payment if I am able to document a rare car. I think that it's a good idea if you are paying a "maybe" price for a rare car. I've actually paid out on the agreement in the past.


To be honest, I really hate those stories of buyers who know for certain that a car is rare and valuable and proceed to rip off widows and other sellers who are not knowledgeable. However, I believe that it is fair to offer $50k for a car that has a future worth of $150k if the buyer is faced with a $100k restoration bill! Many people don't understand how expensive these restorations are - especially if rare parts are missing or damaged.