A few years ago a guy had a ruff but complete 32 5w for sale at the swap meets all summer. I asked about it, the story is : some kid from up north was down to the big city, had too much fun, got a DWI and his car impounded. He called a towing company and told them he would give them his grampa's 32 coupe if they bailed out his car and hauled it back to his home 150miles or so north. The tow guy said he figured it would be a model A but went for it anyway. Turned out to be true, a 32 5w for a towing job!
My local parts guy followed up on a lead on a 58 Bel Air that was supposedly walled up on a porch. Sure enough, the car was sitting on a wooden porch, with a wall built around it, had been that way for years. He knew the guy that owned it, and was able to buy it. Not many people knew the car was there, there was no indication anything was behind the walls. IIRC, it was one of the guy's kin folks that clued my parts guy in on it.
Our local legend was an engine rather than a car. In the mid '60s, a local Ford Dealer parts dept. guy "Bud" and his partner were drag racing a '33 Ford 5 window with a 427 side oiler, 4 spd. with reasonable success. Somehow, in the late '60s, Bud managed to buy a "crate" 427 SOHC engine they had planned to put into the coupe, but soon afterwards, Bud's partner got killed, and he lost all interest. EVERYBODY locally wanted/tried to buy the coupe and engine! He finally did sell the coupe in the '70s to a friend of mine (who still owns it), but he would never sell that SOHC. After Bud had passed, another friend helped his widow sell the SOHC...and all he'll say is, it went for over 50K and went to the West Coast.
I used to ride my bike past a house a few miles away from my parents' house. In the yard was a '59 Coupe DeVille. It was in decent shape but not roadworthy. Everybody told me the guy that owned it was a real dick. When I did see him outside he would always scowl when I would ride by. He eventually drug the car out of sight behind a storage container in his back yard then died a few years later. Fast-forward to about 5 years ago I started thinking about that car again. Confirmed it was still back there with Google Earth and set out to try and buy it. The man's widow was still alive but really old. I knocked on her door a few times but nobody answered. I wrote her a letter telling her I'd always admired the car and wondered if she'd sell it. She sent me a lovely letter back saying her son was planning to come get it and take it back to Oklahoma. Don't know if that ever happened but oh well.
It was many years ago and I was dating my eventual wife, and one day look out her parents' front window into the kinda open garage door across the street. I spy the golden fender of a one-year-too-new-for-this-board two door hardtop. I quickly ask the girlfriend, then her parents, what's up with that car? They say it belongs to an old couple that never drove it any more, loosing their sight I think. I couldn't afford it, but my dad sure could, so I set him on the trail. He discussed the car with the old folks, and had a deal going, until they backed out. Their son wanted the car. But my dad was persistent, and either through sheer luck, more money, or the realization the son was no good, he got the car. A low mileage, untouched, all original, base model (except for the hardtop) Chevy II.
1915 Indian hidden in a chicken koop since 1918 in Andover ,Maine. Caretaker of property asked the 90 something yr old widow is she wanted him to put the bike out front on the lawn and decorate it for towns anniv celebration. She asked what bike? He told her the one covered up in burlap in the chicken koop. Turns out when they got married in 1918 she told him to get rid of he bike... he did he hid it. It was sold at auction for crazy money.
I heard that a guy I happened to know a little bit had a 1st year Corvette in a barn somewhere covered with dust and bird crap. I asked him about when I ran into later and he said he did. Said it was his late brother's and that he'd probably never sell it. Gary
Through the years of me playing with cars, I've heard a lot of roomers about old cars and trucks sitting, several of which I was able to see for myself. I didn't have the opportunity to buy most of them because I couldn't afford them, or the owner didn't want to part with them. I was smart enough not to validate the whereabouts of those roomer vehicles were. I didn't feel it was my place to tell people about things most of those people wanted to keep to themselves. Generally over the years, most of those hidden cars were discovered, some have gone on to live, some were not so fortunate. There is still a lot of stuff hidden away, but as time marches on, and people age, those hidden gems are seeing the light of day, again, some with good results, some with not so good results. I'm not as connected as I used to be, but I do know that many of the people that I know that had saved stuff for years no longer have much stuff left anymore.
I have heard that story with just about every year Corvette up until '72. Sometimes they have dead bodies involved. I have also heard about the girl with a car with the words "If you can beat me you can eat me" across the back of the car.
Here's my walled off story in 1960 a farmer in the Devils lake area was building a new house and also liked the new Edsels so he bought a new red convertible one of the last on the lot and drove it to his new house . He left one side of the foundation open and drove the car into his rec room and finished the wall . There has been people that played pool next to that car.
This comment gives me PTSD. A friend of mine who seems to come up with stuff all the time told me he could get a '32 roadster body for a set price (dirt cheap) and I said get it, I want it. But as usual, I had to give him the money up front and I couldn't go see it. Worth the chance I figured. Well, then he tells me it's not a '32, it's a Model A roadster. But the price is still good, and he says it's in real good shape except the bottom of one door is rough. No problem, I'm still in. Imagine my pleasure when this is what showed up, after I'd paid and couldn't back out.
This one was a heartbreaker, but we're still good friends. He's hooked me up with an incredible amount of stuff over the years, but I've learned you have to take the good with the bad, and this one was bad. On the other hand, some of my most prized possessions came to me through him, and overall I can't complain. I did eventually straighten out this pile and filled in most of the missing roof with some shortened Tudor pieces and sold it. It was still rough and I ended up with a lot of time in it, I would have kept it if it had been what he thought it was. But at least I got "something", it wasn't an all-is-lost moment.
Good story squablow, just proves most people dont know what a 32 ford looks like, so...why are they worth so much money to those that do? LOL
Love the storys,thanks,I'll add one of my own;; Time for a "WAY BACK STORY" So roomers an hear say passed around in the 50s,told of some junked 1920,30 n 40s cars; In the 1950s a little bit west of Miami an a little north of Sweetwater,was a small town, that the roomers pointed too. Turn out to be fact !! Here's things we found out !! 100% colored folks built an lived there with no phones or power we found out,had one church. The Preacher owned the old junk yard an drove a homemade towtruck,on the deadend of dirt road running south,same road ran north through the little town{ It's only road} n met with outer west end of NW 12 street about 112 ave or so,if there had been street signs out that far,in too what was pretty much just Everglades then. So Steve needed to find some hyd, brakes for his Model A { was still a 4banger at the time,but we had a V8 on hold to go into it!} Our hunt took us on the adventure ,out to this seeming mythical place! In Steve's 30A sedan. After finding the place,an asking someone,that pointed down the road to were the junkyard was,and told us what to do!!. Sure enough,lots of old car roofs can be seen, between the palmettos n sawgrass. Parked an blow the hoogahorn 3 toots! After a short time,a big old colored guy shows up,nether of us saw him come,he was just there! Behind us! First thing he said was: God Bless you boys!, with a bit of a Bahamas Accent! Then said,Nice Model A,point'en to Steves car. Adding "What you'll b looking for?? Steve tell'm hydraulic brakes fore my "A"! At that point we are told; " I don't sell any of this old stuff! ,I'm the Preacher and you can make a good donation to the Church when you pick out what you need." So; the way that went,was if our donation was the right amount,we got blessed an if not enough,nothing happened. After we were blessed two more times,we could then unbolt the parts we needed an add them too our little bumper trailer< was a dollywheel bumper clamp type,we also used for camping ,beside draging home parts,like 47front axle n a rear with hydrautic brakes.. We felt like blessed hoodlums, LOL. all the way home I'll ad a photo of Steve's "A" when we were on a camping trip,with the one dollywheel bumper clamp trailer,. This pic is us fixing a broken rear axle,another story all together as well. But a few years after I helped Steve add a Ford Y-block V8 to it.
Dana, I have to know. Did you get a good deal on the parts? And did you ever go back? But most of all is the place still there?
Yes, we got a good deal,but had to unbolt all our needs,the homemade towtruck was used to roll over a car,so it was EZ to remove parts. We did go back one time for a better set of brake drums. Sorry, the hole place is gone now ,an built totally over. I hope they all got good $ for there land.
I'm my brother-in-laws dirtbag brother-in-law. If I ever get near your '32 you better call my wife! She may or may not know where it went!
There is supposed to be a real Cobra buried under a swimming pool up in Buffalo NY area. My dad told me this in the 70s and I think I read about it here years ago. Edit just found this from 09 the local story about the 427 ac cobra is untrue it was a small block car that burned in a housefire. the owner hurt his back real bad when he broke a drivshaft. so after the fire he pushed it into his pond. and years later 76-78 someone tracked the vin # thru dmv. the new owner sent the car to england to have it rebodied and i understand its a car again. actuallythe guy that owned it when it burned was the second owner. this car originally was ownedby a buffalo bills player. al maroone ford ordered it for him and he was too cramped in the car. they then took it to the dealers collision shop where they cut the floorpan to move the seat down and back. i have the 3x2 setup that the second owner bought for this car. he had all the ratio gearsets and every inductionfor had available right around 65-68. he raced the car here in buffalo in the summer and in the winter he took it to arizona and raced it at bee-line strip. he beat bill hellschier on ocasion. back in the same time frame he hauled that car in anenclosed trailer . at the time for that type of car that was unheard of. mike
I have another Corvette story that is true. Years ago there was a '67 427 Corvette sitting in a driveway in Eliot Maine, hadn't moved since the early 1970's. It was in pretty hard shape from sitting all those years; I used to drive by it every now and again, had a big sign on the windshield threatening to shoot anybody who came near it. Never got a backstory on it, but when the house was sold, the owner took it with him; from what I last heard about it, it was parked in the driveway of his new house.
You didn't appear to be a jerk at all. In today's world, you've got to be very cautious and 'trust your gut'. Someone who approaches you in that manner, without properly introducing themselves, is not the kind of person I would be offering information to either. You did the right thing.
When I was a kid, even before I got a driver's permit, we used to hang around at the PV Speed shop on Main st. Malden, Ma. Just inside the front door was always a table of used parts. Like a swap meet table. Sometimes there were a few items, other times the table was overflowing. Once, in the late 70s or early 80s there was a bunch of weird looking parts, big heads, aluminum valve covers with holes, aluminum intake, and various parts. I thought " cool looking but not small Chevy" so I thought nothing of it. Fast forward to 2017 at a fellow Camsnappers house. . . . George says "can you believe that I bought this complete Adrun set up at PV Speed!!" Wow man, just wow.
Many years ago my wife and I went out to supper and a cruise in my coupe We were cruising around town when a car started following us. Finally pulled over and asked the young man what the problem was. He said he just wanted to look at the car. While he was looking he said he knew where a 32 pickup was sitting locked in a corn crib. He had peeked through the slats of the crib when they were detasseling corn When I got home from his description of the farm and crib I realized it was a farm my brother-in-law farmed. I called him and asked if there was a pickup in the crib. He said there was one and asked if I wanted to see it. Hurriedly I rushed out to the farm and when he unlocked the door and opened it I damn near fainted. There sat the most beat up 46 Dodge pickup I have ever seen. It looked like somebody had taken turns hitting it with log chains.
The rumor mill.... When I bought my '64 Comet Caliente HDTP 289/4-speed in the mid '80s and daily-drove it, it wasn't long before I heard about a supposed '64 Comet AFX car in a barn somewhere locally. This was a persistent rumor, I'd hear this from various people over the course of about 10 years but it was always 'so-and-so knows a guy who knows a guy...' and AFAIK nothing ever came of it.
Funny thing. In the early 80s there was a guy selling those crate SOHC motors in the back of National Dragster. I think most folks either missed the ad or didn't believe it. Our local Speed Shop owner bought 3? of them I think. They were cheap too, something like 15k for all of them.
I'll premise this with a point of never seeing or hearing about this car before. Many years ago I was chasing down an address for a garage sale and mistakenly turned onto a dead end street that I had never been on before, this was only about two miles from my house. I just happened to glance toward the end of the street and sitting in the front yard of a little run down house was a 55 Chevy two-ten two door sedan, original light green/white top, it had just the right amount of wind thinned paint on the fenders and hood, the car was nearly perfect except for a slightly tweaked front bumper. I drove by it once then decided to knock on the door, took a couple of tries and a guy finally answered the door, he looked like I woke him up so I made a quick and to the point inquiry about the car, his response of "its not for sale" was even more to the point so I figured I better not push it and said thanks and left. Some time later I got up the nerve to try again and got the same response, again said thanks and left. I decided to let it rest ( I could not), I gave it a few months and drove by again and it was gone, never to be seen again. I guess this is why I've had an infatuation with these cars for years.
Well-intentioned non-car friends can send you on wild goose chases, as they usually lump all old cars together. Here in Australia, it's always a "48-215 or an FJ "(1948-53 Holden) that "some old bloke has sitting in his backyard. Been there for years. He's about 96 and about to go into a nursing home". So you go for a peek, and it can be anything from a Morris Minor to a Mitsubishi Sigma (horrible). I did score a couple of times though, but it was never what it was rumoured to be.
30 years ago I had moved to a new town and had just started to get to know some of the local rodders. One day I was driving by a house and noticed the corner of a 32 Ford 5w peeking out from under a tarp behind the house. Of course I stopped and knocked on the door to see if it was for sale. It turned out that the guy had owned it since 1952 and yes, it was for sale. The owner had recently had a stroke and needed a riding lawn mower. I bought it for the cost of a decent mower. All the local guys had been trying to buy it for years but I was at the right place at the right time.
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