We saved it!!

[Hoodlum Rocky]

I just wanted to say thanks to hottroddwayne on the hard work and time that he spent to work as a buyer and work on the very special past owner of this coach. Dwayne YOU ROCK!!!!! But here is a picture of it Dwayne is keeping it for me till i can get over by him to pick it up. Cant wait to work on getting moving back under its own power. And adding to the stable of the other oldsmobiles, "they are pack animals you know, they do not like to be alone"

[60Crown]

I am rather elated that this Olds had a favorable outcome for you Rocky! Guess it has been a whirlwind couple of weeks. Props to both of you.

[hotroddwayne]

Never in my life was there ever a harder deal to put together! I drove up there a couple weeks ago with Rocky's cash in-hand because we already knew the bottom dollar on the coach. After getting the guy to come to the door, I inquired about the coach & said I had the cash with me to make a purchase. After some discussion & sharing my passion for procars he knew I was serious & gave me a price after he had to "make a phone call". I offered the cash at that moment and it was another 2 hours plus of waiting for him to commit. He finally agreed ONLY if he could keep the hubcaps & air cleaner. The coach was stacked to the ceiling with car parts, so he said he'd get it cleaned out that weekend.
Well, then it was a "cat 'n mouse" game getting the tow arranged. I contracted with Ronk's towing to haul it for a set price, we just needed a date & time. After being postponed several times for a variety of reasons on the seller's end... I was getting NERVOUS! I'd spent Rocky's money, got a bill-of-sale, but no coach OR title. Finally D-day came... and while the rollback was coming to get me (in a snowstorm) the guy calls to postpone everything yet again. He was informed the rollback was in-route & coming home with the coach loaded by 1:30pm as promised, no matter what. After hearing about his GUN, his neighbor's GUN, etc., I quickly programmed Sandusky county's Sheriff # into my phone just in case (for REAL).
An hour trip one-way took over 2 hours, busting through drifted 2 lane highway @ 30mph the whole way! The seller was however very nice upon arrival & had the title as promised! We winched it out of the yard & headed home without incident. On the way home we were flagged down twice by people stranded in ditches, on their side, rolled over, we saw countless accidents but had excellent traction now that we were loaded!
We made it home just fine... and now this coach haunts my shop until Rocky can come get it. Sorry if i've bored you to tears, but this deal gave "the thrill of the chase" a whole NEW meaning!!!
You have no idea how close this one came to being publically destroyed in a local ritual called "Bash the hearse". According to the seller, the coach was donated to a Northern Ohio radio station for their Halloween bash, and every year they get a hearse, sell you chances to smash it with a sledgehammer, then they lift it up with a crane & drop it on it's nose as the climax of the day in front of the crowd. The seller got wind of this & made a deal with the radio station, he had 2 days to find another hearse... so he quickly located & bought an '84 hearse in exchange for this 1956 Oldsmobile ambulance. This ambo served it's entire life as the racetrack ambulance for Fremont Speedway in Fremont, Ohio.
Rocky is a great guy & we've spent countless time on the phone filling him in on this guy's reluctance & all the obstacles I had to overcome to get the Olds. Congrats Rocky, you deserve it for being so patient.

[Dave Allison]

Great story and an awesome coach!

[Psychoholic]

Man - great story and great rescue!

I think we all want more pics already

[Tulsa Guy]

Jesus, the worlds fulla' meatheads......you guys should be knighted for saving a rare piece of iron!

[hotroddwayne]

Man - great story and great rescue!

I think we all want more pics already

Here ya go Chris... you'll especially enjoy the close-up of the lovely orange paint! This thing is really cool & has lots of potential, and Rocky has big plans for it already.

[pyro]

what was the stock color?

[60Crown]

Pics before pumpkinizing from the original thread here.

[Hoodlum Rocky]

The original color was red & white, the paint was pretty bad befor it was brush painted. at least it will seal it up for a little bit till i can get it striped.

[Beast Lee]

Great story & a kOoL ride...

[hotroddwayne]

Well gang, it's headed to it's new home in Wisconsin! Hoodlum Rocky came down this morning to pick it up! It was a true pleasure to finally meet him, we had a great morning! R U INJRD (Todd) showed up here too & we all had a blast for a couple hours before Rocky & his buddy departed for home!
Not sure what this expression is... but I think Rocky is either thinking of how to explain this to his wife OR deciding on where to sleep tonight!!!

[pyro]

The wife just asks, where you gonna put it?

[Hoodlum Rocky]

It was a fun time B.S.ing with you guys befor we left. The car made it home in good time of at least till we ran into Chicago bumper to bumper traffic, so we listened to my buddys phone traffic report GPS and hit the side streets tru the getto and over monster speed bumps that made the gas tank come un done and land on the trailer deck. Which i found out when i got home and was unloading it. must of madse the people following us a little nervous. But i would like to say a HUGE THANK YOU!!! to dwayne to help me get the car and all the leg work to get it to his house and keeping it there till i could pick it up. Now let the work begin. gentelmen start your cut off wheel and sawzalls!