It was purchased new here in my home town of Cresco in April of 1966. The car has spent it’s whole life here in Cresco. I am the forth owner and have the enviable pleasure of knowing all the previous owners, so I possess a lot of the car’s history.
It was purchased by the owner of the local bank, who bought it for his wife. They sold the car to a bank employee in 1969, and she drove the car back and forth to work every day until 1985, a trip of four miles a day. The car was then sold to the wife of a local mortician. I happened to be working at the local GM dealership when that transaction took place and had the opportunity to work on the car. After the work was finished the car virtually disappeared.
I had been secretly eyeballing it in prior years as I drove by the bank in my ‘65 Monza 140/4 on my way to high school . I had made inquiries as to the possibility of purchasing the car and got a "We will add your name to the list" type response. So I was pretty devastated when the car showed up at the dealership with a new owner. I decided not to give up on the car and started a years long campaign to convince the owners to sell the car to me.
Every time I had an occasion to talk with the owner’s husband I would ask if they were considering putting the car up for sale. The answer was always, "It’s my wifes car and she isn’t ready to sell it." This process went on and on for years until April of 2002 when I finally heard the response I was waiting for, "You may have asked at the right time, my wife is ready to sell."
Within a month the car was in my garage and that is where my story with the car truly begins. There are some interesting twists to the story and a mystery that no one can answer. I will tell you more later, but you can see the car and talk with me about it because I am driving it from Iowa to Massachusetts for the convention in Sturbridge this summer. See you there.
Jamie Reinhart
CORSA President