One approach is to prove your love for these old cars by driving a decent driver up to pay a visit. Have your friend ask if you can come and just talk cars. As you're talking, suggest that there might be opportunity to fix one up if they wanted to do so. The chances are fair that they'd let one go to save another. Hey, if you don't ask..
I took this approach once on a car I found when I used to live in San Antonio. I sometimes jump on the motorcycle and cruise random neighborhoods in the summer, just to see what is sitting around that's visible from the street. On one such ride, I found an E-body sitting under a car cover in the driveway of a typical mid-60's neighborhood. After a couple of slow ride-by's it was pretty easy to tell it was an AAR Cuda (spoiler, "hump" on the hood, side exit exhaust, quarter-mounted antenna). I knocked on the door and was met with the apparent owner's wife. Could tell she had been pestered about the car, as she was pretty unpleasant, but I did confirm it was an AAR.
I decided to do an occasional drive-by in hopes of finding the husband (owner) out in the yard so I could speak directly with him. I even tried to time my drive-by's by the grass height in the yard in hopes of catching him out on mowing day! Eventually, I got lucky and drove by when I was driving my 67 R/T. It was a great ice-breaker, and we struck up a good conversation. He was interested in my car, and I got him to pull the partially-rotten cover off the AAR. He was the original owner, and it was all there, but very tired. It hadn't been started in a couple of years, and the paint and interior were pretty beat. But, it existed and was all there, save for a couple of minor window trim pieces.
Over the next few months, I'd stop by and visit with him on occasion. Not always in my R/T, and we didn't always talk about the Cuda. I just wanted to build a rapport. Eventually, I "popped the question" about selling me the car. By his own admission, he was never going to restore the car, and alternated between considering selling it to me, and keeping it. I could tell the car had a lot of significance to him and held a lot of memories. But, he also realized it was deteriorating, and felt bad.
I kept touching base and occasionally offering a fair amount for the car. I even purchased a couple of the trim items and gave them to him to show good faith, and that my interest was in seeing the car saved and restored. I offered to come over and help him get it running so that he could at least drive and enjoy it again. But, I never could really get him to make a decision on the car over the course of a couple of years.
I wish this long story had a happy ending for me, but it doesn't. He ended up giving it to his dead-beat son-in-law, who didn't have any real interest in the car beyond the cash value. It ended up on eBay and sold to someone out of state. I'm sure the car got restored and is sitting in someone's garage or collection now. But, my investment in time didn't pay off for me. Sometimes it doesn't. I have other success stories of buying cars, including my all-original 67 R/T that I've had since 1982.
JD
