"Brand New" 1979 Impala Wagon 1.7 Miles!!!

Very bad business ideas. A car dealership is a retail business. Just like any other, you have to keep your stock fresh. Older stuff should get sold at a discount, so you can buy more new stock. If you just sit on it, you get no return on your investment, and you have less money to invest in new inventory. If the guy wanted to keep all the stuff that didn't sell at the original price, OK, but it cost him a lot of money.......

If he was really smart, he would have holed all this stock up in a dark warehouse somewhere and ran the engines once in a while, kept them covered, etc. Then, maybe they would be worth something now.

 

I am baffled as to why some of them have so much dirt piled on the hood.

 

From sitting under trees.

 

In the late '70s, I worked in the service department of a Chevrolet dealership in Colorado. He started selling cars right after WWII, and built the largest Chevy dealership in western Colorado. Starting his first year in business, he would special order for himself a Chevy that piqued his interest, each year he was in business. The first was a '47 Aerosedan. He had a '50 Deluxe convertible, a '54 Corvette, '55 BelAir hardtop, '56 Cameo, '57 Nomad, '60 El Camino, '61 through '64 Impala SS hardtops (three were 409 cars!, a '67 Impala SS 427 4-speed, '68 Camaro SS 396 ragtop, a '69 big-block Nova SS, one of the very last '76 Caprice 454 convertibles, and others. The last car he held off before I left there, was his very first $10K Chevy (other than a Corvette)...it was a loaded '79 Caprice Classic station wagon, red with red leather, woodgrain, and every single option you could check off on a wagon! $10,008.80 was on the sticker! I remember all of the employees of the dealership, gathering around and amazed at a ten thousand dollar Chevrolet! What the hell was the world coming to??


He did NOT let these sit, of course. They were all in a specially-built, climate-controlled garage. All had all of their original pre-dealer-prep wrappings from when they came off the transport. All had less than a hundred miles on them. And, he could go out with a can of gas and a battery and start any of them in minutes.

I heard he died in 1985 or so, and the collection was sold off to individuals.

 

You could plant a garden in that.

 

Still, what a waste. Those cars were built to drive. At least some lucky people got decent nice vehicles.

 

Of course. They were stored on a farm.

 

That '79 Caprice wagon sounds awesome - that's the one I would want.

 

We're both too late for that wagon. But this one has your name on it.----"Brand New" 1979 Impala Wagon 1.7 Miles!!! -

 

Why was it a waste? He drove them, although very sparingly, and they were indeed brand new cars, still on the MSOs when the collection was sold off. He enjoyed them, and showed them off to anyone that wanted a peek. So, based on your definition, a museum would also be a waste? The dealership owner had the means and the wherewithal to treat such a collection properly. Guys, this is why the whole concept of "private property" is so important to both the founding concepts of the United States, and what separates us from the rest of the world. When your "Why should he be able to do that??? Sell them off to others who will!" takes root, when does this stop??? Your collection? Mine? Your neighbors?

People can do whatever the hell they want with their stuff. It is not your place, my place, or the government's place to tell someone otherwise.

 

He certainly can, Patrick - and he did. And yes, we're all drawing our impressions of this dealership owner based on his actions. I'm sure to meet him you would think he was the nicest gentleman. His vehicles - he could do with them whatever he wanted to do, or not do anything with them.

 

Yup AND remember the old saying "He who dies with the most toy's wins!" Well he got us all beat!

 

I didn't say he couldn't do what he wanted with his cars. I simple said NOW they are such a waste. NOW.......
Other than the government no one can tell us what to do with our toys.... Other than our wives!
I'm sure the owners and the family were and are very nice people. After all, it was a prosperous dealership for a very long time........ But NOW that it's closed it's a sad waste of some fine cars. NOW many are little more than scrap metal.

 

to get the car home,

1 Rake off hood, or cut down tree

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2 Fix a flat for the tires

3 Put in new battery [use jumper cables if you are cheap ]

4 Spray W-D40 on the linkage

5 Put a little fresh gas down the carburetor

6 Turn the key, and drive away happy

 

I was all set and ready to possibly go get something from this but now it's not likely.

I'm still holding out a bit of hope that I'll have a shot at one. This '79 Impala wagon actually would likely be one I'd bid on if I can't get a '65 of some kind.