I purchased this car in March 2014 from Country Classic Cars in Staunton, Illinois after looking at several others, all of which were either priced too high (for my budget) or in immediate need of major mechanical repair and/or body work. This on looked decent, ran well and was moderately priced.

The major mechanicals seemed to be in good order and he engine externals and all of the hydraulics looked to be in either new or recently rebuilt. There was some bondo on one front corner (fender bender repair) but the body was straight and rust free. The paint was an old respray from the original dark green to the current red. It was reasonably well done and still looked presentable. The interior was original show some wear and fading., but still serviceable with no cuts, tears, or broken seams. The top was an old replacement in pretty good condition. The only things needing immediate attention were some spotty lighting and the tires, which looked nearly new but had major flat spots. In the glove box were several old repair receipts from shops in Columbus, Ohio. The most recent was dated June 2001 at 105,707 miles and the current odometer reading was 05,875.

I managed to contact the car dealer who had found it and several other old cars sitting in a barn some miles north of Columbus. They had done all of the recent work to get the car running, cosigned it to auction and it ended up in Staunton. I have been addressing the remaining bits and pieces in need of TLC, all relatively minor in nature.

Over the year I have owned it, the car has accumulated a total of 5000 miles with only two on the road problems: one flat tire and a failure of the ignition switch start position. It has earned several trophies at local car shows: two first and two thirds in class and one top twenty overall. Not bad for an unrestored barn find/daily driver.

Now with much help from my brother-in-law, a retired body man, the car is getting its restoration. The bondo from a couple of old fender benders and rust repairs is being replaced with new metal. Aside from the lower edges of the skin, the only rust damage has been to the inner rocker panels. The rest of the monocoque body has turned out to be straight and rust free. The paint was originally Green Mallard, long ago resprayed to red, and the new paint will be Flame Red. The original interior was faded and starting to come apart in a few places, so it will be replaces with a tan interior. Everything should be completed and the car back on the road by the end of April.

Some of the photos shown are from local show last summer (I am the older guy in the ball cap) except for one from a Halloween night show. It went as a Ferrari 250 and was the only car in costume. The kids there loved it.