The Story
The car was Purchased in Oklahoma City, OK in 1985 from the original owner by my brother Devin during a business trip to the Air Force base in Oklahoma City.
On the way back to the hotel from the base one evening the car was spotted rolling down the expressway. While the cars in Oklahoma are much cleaner and rust free (compared to the "salt zone" cars), Devin did not pay too much attention at first. As he slowed to check the car out, he figured why bother as it looked ok but he just wanted to relax and not chase a car down. It was a HOT day and as he slowly rolled past the Impala the windows were all rolled up tight! A/C!!!! That's cool! Now the car looked more promising in addition to being clean.
As he proceed to pass the SS he saw the little old man driving and the read the telltale on the front fender "396 Turbo-Jet". THIS ONE was going to be followed. He laid back and only tracked the car for a short distance before exiting the expressway. (The funny thing was that it was the same exit for the hotel and he would have missed the exit otherwise!)
The owner only lived a short distance from the hotel. Devin approached the driver after he had gotten out of the car. He did not want to scare the man off as who does want to be followed home by a stranger! He assured the driver he came in peace.. Devin mentioned the nice Impala that he admired and asked if the man would be interested in selling the car.
The old man repied, "Well you know I only try to drive the car once in a while to the keep the battery charged up." At that point Devin knew the car was his!
A deal was struck and the car was driven home to Illinois. During a stop at a Burger king for a bite to eat the car would not start. DANG! After calling a tow truck a second try and she kicked over! Needless to say the car did not get turned off until it hit it's new home, probably just a heat soak electrical problem from the constant highway driving. If that tow truck driver is still out there - sorry!
Crusing along at about 1am in the morning in southern Illinois the Impala as cruising along at about 70mph plus (55mph limit) when a car surfaced and a decision was made to slow down. It turned out to be a state trooper that flicked on the rollers and slide the beige boat to the side of the road. After a nice chat it was explained that the Impala was not real sure just now fast it was going since it was just purchased in Oklahoma. After seeing the proper paperwork and receipts the trooper mentioned that he was watching for drunk drivers and since the car was going a little slow at the time he need to check it out. The break was appreciated since the drive was getting boring and tired so the it helped with a wake-up!
----- To be continued ------
