Hey there fellow moparians, I hope you all are seated because what I am about to tell you will literally blow your mind. I've been walking around in a discusted stupor since I heard it a few days ago. Gather round friends and I shall tell you a tale, a true tale no matter how unbelievable it may seem, but true nontheless.
My best friend Mark with whom I buy and sell classic cars told me that a few days ago a lady walked into his place of business. He is the manager and head salesperson of a restaurant supply business in Maryland. He recognized the lady, but couldn't place where he had seen her before. After a few minutes of discussing equipment with her he realized that this was someone he had done business with several years ago and immediately remembered the in depth discussion they had had about muscle cars. At that time she had told him how her and her husband were big muscle car enthusiasts and especially loved mopars. They owned several cars including her very first car she got when she was sixteen which was a 69 HEMI Roadrunner 4 speed car. Sheesh, nice first car.
On this visit, after he realized who she was, he brought up her car again and she told him how she had just picked up a 70 Cuda two weeks ago. Now, he doesn't think she is the type who would regail the masses with this story so I am taking it upon myself to do so because I think it is the craziest, luckiest thing I have ever heard of and I have read and heard A LOT of car stories. Someone out there may know the person who sold this car or the lady who picked it up. If word gets back to the previous owner, I really hope he doesn't kill himself. Here's how it went down:
Two weeks ago, she was driving along I-70 towards Frederick, Maryland when there sat, beside an exit, a 1970 Cuda with a For Sale sign in the window. She took the next exit as quickly as possible and went back to the car. There it sat, a yellow 70 Cuda with a shaker scoop and hockey stripe. She immediately called the number on the for sale sign and got the owner's voice mail. She got a call back soon after and she was able to discuss the car with him. He told her how it had been in his family for 28 years and used to be his dad's. The car was currently insured and very driveable. She was able to talk him into letting her take it to her mechanic to check it out. The mechanic told her that it was in pretty good shape and that she wasn't going to steal it. She said she knew that and she was prepared for what he might want for it. The owner even accompanied her to the DMV to show her that the title was free and clear and legit.
It now came down to the bottom line. "Ok", she said, " what do you need for this car?" He had already related to her how his house was being forclosed on and how he had other immediate bills he needed to pay. I think there might have been some hospital bills in the discussion. He said something to the effect of "Well, it's a running, driving car that needs a little work....how's $2000 sound?" She bought the car on the spot.
By now, I'm sure that most of you have guessed that since I left it out in the description that yes,.....it is a real R code Hemi Cuda, driveable no less, for a whopping $2000 dollars sold two weeks ago in 2008. Not $20 thousand, not $12,000, but a paltry $2000.00 DOLLARS.
Are you all in stunned disbelief as I am? No, I'm not joking. The guy apparently lives under a rock. If he only knew that the true value of that car could have gotten him out of his financial burdens. What's worse, it's one of 284 since it is a four speed car. It gets worse than that. The woman apparently doesn't care about it's survivor status (as it is a numbers matching car) as she wants to paint it red and change the interior to black (it's currently white).Is she nuts?! I told him to tell her that I just happen to have a red cuda with black interior. I'll trade her straight up.
I don't have any pictures of the car, but my buddy called her yesterday to see if she would e-mail him some. I want to see it before she ruins it as I'm sure all of you would like to see it as well. Oh well, I'm off to go cry in the corner some more. "Sniff".....
Oh yeah, the car had sat out by the exit for three hours before she spotted it. With thousands of cars driving by in that time period how did it last three minutes, let alone three hours?