Acquisition
Oct. 15-21, 2006
 Penny being loaded in McMinnville, OR, for transport to her new home in Livermore, CA. Tim Elliott (5th owner) and his father pose in front of Penny (Oct. 21, 2006). |
Jump to:
Developing A New Itch
 |
 |
|
Lynn buys 1:18 cast metal models of a 1938 Buick Century (left) and a 1950 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 (right)
as prototypical examples of the kind of "driver" he's thinking about.
|
Over the last month or two, Lynn has gotten the idea in his head that he needs an old "driver," a car that he can easily drive around town, use to participate in local weekend events and to take on road tours. For example, Lynn's friend Doug sometimes hangs out on Friday evenings with his son and friends in the Relics Car Club in the parking lot of John's Char Burger in Livermore. Lynn would like to hang too!
While Bugsby could fulfill that role, Lynn feels it's not quite the right type of car for these activities. Further, Bugsby's freshening has been going slowly and Lynn is interested in working on an old car for which parts are more readily available.
Lynn thinks about several different cars that might scratch this itch for him. He buys two cast metal models, a 1938 Buick and 1950 Olds that seem to him to be good examples of this kind of car. He tells himself that getting the model cars will help slack his thirst for acquiring the real thing. Instead, it probably further whets his appetite and accelerates the whole process.
Lynn spends nights and weekends studying the ads in Hemmings Motor News and websites with old cars for sale. There are plenty of cars that satisfy Lynn's ideal, but not at the price Lynn's prepared to pay. He finds a perfectly beautiful 1937 Buick convertible but the add reads "best offer over $135,000." Yikes! He follows a couple of leads on 1951 Olds 88's, but aborts when he finds poor quality in his price range.
Lynn starts to review the vintage and classic car ads in the local paper, thinking that he might score an undiscovered "gem" that hasn't gotten to national exposure. He drags Jeanne out one weekend to look at some 1951 Chevys. One of them is in fairly good shape, but he just doesn't fall in love with it.
Lynn tells Jeanne that he plans to spend the next year looking for the right car. He says that he wants a car that's in good enough shape that he can drive and use it immediately without embarrassment. He also wants a car that offers the potential of being restored to a level sufficient for displaying at future AACA (Antique Automobile Club of America) shows. That means that the car should not be significantly modified.
Discovery Of Oregon Gold?
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
These sales photos for Penny accompany a glowing description of the merits of the car.
|
People who know Lynn well might have predicted it. Once he gets a thought stuck in his head it always leads to something, and as luck would have it, Lynn spots the car at about midnight on Oct. 15. It's Penny, a 1938 Oldsmobile L-38 2-door business coupe that is for sale on ebay. Lynn crawls into bed at about 1:30 am and tells Jeanne that he's found the car that he's been looking for. She reminds him that he said that he was going to take a year to find the perfect car. Lynn replies that he's pleased to report that he's accomplished his mission in record time.
Lynn's friend Doug has told him about the importance of getting a California car for these kind of restoration activities. Doug is restoring and rodding a 1957 Chevy. Unlike the cars that they grew up with in the Northeast and Midwest USA which were rotten and corroded from the salted winter roads, California cars can be virtually rust free, even after 50 years or more. Lynn makes this concept one of his guiding principles in looking for a suitable car. According to the serial number, Penny was assembled in South Gate, California (Los Angeles area). The seller claims that Penny has spent its entire life in La Grande, in eastern Oregon, which has a high desert climate. This should be the perfect combination for keeping a car well preserved. Lynn may have discovered Oregon Gold!
After an extended telephone conversation with the current owner, Lynn and Tim agree on a price. They perform a fax exchange of a sales agreement and Lynn makes a deposit with PayPal on Oct. 17.
 |
|
|
Penny bears more than a passing resemblance to the 1938 Buick model that Lynn bought.
|
It is no accident that Penny has an appearance similar to the 1938 Buick model that Lynn bought. Further, Lynn finds in reading an Olds hobbyist website that 1938 was the last year that Olds offered side mounted spare tires as an option. While he may never actually do it, Lynn thinks it might be neat to retrofit side mounts to Penny as he likes the look.
1200 Miles In Two Days
 |
 |
|
Hooking Bullet
(Pace American Shadow GT car trailer) to the Beast (Ford F250 truck), Lynn
spends over 40 hours on the road to pickup Penny outside Salem, Oregon, a round trip of over 1200 miles.
|
Lynn hooks up his car trailer to his truck and sets off to collect Penny at 2 pm on Friday, Oct. 20, from Livermore, CA. He will drive through the afternoon and into the night to cover the 630 miles to McMinnville, OR, northwest of Salem. It takes Lynn 21 hours on the trip out, including rest stops, and he arrives on Saturday, about 11 am.
Lynn spends two hours with Tim, the 5th owner of Penny, familiarizing himself with the car. Things don't start off well (pun intended) when it is discovered that the battery is dead and Penny won't start.
In his write-up for Penny, Tim made a large number of extraordinary claims about items that were rebuilt or new. Before his meeting with Tim, Lynn makes a list of these claims. The list is long and runs to well over 30 items. Lynn tells Tim that the car will have a hard time living up to his claims. Lynn reviews this list with Tim and concludes that there is little documentation to substantiate many of the claims and Lynn considers them to be unverified assertions and suspect. Still, the car is clean and it starts right up and runs once it gets connected to a charged battery. Lynn is still hopeful that he's made a good acquisition, but he's now wary and concerned.
By 1 pm on Saturday, Penny is safely loaded in Bullet for the return to Livermore. After another hard 19 hours on the road, they all arrive in one piece and without any mishap in Livermore at 8 am on Sunday. A total of 42 hours have elapsed since Lynn started on this trip.
Lynn is exhausted and mildly depressed. He tells Jeanne of his concern about the acquisition and speculates that "Penny" has some possibility of being renamed "Lynn's Folly." He has a mildly sick feeling that he may have not gotten good value for his money, a feeling that he also had when he first received Bugsby. Lynn takes some comfort that his subsequent experience with Bugsby has been positive so maybe it will go that way with Penny, too.
The View After One Week
 |
|
After one week, Penny has insurance, California plates, and has driven about 40 miles locally.
Lynn does not feel that the car is safe to be on the street
until some brake and suspension work is completed.
|
A week has now elapsed and Lynn has gotten auto insurance for the car, paid the California sales tax (ouch!), title and license fees. Lynn's taken all four wheels and brake drums off the car and inspected the brakes and front suspension. He'd driven the car a little bit on the street and taken it to work one day. So what's his feelings about the car now?
On the negative side there are definitely troubles with the front-end suspension and brakes. The car has a severe shutter in the steering wheel and pulsating in the brake pedal when you try to stop the car. The right front tire has the outer edge tread completely worn off, yet the left front tire is OK. (Lynn cautions himself that he doesn't know what the location history is of the tires and there's a spare tire rim with no tire in the trunk -- there may have been two tires with worn off edges -- Lynn hopes.) The emergency brake doesn't work (the cables are completely missing). Lynn finds a loose steering idler arm and bent tie rods. One rear wheel cylinder is leaking and there is rust and gunk behind the dust caps on the other cylinders. The engine is leaking a fair amount of oil around the area of the rear main seal. The tail/brake lights have 12V bulbs installed (it's a 6V system) and are so dim as to be a severe safety hazard. The head lights are completely inadequate and it was difficult for Lynn to drive the car at night at low speed around the parking lot across from his house. The paint is bubbling in spots (likely rust under the paint). The paint is thin in places, with many defects and some sags. In at least one place there's a slow leak and bubbling of gas from under the head past the gasket. Much of the restoration work is of only fair quality. Some of these issues are in contradiction to claims that were made by the seller.
On the positive side, the underside of the car is extremely clean. There is no rust and this chassis and the current state of the car should make a good foundation for future restoration efforts. After a good charge of the battery, the car has been starting quickly and reliably. The engine idles very smoothly and accelerates fairly well. The transmission shifts fairly well. The paint and interior is good enough that Lynn is not embarrassed to be seen around town. After some suspension, brake and lighting work, Lynn suspects that Penny will make a good local driver.
Lynn has ordered a complete set of brake components (shoes, wheel cylinders, master cylinder, hoses, springs and clips), new emergency brake cables and a idler arm rebuilding kit from Kanter Auto Products. After Lynn's efforts with Bugsby (a rare car from a marquee that's been out of business for 75 years), it's an unexpected pleasure to be able to open a Hemming Motor News and find multiple vendors offering parts.
All in all, Lynn is concerned that he paid too much for the car. But he also thinks that he will become increasingly happy with the car once he addresses his big safety concerns.
Contact
with your comments or questionsCopyright © 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 Lynn Kissel
Last updated: May 24, 2009