duesterberg
03-17-2009, 08:58 AM
Hello folks! The trifive computer told me I should make some noise. So this is it:
The beginning of my old cars fever was caused just by lack of money. Old and most exotic cars were the cheapest to get - and for me as engineering student did not pose technical questions that were impossible to answer.
When one car would brake down the next came (today I regret every single one that I got rid off). Then came company cars - so an old one was kept just for fun. And looking around there were other interesting ones that were also worth while having. When I had about a dozen I thought it my be a good idea to add a checker Taxi or a 55 Chevy to the collection (they have about the same "tank" appeal. Those (film) Checkers I found here - here by the way is germany were expensive and really worn out - and 55 Chevys were more or less inexistent.
So I had a look into (the paper edition) of a Hemmings journal and found one to my taste (4 door belair with "the" engine and a glide). Price was so low that I did not even consider to fly over and have a look at it. I rented a 20 foot container all for myself (was more expensive that the car) and told the Texas owner to drive the car into it in Huston harbor. He had severe doubts that the car would make it so far (some 100 miles) but after a while I got a call from the German harbor that my box had arrived. As I was very busy I asked a friend to take the content from the container, load it into a Truck and drive it down to the company where I worked.
It was a warm summer evening when I came back from a business trip, got the truck and drove it to the next available railway ramp. When I opened the rear doors of the truck I had the first real look at my purchase (no photos in Hemmings at that time) and fell in love with it at once. Three weeks of intensive attention (Texas youngsters seem to have had a lot of fun with it before it could retire) made it a runner: Technically OK but in its original every day look - and it was the absolute hit when I appeared with it in the corresponding worn-out Buena-Vista-Social-Club-outfit in southern France to celebrate my 55 th anniversary (therefore it had to be a 55 Chevy - no other would have matched).
Now more than a decade later it is still or even more one of my favorites (although I have considerable choices including Jaguars and Maserati): It is plain and simple and very reliable - and funny enought it has an amazing fuel economy (in contradiction with US carīs reputation which I could verify from my earlier 1964 Cadillac and recent 1963 Riviera experiences). OK roadholding is inexistant so are brakes - but when you drive it slowly and with an attentive eye ahead (like a heavy haulage truck) everything is fine.
Repairs: Oh Yes! Tank had to be flushed because it was full of gum-sludge (donīt know what they fill into cars in Texas - crude oil?) and the good old iron glide refused to shift (posed the question in the trifive forum with much echo). As kind of a a joke I found an almost new one almost for granted here in Germany near Berlin after digging through US E-bay offerings for weeks.
So there we are: I still own and love my "blind date" and if I would be forced to sell my collection the 55 Chevy would surely be among the last to leave.
Michael
The beginning of my old cars fever was caused just by lack of money. Old and most exotic cars were the cheapest to get - and for me as engineering student did not pose technical questions that were impossible to answer.
When one car would brake down the next came (today I regret every single one that I got rid off). Then came company cars - so an old one was kept just for fun. And looking around there were other interesting ones that were also worth while having. When I had about a dozen I thought it my be a good idea to add a checker Taxi or a 55 Chevy to the collection (they have about the same "tank" appeal. Those (film) Checkers I found here - here by the way is germany were expensive and really worn out - and 55 Chevys were more or less inexistent.
So I had a look into (the paper edition) of a Hemmings journal and found one to my taste (4 door belair with "the" engine and a glide). Price was so low that I did not even consider to fly over and have a look at it. I rented a 20 foot container all for myself (was more expensive that the car) and told the Texas owner to drive the car into it in Huston harbor. He had severe doubts that the car would make it so far (some 100 miles) but after a while I got a call from the German harbor that my box had arrived. As I was very busy I asked a friend to take the content from the container, load it into a Truck and drive it down to the company where I worked.
It was a warm summer evening when I came back from a business trip, got the truck and drove it to the next available railway ramp. When I opened the rear doors of the truck I had the first real look at my purchase (no photos in Hemmings at that time) and fell in love with it at once. Three weeks of intensive attention (Texas youngsters seem to have had a lot of fun with it before it could retire) made it a runner: Technically OK but in its original every day look - and it was the absolute hit when I appeared with it in the corresponding worn-out Buena-Vista-Social-Club-outfit in southern France to celebrate my 55 th anniversary (therefore it had to be a 55 Chevy - no other would have matched).
Now more than a decade later it is still or even more one of my favorites (although I have considerable choices including Jaguars and Maserati): It is plain and simple and very reliable - and funny enought it has an amazing fuel economy (in contradiction with US carīs reputation which I could verify from my earlier 1964 Cadillac and recent 1963 Riviera experiences). OK roadholding is inexistant so are brakes - but when you drive it slowly and with an attentive eye ahead (like a heavy haulage truck) everything is fine.
Repairs: Oh Yes! Tank had to be flushed because it was full of gum-sludge (donīt know what they fill into cars in Texas - crude oil?) and the good old iron glide refused to shift (posed the question in the trifive forum with much echo). As kind of a a joke I found an almost new one almost for granted here in Germany near Berlin after digging through US E-bay offerings for weeks.
So there we are: I still own and love my "blind date" and if I would be forced to sell my collection the 55 Chevy would surely be among the last to leave.
Michael