Trying to find my dad's Plum Crazy Challenger T/A

[Koby]

Hello all,
My dad (Jerry Prater Seneca, MO) had a Plum Crazy T/A when he passed in 1987 in a car accident, I was 14 months old. My mom sold it to a friend of his shortly thereafter. I would love to find this car and possibly acquire it someday. I know that it was sold to Ward McGorder of Miami, OK and he later sold it to Dean Burwell in 1990. Dean Burwell supposedly bought and sold to Ron Slobe that owned R&R Salvage in Aurora, MO. I talked to Ron's widow, Cathy, she vaguely remembers a purple Challenger but has no idea what happened to it. Does anyone on here own a Challenger that was previously owned by Ron Slobe or know of the car I am talking about. I DO NOT have the VIN number and have run into dead ends with all leads trying to obtain the VIN number (license plate, DMV, insurance, bank, safe deposit box etc. It was an automatic and did have the original block and heads. At the time he had it, it did not have the White Vinyl top that it was supposed to and did not have any striping. It was supposedly special ordered by a gentleman in Colcord, OK and delivered to a dealership in Tulsa, OK. If you have any further leads or ideas for me, I would greatly appreciate it, this car would have lots of sentimental value to me if I could find it, because my dad loved it and I have no memories of him. Attached are the only pictures that my mom could find of the car.



Thanks for reading,
Koby Prater

[AARuFAST]

Kool story.  Hope u find the ride.
If it is a real T/A it may be painted correct with stripes and hood over time.
Good hunting.....

[Jamiez]

You might want to drop Barry Washington a message over at http://www.hamtramck-historical.com  He runs a registry and maybe some of those names are familiar to him.

[TorOrange]

Well I wish you luck there hope you can find it. Barry and Moparts is your best chance.

[Super Blue 72]

   Barry is the best guy to contact although there is another member that has a registry as well for these cars but I forgot who that was...

I think this is the site: http://www.aarta.com/frame.html

Another member, DAYTONA, has had many of the T/A cars and he might also be a good resource.

That hood scoop is very unique and if anyone has seen it in the past I'm sure it'll ring a bell.

Hope you find it! 

[Koby]

Thanks for the ideas and encouragement guys.  I was at my mom's house tonight and we were talking about it and she thought of one last place to check.  She found the loan documents and they had the VIN! I had already been in contact with Barry Washington, so I emailed him immediately. 

His reply follows:
"Hi Koby,
The good news is that yes, I have heard of it.

The bad news is that it is in Japan. There is actually a photo of it on the website at http://www.challengertaregistry.com/photos/members_cars/sn310331.jpg


I have not heard from the owner in quite a while, hopefully he & the car survived the earthquake & tsunami.

The stripes & graphics on it were painted on before he bought it, but it is coded for black stripes. There is nothing unusual about its order number or tag data, so it definitely was not a 'special order' from the factory.

I can try sending him an email if you like? I am sure he would like to see your vintage photos of it.

Barry"

So there it is, all the way in Japan....

[Cuda Cody]

Very cool!  Barry came through! 

You should see if Barry can contact the owner.   Don't stop now that you are so close!!!!!  :

[drewcrane]

Nice I am glad you at least found the car

[Super Blue 72]

Wow!  I wonder what's the story of how it got over there?

Anyhows, cool you know where it is.  Drop him a line, never know when the owner might get tired of it... 

[Koby]

Oh you know I'm dying to have it, will probably have to wait until I am older and have more money.  Barry sent the guy an email, also said that the guy was very fluent in English and Barry didn't have much correspondence with him because of this.  Barry said this one was new to him in 2005 when he was contacted by the owner. Fingers crossed that it survived the Earthquake and tsunami.

[TorOrange]

Fantastic at least you found it and it survived up until 2005. Sadly I'm sure it would be a bit more pricy then a car in the US and then there is the shipping. I Wish you luck!

[dutch]

I`m glad the car surfaced, way cool 

[Tonker1]

That is one awesome Christmas Story!

[hooD]

   Man...that's a great story.  Your dad would be proud to know that his car was so highly valued.  Hope you can make contact with it's new owner if both he and the car escaped the quake.

[elmoska]

very nice story i hope the car will return in your family one day