Rosie the ‘65 Dart
Backstory on the Purchase
I’ve been looking for a 60’s or 70’s family car to use as a daily driver, on and off for a couple years. I wanted something that would pass inspection without a ton of body work and something I could cruise with the kids in the back. Unfortunately, I kept striking out. In the Northeast, right now, people just want crazy money for clapped out cars with lots of bondo, no floors and frame rot. My budget was $5k for the initial purchase.
I saw a Craigslist post for a 1965 four door Dart on Craigslist for $5k but there were only a couple photos which usually means lots of stuff they don’t want you to see and the car was over a two hour drive north in Vermont where the salt flows like wine. Three things I intrigued me about the car: it had a four on the floor, the interior looked mint and the ad said it had been garaged for the last 20+ years. Maybe this was the affordable survivor I had been looking for? A couple weeks later the price on Craigslist dropped to $4k which made the two hour drive an acceptable risk.
I called and talked to the owner, Zach. He told me he bought the car from an estate sale when he was a kid. I asked him point blank, “Is this a bondo box with a 20/20 paint job” and he assured me it was exactly the opposite. The paint was original and there was just one spot of rust on the rear wheel arch but the underside of the car was mint. From what he could tell, the car had been brought up from Florida in the 1980s and spent most of it’s life in a barn or a garage.
I got a good feeling talking with Zach. At this point I was willing to take the risk and told him I’d buy the car provided it was as he described and the underside wasn’t swiss cheese or there was evidence of an accident.
Here’s a teaser of pic of Rosie as I initially saw her:
Backstory on the Purchase
I’ve been looking for a 60’s or 70’s family car to use as a daily driver, on and off for a couple years. I wanted something that would pass inspection without a ton of body work and something I could cruise with the kids in the back. Unfortunately, I kept striking out. In the Northeast, right now, people just want crazy money for clapped out cars with lots of bondo, no floors and frame rot. My budget was $5k for the initial purchase.
I saw a Craigslist post for a 1965 four door Dart on Craigslist for $5k but there were only a couple photos which usually means lots of stuff they don’t want you to see and the car was over a two hour drive north in Vermont where the salt flows like wine. Three things I intrigued me about the car: it had a four on the floor, the interior looked mint and the ad said it had been garaged for the last 20+ years. Maybe this was the affordable survivor I had been looking for? A couple weeks later the price on Craigslist dropped to $4k which made the two hour drive an acceptable risk.
I called and talked to the owner, Zach. He told me he bought the car from an estate sale when he was a kid. I asked him point blank, “Is this a bondo box with a 20/20 paint job” and he assured me it was exactly the opposite. The paint was original and there was just one spot of rust on the rear wheel arch but the underside of the car was mint. From what he could tell, the car had been brought up from Florida in the 1980s and spent most of it’s life in a barn or a garage.
I got a good feeling talking with Zach. At this point I was willing to take the risk and told him I’d buy the car provided it was as he described and the underside wasn’t swiss cheese or there was evidence of an accident.
Here’s a teaser of pic of Rosie as I initially saw her: