Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT Uncle Skelly's Garage

[Skellyii]

Haven't posted in a while, there's been a lot of things going on, some house related, some family related, some health related.

The back injections and physical therapy have NOT worked, so I'll be going in to have some titanium disks inserted at the end of August.

In the meantime, I probably should rename my garage to "Too Many BMW's", as I just added another BMW to my collection.

This is a 2009 650 Convertible, fully loaded. It's in great cosmetic shape, but the guy I got it from basically rode it hard and put it away wet. One of the cylinders is crapping out intermittently. I've known this guy fr several years, he's a car guy, but not a BMW guy. I got it for free.

So, the current lineup for the BMW 6 series is:
2005 645
2006 650 Convertible
2007 650 Coupe
2009 650 Convertible

And , NO, I'm currently not looking for a 2008 650 to complete the set.

 

[Xti04]

I have my dads 645 ci in the shop over here right now. Appears to need a cam sensor so I can sell it for him. I could not understand why he bought the car. He was at an auction to buy a shelby cobra and came back with the Bmw and a Mustang.

 

[Skellyii]

I have my dads 645 ci in the shop over here right now. Appears to need a cam sensor so I can sell it for him. I could not understand why he bought the car. He was at an auction to buy a shelby cobra and came back with the Bmw and a Mustang.

Heck, you could probably get at least a half dozen cars for what you'd pay for a Shelby Cobra.

 

[Skellyii]

WARNING: Long post!

First the backstory:
I was born and raised in a small town, and I've always been a car guy. I built a few cars for myself and friends when I was in high school/college, and loved it. After college, I moved to the "Big City", but went back frequently to my hometown to see my parents and friends.

There was a small farm on the two lane leading out of town. Beside the barn was a 57 Ford Thunderbird. I loved that car. Unfortunately, I didn't come from money, I was REALLY lucky to have gone to college, and even though I had a good job with a good company, I didn't have the extra cash or the space for a project car. But as time went on, I pledged to myself, when I had some money and a place to store it, I was going to buy and restore that car.

One day a few years later when I was getting close to having the funds, I noticed that the hardtop was missing. A few months after that, the car was gone! I was heartbroken.

As the years went by, I probably could have located another Bird, but other car projects, family, kids, and taking care of my elderly family members took precedence, and I forgot about that car.

Fast forward 40+ years, I had not been going back to my hometown much since my parents and other family members had passed. After they built the Interstate, I hadn't been on that stretch of two lane state highway in probably decades. One day, while going to a funeral of a long time friend, I decided to take that two lane highway for reasons of nostalgia. My late friend and I had cruised that stretch when we were kids. The farm was still there, the barn was a little worse for wear, but still standing. It brought back memories.

So about a year or so ago, I decided that I was going to get a 57 Bird, I hadn't decided whether to get a project or a fully restored one, but I wasn't even going to think about it for a couple of years until after I finished a couple of other projects. I was casually watching the market, but had no intention of buying anything.

So, fast forward to 4-5 months ago. My fiancé goes to a lot of Estate Sales, she buys stuff for her eBay store. Sometimes I tag along, but usually only when they have tools or something else I'm interested in.

One morning, I was having coffee and I heard her say "Have you see this?"
She was looking at the pictures posted for an Estate Sale, and it had a white 1957 Thunderbird. I was familiar with the guy that runs that estate sale company, he always has automotive and tools, and his prices are always more than fair, so I was intrigued.

Turns out, it wasn't offered at a fixed price, they were taking bids. I went by there a couple of times, inspected it and decided to put in a bid on it. The exterior and interior were in great condition, but they couldn't start it, one of the employees thought the engine was locked. They did tell me that the owners son had replaced the gas tank, fuel pump and lines in preparation for sale, I crawled under and verified these items. I placed my bid on an amount that I would pay for a vehicle with a locked engine, I wasn't aggressive, especially since I hadn't planned to buy one right now. If I didn't get this one, there would be others down the road.

 

[Skellyii]

A week later, I got a call from the guy that owned the Estate Sale Company, I had won!

The downside, not for me, was that the car was still in probate, so wouldn't be available right away. No problem. I didn't owe them any money until probate had been completed. He hooked me up with the owners son, who was handling his late mothers affairs.

Here's the story on the car: It was his mother's pride and joy, she had bought it from a restorer in 1974, it had never seen snow and it was always garaged. His dad didn't particularly care for the car, it was strictly mom's car, the son said that he probably hadn't driven it more than a couple of times. She didn't like the original color, it was a Coppertone like shade, she had had it repainted white at the local Ford dealer.

She had passed earlier this year at 89, he figured that because of her health, that it had sat in her garage since around 2019. He kept me in the loop on the status of the Probate stuff over the last few months and was finally able to call me to pick it up last week!

So, I had my back surgery a week ago, and I haven't recovered yet, so while normally, I would bring things in on my trailer, I had to have a tow company pick this up. I also would have better pictures, and would have driven this car around for a few days.

And yes, it runs! The people that thought that the engine was locked didn't realize that you have to start a 57 Bird in Neutral, not Park. So, the tow guy was able to drive it on and off his truck, and he was nice enough to drive it into my car condo for me.

Surprisingly, my fiancée who is NOT into cars at all, LOVES this car

 

[Xti04]

Nice score! 312 v8? My old boss bought one off a customer of ours. Car was immaculate, and looked great with the top off.

 

[Skellyii]

Nice score! 312 v8? My old boss bought one off a customer of ours. Car was immaculate, and looked great with the top off.

Yep. 312 with the original 4BBL Holley. It's supposed to be numbers matching, which is nice, I guess, but I just want something to cruise in and tinker with.

My crappy pictures don't do it justice, it's immaculate!

 

[M.Brane]

That's awesome I love those old birds. They had style.

 

[zanyad]

Nice score! That's a beauty!