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!