I drove a Metallic Royal Blue 1957 Chevy 210 in high school and have always loved old Chevrolet vehicles. I always cherished to own another ’57 someday. As the years flew by, I finally had an opportunity to purchase another 1957, but it was a 4 door and not exactly the 2 door of my desires. Sadly economics forced me to sell it.
Chevy-less, I longed for that special project that would jump out and grab my attention. I started looking around for a new project. One afternoon, I found an ad in the local Adsack for a 1958 Chevy Apache. I've never been attracted to the four headlight front end, but I was born in 1958 and decided to check it out. I made the phone call and agreed to meet with the seller.
She had her stored in her garage and I immediately fell in love with her curvaceous fenders and sultry crimson color. It was not complete, no engine or transmission, but the body looked like a keeper. The deal was made and I was handed the title in an envelope. The seller agreed to let me leave it another night until I could make arrangements to tow it home.
The next day, I called for a tow truck to haul her home and the driver showed up with blood shot eyes saying he had been on call for 24 hours. We loaded her and hesitantly took off for the 20 mile jaunt home.
About a mile down the road, something flew out of the cab, it turned out to be the headliner. No harm done. A couple of more miles and the truck hauler was veering off the road, then swerving in the lane from one side to another, my truck driver was falling asleep at the wheel! Fortunately we arrived home with no major disasters except for a couple of near heart attacks.
After unloading her and upon closer inspection I learned that the only thing holding the hood on the truck was the front latch. The pickup had no hinges! I could have sworn it did the day before when I had first checked her out. Another miracle and potential disaster averted.
A few days later, I went to have her registered and presented the title at the local registration office. Another glitch, the title had been signed on the wrong line. The bill of sale was signed by the seller and not by the titled owner. Phone calls to the seller revealed the truck belonged to a nephew and he was long gone out of state. The seller had only made the sale for him. Research revealed the legal owner of record had abandoned it at a mechanic’s shop. The mechanic guy sold it to a body shop bondo crazy guy who had painted her. He sold it to the nephew. The nephew owed the seller money and split town. Long story short-no legal title-no registration. Lessons learned and bridges burned.
She sits in my yard waiting for me to install a 292 engine pulled out of a 70’s model Chevy and my brother-in-law gave me a three speed out of his 1964. I hope to get her on the road soon.
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