Hi kids -
So I woke at 7am, hit the ATM machine for all it was worth ($1000) and headed off to the Mopar Spring Fling in Van Nuys, hoping and praying to find a fresh grille for my '70 Cuda. I don't know what I was thinking, since $1000 won't buy much of a grille these days, but I maxed out the ATM and hadn't been smart enough to plan ahead and hit the bank... oh well.
By the time I get parked and I'm walking in, I'm seeing lines of people walking out already with Lil' Red Wagons full of taillights and intakes. Oh man, am I too late AGAIN?!?!
I scampered up and down all the swap meet aisles, and there were at least four fresh 70 Challenger grilles, but no Cuda grilles..... until aisle five! BINGO! A fresh grille, just repainted, no repairs, no breaks, no chips, not sagging in the middle, no broken tabs, including headlight buckets and stainless. Looked basically new but dusty. The bad news:
$2500.
Ouch.
But they aren't getting any cheaper, are they?
So I went for it, which involved giving dude $100 to hold it for me for 3 hours, a high-speed run to the business office where, fortunately, the accountant was in and had the keys to petty cash which held exactly $1700 which I drained instantly. Back over the hill at 80mph (and 12mpg), another $5 to park again, and I jog back to aisle five just in time to hear someone else try to buy the grille. The dude selling it said (before he saw me), "Sorry, it's held till 1pm. After that it's yours." Then the buyer said, "Will you take $2600 right now?" and dude didn't have time to answer. Why? Because I came jogging up, put 24 benjamins into his hand, and said, "He can't. It's sold."
Oh geez that was close! Dude probably was going to hold it for me till 1pm like he said, but still..... The other guy was severely bummed. He had his money out and everything... Hah! Beat ya!
Then, while he bubbled and boxed it for me, I saw that he had a clean front valence for my 70 charger (one-year-only piece, and a bear to find in good shape), and dude gave me that for $200.
On the way out, I grabbed fresh hood-mounted turn signal stuff for the Charger, which left me with exactly $2.00 in my pocket.
Then I bought a fudgsicle for $1.25, leaving me with a grand total of 75 cents to my name as I walked out of the car show. Which is how it should be, right?
Besides buying my Cuda at Carlisle back in the day, this is about the only time I came away from a show with what I was looking for! Unbelievable!
I know, I got royally reamed on the $$$, but until the repop 70 grilles come out, what else can I do?
