Thanks, it has door dings and light scratches around the body, it sat in an underground parking garage for 20 years.
I bought it from the original owner after 10 years of asking, I found it in 91 and did a search of all the numbers and then more searching old city records for the phone number to the address. ( this was before the internet so I did some pretty good detective work)
He was really pissed the first and other times I called him, he was angry that I was able to track him down from serial numbers and licence plate.
Our conversations were short and he was always to the point. NO. is what I would here, I was always polite like I am to my elders and asked if it was ok I called him again in the future.
So every April I would call and say hi and just tell him that I am not trying rush him to sell, I just wanted to make sure he didn't forget that I was interested.
This went on for 10 years, then in the spring of 2001 he said to me "you know what? I don't think I will be driving anymore."
He hadn't driven the car since 81.
Then he said " there are 3 other people that have asked for the car besides you"
My heart jumped I wasn't expecting him to sell that year I had a one year old baby girl and a new biz I was dealing with. I asked him how many other people have called you every year and said hi?
He told me that didn't matter and that he had told them that when he was sure he was done he would let them know.
He had to decide who was going to get the car with interviews.
I was a bit bummed at this point.
He held his interviews and then called me one day and said if you want it meet me tomorrow with the cash.
Wow I had to scramble to get the coin and I was home that week playing mister mom, so off I went down town to meet with him. He was a cool guy in his 70s owned the car from late 70. He ordered the car but it didn't come with a vinyl top that he had ordered so the dealer had one installed, he only used it to get from Toronto to South Carolina and Florida to visit friends and family, he said that he never drove the car around the city he hated driving in the city. ( he lived in the center of Toronto.)
So to cut the story short, I got it after the interviews because he said the others did not show the respect for the car that I had, and he wanted to go to a good home.
He liked the Dart I drove to meet him in, with my kid strapped into the baby seat.
I had shown him that I had restored the car I was driving and he liked that a lot.
I have tried to call him but the number does not connect.
Here is a pic of it when I picked it up from him.
