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I quickly rationalized that I could add them myself. The owner, Bob, was a real nice guy and reluctantly agreed to come down to $35,500, which we shook on. On Sunday morning Bob appeared at my booth to announce, “he wouldn't sell me the car” …his reasoning was that I didn't seem happy enough with it! After much persuasion he changed his mind, but insisted that if I changed mine that was ok, because someone else wanted it anyway. I told him I would come pick it up the following day.
That night I bought a train ticket to Oceanside (98 miles away) for 11am the next day. On Monday at 10am it suddenly dawned on me that maybe I had been too hasty in my decision! With zero expectations and time running out, I decided to quickly look on Hot Rod Hotline to see what else was out there. A cool looking coupe had just sold, and the rest either weren’t “it” or I couldn’t afford them. Then I looked on eBay ...and to my astonishment found a ‘32 3-window that looked amazingly like Bob's (both black) except with everything Bob's was missing! Leather interior, dual quads, full sound system, electric windows, AC, chrome everywhere, etc. The auction was ending in less than three hours and the car was in Utah. The high bid was $22,000 and the "Buy It Now" price was $39,000. The pressure was mounting, I felt like Gary Cooper in "High Noon" waiting for the train to come ...as it was! I quickly emailed Kevin (the owner) to call me. Turned out he owns a car restoration shop ...a good sign! He informed me that the car was never going to sell for less than 39K because that was what the reserve was. He said if I wanted the car I should just hit the "Buy It Now" button. I scrutinized the six pictures as closely as possible. It looked good, but pictures can be deceiving. It was a few grand more than Bob’s I pondered, but leather alone can cost more than that. The auction was ending very soon, which meant no time to go inspect it (and I'm the kind of guy who likes to spend hours looking over a prospective buy, doing a compression check etc.). Instead, my only option was to take the word of Kevin (a stranger on the phone!) that my new pride and joy wouldn't instead be my new costly regret! The clock was ticking. What if it's really a great deal I thought, and someone else hits that button first! And what about Bob, and how could I ever be satisfied with his car now?!
I was sweating bullets and my finger was quivering (all my others were crossed) as I hit the "Buy It Now" button! In an instant it was mine …for better or worse! It was time to call Bob and tell him the bad news. But then he had said “it would be ok if I changed my mind”, I only hoped he'd meant it. As it turned out he was relieved! …He didn’t really want to sell his baby anyway! Ironically we've since become good friends!
Next I had to get the car from Utah to L.A. The going price for an enclosed truck was $1000, but I decided driving 700 miles in winter in an unfamiliar rod was unwise. So I made the arrangements and was told the car would arrive within 5-7 days. I waited patiently, meanwhile buying insurance, contemplating modifications, etc. Then, with the pick-up a day away Kevin called to say that “Utah was having historic wind, hail and snow storms, and maybe now wasn't a good time to pick it up”, especially since he'd had his crew polishing it for two days! Huh? I’m supposed to wait until winter is over to see what I’d just spent 39K on …I don't think so! Anyway, the wheels were in motion and the truck was on its way. Pick-up day finally arrived and I lucked out - the storms had subsided and it was looking like all systems were go! Or so I thought …until I got a call that the truck had just flipped over and crashed!! Fortunately the driver was ok and the truck was empty. Just imagine if my new rod had been inside! I would have been the proud owner of a demolished car I'd never even seen!
It then took eleven more days for another truck to retrieve it. Finally, at midnight, three weeks after my purchase, the truck arrived. As I nervously backed my new Deuce down the truck ramp and into the light I could see that I’d scored. The pictures hadn’t done it justice at all! Professionally built with a Pete and Jake’s chassis (not advertised) and very low miles, it was a steal. I picked up my girl and we cruised around till 3 am.
Since then I’ve made a lot of changes to make it mine. I like the retro look (Retro Visions!), so all of the billet came off. A Moon tank, red grill, finned Edelbrock valve covers, revised interior (with Ipod, GPS, Bluetooth), racing gas cap, ‘48 Chevy taillights, etc. went on. Doing most of the work myself, I feel sixteen again …and having a blast!
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