"Going to restore it someday"--NO YOUR NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tom Miller's OP is right on the money...and not to be overlooked is the reality Nailhead mentions in Post #11. The Post #11 comment is unaffected by the economy, and we've all suspected it for years.

To interject a little good news about a car the owner will never restore: In the late 70s, I bought a running and driving 1965 Olds 442 convertible, maroon/black/black. Factory 4-speed. Now let's face it, 1965 442 convertibles with factory 4-speeds aren't just sitting around everywhere.

I sold it to a close friend who will likely never restore it. It isn't all that bad, but needs to be restored. However, back when every little bit and piece of NOS could be located for the car, he bought it and has it with the car. The car has never been outside or in damp or otherwise poor storage; not even one day or night. It is secure and dry, inside a nice garage, where he has kept it more-or-less operable for what is now going on 4 decades.

He'll never get around to restoring it, but when it becomes for sale with all those NOS parts in nice little GM boxes, somebody will get a helluva nice "kit" with NOS pieces that haven't been available for decades. :TU: BP

 

Exactly the same 442 car, only this one was silver/grey is sitting in a parking garage for (as far as I know) for ten years now, I met the owner once and he never drives it, so I asked him if he would sell it, since its standing here on flat tires and he hasn't used it for years.
No he said its a very special car and I'm gonna drive it in the summer a couple of times. I told him if he wanted to drive his car this summer, he would have to replace and cleanup alot of parts since it hasn't moved for a very long time.

He stared at me and said, then it will stay here...I don't have to drive it!

 

So THAT'S my problem.... damn....

 

Well, after being off the road since the Nixon Adminstration (Feb. 1974) my Dad has begun work on his first car:

http://s569.photobucket.com/user/Jo...3&page=1&_suid=140249631498402732152961093414

Two of my cousins, the older of which was born in late 74', finally got to look over the car about a month ago.
To them it was always that mysterious "Pontiac under a cover" in the garage.
Even though the car was a Chicago daily driver for a little over 9 years the car is very solid and was rarely parked outside.
When I looked over the car I was stunned at how clean the floor pans were. The original sport steering wheel is about as perfect as I have seen for an original.
To Tom's point - he's correct in most cases, but never say never!

In the glove box I found the "lifetime warranty" for the Sears radial tires that my Dad bought in the late 60s or early 70s; note that while Michelin debuted Radials in the US Sears was a place that offered them a little cheaper. The tire size now is just "215-14" I think. No word from Sears on the warranty.....

This isn't going to be a Purestocker; I told my Dad to build it the way he wants. That will mean lower compression (have 3 sets of heads, including the originals), keeping the 2.93 gears he installed when new - car had 3.42s and we still have that set as well.

The important point is that the car was always stored inside - in a heated garage and now in our heated shop.

 

Let me know if you need any parts. I don't have a lot, but I have some miscellaneous stuff. Too bad because I took a bunch to the dump as I placed an add on Performance Years forum for 65 Cat parts and had zero interest.

 

Ken,
I appreciate that, but fortunately back in the 70s my dad bought one complete OEM right rear quarter and 2 front fenders.
We also have a few other parts - a few spare 8-lug drums, headlight bezels, etc.
I've collected a few options like an original AM/FM radio and trunk release but the car will remain basic.