Sad and Upsetting

Mom always said that if you can't say anything nice... but the truth is the truth.. demolition derbys make me sick! There's another car forum that I visit from time to time and it's full of those retards.. and I make NO appologies for using that term and that applies especially to anyone who would derby a Road Runner or such a car. I might get slapped by a moderator for saying that but honestly, it is how I feel. They buy up every big car that they can find just to destroy them regardless of condition, year, make or model - or rarity. There is something seriously wrong with anyone who gets their cookies off destroying things. I mean, if you took a drive down town and went about town smashing into every car that you saw be it moving or parked, you'd be deemed crazy and locked up. Yet those clowns do it and to many people, they are heroes! It is really sad how many good old cars are ruined by the derby crowd. Now if they were to have demolition derbys for imports... :2_thumbs_up_-_anima:2_thumbs_up_-_anima:2_thumbs_up_-_anima
I bought a '65 Crown Imperial in WA. State a few years ago that was sold at auction by a towng company. The car had been stored in their compound and the guy never paid the storage so it was disposed of. I had come across the yard on a road trip to haul a car back from the Tri Cities area for a friend and saw the Imperial sitting in the back of the yard. It was ( still is ) TOTALLY rust free and solid and still wears it's original white paint. The seats had been tastefully recovered and it had four new tires on it and a brand new 4 bbl. carb on the 413. When I asked the yard owner about the car, he told me that it was going to be sold by auction and I asked him what he figured it would sell for. When he told me that a car like that - especially an Imperial - would sell for around the one thousand dollar mark... I honestly didn't believe him. He explained that the mid sixties Imperials were highly sought after by the derby crowd and if you watch Ebay, you'll see the word "derby" in a lot of item descriptions for Imperials and Chryslers. The car was really decent and I could see that value in it just as an old car to drive and enjoy. I mean, all of the glass was good, upholstery was good, new tires and carb, no rust and it is really straight.. so I left a proxy bid with him. A few weeks later, he called and said that I had won the car for my bid of one thousand dollars. I remember thinking to myself, "Yeah - right. The bidding on the car stopped just under my offer? Not likely. I'm getting the old shaft here - again. But what ever" At least the car wouldn't be destroyed. My wife and I made the three hour drive to where the car was that weekend and we paid for it and we came home. The yard owner had to get a title for it so that I could export the car from the U.S. into Canada so he was kind enough to store the car for me at no charge until he got the title.
It took some time but Allan finally called to say that he had the title and I drove down with our trusty, rusty Suburban and our trailer and hauled the car home. Of course, being a storage impound there were no keys and it never occured to me that when importing a car through customs, keys are usually sort of a good idea and handy to have if that nice guy in the blue uniform wants to take a look in the trunk. We breezed through Customs and it never occured to me until I got home and finally got the trunk open ( I had a key that worked in my bucket of Mopar keys ) what could have happened at the border had they asked me to open the trunk. When I opened the trunk, it was full of all sorts of treasures - boxes of music CD's ( all of them good country music which we loke ), tools and all sorts of assorted goodies. Suddenly, the thousand dollar price tag wasn't all that bad! I did try to contact the previous owner to give the stuff back to him but after a number of unsuccesful tries at contacting him or a family member by phone and even including going to where he was supposed to be working ( I did this on another trip to the town where I bought the car ) , I gave up. He no longer worked at that place and the people there had no idea where he was or even if he was still in town.
To make a long story short, I had a key for the ignition also and when I started the car, the old 413 purred like a cream fed tomcat! We had to have the gas tank steamed because it was full of an ugly black goo which explained the new carb on the engine. Obviously, the car had been sitting for some time before the guy who lost it to storage bought it. Allan had told me that the former owner had bought the car, done some work on it including having four new tires installed on it and he had driven it to Spokane on a four hour round trip road trip during which he had a lot of fuel trouble. That would be the black goo in the tank I am guessing.
Anyways, everything works on the car and it really is a classy old girl - my wife and I think so anyways. Incidentally, I was back at Allan's yard several months after bringing the Imperial home and he introduced me to a friend of his who does the derby thing. As I found out awhile later from that man, he had bid the car up to just under my offer.. had he bid ten dollars more, there would now be one less '65 Imperial on the planet. He ( the demolition derby guy ) had some other cars at the yard that he and his son had bought to derby and to sell to other derby nuts. He seemed quite proud of the fact that he and his son would go as far as Oregon to buy a big old wagon or car and bring it back just to destroy it. I'm still shaking my head over that sort of mentality. It just doesn't make sense to me - sorry.

 

We don't have these derbies here, so it is really difficult to understand. Maybe also as the prices are so much higher for all these classic americans. I had a 65 Imperial Crown as well. Really classy (old styling it was considered already in that time, with the wrap around windshield) and smooth. Still regret trading it for a 1989 Chevy Van G30.
I actually looked at one some weeks ago. Nice car but asking price is 10000 euro's, so about $13500,-! That is a bit outside my budget...

 

well......................sure......the Derby guys n gals ruined a LOT of nice cars over the years !!
but then...to be fair....so did every other form of Motorsport

the Derby's just did it in larger amounts

I personally derby'd a 69 LTD wagon in my 1st event..but hey..I was 17

It was 1974..I wasnt thinking about wether it would be a classic some day!:confused:

so on that note...I forgive(somewhat)..all the Motorsports up till..
..i dunno..1979??..50's and 60's car were still plentiful !

after that...NOPE..everyone knew what they were doing after that!

Its the guys that still Derby Edsels and Big Mopars and 60's Birds that pee me off!!!!

 

That was a gorgeous car. And a horrible shame

 

I had a 65 Ford Ranch wagon that everybody wanted for the derby. I would not give her up, but finally gave her to my brother who is still driving it today.

 

If he had strong feelings for the car, why wouldn't he just keep it, or donate it to a museum since its a clean low mileage vintage car?
No, what this appears to indicate is that his mother loved the car, and he must have hated his mother and destroying the car was a way to get back at her after her death. I wonder if he burned down her house too. I think the guy needs psychiatric help.

 

I'm thinking this is a classic urban myth story that never actually happened. Who, in their right mind, would have such a beauty crushed? I see that the picture appears to be at some car show, so the guy obviously knew what he had. I say it's total bs. At least, I hope it's total bs. I'd hate to think it really did get crushed.

 

X2...........

 

What an a$$hole! I had a Lincoln just like that except for the color with a 460 in it. Went like a scalded cat! All the accoutrements of a Lincoln. Helluva car. I would dearly love to find this guy......