November 2002 Feature Car

 

 
Member:  Mike Chance
Year: 1969
Engine: 350 c.i. 
Transmission: Powerglide
Story:  
When Mike heard about this car he could hardly wait to make contact with the owners.  He was told that the car had just been won by a couple in a promotion by a major homebuilder.  The couple supposedly loved the car but had no desire to keep it, and in fact planned to drive it for a few weeks and then sell it.  It was supposed to be an original 69 RS/SS Hugger Orange convertible restored to its original state down to the battery and hoses.  After some amount of detective work Mike made contact with the owners.  What he found was a frame off drop top with 39 factory options.  Within 24 hours of seeing the car he purchased it.  During that 24 hours he did a lot of research to confirm some of the oddities surrounding the car (powerglide tranny, no VIN# stamped on the engine and D96 stripes as opposed to the normal “hockey stick” stripes).  When he first looked at it he did not expect to find a powerglide in a 69 SS.  It was not until he did some research that he discovered that you could special order a 69 SS with a powerglide.  The next thing he had to overcome was the fact that there was no VIN stamped on the engine pad.  He had seen this numerous times with 67’s but very infrequently on 69’s.  He immediately checked the engine boss/rim near the oil filter and found nothing, until he got a bright light and a magnifying glass.  There it was, the match to the car VIN.  The third odd thing about this car was the lack of the traditional hockey stick stripes.  Fortunately, one of the previous owners had done a title search on the car and had titles back to the original owner.  He contacted this individual.  As it turns out the original owner had special ordered the car with the power glide and the special side stripes.  The more you lean about these cars the more convinced you get that a lot of things happened in the building of these cars that simply do not fit the norm.