Ever since I took ownership of the family Duster, I have been trying to think of the original owner's last name. I knew what street he lived on when he sold the car to my brother (RIP Bro) back in 1978. But a distant relative who remembered him couldn't remember his last name.
So I googled his first name and street name and city & state and most of the results went to one last name and middle initial. One link I clicked on gave me a name and an age that would seem correct, plus it listed where this person previously lived and there was that street name in my hometown. It had a North Carolina phone number, I called it.
A lady answered, I introduced myself and told her where I was from and asked for her husband, she replied that he was out and would be back in about 30 minutes then asked what she could do for me, so I asked if her husband owned and sold a 1972 Duster 340 back in 1978? The excitement in her voice when she described the wild candy apple paint job (Look in my photo gallery, there is a couple shots), "you mean that car?" When I told her yes that is the car, it was the "omg I can't believe it's still around"! We talked for a few minutes answering her questions and such and told me she would have her husband call when he got home.
20 minutes later the call came, His voice was just as excited sounding as his wife was, and we talked about everything, He saw one at the dealer that he liked but didn't want an automatic, so he ordered one with a 4 speed, didn't seem to take him long to start playing, he did the motor with a solid flat tappet cam, had the heads shaved off a few thousands and the valves redone, did his own porting job on them, the Edelbrock Torker 340 intake and carb (told me to get an 800 DP Holley and bolt it on straight out of the box, and it will really run, he put a 700DP on it to tone it down a little) He also did the wild candy apple paint job himself said it took him over 2 months. He and his wife were both amazed at the low mileage number, we chatted for almost an hour.
He has family and friends in my hometown, he's planning a visit in July, I told him he is welcome to "get reacquainted" with it and take it for a spin, so it sounds like a reunion meeting is going to happen this summer. I'm actually excited.
So I googled his first name and street name and city & state and most of the results went to one last name and middle initial. One link I clicked on gave me a name and an age that would seem correct, plus it listed where this person previously lived and there was that street name in my hometown. It had a North Carolina phone number, I called it.
A lady answered, I introduced myself and told her where I was from and asked for her husband, she replied that he was out and would be back in about 30 minutes then asked what she could do for me, so I asked if her husband owned and sold a 1972 Duster 340 back in 1978? The excitement in her voice when she described the wild candy apple paint job (Look in my photo gallery, there is a couple shots), "you mean that car?" When I told her yes that is the car, it was the "omg I can't believe it's still around"! We talked for a few minutes answering her questions and such and told me she would have her husband call when he got home.
20 minutes later the call came, His voice was just as excited sounding as his wife was, and we talked about everything, He saw one at the dealer that he liked but didn't want an automatic, so he ordered one with a 4 speed, didn't seem to take him long to start playing, he did the motor with a solid flat tappet cam, had the heads shaved off a few thousands and the valves redone, did his own porting job on them, the Edelbrock Torker 340 intake and carb (told me to get an 800 DP Holley and bolt it on straight out of the box, and it will really run, he put a 700DP on it to tone it down a little) He also did the wild candy apple paint job himself said it took him over 2 months. He and his wife were both amazed at the low mileage number, we chatted for almost an hour.
He has family and friends in my hometown, he's planning a visit in July, I told him he is welcome to "get reacquainted" with it and take it for a spin, so it sounds like a reunion meeting is going to happen this summer. I'm actually excited.
