TM LCC.

Dave@AutoArcheologist.com

Middletown, CT.

   Purchased well over ten years ago from what was probably the third owner of the car, this 450 SL was supposed to be a present for the former owner's wife. Not being the best welder, he enlisted his friend to assist in putting much needed floors into this elegant pagoda top SL. Unfortunately, the friend passed away before any work could really be done and the car sat under one of those pop up "quanset hut" type canvas garages. That is until the heavy snows hit a couple of years ago and crushed the make shift garage down onto the Mercedes Benz.

   Visiting my Dad around the corner, I came upon this poor lost soul sitting forlorn tucked into the back of a driveway. A quick knock on the door had me speaking with the owner who was more than glad to move her on to a new conservator.

   Before I could even get the car posted, a member of my mailing list made me an offer,  I relayed it to the owner and he promptly accepted.

   She is pictured as I found her and then on her way to a new home. She has already been stripped down and work has begun to have her up and running in the not too distant future.. along with the new floors she still so badly needs.

BG Products Available

Please Click on Logo above to Contact Me

   While out tag saleing, the wife in the couple spotted this beautiful blue convertible, sitting on the lawn of a young woman who was quite the outdoor enthusiast. She was into skiing and snowmobiling, hiking, biking etc. That was back in the early 70's. As the original owner, this young lady loved the convertible Mustang but needed something more practical for towing her snowmobile to VT and for ski trips up north. So, she put a For Sale sign in the window and parked her on the front lawn.  That is when the second owner saw her and bought her on the spot. She went inside to tell her husband to come and pick it up as she had just purchased a new convertible Mustang. 

   They are  a Ford family and this Mustang was another member of the family. After a few years of ownership, a minor fender bender brought the car into the garage for the fender to be pulled. While they were at it, they figured, with 92K miles on her, would be a pretty good idea to pull the motor and give her a rebuild.

   While that was happening, they decided they wanted another Mustang to drive and so, they ended up with the white 65 fastback. As life moved on, the fastback ended up in the barn out back, next to the stalled project 64 1/2 convertible.  Nearly 30 years later they were still sitting. That is when I became aware of them. Shortly thereafter photos were taken and within a few short days they had been sold on to new conservators. The blue Mustang is at her new home in RI and will be undergoing the restoration she needs. The white fastback is staying in CT and has aspirations to become a hill-climb car at regional events here in New England.

  Some words from the new owner:

David,
I would like to thank you for the effort you put forward to help me buy the Mustang. These cars are few and far between and without your efforts it would not have happened.
   The car is still on my trailer, and I will be working on some basics this weekend. I have found no surprises so far, the paint, lacquer , cleans up very well. It's too early to have a plan in action on improvements, but that will come in time. I plan to freshen the fuel system and clean as best as I can, a new carpet set is on the horizon.
Again, I owe you a debt of gratitude
For your efforts!
We are both lucky to be fussing with cars!

   Rescued from the original owner, who had let her sit for many years, this TR was purchased nearly 10 years ago. A restoration was begun but it too fell short, as lack of time became the main element in getting her fully sorted.

   I was given a lead as to where this TR6 was resting and followed up to find her still perched on the lift where she had been left several years previous.

   Fully photographed and published to my string of sites and my mailing list, I was swiftly contacted, a time set for the car to be viewed and arrangements made to get her picked up.

   She is reportedly currently undergoing race preparations to bring her to Lime Rock Park and be entered into the Historic/Vintage Race Festival.

   This little MG Midget was purchased from the original owner some 40 years ago by a young lady looking for a sporty car to drive to work and school. She enjoyed the car for several years but as family life and other responsibilities began to creep in, the little Midget began to creep out of her life. She didn't want to sell her or trade her in, so she asked her brother if he could keep the car in his garage. He gladly obliged. 30 years later after going through some health issues, he was in the midst of remodeling parts of his home and the MG now needed to be moved.   

   All but forgotten by his sister, she agreed that she should do something... she would need some time though. He pushed the car outside and that is where I stumbled upon her. I asked about her and her story and the brother gladly told me.   

   He phoned his sister and she decided it was time to move her on. I posted the little Antelope colored car onto the usual hoard of websites, including this one and soon I was contacted by a local British family looking to restore another one. A deal was made and off she went, on to another new home.

1977 Jaguar XJ6C

   This sleek cat was purchased new by the original owner and driven as a daily driver for  most of her life.. the car and the owner... Then, in old age, the woman had an accident with the car. It went to the body shop to be fixed. New front sheet metal went on her and she was sprayed in primer. The woman owner died before the car was finished and so the big cat sat. That is when the seller found her. He purchased her with grand ideas of bringing the lithe two door Jaguar back to life. Unfortunately, life got in the way too quickly and the poor kitty was set into a storage stall to wait.

   Some nearly 30 years later, in a discussion with my wife in a grocery store check out line, the seller mentions that he too has a Jaguar (my wife was proudly displaying her Jaguar swag). Before you know, I'm standing in front of the big cat taking shots to get her sold and moved on to another care taker.

   It took several months, but we finally found a proud new owner from NJ to come in and bring her to a new home. Here she is leaving the cramped quarters of the storage facility and hopefully on to new roads to prowl.

1969 Pontiac Firebird.

   Purchased as a nearly new car, the second owner bought the car at a nearby dealer in 1970 and owned it ever since. He drove it at first as a normal daily driver. As it got into the 80's he was taking to it cruise nights, etc. One day in the mid 80's, he pulled into the driveway and was about to park in his garage when it stalled. It wouldn't restart so he pushed it into the garage... where it sat for the next 15 years.   

   In need of garage space and thinking it might be time to sell the ole Firebird, he put a battery in it and shot some ether in the carb to see if she would fire. She turned over but no spark... So, he pushed the car out into the yard, next to the garage... where it has slowly dropped into the weeds over the last 10+ years..

   That is when I stumbled across her. I approached the home and knocked and the owner's wife answered the door and knew what I was there for. This car drew more interest, in a shorter period of time than any other car I've featured in the last year. Within 2 days, I had over 100 replies to the different ads that had been placed. The lucky fellow above was the first to offer the asking price and he came prepared with trailer. Here she is getting strapped in for the ride to her new home.

   This is a two part or two car story. It begins with a white 1977 Jaguar XJ6L, purchased new in 77. The owner loved the car, drove it daily to work in the Hartford, CT area and kept it into his retirement. As he and the Jag got older, both slid into a bit of disrepair. Eventually, he would divorce his wife of nearly 50 years and when he left, he left the non-running car behind. There it sat for years. I stumbled across it while working for a neighbor. In speaking to the wife about the car, she flat out told me that she wanted it gone and I could have it.

   Upon the old Cat coming back to my garage, it was discovered that there were no floors left and the lump wouldn't fire, although the solid DOC 6 cyl did spin. Knowing this project would be under water very quickly with no chance of ever surfacing, I chose to part her out. (I still have the boot and bonnet and some trim). 

   After selling the famous Jaguar rear end to a local custom car manufacturer, I noticed a sign on a tree across from my father's home. "Jag For Sale" and a phone #. A quick dial had me on the phone with the seller and minutes later we were face to face and he was opening the garage door. There under a car cover, tarp and pile of pool toys sat the beautiful Alpine Green VandenPlas pictured to the left. We discussed the issues the car had, and how he purchased the car from it's original owner. She had bought it new from Jaguar of Darien, moved to RI and then NH, where the seller picked it up. Due to the aforementioned issues and the cost to fix them for an uninitiated British car owner, the car sat untouched, unregistered, un-driven for several years. The seller asked for a reasonable offer and although I knew that what was reasonable to me may not be reasonable to him, I offered what was fresh in my pocket from the same day sale of the above Jaguar differential, crisp brand new dead presidents...

  My wife and I are technically the second owners of this Big Kitty and she is all original aside from standard maintenance items. Cleaned up and rid of the issues mentioned earlier, she has won first in class two years in a row at the Berkshire British Motorcar festival, took second in class at the JANE Concours d'Elegance with 9.98 points (out of 10) and most recently won best import at the Hot Rods for Hope local car show. This story is far from over....

   It's 1969 and John is looking for a new car. he stops into Tappan Motors in Terrytown, NY and writes a check for $6028.00 and drives off in a brand, spanking new 1970 Jaguar E-type coupe. He drives the car back and forth to work in NYC. His son, we'll call him JR., learns to drive in this beautiful automobile and even takes it out for secret jaunts around the neighborhood before he was licensed to legally drive. In 1979, senior decides to rebuild the lithe Cat as she is nearing the 70K mile mark and back then, that was considered high mileage. Recently retired, he sees the restoration as a great way to spend his newly found cache of time. Tragically, he dies 6 months after retiring. The car sits in pieces in the family garage until the mid 80's when JR. takes up the reigns of the restoration. He has to leave state for a new job and life just gets in the way; the restoration stalls again. JR's Mom, stricken by her husbands passing, starts collecting things and soon fills the garage and parts of the house.... the once wonderful feline now crouched under piles of stuff. Mom passes away in 2012, as JR and his siblings start to clear out the home, they discover the Jaguar coupe, once thought sold by Mom. I was called in to assess the condition of the car, and within a week of being on the market, the Regency Red Jag was placed in the hands of a restorer who is now in the process of bringing the big cat to life.

   1963 Plymouth Sport Fury Convertible, sitting under a tarp on the side of the home. As I pulled up to snap a photo, I noticed a woman on the nearby porch. She was the owner of the car. As we spoke, I found that she and her husband had owned the vehicle since new. They have many stories and memories attached to it. The best is how the car brought the two of  them together. The year was 1963 and the young man had a thing for this particular young lady. He felt that what he had been currently driving, a worn 52 Chevy coupe, just wasn't the proper vehicle to court a young lady, and so, for months, she watched as he would pass by and give a brief wave or quiet hello. Then, in the fall of 1963, the young lady, working as a waitress at a local car hop, saw her soon to be suitor drive up in the brand new Plymouth Sport Fury Convertible. Now in proper gallant form, the young beau asked her if she would like to go on a  date. 50 years later they are still married. The car has seen better days and is now slipping away as the elderly gent can no longer attend to it's needs. He doesn't want to let the car go just yet but his wife knows that this car, its twin in the garage, and a 69 Dodge truck would be better off in the hands of someone who can bring them back to life. We'll see where this story takes us....