About 5 years ago I was driving by a house that I drive by almost every day and the garage door was open - the first time I had seen it open in 10 years. Poking out of the garage was the rear end of a blue colored car. So now for the last 5 years I’ve wondered what it was and finally wrote to the owner and asked… he called me a day or two later and we met the next day. The car was a 1956 Chrysler Imperial Sedan that the owner had bought in 1970. He drove it for 9 years and parked it in his garage in 1979 and didn’t move it. For 30 years it was sitting on blocks with the wheels just off the ground, the original tires still were solid with air. The interior of the car was just as it was in 1979. After a brief conversation he mentioned that at 70 years old he didn’t think that he would ever get around to making the car road-worthy again and that if I would like to give it a new life, we could work out a deal - which we did. A couple of hours of labor to unbury from his garage and a 2 mile tow truck ride home, the car was mine. I pulled the spark plugs and let Mystery oil soak in the cylinders for two weeks. Then bought a new battery, had the brake lines replaced and two new exhausts put in, flushed the gas tank of the 30 year old gas, installed a new water pump and fuel pump, changed out the rotor cap and spark plug wires, replaced the spark plugs and added a shot or two of starter fluid - she woke up from 30 years of slumber. The are some minor scratches but no rust or damage - this car has a 354 Hemi with 104,000 miles on it - she cruises with ease. Future plans include a new paint job and some fabric seat work, front end alignment and shocks but otherwise, she’s in good shape. A day or two at the detailer brought her faded color back to a brilliant blue.

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