I bought a car.
I bought it on ebay, of all places.
I bought it on 1 April, 2000, about 9:30 in the evening. We had just gotten home, and I thought about looking for an excursion on ebay. I found some, but didn't need an excursion _that_ badly. Besides, when I get an excursion, I plan on getting the one that I want.
So I bumped into this thing called "regional ebay", where the auctions were in your area. I got to looking there, and found a car. It was a 1963 Lincoln Continental, dark blue. There were only 15 minutes left in the auction, so I tried to call my dad. I couldn't get ahold of him. My folks were on a vacation with Heather's folks, in Yuma, and guess what, only one phone line. They were probably online, so we tried the cell phone. Doh! it was turned off.
I ran over to Zach (my neighbor, has some old cars, works on them himself)'s house, and said in the kitchen window, "'63 continental", what do you think? "Oh, you could probably get 2 or 3 thousand for that.", he says. I said, "There are 15 minutes left in the auction, come see what you think of this."
So Zach came over, and read the description. He said, "I would go for it, up to $2,500." The bid was at $2,052 at that point, but time was running out. So I put in a bid for $2,077, and a follow-on bid for $2,127, just in case someone bid over my bid by the smallest increment possible, $25.
After my bid was placed, I paged the guy, and he called me back right away, and we talked about how I could get the car.
Here is the description of the car from the auction.
THIS AUCTION IS BEING RELISTED DUE TO A DEADBEAT BIDDER WHO WITHDREW HIS BID ON THE LAST DAY OF THE AUCTION. Please DO NOT bid if there is even a SLIGHT chance that you can't follow through, I don't need the aggravation.
So, once again... I am selling my 1963 Lincoln Continental as an unfinished project car. When I bought it, it was running great except the transmission was slipping a little, and there was a major exhaust leak from a warped manifold. I drove it around for awhile and took it off the road to fix it up. I was very gung-ho for quite some time. I lost interest and then moved from Pa. to Ca. I had the car shipped out here when I lost my storage in Pa. I now need the space, and have no motovation to finish this project.
I have close to five thousand dollars wrapped up in this car (including the purchase price), and just want it out of my life. I am selling this with NO RESERVE!
Let me tell you a little bit about what has been done to her. The transmission has been fully rebuilt (I have the receipt - $860). It has brand new correct size tires (from Coker tire - $600), new carpeting (from Baker's - $300), new brakes, wheel cylinders, and hardware all the way around, the heads and exhaust manifold mating surfaces have been machined to ensure a leak proof joint, the valves were lapped and valve seals replaced at the same time. That is just some of the major items. When I bought this car, it had recently been treated to a complete stainless steel exhaust system ($1200 from Baker's). This vehicle is not currently running, and will need to be shipped to it's new home. Here are some of the things that have kept me from finishing this project (pretty minor stuff) besides my general loss of interest. The distributor has to be rebuilt and installed, the trans cooler lines need replacing/modifying. It needs some coolant hoses replaced. I'm sure there are some other minor items that I can't recall (it's been three years since I've laid a wrench on it). The windshield is cracked, but I have an extra one that is perfect. The leather on the seats is cracking (but not split) and needs some conditioning. This car has all of the power options, but does not have a/c. All of the power items were working when I parked her. I also have some extra window motors, and some other misc parts (I think I even have a car cover somwhere). A few other things... the color is a deep dark blue, it has been repainted along the way, could use a new center link, and the springs are a little sprung.
This car is in overall decent shape, but I have neglected it for far too long, and have fell out of love with it. Please give her a new home and get her back on the road. Or at least cannibalize it and get another Lincoln on the road.
If you are seriously interested in bidding on the car, and have any questions, you can page me xxx-xxx-xxxx. I will be away from the 22-28 and unable to answer any pages or emails. Feel free to email me anyway, because I might have access to a computer. Please do not page me after 9p.m. P.S.T. The car is located in Oakland, California.
AUCTION TERMS - Car must be picked up within 14 days after end of auction. 50% of final price must be received within 3 days after auction ends in the form of a money order or certified check. The remaining 50% must be paid at time of pick up. Please do not bid if you will not follow through. I really need to move this vehicle into a loving home. Once again THERE IS NO RESERVE! Thanks, and good luck. NO DEADBEAT BIDDERS!
So, that's the end of what happened that first night. I owed some guy $2,077 for a car I had never seen, and didn't know how to get it down here or how bad of shape it was in. owell. I have some pictures that I will link to here, when I figure out how. They were posted by the seller, so you can see exactly what I saw on that night.