Parts for Cars

Photos by author.

Parts car availability seems to be shuffling toward the realm of dinosaurs, VCR repairmen, desktop computers and hula-hoops, thanks mostly to the fact that with collector car prices being what they are, every candidate is now viewed as restorable. Some parts cars may be good enough to save; others, however, may require the replacement of 97 percent of their sheet metal to be reborn.

So what better time than now to talk about parts cars? Even if we can no longer find one, let’s look back to the days when rusty quarters plus a blown engine instantly translated into, “parts car.”

I’ve had a couple worth talking about, and as you can surmise by the title, I have had mixed results. There are parts cars that you buy to help you build another car, and there are parts cars that become parts cars due to the unfortunate discovery that they were in much worse condition than you first thought, or there is a paperwork issue.

Three guesses as to how I got my first parts car. Back in the mid-1980s, I bought a ’66 GTO to restore. The owner was moving and had to sell. He was asking $1, 800, I offered $900 and he took it. I was 19 years old and very happy. After leaving a $100 deposit, I came back a few days later with the balance of the cash and a flatbed. We exchanged money and the title. I matched the VIN on the title to the car and it was fine. I checked the name, but it wasn’t the same as the guy I was buying it from. He casually explained that he had purchased the car about four years before and never titled it in his name, so the name on the title was of the previous owner. Red flag—promptly ignored.

I took the GTO and title anyway and headed home. The next day I went to complete my part of title and confirmed that I was in fact an idiot. The previous, previous owner mistakenly signed the title under buyer and not seller. I went to motor vehicle anyway and surprise, the title was rejected. According to N.J. DMV all I could do was find the owner and have him apply for a new title, get it and then sign it over to me.

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