Part Two

The Story begins..

   The first piece of advice I was given in terms of finding a Charger was to hook up with my local Mopar fans. I heard stories of finding good deals within the community. This sounded great, but I could not find this community. At car shows I would talk to the guys and get the brush off. I knew of one 1968 Charger a couple of towns away, but never had the guts to just pull into the guys driveway and start asking questions. So I gave up looking locally and just talked with the Mopar guys online.

   Matt and I decided we needed a 1969 Charger. No other year would do. 318, 440, whatever, it just had to be a '69. I decided that we had to pick our battles and try to get one in need of the least amount of body work, the most complete, and closest to home. The budget was to be up to $8K depending on condition. Paint was not important as we would likely want to choose the color. The only car trader sites had Chargers on regularly , but few met all of the basic criteria we had. 

    February 2004 Matt spotted a Charger on eBay he thought was a good candidate. It was a 318 numbers matching car, it was a daily driver up to a couple of weeks before the auction when reverse gave out on the transmission. The rear quarters were just replaced, but it needed a trunk floor and gas tank (was running on a fuel cell). It was described as being solid with little rust elsewhere. To top it off, it was in Long Island New York, which was close enough for us. 

    Above are the pictures the seller had up on the auction. Matt spent a lot of time in emails and on the phone with the seller. The car looked to have okay body lines and to be fairly complete. Between the conversations with the seller and what I saw in the pictures I figured we would need to have the transmission rebuilt, trunk floor replaced, new gas tank, valance corners attached, new grille, seats, carpet, and finally a paint job. I made some calls to find a local transmission shop to do the rebuild. I had a few quotes in the $600-700 range. I priced parts and labor for the other items and figured that if we played our cards right, for around $10K we could have a decent looking (not 100 points car show level) driver. Matt and I agreed that we would spend up to $6500 for the car. A bid was placed and we won the car for $5800. 

    Not having a truck around was a major issue. My buddy Chris has a late model Chevy with a heavy duty towing package, so I asked him if he would help transport the car. He said he would so long as he was paid something for his time. I had no problem with that. I figured I would rent the hauler from U-Haul, which the price quote was around $55, after gas tolls and his money plus lunch, we could transport the car from the seller to the transmission shop in one day for under $600. 

    Matt took over dealing with Chris and I took care of the U-Haul and other small arrangements. This was a pain for me as Chris stated he did not want to tow the trailer down to New York. He wanted to pick one up near the seller and use it one way. I called the U-Haul down in that area and was told all haulers were booked solid in the Tri-State area. They would however put my name on a waiting list. I call Chris, tell him the deal and he agrees to use one round trip if we have to. I call the U-Haul near him and they have 4 in stock. I reserve one. Done deal. The day before the trip I get a call from the Long Island U-Haul with a message that they have a hauler waiting for me. I tell them I already reserved one closer to home. 

The big day

    Chris is the kind of guy who likes to get things done early and be in bed by 9:30. He lives an hour south and wanted to leave by 5 am. That meant we had to leave home at 4. Chris picked up the hauler the night before. Matt and I get there and inspect the hauler. The lights are not working! We cannot get them operational. The wires were taped together in areas!  We call U-Haul, they are closed until 9 am. Chris says he refused to wait that long. We sat at his kitchen table for a few minutes, Matt looked very depressed. My sleep deprived brain was slow. 45 minutes later I tell them "Lets just do it. We can try to get the New York hauler and worst case scenario, we will just drive it back. We will just have to fill it up often as the fuel cell is only 5 gallons". So we left. 

    While in the area Chris decided to meet up with a buddy he has that moved down there. Just so happens this guy is in the car business himself and lives one town over from where we are meeting the Charger seller. Meanwhile I am on the phone trying to get through to the U-Haul that had a hauler for me. Finally I get through and they say that they gave it out as I declined it. I guess we go with plan B and drive it home. 

    I heard the car before I saw it. I expected to see a big rusty stepside with a gun rack to cruise by, but it wasn't. It was the Charger. It backfired a few times too. The guy gets out and its a kid no older than 22. The car in person is far less impressive. I see sanding marks in the quarters, bondo, missing parts, and to top it all off, the worst tires I have seen on a car in my life! The chrome was all pitted and frosted and the taillights didn't work well. I only saw two bulbs working, barely at that. But I also noticed the car had very little rust in the floors. Only one spot at the drivers feet. The rest was exceptionally clean. the frame rails were solid and the engine sounded like it was tired, but did want to run. We came all this way and there was no way we were going home empty handed. The price was firm as it was an auction and he had the ability to just go 5 miles back home. We buy the car and I am not feeling too good about it.

   Doogie Howser leaves with his $5800 and a smile on his face. I see extra parts in the car which was nice. Plus it had a folder of old receipts, titles, and other odds and ends. The seller said he kept all of his receipts too. I see ones for oil, gas, gaskets, and other shit that was just filler. I do not feel safe about this car driving back! The guy Chris meets shows up with his uncle. This guy had a bit of the same attitude as the father on Orange County Choppers. He talked and handled himself the same way. He agreed the car should be hauled. I tell him about my exploits with the local U-Haul, so he calls them on my part. After some obscenities and some pushing, he got us a hauler. I had to pay $120 for this one.

Matt's maiden voyage. Driving the car to U-Haul

   We follow them to the U-Haul. Matt drives the Charger and I ride with Chris. It was a rough 20 minute ride to the U-Haul, but I did get to see the Charger in action. It seemed to be running quite well and Matt commented how easy it was to drive and how it had more than enough power. We find the U-Haul, Matt parks the Charger at a next door bank. He parks right against the lawn. He forgot about not having reverse. I go over to the U-Haul, pay the money and go out back to get the hauler. I see two there. Nice. We load the car up and head back home. In the end the transport ran us around $800. I learned a lot of lessons on that run. U-Haul are jerks, rent a truck if you don't have one, and triple check those trailer lights before the trip.

Hauling it Home