My wife and I bought our 1967 Corvair Monza convertible from the estate of the second owner. The car was being sold by the mechanic on behalf of the wife who was selling all of the her deceased husband’s cars.
The mechanic put me in touch with John, the original owner, who bought the car new in 1967 and he gave me the full history on the car over his 45-year ownership. He bought the car right after he married his wife.
My wife and I had just gotten married when we bought the Corvair. We bought the car as a cheap family project but upon finding out that the car only had 76k original miles and all of the original paperwork including the window sticker, invoice, sales brochure, owner’s manual and warranty information, we decided to give it extra attention. We worked on the car for two years and fortunately, the sheetmetal was in remarkable condition underneath the original paint.
Afterward, we invited John (who is also a veteran) and his wife to a car show to see the car for the first time in years. The person who painted the car (Martin) was also there with his wife and kids.
It was an incredible day and the original owner brought pictures of the car from 1967 onward.
I learned that we are merely stewards passing cars, memories and history onto future generations. Restoring cars is also a way of honoring prior owners. What a privilege it has been.
— Jay Parke, Tucson AZ
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