Lord Vader - An Unknown Buick Returns

Discussion in 'Members Rides' started by Brett Slater, Sep 16, 2017.

  1. Brett Slater

    Brett Slater Super Moderator Staff Member

    Four "Stages" of Lord Vader. :D:D

    20190215_171311.jpg
     
  2. BYoung

    BYoung Stage me

    I like the 4th Stage best.
     
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  3. Brett Slater

    Brett Slater Super Moderator Staff Member

    I would have to agree.
     
  4. 64 skylark mike

    64 skylark mike Well-Known Member

    I like the third best. I guess I don't get too excited about steelies and dog dish caps.

    But it is a great car and a really interesting thread! Thanks for writing it up!
     
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  5. 1970 STAGE 1

    1970 STAGE 1 Well-Known Member

    Voting number 3 please.
     
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  6. CJay

    CJay Supercar owner Staff Member

    Selling the yellow car was simultaneously the best and worst thing you ever did!
     
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  7. Brett Slater

    Brett Slater Super Moderator Staff Member

    Ha! You couldn't be more right.

    There was NO way I was ever going to be able to afford to give that it's just due and I would have been way under water.

    I think I did okay with this one.
     
  8. Clarkie

    Clarkie Well-Known Member

    "I think I did okay with this one."
    I'll say!
     
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  9. Brett Slater

    Brett Slater Super Moderator Staff Member

    The archeology dig continues...

    The previous owner who sent me the photos I posted last week, sent me the number of (who was purported to be) the original owner last night.

    During subsequent conversations with him today it was revealed that:

    His father bought the car as a repossession with less than 500 miles from the former Gingrich Motor Company, located on 25th and Cumberland in Lebanon, PA.

    He bought it from his father (at the age of 18) not soon after and then sold it to his brother, who was the one who had the clear coat applied to the then new factory paint - because he "wanted it to really shine". That clear coat is still on it today.

    He also added carpet to the bottom of the door panels - for reasons unknown - and that's still on there as well. During this time, he also took the Buick mags off and replaced them with the aluminum slots you see pictured above. Air shocks were also added. I should note that he states the Buick rally wheels came on the car when his father bought it, as well as an 8-track player. The wheel thing is an anomaly to me, only because my Wayne Roberts docs list no wheel choice and just a tire choice. My sense tells me maybe Gingrich swapped them out to add some spice to the car while it was on the lot? Weirder things have happened and if we've learned anything about these cars, it's that not everything is as it seems.

    The car was then sold to a relative of the gentleman who sent me the most recent vintage pictures, traded in to a Dodge dealership and then purchased by the aforementioned gentleman.

    He then sold it to who another local guy, who had it briefly (I mentioned him way back at the beginning of this thread) before selling to the high school kid who subsequently launched the original SS block. After him was the gentleman who owned it the longest, then Dano and finally me.

    So, by my count, that's 11 total owners - including me. Good GOD that's exhausting! This poor car! :eek::eek::eek:

    As an aside, he did mention he still has the factory Buick 15" mags and center caps in his garage attic, in perfect condition but they aren't for sale at this time. I asked him to keep me in mind.

    At this point, I'm more interested in getting pictures and documentation. Seems every time I have this chain of custody figured out, there's another wrinkle.

    It's safe to say the archeological dig of Lord Vader is complete.
     
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  10. CJay

    CJay Supercar owner Staff Member

    Way cool Brett. I have to commend you on your determination and due diligence. You have to make a timeline of all this and write it down. It would make a good article

    And that's exactly how I found and subsequently bought the 4 original WG's that were taken off my car in 1975 and stored. They were still in the attic of a cousin of one of the owners. After getting them, 2 were dated February and two were dated July. My car is a March build. I can only surmise that two of the wheels were "warranteed" by the dealer a few months after purchase- likely swapped with another car on the lot

    Lord Vader lived the life most muscle cars lived back then- rode hard, put away wet and passed around like a "you know what". Mine included. Hard to believe they were nothing more than used cars at one time
     
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  11. Brett Slater

    Brett Slater Super Moderator Staff Member

    Agreed on all counts!!

    It's also hard to believe it's still in one piece after that many owners. Funny part is, it never left Lebanon that entire time.
     
  12. CJay

    CJay Supercar owner Staff Member

    Prior to the internet, I really don't think these cars traveled too far from where they were originally purchased.

    I find it funny that our cars led such similar lives. By 1975, my car was wearing Cragar S/S wheels, red painted drums and Hooker headers. Motor was already out and running a Schneider cam tearing up the streets of Sheridan Wyoming. How the original Muncie is still in it and didn't blow up is beyond me.

    The second owner of my car told me that he saw it sitting on the used car lot of the original selling dealer in 1971. With that info, I went through the Billing Gazette online and found the ad for my car when it was sitting on the lot of Selover Buick. What was the price you say in Dec 71? $2900...it was advertised as a "Christmas Special"
     
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  13. 2stg14spds

    2stg14spds Well-Known Member

    It's amazing that car survived with that many people and still be as nice as it is
     
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  14. 1972Mach1

    1972Mach1 Just some M.M.O.G. guy.....

    That still happens here at the dealership all the time. We'll either get some factory accessory wheels in for a lot car or truck and put them on, or we'll have some take-offs from an upscale model that someone put custom wheels on and put those take-offs on a plain jane lot vehicle.
     
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  15. 1970 STAGE 1

    1970 STAGE 1 Well-Known Member

    Why would you not sell the wheels to the guy that now owns the same car that they came off of ?? Some people ...
     
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  16. Brett Slater

    Brett Slater Super Moderator Staff Member

    To be honest, I thought the same thing but after speaking with him a couple times yesterday, my sense tells me he'd like to get the most he can for them. Especially if they're in the condition he says - and given they were removed and shelved in 1971 - they're probably close to perfect.

    If it were reversed, I'd only charge the owner for shipping. If that....
     
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  17. Brett Slater

    Brett Slater Super Moderator Staff Member

    They're probably mint WG wheels, too.
     
  18. Brett Slater

    Brett Slater Super Moderator Staff Member

    I took your advice and devised a timeline from my archological dig.


    December/1969 – Regal Black GS 455 w/”Stage 1” option is built the last week of 1969. The “Transition car” (plastic radiator cover, clear overflow but flat gauge lenses) is assembled at the Flint plant and delivered to Fritchey & Waddell Buick in Woodward, NJ in January of 1970, just before being shipped to Lebanon, PA.

    February/1970 - The GS ends up repossessed - with very low miles - and returns to Gingrich Motor Sales (of Lebanon) after auction. Added to it is a Buick 8-track player and the original 14” wheels/hubcaps (that are listed in the GS Historic Society documents) are swapped for the “flashier” chrome factory rally wheels. This is most likely in an effort to sweeten the pot on the dealer lot – a practice that is still very common today.

    Still within this time frame, the car is next purchased by Robert Demler Sr. and would be owned by him and his sons Robert Jr. and Gary until early in 1975. Robert Jr. subsequently removes the factory chrome wheels (which he's still in possession of today) and replaces them with aluminum slots. Also added are air shocks, rear brake drums painted red and the period correct raised white letter tires of the era, to complete the “Day 2” trim look. The car is also clear coated by Gary because he wanted it to be “nice and shiny”. That clear coat still remains today.

    Early 1975 – The car is purchased by Jack Yeagley, who turned out to be the cousin of the next owner's future wife. Jack owns it for a short time and then trades it in at Goodman Dodge (also of Lebanon and now named Ladd-Hanford Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep) for a new Dodge Ramcharger.

    Spring/1976 – Keith Peiffer – now the 6th owner of the car in 6 years – purchases the car from Goodman Dodge for $3500. He owns the car for 2 years and then trades it in to Ed Miller's Auto Sales, also of Lebanon, toward a 72 Chevrolet Impala with a 400 CI small block engine and a host of other options.

    Spring/1978 – Ed Miller's nephew Joe (future owner of Joe Miller's Paving) buys the car from his uncle's lot and owns it for a couple years. During this time, he replaces the clutch and subsequently sells it to another native of Lebanon, a high school kid named Micah Miller.

    1979 – Micah Miller (no relation to previous owner Joe) owns the car for a short period of time before managing to blow the original “SS” Stage 1 block. Amazingly enough, the born with Muncie M21 and 10 bolt 3.64 rear are still with the car today. Micah also sideswipes a stop sign, resulting in the driver's side quarter being replaced with an NOS one. This is the only area of the car that doesn't have the small bubbling/spiderwebbing from the excessive clear coat applied a few years earlier by Gary Demler. As an aside, (years later) a later owner would actually track down and contact the shop owner who replaced the blown Stage 1 motor in an effort to retrieve the car's born with block. The shop owner recalls the car and also recalls the motor was too far gone to repair.

    1981 – By the very early 80's and at the behest of his father, Micah took possession of a first generation Mustang and some cash in return for the Gran Sport. Dave Donmoyer would own the car the longest – from 1981 until October of 2016 – an only amass roughly 8,000 miles during that time. Some of these miles were done a quarter mile at a time at race tracks local to that region. As the years go on, he drives the car less and less. In the fall of 2016, Donmoyer decided it was time to find another home for the oft passed around rare piece of Buick history and he posts an ad on Craigslist.

    October/2016 – Having been out of the car game for a while and recently scouring Craigslist, Dano happened upon Donmoyer's ad and contacts him right away. This was done in an effort to both send a deposit and then get the ad taken down as quickly as possible, so there would be no other potential buyers. A couple weeks later, Dan goes to Lebanon (with trailer in tow) and purchases the car, subsequently posting a picture of it on a Buick Facebook page. This writer sees the picture and inquires with the WA resident who finds cars for people all over the country. (more so the reason Dano hurriedly sent the deposit to Lebanon, PA)

    February/2017 – After much dialogue that began between the December holidays of 2016, I flew down to suburban Baltimore (with my longtime mechanic/close friend) to get a better look and drive the car. The car far exceeded my expectations and the exchange was made. 7 weeks later, the car arrived in Southeastern, MA – changing hands for the 10th time.
     
  19. CJay

    CJay Supercar owner Staff Member

    Mine were! They were so pristine, you can still see the hand written dates on the inside of the wheel when the tires were mounted. Took at least a couple of years, but I managed to buy the set for $425 with the centercaps. I never thought Id be able to wrangle them away from the guy but I did. Persistence pays off. Another instance of "they're either going to sell them to me or take out a restraining order" :D
     
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  20. I'd say this Buick is pretty well known now. Good work Brett!!
     
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