Great thread. Daytona...what the heck do you do for a living? You must have a serious bank account for all that iron.
Anyway, found my first Cuda, a 73 from The Want Ad in our area. Had a 440 out of a 72 New Yorker in it. Guy wanted $3,500 for it. I bought it for $2,800 back in 96. I found my 71 Grand Coupe 383 while driving around with a friend about 10 minutes from my house. We were on a back road and we come over this hill. I am always looking out for old cars so my head's going back and forth looking in peoples yards. As we come over this hill, I look left and yell "HOLY SH*T!!" " STOP STOP!!!" I saw the front end of the 71 facing the road and surrounded by weeds. I knock on the back door and two teenage boys come out and talk to me. They say that they and their mother just bought the property about 3 weeks earlier and that the car was there when they got there. Well, we aren't there 5 minutes and this guy pulls up and asks whose car that is. I tell him hopefully mine. He says he has been stopping by this place for the past 3 years to ask about that car. (The house had been empty for several years) I pretty much said "Sorry for your luck buddy."
I start concocting a plan of how to get this car. The boys had no interest in it thank goodness. I tried to talk to the mother, but they make her out to be a recluse who doesn't talk to anyone. They tell me that the mother pretty much said they can do what they want to with the car. The older boy tells me he needs like $300 bucks to get his project car (ricer) going. He says he'd let me take it for that amount. I start looking the car over before I leave and this other kid pulls up and claims that it is his uncle's car. I tell him to show me some proof or I'm hauling it outta there. He didn't return.
Well, I didn't have any cash on me at the time. So, I go home and start finding all kinds of stuff I can pawn. I get this big pile of old stereo stuff, my 12 string guitar, and some other goodies and head to the pawn shop. The guys think the stuff is hot because of the amount of it. I was like "Look, you can run any serial numbers you want. It's all clean. I just need $300 bucks to purchase a vehicle immediately." (I was very antsy about the car dissappearing as 2 people had stopped to inquire about it in the short time I was there).
So, I finally got the cash, get my buddy with his rollback and head out there. The mother answers the door and appears to be quite friendly. I told her I had the money and she was like "Oh....well...ok. I jut wanted the car out of here, but I guess Jimmy needed the money for his car or something." (I could have just kept the money and taken the car basically, but was so happy to be getting a 71 Cuda for next to nothing that I didn't care. I gave her the money anyway.)
The car was all there except for the carburator and distributor-- 1971 Barracuda Grand Coupe. 383 4v auto, 727, console, 8 3/4 rear, A/C, rear window heater, overhead console. The only bad rust was the trunk floor pan was completely gone and the quarters needed replacing. The rest really wasn't bad at all. B5 blue with blue interior.
This car sat at a friends house for about a year before I could bring it home. At that point, my 73 had quit on me and was also sitting. For whatever reason, I lost interest in the cars and wanted new music equipment more. Not realizing how the value of mopars was shooting up, I had just started intertaining the thought of selling one when a mopar buddy of mine called and asked if I still had the 71. I won't even tell you how little I let it go for in 2003. It's embarrasing. I even threw in the NOS gills I had acquired at Carlisle for $50.(I bought them for $50, I threw them in for free). He said he had a buddy who might be interested in the 73 and a week later I watched as that one got towed away on a trailer with too little cash taken for it.
I got my music equipment but regretted these sales (giveaways) ever since. I vowed to get another Cuda.
In 2005, my best friend and I finally decided to save up a little and start our classic car business. We purchased our first car, a 69 charger 383 locally for $1,600. We put a set of cragers on it, buffed it, replaced the gas tank, rebuilt the carb, got it running, and sold it on ebay for $10k. Five cars later we came across the find of a lifetime with an extremely rare L89(aluminum headed 396) 1969 RS/SS, hugger orange, 4 speed Camaro. The car needed a major resto but everything was there. We sold it as is for an insane amount of money. This cache allowed him to purchase his dream car - a 1969 GTO Judge clone and gave me the money to finally make amends with my departed Cudas.
I knew of one that I had wanted for a couple of years, but wasn't sure I could get it. Another friend of mine has, all in pieces, a 71 Cuda that is optioned to the hilt. It is a two data plate car with, curious yellow, 383, shaker, biillboards, and front and rear spoilers. The only weird thing about this car is that it is a column shift--go figure. Otherwise, it is the perfect Cuda to me. He bought the car for $2,500 about 10 years ago and showed me the picture of when he bought it. He still has the original for sale sign that was down in the door with asking price of $3,500. He was on the fence about selling it, but I believe he was going to. I don't have the facilities for a major resto at the moment so I started calling all kinds of resto shops. They were basically all telling me that it would be 2 to 3 years to get it in and another 2 to 3 to finish it. Dismayed and wanting something right away that I could go to the car shows with with my buddy and his goat, I opted that if the right car came along that I would leave the 71 alone for now.
That car appeared on Ebay a couple of weeks later and was only on the site for 5 hours before I saw it and started e-mailing the buyer. With current market prices I thought the buy it now price was very reasonable and I eventually bought it for the buy it now price. I know, that was rash, but the car is pretty sweet and has a very built 440. It was originally a 340 car. I showed it every chance I got and then got notice to be deployed a few months later. She awaits my return, hopefully in September. So, that's my story. Sorry it's so long, but I hope you enjoyed it.
Incidentally, the fellows who picked up the L89 Camaro swore that it would be completely redone and shown at the 2007 GM Carlisle event. Unfortunately, I'm stuck 7000 miles away, but my buddie's going to see it. Check it out for me.
