I was driving thru Livermore back in about 1979-ish
I was working 1st in Hayward
& Concord (where I lived for 27 years) for Union Ice Delivery
while going to school/college
I was home on break, Easter IIRC so back to the Ice Plant
I saw a clean 69 RR 383 4 speed piss-yellow,
Cragers S/S raised white letter Polyglass tires etc.
no dents, extremely clean carpet & black buckets seat
on the lot of an ol' time 'Used Car' place, lil' hole in the wall place
I spun the Ice Truck around, jumped out too look at it
the owner of the lot, in a seersucker suit, came out said;
How you doing son ?
I said;
Pretty damn good, how about you, I'd like to inquire about the RR
or something along those lines
he said;
he got it in on a trade for a Power Wagon
didn't know much about it & he didn't even have a price on it yet
make me an offer
me being the guy I am,
I suspect it's just the old used car salesman ploy
I looked in the car the odometer had 67k on it
opened the hood, had a set of Cast M/T valve covers
& OE N96 style air cleaner
TM6 (?) Edelbrock/
shaved down an 1" (didn't know that till later)
& a 750 Holley Dbl Pumper
with Doug Thorley headers, nice dual exhaust all the way out the back
I asked;
Can I fire it up & test drive it ?
he sat down pushed in the clutch & fired right up
he said;
have at it son
I said;
I won't be long I'm still working but had to stop
I drove out of the lot, could notice
a lil' more lope, bump ditty bump, to the cam than normal
still really muffled thou
gave her a lil' gas & dumped the clutch, barked 1st, 2nd & 3rd
went around the block sort of, drove back into the lot
I asked how much sir ?;
he said $2500
I had bought cars way cheaper around that time
I had just bought my 71 Cj5 for $1500 mint condition
I had bought my 68 Charger R/T for $350 in 1974, for comparison
But;
I wanted a different car to drive while I was home for school
I countered with $2000
he said;
It's your son
I told him;
I'll be back before you close tonight
one of the best cars I ever owned
I know I paid more than I should have but something came over me
I had that car for near 20 years after that, was my daily driver
except for when I was going to work I was a Union Carpenter
very shortly after finishing school, before I went to work for
PG&E in SF, engineers aid
that car was a blast to drive in SF & the commute
when I went to work on the car some weeks/months later
pulled the M/T valve covers
it had
Harlen Sharpe Roller rockers, Titanium retainers good springs etc.
I said to myself someone did some work to these heads
come to find out they were fully ported 906's
with Titanium Valves too
I thought to my self
I didn't way overpay afterall
had an old 3 bolt Racer Brown 292*/509" hydr. cam,
hardened pushrod/cup ball
a Cloyes dbl roller too
later when I pulled the heads it had
0.010 over Speed Pro 11:1 dome pistons
aftermarket rod bolts & the rods were converted to full floating
with bronze bushings
that lil' 383 would run with my Charger's built 440 'all day long'
loved that car