I also know the OTHER end of a story like this.
I bought my '73 in October of 2006. It was obviously a monumentous day for me after having the '72 I hoped to inherit practically given away...
I had a neighbor in my apartment complex in Camp Hill (where I still live) who had become a friend. He was pretty slummy, but at least he was someone I could watch a football game with, play video games against, that sorta stuff - no serious brotherhood stuff.
Well, this guy got wrapped up in the excitement of my 'Cuda. He got the first ride in it (he was conveniently nearby) and just absorbed a lot of my enthusiasm.
One day he tells me that his girlfriend's (who he already had a kid with) father had a bunch of old cars sitting at his property and "the county had told him he had to get rid of them." (Sound familiar?) He was telling his not-quite father-in-law about his friend getting a 'Cuda, and the father says, "Oh yeah - I have one of those..." Well it's in the back yard, it's pretty rotted away but the engine is still there - a 340.
To make the long story short, this psuedo in-law says I can have the car for free if I'll pay to get it towed out of there so that he won't be fined by the county. Obviously, I got hooked in, and was excited.
What would follow was MONTHS of back-and-forth, second-hand speak and countless excuses this way and that. He gave me directions twice to see the car - both times they were different directions, and neither time did they lead me to any car. He told me that suddenly the father had gotten upset with the daughter and they weren't talking anymore, and weren't returning their calls. He called them once and then handed me the phone to leave them a message, I too never received a response. Through it all, this "friend" and I had a falling out (obviously,) and I quit speaking to him.
One day his girlfriend knocks on our door to tell me that she got a restraining order against him for abuse and that if we saw him we were to call the police. She was waiting for a friend to pick her up and we got to chatting in the meantime.
She revealed that it had all been a lie, and that she had been forced to play along. She spoke with her parents all the time, and the car never existed. He had made it all up and kept the lie going.
Want to know the REAL kicker to the whole story? He moved out quite some time ago. I was bored one day and searched for his name on that popular site, "MySpace." Sure enough I found him. I started reading his profile and was amazed when I saw this.
"I have two kids and a 1973 Barracuda. I spend my time trying to be a great father to my kids and also working on my Cuda whenever I have time."
My reason for telling this story is that sometimes, people's lives are so pathetic that they have to adopt someone elses. If it can bring them one more friend (or maybe another source to mooch cash off of - he owed a LOT of people in our apartment complex money) then it's worth it to them.
Sorry for making this so long. But I've been on the BAD ends of BOTH outcomes of this story - the guy who lost the chance at a great car because someon ELSE got a great deal, and the guy who was OFFERED a great deal and then learned he was being scammed. Luckily, this "Ghost Cuda" as I begun calling it cost me nothing more than a few gallons of gas.
I still wish I could find my dad's 'cuda.
Jeff
