From: knipper@optilink.com (Ron Knipper)
>From: uunet!amoco.com!rlindsay (Richard O. Lindsay)
>>Hi gang. Are there any Aston-Martin owners in the group?
>>I've always wanted one and would be interested in hearing
>>any comments that you might have.
> ...[much Aston-Martin info deleted]...
>DB Series Cars: These are the James Bond Italian-styled cars. They
>are highly collectable and pricey. Start at $45K for a fixer-upper.
>I've seen basket cases for $25K. The huge in-line 6 is very strong.
>Reliablity is very good, except the usual (electrics and lever shocks).
>Fast, but not blindingly fast by today's standards.
>
I am an Aston-Martin wannabe--urr, cuddabeen, damnit! Sometime
in the mid-80's I read an ad in the Los Angeles Recycler:
"DB-4, $100 obo" Honest! Well, that was Thursday--the day the
Recycler comes out--and no one was picking up the phone that night.
The next day, I called in sick, hoping to check out the car and
buy it before anyone got wise (wishful thinking!). Anyway, it
turned out that the woman who owned the car (actually it was her
late husband's car. She was widowed five years ago (or so) and
was finally getting around to unloading the car) didn't want to
be bothered with the annoyance of having strangers tramp through
her backyard and disturb her peaceful life. So she gives the task
to her lawyer (who doesn't seem to know much about cars--he was
probably lusting after some Lincoln Continental...). He explained
the story to me and thought "obo" meant "now accepting bids." I
couldn't see the car in person, though, but he had photos that I
could see if I came down to his office. So I go to his office and
look at the pictures. The car had some serious damage from a
front-end collision, but didn't appear to be structual; anyway,
the damage was confined to the front left. But what was funniest
of all was that this DB-4 was serving as a planter for the old
widow; it was literally covered with potted plants! I was a bit
skeptical about buying a pig-in-a-poke--especially considering
what corrosion damage might have been caused by the plants. I
bid $1,500 and the guy seemed happy that he was finally getting
"serious" bids. I never heard from the lawyer again, and looking
back, I regret not having bid substantially more. I'm certain
that the car went for significanly less than its value due to
the way it was sold. And I don't think that this was to deceive,
as they would have at least gone to the trouble of moving the
plants before taking the photos. Oh well, at the time my stable
was full--I had a '66 Spitfire and a '64 XKE. I still have the
XKE, which is 3,000 miles away, but I sorely miss the Spitfire,
which handled so badly it made driving fun. The XKE just does't
limber up until the speed is illegal.
Greg Melden
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