I've had the itch lately to get another classic car. I've been cruising Marketplace looking at various Buicks and Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs and such, and I about fell off the crapper when I came across a listing for my old '74 Buick Apollo!

Here's what it looked like when I sold it six years ago for $6500.

It seems that the guy decided to fix the couple bits of rust bubbling under where the quarters met the rockers, and then scope creep got the better of him.

Much to my pleasant surprise, my wife immediately said I should make an offer. So I did. I offered $3000. It's a solid car, and mechanically it never let me down. We'll see if I get it!

UPDATE: My offer was accepted! I think I'll be picking it up next weekend. Man, I gotta clean out the garage!!!

To this?

As you can see, my 1974 Buick Apollo was a complete, handsome, and charming old car the first time I had it.

Here's the short version of the story. The car was the purchased in the early 2000's from the estate of a "little old lady" by the previous owner, who was a body guy. The car only had 13k miles on it at the time, but being a rust belt car still needed new quarter panels and some patches in the floors. The car was resprayed the original color, but with added metallic for extra pop.

I bought the car in the summer of 2007 for $5800, with 23k miles on it. My wife and I dated in it. I had lots of ideas and desires, but no money. We got married, bought the house, had a kid, had another kid. I ultimately decided to sell it because all I was doing with it was taking it out on the occasional Saturday night cruise by myself. I sold in in August of 2015 having put another 4k miles onto the odometer. Here's a rear 3/4 shot. You can see my wife's beloved '06 Mazda 3 in the background.

Frankly, I never regretted selling it. With that garage space, I was doing other fun things. I bought the Roadmaster wagon, rallycrossed the bajeebus out of the RallyMetro (still the best under $140 I've ever spent, thanks to @XJDano for that). Most recently I've been having fun on 2-wheels with a bunch of scooters and now my free motorcycle.

It was only in the last couple months that I started getting the itch to buy another classic. The spark for me was I began watching Vicegrip Garage on youtube. My wife got into watching it with me too. I figured if I sold a scooter and the motorcycle once I got it going, and maybe even talked my wife into selling her Vespa, then we could afford something decentish to enjoy as a family. My kids are older now. My 7-year old in particular loves to help in the garage, and even says she wants to be a mechanic when she grows up.

So, I started looking at classics. While most things were either rust buckets or nothing I could think of affording, it did appear there would be options. The reason I bought the Apollo in the first place, is because the value of it is way less than it would be if it was a '74 Nova ... despite the fact that the Nova was hit with the ugly stick in '73, and then hit even harder in '74. That paradigm is holding true still. You can't touch a Chevelle or a GTO on a 4-digit budget, not one you'd want anyways. But a Lemans or a Skylark or a Lesabre? There's stuff out there.

Then to my great surprise, I found my old Apollo for sale, from the very people who bought it from me. Then to my even greater surprise, when I showed the ad to Mrs. Shop-Teacher, she said I should make an offer! And then to my utter shock, that offer (which wasn't a lot over their then highest offer), was very quickly accepted!

Which leads me back to where we started. How did the car end up like this?

The couple that bought the car from me, were true enthusiasts. They had every intention of driving this car, and driving it a lot. They even put regular plates, instead of antique vehicle plates, because they wanted to drive it more than the AV plate restrictions would allow.

Once winter set in, they decided to fix the couple of problem areas in the body. It doesn't show in the pictures, but the lead joints where the A and C-pillars met the roof had reacted under the newer paint, and also along the drip rail. So they decided to shave the drip rails, which lead to a lot of surgery because its the drip rails that tie the pillars and the roof together.

This also caused them to pull the front and rear glass, where they found rust in the window channels that they repaired. At about this point they realized the paint that was on the car, because it was a custom mix (even though it started with the stock tone), was unmatchable. He said they tried something like 18 test panels before giving up.

Now they were into a color change, and the whole car got blown apart. Scope-creep had gone full steam ahead. They decided to murder the car out. They were going to paint it a dark Ford grey. They pulled all the trim and had it powder-coated black. And I do mean ALL the trim. They even had the wiper blade frames done.

They even bought wheels and tires, which they offered to sell to me separately. I think I'm going to stick with the Buick wheels myself.

Mid 70's American cars are known for giant bumpers that stick way out from the cars themselves. Urethane "bumper" fillers took up the gap between the bumper and the body. The Apollo was no exception, and the fillers were not in great shape. The rear one was even missing a piece (it fell off literally a week before I sold the car). Being Buick specific pieces, and having the durability of a candy wrapper, replacements simply do not exist.

When they bought the car, I told them how I'd always wanted to narrow the bumpers and tuck them into the car. They actually started the process. The bumpers were sandblasted, the bumper jack slots and trim holes were filled. I guess I'll have to finish the job and actually narrow the bumpers! Which, I reckon means I'd better learn my ass how to weld already!

But that still doesn't fully answer the question. WHAT HAPPENED? Scope-creep is only half the story. The other half of the story is, "We paid for a complete paint job."

A story as old as any. It happens with cars all the time. It happens with houses too. You trust the person doing your work, you pay them up front ... and they never finish the job. They got screwed, and they lost who knows how much money in the process.

I know exactly how much they lost to me. I know they spent a ton on powder-coating all those trim parts. The car has a new dashboard pad, new carpet, and a new package tray waiting for it that they purchased. Those aren't cheap. Foose wheels and Michelin tires aren't cheap.

It's a sad story. They spent so much money. They had such grand plans. And they got proper-fucked. They are very nice people. They went above and beyond to help @Miss-Mercedes and I get everything loaded safely. They did not deserve what happened to them.

I am putting this gadamn car back together! I'm doing it for myself. I'm doing it for my wife. I'm doing it for my kids. Hell, I'm doing it for them to. It won't be a fast process, and it won't be a show car, but it is going to be a car again!

My daughters both participate in cub scouts. Last night was their pack's Pinewood Derby competition. They both improved. My oldest even won a few of her heat races. It was a good night.

Anyways, my wife is the den leader for our big one's den. All the leaders made cars too. She decided to make a Bandit, and if I do say so myself ... she freakin' KILLED it!

Eastbound and down!

The Buick is back home, and I'm damn happy to have it. But oh boy is it in a lot more pieces than I thought it was. I still would have bought it if I had known, but the timeline is definitely a lot longer for getting it back on the road than I thought. Oh well!

I stopped by my favorite cheap body shop on the way home with it. Unfortunately I was given the, "We really don't want to do it, but here's the price" price. So plans B, C, and D will have to be considered. As soon as I figure out what they are.

A HUGE thank you to @Miss-Mercedes for all her help today dragging this junk heap home!

I loaded up the family yesterday and we drove 250 miles up into western Michigan. Traffic/construction were pretty brutal, so with only two short stops that took us six hours.

Today we met @454ssracetruck and his delightful wife. The purpose of the truck ostensibly was to pick up these minibikes he gave us.

The bikes aren't QUITE rideable yet, but getting them still blew the girls minds. They had no idea that was part of the equation. They thought we were just going to see my friend's farm/animals.

We then spent several hours both seeing the farm and meeting the animals. Cows, goats, pigs, chickens and giant shaggy dergs!

Oh, and we did do some riding. He had a little Honda semi-auto dirt bike, a little Chinesium 2-stroke ATV, and a Honda quad as well. Didn't ask how big Amy of the engines were. My little one's hand are still too small to work the brakes, so she rode in front of me on the big quad. My big one rode both the ATV and the dirt bike. She was actually much more comfortable on the dirt bike, and rode that a ton. I had to call it after a while. She didn't want to stop, but I could tell she was getting tired. Overall she did phenomenal. I'm super proud.

We stayed a lot longer than I planned (we drove back this afternoon/evening), but we enjoyed every minute. Thank you @454ssracetruck and your wife again! We had a great adventure today, and it's always nice to meet new friends

I have a summer birthday. Actually, I turn 40 on Tuesday. For my 8th birthday I received the coolest thing ever at the time, a calculator watch. Unfortunately, before the end of the summer, it was stolen from me at the local pool.

32 years later, my wife has righted that wrong. I received this 80's hotness for Father's Day.

I smiled every time I looked at it, for the rest of the day.

We spent the weekend as a family up at Road America for the IndyCar race. A good time was had by all. Full report to come later this week.

This little baby turned nine years old yesterday. I don’t understand how that happened, or where the time went. It simultaneously feels like this was taken six months ago, but also a lifetime ago. I guess technically it was a lifetime ago, her lifetime so far ago. I genuinely can hardly remember what life was like before her.

She was born at 4:27pm. Yes, I can remember that because it’s a famous engine displacement size. It took an emergency c-section after four days of torture and turmoil for my poor wife. It was by far the scariest event I have ever lived through, and chaos doesn’t begin to describe what a shit-show those four days were.

Then I got this moment. Alone with my new baby, the room was warm and dead silent. Just me and my little peanut. That was the moment that I knew I would never again be alone in this world.

It was also a sad moment for me, as it was seven months nearly to the day after my mom had passed away. This little baby would have been her first grandbaby, and my mom would have been such a wonderful grandma. It was only then that I understood how much my mom really loved me, because now I could feel it for my daughter.

The love you have for your child is a feeling that knocks you right on your ass when it first hits you, in the best way possible. It’s unlike anything else in the world. There is no way I can explain it. If you have kids, you know.

The turmoil wasn’t over either. While the baby was healthy, mom was in rough shape. There were another four days of scariness ahead of us. At a few points we couldn’t help but wonder if mommy wasn’t coming home with baby. Thankfully, our worst fears did not come to pass.

Being a dad is the best thing ever. I’m so happy to have this kid and her little sister. Nothing could be better. Nothing. It doesn’t matter how shit your day at work was, when one of those girls comes running at me, arms in the air, screaming “DADDY!!!!” Everything bad in the world goes away, and all there is left is love and life.

Warning: This is long, personal, not the least bit automotive related, and I didn't even put a cat picture in it to lure you in.

I am lucky enough to have two guys I grew up with, who I both call my best friend. The three of us would do anything for each other. We all reside in different states now, so seeing either one of them doesn't happen often. I think the last time we were all three together was at my wedding over a decade ago. I feel like there was one time since, but I can't remember for sure. Doesn't matter, if any of us needs help, we're on the first thing smoking.

Anyways, one of these guys, who I will call Bob ... because that's his name ... became a stoner fuck-up in high school. We never stopped being friends, I just didn't hang out with him much for a couple years. I wasn't into that stuff.

Bob never met his dad (he died before Bob was born), and his mom just couldn't control him to the best of her efforts. I was worried about him. My dad was worried about him too, and worried that I was going to get into what Bob was into. Bob barely graduated high school.

Shortly after graduating, Bob's cousin OD'd and nearly died. Bob took a look around at the crowd he was hanging with, at some of the ... less successful members of his extended family, and decided he wasn't going down that way.

He cleaned up, went to community college, and pulled straight A's. Then he transferred to a university, got an ROTC scholarship, finished his degree, and was commissioned as an officer in US Army, where he joined the medical core. I'm not going to lie, I cried like a baby at his commissioning ceremony. My eyes are a bit moist writing this now.

Cut to seventeen years later, and he's still in the Army. My best friend, who is dyslexic and always struggled in school, whom we used to call Drunk Bob No Pants, is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Medical Service Core, has a Master's degree from Baylor that the Army paid for, and is 34 months away from retiring. He's happily married, has three great kids, has a house, all that good stuff too.

I often think back to that conversation I had almost 25 years ago with my dad, about how worried we were about him. My dad asked me if I thought there was anything I could do to help Bob, and I said, "I don't think so. All I can do is hope he comes out the other side, and be there and be his friend if he does." My dad agreed that this was really all I could do, so we both crossed our fingers and hoped for the best.

Man is is great to see how far Bob has gone. He had people that helped, people who cared, but he did it. He gathered himself up, and crushed it. I am so fucking proud of Bob.

In my line of work, I've met many kids who were like Bob at his lowest. Troubled, not doing well, but clearly good and intelligent people. It's because of Bob, I know those kids can do it too, if they chose to do it. There isn't much I can do, except be there for them if they chose the light. It gives me hope and peace to know there is always a path.

Some will chose the light, and some won't. If I can guide a few here and there to the light, then all the bullshit I put up with in this line of work is worth it.

I will leave you with this. If you've chosen to read this far, maybe you have somebody in your life who reminds you of the way Bob was. Just be there for them. I hope they chose the light. If they do, you can help pull them in farther.

My truck is back! Now with new rocker panels on both sides, new right rear cab corner, repaired lower dogleg of the front passenger fender, rebuilt bottom of the driver's door, and both bedsides completely repainted. Oh, and a new front lower bumper. That was all jacked up and stitched together with zipties. The job isn't perfect, but it looks damn good IMO, and I didn't pay for perfect.

I'm a happy boy. I think once I get my first paycheck of the year, I'm going to treat myself to a new bedcover. The old one has been on there none years, and is looking a little tatty.

I finally paid off my student loans.

Truth be told, I borrowed less than $12k to get through the last year of graduate school and student teaching. I worked and saved along the way, my grand parents paid the bulk of my bachelor's degree (back when in state tuition was entirely reasonable). I am very fortunate for all of that.

The interest rate was like 2.5%, so I never bothered to try and pay it off early. I set it on autopay at $97/month, and let it ride. I'm still happy it's over though.

@davesaddiction I know. I agree it's stupid. But I like it.

@MUSASHI66 I recommend it!

@Dr-Zoidberg said in "Barrett-Jackson caliber vehicle in creation and condition":

@PowderHound Caprice wagon rear?!?!

First gen Taurus.

@PowderHound What the ...

@davesaddiction It is stupid, but like Sam, I approve IF it's actually 6-wheel drive, even though it's stupid. We like plenty of stupid shit around here.

@MUSASHI66 It's crustless. I don't know all the steps (my wife is an amazing cook, I try and stay out of her way), but I know the ground beef is mixed in with an egg and Bisquick mix of some sort.

@MUSASHI66 We had cheeseburger pie. It was delicious!

@RallyWrench That is a magnificent beast! I am jealous!

@ttyymmnn Holy tongue weight Batman!

@Noodles Niiiiiiiiice!