Here’s Our Classic Muscle Car!

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If you’ve read the WHICH ONE section of this website, you already know the steps we went through to decide exacty which muscle car we wanted. (If not, click on the words WHICH ONE? and check it out now. You can also take a fun muscle car quiz. ) We can’t stress enough how important it is to ask those questions and know in advance the right classic muscle car for you. When it shows up, you won’t waste time wondering if something better is right around the corner, you’ll know it’s the one.

Because we had narrowed our search, the next steps were easier. During our daily review of the results of our eBay favorite search we found an auction for a Dodge Dart Swinger that looked like it might be a possibility. It didn’t match our criteria in some ways but in some ways it did.

Here’s our wish chart, with the areas the car met highlighted in blue.

Most important, the price seemed like it would be reasonable and the body was not rusted out, two very key criteria for us.

Moving Past Dreaming ...Slowly

• Was the odometer reading of just over 7600 miles accurate?
• When were the photos taken?
• Was there any musty or mildew odor?
• Info on the rear axle and transmission
• Was it a two barrel carb?
• What does the undercarriage look like? Any rust?

The owner was very forthcoming and described the body, interior, undercarriage and mechanicals in great detail. He told us that the front sway bar he had installed was not the right one and would have to be removed.

Pros and cons were discussed but we didn't bid on the car. Oddly enough, we had planned a trip to the Atlanta area (where the car was) for a car show that was taking place that weekend. Perfect, since KB was reluctant to buy a classic muscle car without seeing it in person. Unfortunately, the auction end date was the day before we would be in the area.

We placed another call to the owner to ask if he would reveal the reserve price he had placed on the Dart. Note: most eBay sellers will not tell you the reserve price, it sort of defeats the purpose of having a reserve which is to get the highest dollar possible from the auction. The seller, a fellow Mopar enthusiast, had enjoyed our previous conversation so he was willing to tell us the reserve.

More kitchen table discussions took place and it was finally decided that worst case, if the car was an absolute disaster, it could be parted out for the same as or more than the reserve price. We put in the bid and won!

The deposit was paid and in the window of time before the final payment had to be made we were on our way to the greater Atlanta metro area.

Going to Get Our Muscle Car

We enjoyed looking at the two fabulous Mopars he had in his garage, one of which was soon to have a hemi motor swap now that he had the money from the sale of the Dart to purchase a period correct hemi someone else was selling.

We had printed out forms from our DMV in advance that we knew we would need to register and title a classic muscle car in our state. He also had his registration and copies of his insurance card for us. He signed the sample bill of sale form we had printed out.

To our surprise, we discovered he occasionally delivered upscale vehicles from New York to Florida and was willing to make a side trip to the DC Metro area the next week to deliver our car, at a very reasonable price.

All that was left to do was transfer the remaining balance of the sale to the seller. Since it was after banking hours, we left on a handshake and a promise to increase the amount of the balance by the agreed upon delivery fee and deposit the money at the earliest opportunity.

Within less than a week, my dream car was being backed out of the trailer in front of my house!

So how well did we do at following our own advice when finding our classic muscle car? Click here to see.

What lessons did we learn that you should know?

If you’d like to see our progress in making her our own, go to our online garage.

What's Next?

HELP US DECIDE - CLICK HERE TO TAKE OUR MUSCLE CAR POLL