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Norm Maenner
Norm writes, "It's sentimental... I had one almost
identical when I finished college in 1960. I dated my wife and we got engaged
in that one, but traded it in on a new '63 Valiant convertible when we got
married. I have always been a car nut, and then became an engineer. This was
my second resto project. The first was a '48 DeSoto, which was what my first
car had been when I was in High School. That had been pretty easy as it didn't
need much mechanically and I had the body and paint done by a shop. After
driving that for about four years, my wife and I started talking about looking
for a Sport Fury."
"I found two in Missouri and had them delivered. One
was definitely a parts car, but the other was restorable. However, once I
got into it, I found it needed much more body work than I was prepared to
pay to have done! Then, in '99 I found an ad in the Plymouth newsletter of
one in PA. I had always wondered what had happened to the one I had before.
The last I had seen it was at a car dealer in Youngstown, OH. Could it have
ended up across the border in PA? When I called, I was told that it was white
with the brown interior. Mine had been white with the green interior. Close!"
"Anyway, I made arrangements to see it. It was then
at a body shop, and one side had the patch panels already welded in. I bought
it and told the body shop to continue working on it. First he was busy with
other projects, then it was help problems, then other collision work, then
more help problems. I did make occasional visits and numerous phone calls.
On a visit after three years, I found that the engine had frozen up! He finished
welding the patches and I had the car shipped to my home. I had had him get
the chrome replated, but he had put it in a "safe place" and then
couldn't find it. God was at work though, as the body shop called me eight
months later to tell me that through a freak situation, he had found it!"
"In the meantime, I had the car taken to the Chrysler
dealer that had done my DeSoto, to have the engine pulled and sent for rebuilding,
and check out the torqueflite. While they had the body there, the body shop
looked at it and found other work that needed to be done before it could be
painted. So, what choice did I have? I did finally get it on the road in August,
2003, at about double what I thought I would have in it! I did drive it to
the Nat'l Plymouth Club summer meet in Battle Creek, MI and it ran great.
It looks great also. There are still some things to do, but they will have
to wait!"
