I won these in an auction at the local thrift store. They are both '67 and both originally silver. I took a chance and didn't even know if they ran but didn't care because they were conveniently located a couple miles from my house and I needed a new project. I ended up winning both of them so now they have a good home.
I met the nice lady who donated them and she lives close so I know some of the history. The silver one belonged to a local man and he maintained it for his son and daughter to drive in the 70's and 80's. The gold one belonged to a good friend of the kids that drove the silver one. At some point in the 90's the owner of the gold one, came to own both. Him and his girlfriend drove them for some time. For some reason they were both parked in a desert lot and sat for many years and then the owner of both passed away and the original owner of silver one moved away with no one to claim them except the deceased's sister. The deceased's sister then donated them.
When I went to visit her she had the original key and some duplicates. Both have clean titles, matching numbers and one still has the black plate registered. I know the owners of both spent some time driving them in college in the Ventura area because there were papers and service records for both. A pile of service records for the silver one were in the trunk dating back to the 70's. I found many coins dating back to the mid 60's up until the 80's under the seats and carpet. I think they may have sat in the yard from some time in the early 90's continually being registered but not driven.
I went though both, changing all the fluids, primed engine, cleaned carbs and changed filters. They both start, run and drive so I got lucky. The floor on each are a little rusted especially at the very front. The forward rocker behind the fender on the gold one needs sheet metal but the silver one seems intact. I had to remove the interior panels in some areas because the panels are warped very badly and some of the vinyl is destroyed.
I tore the flooring out on both to clean them up and paint. I had to fix a little surface rust around the hard top seal and I plan on sanding and painting, cleaning them up and occasionally driving them. I have done a body off restoration on another car and I'm not planning on doing that because I don't have the time or money to do that again.
Been reading and posting for a couple weeks now and really like this website so thanks for making it available.
