![]() So after it was repaired, it looked better than ever, with fresh paint on the drivers side of the car, but it wasn't getting much use since I was driving the Buick. I found a similar car in a junkyard, got the necessary repair parts for short money, and came out about $1000 ahead on the insurance claim. It was a city tree, and after some wrangling with them, their insurance company agreed to go good for the repair. When it gave way, it raked the drivers side of the Olds pretty good, mashing the front fender, ripping off the door mirror, and doing some other assorted damage. The fallen section was big enough that it was blocking the entire street. I got dressed and went out to look at it. I remember hearing a big noise outside that Saturday morning, looked out the window, and saw a massive section of a maple tree that was next to the street, laying in the street, next to the Olds. About a week later, we had a big ice storm. He started bugging me to get it out of his garage, so I reluctantly parked it in my driveway and the Olds went to the curb outside my house. I had the old fellow store the Buick in his condo garage over the winter because I didn't want to drive it in the slop. In the fall of 2001 the Buick presented itself, a total creampuff owned by an elderly gent who had given up the little driving he did, and it was a steal. It was a good runner too, as these cars tended to be. By the time 2002 came along, it was more than presentable and not bad at all for a car approaching 25 years of age. After I got it I found, of course, that it wasn't as good as I thought, and I went on a project for a few years upgrading it inside and out, though mechanically it was really pretty good. The '78 Delta I found had a Rocket 350, was in reasonable shape, and was cheap - $2000. When I bought a house away from downtown in 1997, I needed a beater, and wanted a rear-drive car, preferably an Olds since I was familiar with the engine. For years when I lived and worked downtown, it was the only car I had. I'll leave the Cutlass out of this as it is a hobby car. In 2003 my fleet consisted of a '78 Olds Delta 88 4-door, a '79 Buick Electra 225 Park Avenue, and my '68 Cutlass. The last 2 cars I sold myself, I wasn't actually actively selling. That after it had been on craigslist a week and on the street with a sign on it for several days with zero interest. The van "sold" sight unseen and while I was waiting for the buyer to drive the hour to my house to pick it up, I could have sold it to a local guy that was sort of a distant relation. He claimed he was going to check it out and then give it to his daughter, but the way he had shined it up, I bet he keeps it for himself. So I knocked $100 off and since then I've seen him cruising around a lot. Meanwhile the buyer was having a little remorse and thought he heard a wheel bearing noise. Then I screwed up the title and had to wait until the next morning to talk to DMV (the joys of a small town, no line and the woman fixed it in 2 minutes). The buyer saw the sign, drove the car and went home and raided his strongbox, all within an hour. I almost lost the local sale of my '97 Outback. The used van we bought came from a dealer 20 minutes away after we did a three day road trip down to Wisconsin and test drove eight or so new cars down there, and tested another 4 or 5 vans within an hour of home. One sold with a sign on it and the other one went to a craigslist responder an hour out of town. I bought one and sold two in the last 3 weeks. ![]()
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