On this particular day on our way back to the car, I noticed a car with an open trunk and an unmistakable color inside. It was probably about 3 rows over but clearly identifiable from that distance. We worked our way over to the car and found that it was a 1971 Dodge Charger R/T that had been spray painted black all over except for the inside of the trunk. If the owner hadn't had the trunk open to load up to go home, I would have never even noticed it. The odd thing to me was that the color, Panther Pink, wasn't available in 1971, but a brief inspection of the car led me to believe that the car came from the factory that color.

In talking to the owner, he explained that he needed to sell the car and get something more practical since his family was expanding soon (or maybe the mrs. just didn't want the ugly beast around anymore, the car that is.) Seems a rip roaring 440 Magnum engine isn't as thrifty as one might like. I just happen to have had a clean 1980 Pontiac Sunbird that I got from my parents. In no time a deal was struck and a even trade was to be made.

Since I didn't have the title to the Sunbird with me, we made arrangements to meet the next day and exchange cars and titles. The owner lived in Glendale, California, a good two-hour drive from San Diego. We arrived at the designated time and of course things weren't going to go my way. The car and the owner were nowhere to be found. Turns out he had gone on an errand. When he did arrive he was kind of waffling on the deal. Since the swap meet, he had talked to friends and they told him the car was worth a lot more than the Sunbird and he wanted to back out. I pointed out that the Charger had serious condition problems including major bondo, rust and the running condition wasn't that great. He finally agreed to go through with the deal as promised. Further complications arose when he could not produce the original window sticker that he said he had. Although he said the engine had been rebuilt, the car was not running that great and a 2-hour drive to San Diego in a questionable car was definitely a scary proposition. Being an experienced junky car buyer, I had the foresight to have a friend drive up in his car so I would be sure to get home somehow.