Your Gbody"s history....

[johnson350]

But i guess i should be grateful because no one would wanna take a car as mint as that one and make it a hot rod. So i had to improvise lol

Reminds me of when the Buick blew up. I remember my dad saying it was in too nice of shape to take to the smasher, especially the interior. Good thing it never went.

 

[85GPLef41]

Great stories and glad i'm not a dork! :lol: I've always tried to research my vehicles history but I've owned a bunch of them and find it that it was just trivial just to me... lol :wink: The stories behind them is what I guess makes them just that much more inspiring to keep them going and in top notch shape. I've owned quite a few with questionable histories but I tend to think whether a base model of some sort " which i'm usually only able to afford" to the high end desirable models, "what made you buy them"? Somebody bought it new and took care of it to some point and then sold it, ETC ETC... The whole history part is even better cuz I tend to believe that they cherished them more then NON gearheads!! I have yet to buy a brand new car that I actually want IE: Challenger Hellcat..... but im down to for a used Cadillac CTS-V which is what i'm lusting for... OH wait maybe a first gen Jeep grand Cherokee SRT8... or a c6 ZO6 Vette ... sh*t a 87 GN would be t*ts!

 

[RunAwayNJ]

I recently contacted GM to see how or where I could get some information on the history of our car. Here was their response:

We recommend you to contact General Motors Heritage Center with telephone numbers: 586-276-0693 or 586-276-0691 or via their website at http://www.gmheritagecenter.com. This department handles concern for; Vehicle Information Kits Contains basic specifications, equipment availability, and in some cases, owner s and service information.

I checked it out and we are going to go for it shortly, the cost was about $50.00. I supposed whatever information is not returned on this a Carfax may help fill in as well. Then a little Googling and some detective work to put everything together.

 

[Pontiacdaver]

Well, I'm a dork (my daughter says so all the time, LoL). Here is what I have learned about my 79 Grand Am, so far.

I am the 5th owner, original owner sold it to owner 2 in 1986 to keep his ex from getting the car. Owner 2 kept it for 28 years before selling to a cousin in March of this year (he was VERY disappointed to find out he sold it, apparently he was supposed to offer it back to owner 2 first). Owner 3 sold it in May '14 to owner 4, and I bought it from him. The 2nd owner gave me what details he could remember about the original owner (he could only remember the guy's nickname, "Slasher", not sure I want to find him, LoL). He was the parts manager at Hansord Pontiac in Minneapolis (which is where he ordered the car, of course), ad he sold it in1986 to owner #2 to keep his ex from getting it in their divorce. Owner #2 had it until early 2014, since then it has had 3 owners, including me. I love the car, and plan on being it's last owner.

It is probably the most oddly optioned GA I've ever seen. Among the options, it has the buckets with the upgrade Hobnail Velour trim, Automatic Temperature Control (usually seen on Cadillacs and top-of-the-line cars), the real wire wheels, power glass sunroof, power windows and locks, rear window defroster, Saf-T-Trac, power antenna (not sure what radio it came with yet), but what makes it odd is what t doesn't have: no console, no cruise control, no gauges or clock, no power trunk release, no power or reclining seat.


So not very exciting, as some of your stories were, and still some mystery, since I have yet to track down the original owner. I posted a lot of this in my re-introduction a while back, here is the link if you'd like to see some pics. viewtopic.php?f=9&t=53168&start=10#.VJAvYGd0wdV

-Dave

 

[Bonnewagon]

Great topic! My first '81 Malibu wagon I bought in '93 the year of the 16 snowstorms in NYC. I had just started my Parcel Post bid and as I delivered packages I saw the car slowly emerge from the melting snow mountains and it was a stick shift that I had to have. A month of searching I found the owner and he demanded $300 because he had a new radio in it. Oh, OK, says I. So I ride my bike over that night and toss it in the back of the wagon and sneak it home with no plates. Next day the City Marshal is in that neighborhood towing scofflaws and when I get home from work I am going through the car and find a huge wad of unpaid parking tickets so I saved that wagon from the impound yard! It was originally a Cop's car and he commuted 100 miles each way, so it had the 229 V-6, 3 speed manual, full gauges, and no AC. I used that car for 16 years and had all sorts of motors in it, Pontiac 350, 400, Buick 3.8. and I changed the original 3 speed Saginaw to a 4 speed Saginaw. That car took all the abuse I could dish out and finished with over 300K on it. . My current '83 Bonnewagon I pestered an 93 year old man WW2 vet for 5 years to sell it to me because it was a Pontiac and very clean. I used to see him once a month to deliver his jungle rot foot medication from the VA. My buddy was his mailman and said the guy bought that car new and garaged it always. One day I see it in the backyard and I ring the doorbell and his Son answers. I ask how his Dad is doing and he tells me they finally removed his feet because of the jungle rot and he is in a nursing home. I tell him don't junk the car I will buy it and he tells me "Oh, YOU are the guy". He said his Dad complained about me pestering him and said he would NEVER sell it to me. He says, "So, do you still want it?" YES! He sold it to me for $600 and said his Dad had the 3.8 motor rebuilt and the body repainted. I took it home and sat on it for 3 years because I wanted it to be 25 years old and exempt from emission testing. All the dealer paperwork and owner's manual was in the glove box. During that time he passed away and the Son moved to California. I had removed the 3.8, and computer, and installed a Pontiac 301 and 4 speed Saginaw stick shift and a posi rear. I fixed all the rust spots I could find, mostly in the inner wheel wells, and swapped in Firebird bucket seats. So when I go to register it, the DMV flagged it because the Son had signed the title as "executor for" his Dad. That voided the title and DMV wanted me to dig him up and get him to request a new title. They didn't care he was dead. I contacted the Title Bureau in Albany and they gave me a few forms and instructions on how to get the car titled to myself. It took 6 months,and several certified letters, but I got it done. Believe me, after all that, I will have this wagon for a LONG time. Moral- never buy a car from a dead guy!

 

[78chevolds]

I think I got a pretty good story. My '78 was bought by a GM Employee at the Framingham MA plant through the GM Employee purchase plan. She worked in accounting and kept a log of most of the work done on the car. The car was even Ziebarted in Natick MA 6 months after she bought it. I bought it about 3 years ago with 88,000 miles on it. Cool to me that the car was build in MA and owned by a former GM employee.

 

[jetsetw31]

So when I go to register it, the DMV flagged it because the Son had signed the title as "executor for" his Dad. That voided the title and DMV wanted me to dig him up and get him to request a new title. They didn't care he was dead. I contacted the Title Bureau in Albany and they gave me a few forms and instructions on how to get the car titled to myself. It took 6 months,and several certified letters, but I got it done. Believe me, after all that, I will have this wagon for a LONG time. Moral- never buy a car from a dead guy!

Similar story with my first '83 Cutlass. The girl that owned it let the garage that was fixing it have it cause she couldn't pay. the garage never tried to title it and let the guy I bought it from have it. So i get it and DMV tells I have to do the forms from the registered owner so I can register it. OH Great. This woman moved to like 5 different locations between Brooklyn and Suffolk Long Island. Where do i find her? Back in Queens. So I run to Bayside get her to sign the forms. Go back to DMV and yes she was the person that had it registered, but not the owner!!! That would be her deceased father. And that @#$%^%$ at Jamaica DMV Told me to dig him up!! They almost called security on me that day.
I did the same thing You had to do Bonnewagon. Then i converted it to a 4speed using a spare H body I was going to junk, put a truck Chevy 350 in it and parked it on the side of my house and came back it was gone. I reported it stolen and they tell me there were tickets on the car about 500 bucks worth. I'm in an uproar. It turns out the tickets were placed on the Vin# when the original registration was up. Even though the registration was new with new plates The Marshall said that's not our problem. I did not have 500 bucks to give them. So one guy told me that I could just buy the car at the auction for way less. so i go to the auction and Get into a bidding war with a salvage yard over by Shea's stadium. He won. I started at 50 bucks and ended at 325 bucks I only had 300 on me. I go to the guy tell him my story and the jerk wants 600 bucks. I had to wait 2 weeks to get the other 300 up. I get the car and these POSs used a forklift on it and crushed my exhaust pipes. I get it all fixed and the next 2 months no problems until I spun the rear engine bearing. So I sat the car down for a week. It gets stolen for real this time.
T

 

[Bonnewagon]

Holy crap! That ordeal makes me feel like I got away with murder compared to you!!! Wowsers!!

 

[jetsetw31]

Holy crap! That ordeal makes me feel like I got away with murder compared to you!!! Wowsers!!

I loved that car. It took me till 2013 to get another manual Gbody built.
T

 

[MeanBuicks]

Like this old ad says...

My Cutlass was not my father's Oldsmobile. It was Mom's.

Anyway, I got the obligatory manila envelope containing the window sticker and all repair/maintenance records for the car. I even use the original dealer keychain for the keys. 8)