What's the coolest thing you found in an old car?

I can't remember finding anything but mouse nests, but here's why I'll check every car top to bottom from now on:

An old dude was telling me of an Essex sedan he had 30 years ago. He bought it and gave it a quicky paint job, then had it sitting outside his garage. Wouldn't fit inside, so he felt bad about letting the paint get ruined again and sold it to younger guy with a garage, for a couple thousand dollars. The younger guy takes it home and cleans it, finding hundreds of old and rare coins stuck to the floorboards under the rubber mat. Old dude had never even lifted the mat. Younger guy sells the coins to a coin dealer and made thousands in profit, on top of the car purchase price.

 

UnPunk01's story about the "shoebox" Ford reciept reminded me of a car my buddy bought from a new car dealership in L.A. back in '66. It was an ULTRA-CHERRY '50 tudor sedan, that the salesman swore was a trade-in from a "little old lady" (his exact words).

We figured the story was bullshit, of course - but didn't care, 'cause the car was obviously the real deal, and the price was only $400, pretty damn reasonable - even back then.

I know this sounds made-up, but I swear on my mother's grave it's true. When he got around to checking in the glove box, he found all the original paperwork from when she had bought the car in 1950, along with a nice thank-you letter from the dealership's owner, and a pristine condition hymn book

I guess she only drove it too church on Sunday - just like in the classic used car jokes!

A while later, we picked up a pair of aluminum heads, and aluminum intake manifold, and even a very nicely built set fenderwell headers for it (they even had chromed collectors) - at one of those L.A. weekend flea market things they used to hold at drive-in movie theaters - for like $40 (I have a photo of the stuff for you unbelievers - just PM me).

Anyway, it was his daily driver and before we could get into the car and screw things up, he got T-boned (bigtime!) at an intersection. It was a real hard hit, and drove the "good" side of the poor car into a huge phone pole. My buddy was OK, but the car was just totally trashed. Very sad. He only had it for about 2 months.

 

Stan ,I bought a .38 cal revoler from a little old lady who only carried it to church on sunday.

 

i found a dead cat's bones in the trunk, that's about it...some of these stories are awesome...

tok

 

Not an old car but my 'everyday one'

We had some work done under warranty, by the words worst dealer....after 4 days we got the car back, filthy & scratched as well....

BUT....there was a nice Snap On ratchet screwdriver in the rear footwell.

 

Not an old car but my 'everyday one'

We had some work done under warranty, by the worlds worst dealer....after 4 days we got the car back, filthy & scratched as well....

BUT....there was a nice Snap On ratchet screwdriver in the rear footwell.

 

Coins, newspapers, tools, and animals. Found the build sheet, bill of sale, shipping bill, and wiring schematic to a 66 Miller Meteor hearse. Bought a 49 chevy fleetline from the original owner, it was loaded with papers and letters to his wife. Bought a 62 pontiac catalina from the same guy that had an unopened six pack of schlitz in the rear floor, old pulltab cans, and a Sears underdash air unit in the trunk still in the box! The guy took it out before I showed up to get the car though!

 

I found 4 new ratchet straps, a spark plug socket and a cresent wrench, not to mention some 1960s change in a 1965 Falcon, Three pocket knives (one wedged inside the grille), shotgun shells, and several unidentifiable bullets in a 1972 Ford F100, several termination papers, unpaid speeding and parking tickets and tons of little trinkets in a 1969 Firebird, an owners manual with the new buyer survey still attached, all kinds of recipts from auto parts stores dating to the early 1980s, a chamois still in the container, beer cans, a pair of 1970 302 heads in a 1965 Ranchero.

The one of the cool things about buying a used car, you almost always find something cool... Usually it's something even better if the car is a real piece of junk.

 

[ QUOTE ]
Coins, newspapers, tools, and animals. Found the build sheet, bill of sale, shipping bill, and wiring schematic to a 66 Miller Meteor hearse. Bought a 49 chevy fleetline from the original owner, it was loaded with papers and letters to his wife. Bought a 62 pontiac catalina from the same guy that had an unopened six pack of schlitz in the rear floor, old pulltab cans, and a Sears underdash air unit in the trunk still in the box! The guy took it out before I showed up to get the car though!

[/ QUOTE ] DID HE TAKE THE BEER OR THE AIR UNIT???

 

Back in highschool I bought a jap truck for parts. I found a nice 16" aluminum rigid pipe wrench under the seat. I don't drive jap truck anymore, But my brother still has the pipe wrench

 

Didn't find this IN the car, but I have the original title to my 1961 Falcon. It was purchased on September 11th, 1961 by Hoyt Collins for $1441.94.

After Hoyt died, the car sat and was eventually given to the mechanic that worked on the car. The mechanic later defaulted on payment to a contractor (addition to the garage) and the car was seized as partial payment. It sat again for several years until I bought it. The contractor illegally forged Hoyt's signature, voiding the title. No one would touch it.

Since the car had fallen out out the system, I simply retitled it, keeping the original.

 

I found a gas reciept from 1972 in my 72 skylark 31 cents a gal.Old rolling papers in my 65 GTO.50s Amusement park tickets in my 56 safari.Two big black snakes in the rear seat of a camaro I was stripping,I jumped out and called the scrap yard .they picked it up later that day.Little did they know.

 

the guy i bought my '63 dodge from never opened the trunk, because it didn't have keys(he bought it to sell). once i got it home i picked the lock. i found an old pair of jeans, the quarterpanel was stuffed full of old fireworks, and there was about 10 or 15 old car stereos and equalizers from the 80s in there. the jeans were um, soiled, the fireworks rotted out the quarterpanel, and the stereo equipment was obviously stolen. David

 

Years ago I bought a '78 T-Bird at a sheriff's auction and found a bag with oil-soaked joints in it.

 

i remeber my dad brining a old nova to the shop that was full of roth style models( wish i had them now)

Then a 1955 1/2 chevy stepside. when we pulled off dooe panels found a bong and bunch of roach clips.

haha. boy these posts bring back memories

 

The ability to get off my ass after a painful divorce. The desire to build something others thought was impossible. The need to define what I thought was cool. The thought that maybe I could divert my thoughts from all the crap of the work a day world. The idea that an old rusty piece of shit WAS worth saving. The knowledge that I didn't give a shit what anyone else thought about what I produced out of it all. That the fact that it all kept me sane really mattered most. And when I was done I could go eighty miles an hour in something I built myself in my garage. Thanks for asking. dug

 

I worked in junk-yards as my first few jobs, so I've seen alot.Best one was a "Brick" of white cystaline substance,2 38's, and $2,500 in a leather bag stuffed into the front seat springs,(Car came from police auction!)Worst was an accident car,found a hand under the dash.Enough?!?AL

 

<font color="red"> DUDE!...what did ya do with the hand?......I could take it for ya!!

R E D M E A T </font>

 

In a '46 Ford at the junkyard, maybe 1962, an Iskenderian "Dream Wheel".
This is a little circular sliderule that computed displacement on one side and did speed/gear ratio calculations on the other. This side is helpfully marked with the ratios for 29/28/26/25 tooth Ford and Zephyr gear sets.
Dream on...let's see, if I can find some 2.00 rear gears and 45" tires for the back, the old flatty should be able to make...hmmm... 300 MPH before valve float sets in...
better bore&amp;stroke it to 5X5 so I'll have enough steam for the job...
I still have it, of course.

 

[ QUOTE ]
The ability to get off my ass after a painful divorce. The desire to build something others thought was impossible. The need to define what I thought was cool. The thought that maybe I could divert my thoughts from all the crap of the work a day world. The idea that an old rusty piece of shit WAS worth saving. The knowledge that I didn't give a shit what anyone else thought about what I produced out of it all. That the fact that it all kept me sane really mattered most. And when I was done I could go eighty miles an hour in something I built myself in my garage. Thanks for asking. dug

[/ QUOTE ]


Just dug wins. That was the best!

 

I found a really cool old wooden billy club under the seat of my car when I pulled the seat out for uphostery. It's about 18" long, and has a cool finish on it. I'm going to stripe it up and keep it under my front seat where it belongs, should someone try to mess with me or my car

Stacey

 

I bought an Eldo Convert from an old widow who had the car at her winter estate in Arizona.

I ran out of gas in New Mexico and broke down a couple of times abandoning the car several times roadside for hours on end.

After a 2,300 mile road trip..., I finally opened up the trunk and noticed several paintings and a jewelry box.

Upon further investigation I saw insurance papers showing what the items were insured for and I got a very sick feeling in my stomach..., the paintings were just over a million..., and two of the 40 or so rings her husband bought for her in the late sixties were over $25,000 each..., and the list went on...!

Needless to say I delivered the items to her and she told me that she forgot she had them in Arizona...!

So she called her neighbor and found out that he had placed those items in the car shortly after her husband passed away (7 years earlier) thinking that she would be coming down to sell the house and bring the car back to Wisconsin..., He had completely forgot about doing that...!!!!!

The look on her face was "Priceless"...!

Mark

 

I bought a 65 v.w. bus from a guy when I was in high school, I started to tear it apart and taped to the top of the dash was a bible. But wait it wasn't a regular bible. This bible could have landed me in jail for 20yrs. It was what seemed like 100 sheets of acid.

 

Duddy of mine used to carry a Bible on the console of his van. Wasn't particuklary religous but I didn't ask. One day I picked it up &amp; unzipped &amp; opened it. Had a .38 inside!! Pistol case!!

 

I used to have a "traditional tuner:" a Datsun 510 sedan.

When I first bought it, it was on the back of a buddy's transporter, and he was on his way to the salvage yard. I gave him the $52.00 he'd get for it in scrap metal, and he handed over the title and dropped it off at my house for me.

Now, the engine that was in it was missing the cam, rockers and the cam cover, so I'd already found a guy with an L18 motor for $100.00 by the time I got home at 5pm. After dinner, my brother came over, and we punched the tumbler out of the trunk only to find...

A racing L-series head, Tokico adjustable struts and shocks, and a set of Eibach race springs. When the guy brought the engine over the next day, it had a 5-speed attached top it that he threw in for free.

Damn, I really miss that little beater.

 

I found a 1924 standing liberty quarter in the door of a model-A coupe. I shined it up and sold in on Ebay for a hundred bucks.

JOE

 

The joys of munching on poontang.

 

In my 64 Pickup I found a half smoked doobie. We smoked it on the drive home.

 

No way would I have given back those goodies man....I'd be rocking out in a nice slick rod, my wife would be blingin' some new jewelry and I'd sleep all night long.....I'm an asshole A! S-S! H-O! L-E! I'm an asshole A! S-S! H-O! L-E! leoleoooooo........seriously I'm a heartless dick and I would have kept the paintings for sure. 'Course I don't believe in kharma or spirituality....


When I got my car it had the origional un-used spare with an almost new looking rim and (painted) hubcap. It had coffee cups and matchboxes from the 50's along with a couple of buffalo nickles. The ash-tray was stuck shut but when I finally pryed it free I found a barely smoked cigarette with bright red lipstick and a receipt from some store. I thought that was cool for some reason. It was some kind of off brand that I have never heard of, 'course I'm kinda young.... Under the carpet was some news papers from around the time the car was built.. they were pretty toasted - the heat from the under-the-seat heater kinda cooked them, that plus the moisture from rain/snow obviously.

I can't top the good stories already posted but I thought I'd add.

 

Didn't happen to me but my friend and some neighborhood kids...They went snoopin around in a barn down the main road and found 2 cars. My friend saw that the truck was open and took a peek inside...he proceeded to find over 4 thousand dollars cash and a suitcase full of coins...quarters he said. Problem was 5 kids, all 13 and younger...they ended up telling my friends mom and the dough went to the police, never to be seen again...probably paid for their doughnuts for a month

Greg