Post by rod on Jan 9, 2009 21:10:34 GMT -5
I think that the following story is amusing, and since in the dead of winter (-26 this am) my Monarch is safely tucked away till spring, meaning I've no questions for you folks, so I think I'll post it.
Back in August, a couple of days after I got my Monarch back on the road after the paint and such, it was looking real sweet indeed. I was leaving a grocery store and a guy wanted to ask about my car, he thought it looked good, etc. He said that he, too drives a Monarch, come have a look at it. It is a '78 4-door, but a fairly well optioned Ghia. Unfortunately, it was clearly being maintained "farmer style" Not much thought to the origionality of the car. Holes drilled through the tail light assembly, for example, because the old brittle plastic had broken, then just bolts through to the inside of the trunk and washers and nuts. They will never fall off, but not quite the way I'd do it.
The most glaring example of this, and what really caught my eye, was the Buick hood ornament.
Now, as it happens, when I first got my Monarch, I was unaware of the different base for the '75&'77? models, versus the '78-80. So I bid on and got a nos one from ebay and of course it didn't fit. A few weeks later, I got another, correct this time, hood ornament and the other one went into a box of extras which now lives in my trunk.
So, I told him he needed a hood ornament, oh, yeah, he said, but where to get one? And so I went back to my car, opened my trunk and gave him the one that I couldn't use. He seemed well pleased.
Fast forward to this afternoon, at the liquor store, I'm in line and this same guy recognizes me and sure enough, shows me his old merc again, now with the correct hood ornament. He drives it all winter, he said, never lets him down. And I think that is one Monarch that will not be going to the crusher any time soon.
Now I know I should have gotten the vin and dataplate information, Jeff, but I never thought of it till I signed on here. I'll see him again, of course. I'll get it then.
Back in August, a couple of days after I got my Monarch back on the road after the paint and such, it was looking real sweet indeed. I was leaving a grocery store and a guy wanted to ask about my car, he thought it looked good, etc. He said that he, too drives a Monarch, come have a look at it. It is a '78 4-door, but a fairly well optioned Ghia. Unfortunately, it was clearly being maintained "farmer style" Not much thought to the origionality of the car. Holes drilled through the tail light assembly, for example, because the old brittle plastic had broken, then just bolts through to the inside of the trunk and washers and nuts. They will never fall off, but not quite the way I'd do it.
The most glaring example of this, and what really caught my eye, was the Buick hood ornament.
Now, as it happens, when I first got my Monarch, I was unaware of the different base for the '75&'77? models, versus the '78-80. So I bid on and got a nos one from ebay and of course it didn't fit. A few weeks later, I got another, correct this time, hood ornament and the other one went into a box of extras which now lives in my trunk.
So, I told him he needed a hood ornament, oh, yeah, he said, but where to get one? And so I went back to my car, opened my trunk and gave him the one that I couldn't use. He seemed well pleased.
Fast forward to this afternoon, at the liquor store, I'm in line and this same guy recognizes me and sure enough, shows me his old merc again, now with the correct hood ornament. He drives it all winter, he said, never lets him down. And I think that is one Monarch that will not be going to the crusher any time soon.
Now I know I should have gotten the vin and dataplate information, Jeff, but I never thought of it till I signed on here. I'll see him again, of course. I'll get it then.
