Frankie the Fink

Me too

stratplus

The older I get the more I have been "sort of thinking" that I don't need two cars to work on. I think that if my 60 was ever sold I would want it to be overseas. It would hurt me to see it at a show.

jimh_1962

Congrats on the sale! Though, you still should keep your bra.

Stan's Customs

It it may even be missed by some of us on the forum more than Frankie will miss it ...Sob, sob ...Lol!

I truly did love that car Frankie, it was kinda like it was forum member too...one that passed on or something. I will really miss it.

All the best with your future plans...Stan

Frankie the Fink

It is the first Corvette I've ever owned and I'd only even ridden in a Corvette (of any year) about three times before I bought the '61 in 2007.

Tough call but it was time for the car to move on to a new owner that would get going on the stuff that needed refurbished. One classic car is enough.

Too many Saturdays greasily wrenching on the old gal (or the 63) in a hot garage and watching my neighbors out on their boats, having pool parties or leaving on vacations and thinking, "....what the hell I am doing wrong?"

As much as I enjoy keeping them running, priorities change

Stan's Customs

[QUOTE=Frankie the Fink;

As much as I enjoy keeping them running, priorities change[/QUOTE]

Ain't it the truth...I can surely relate to that as most all of us can.

GTOguy

Frankie's '61 WAS a member of this forum.....and because of all of the technical things done to it, the repairs, maintenance, and mods, all of that information still lives on this forum. Frankie and his '61 were both a big help to me when I found my own '61: what to look for, what to scrutinize, and how to address certain repair issues. The car might not physically be in Frankie's tropical garage, but definitely lives on, on this forum. A lot of good articles and how-to photos surround that car, and are a big help to us C1 guys out here.

Frankie the Fink

Yes, I even recorded my disasters on here for posterity....the 3MDefender thread comes to mine. Not my finest hour

The engine fire, the distributor cap blow out, the......

Well - you get the idea!

Frankie the Fink

Well thought I should bring some closure to folks that sorta didn't like my car going to Germany:

Has to be one of the weirdest years of my life in this hobby, all told:

PROLOGUE:

As some know, I put my '61 in a consignment shop in Florida (Just Toys of Orlando) last November., I had checked this shop out with the BBB, checked references, even talked to some satisfied owners that sold their car through them at the Just Toys monthly car cruise-in.

Their deal is that you set your bottom-line net 'take home' price and anything they get above it is theirs. Well they advertised at way too much money so it languished for a long time with many tire kickers but no solid 'bites'. So the company lowered the price and interest picked up but still no sale....so I said screw it I'll bring it back home and sell it myself (which I've done with about 10 classic cars over the years)....

==================

1) End of July, just as I was going to retrieve my car from the consignment dealer I'm told the car has been sold to a German buyer, deposit received and remainder of funds being secured....and that overseas sales take a bit of time to conclude. The situation remains like this for two weeks. The car will not ship until all funds are received.

2) So, after 2-1/2 weeks, I get a call from my good friend and forum buddy (wmf62) Bill, who teaches votech at a local college. He lives an hour north of me in Citrus County. He drove his '62 to class and one of his student's notices the '62 and says his Dad just bought a similar car. He shows Bill smartphone pictures and its MY car (Bill has seen and ridden in my '61 many times over nearly a decade). The kid says he was with his Dad when he paid cash at Just Toys for the car.

3) I then call the owner of the consignment shop and relay Bill's info and he sticks by his Germany story and I state that I'm on my way over to look at my car (with the State Police).

4) I get a text on my cell phone within 15 minutes stating that the proceeds from my car's sale have been 'cleared' and direct deposited to my bank account.....and (it had).

==========================

EPILOGUE:

Apparently the German buyer was mythical or the deal fell through but they perpetuated the story anyway. Basically, the consignment shop sold the car locally and were stalling in paying me and 'floating a loan' on the proceeds of the cars sale for some reason (prob a cash flow problem). Just Toys had moved into a huge new showroom August 1st and I'm betting they had some bills to clear up and my money was their temporary ATM.

I waited to conclude this thread until I was 100% sure the car is in Florida but I now have the name and phone number of the new owner so Bill's story is totally legit.

Since I got 'all the money' I'm not out 'anything'....but its just amazing even after you do your homework and due dilligence some of these classic car outfits will tell a bald-faced lie right to your face.

So, ANYWAY, the car is in the states, and, in fact in Florida and I'll prob be seeing it in the next week or two.

Lessons learned: You can trust any goddamned body, and, you can't have enough close friends in this hobby.

FTF

hedgehead

Good news. But this could have gone horribly wrong and you would have been left with lots of legal bills.

Frankie the Fink

Not counting being in jail for assault!

65hihp

I wouldn't touch a consignment shop with a 10 foot pole, buying or selling. Never have, never will.

SupremeDeluxe

How many other sellers is he running the same scam on currently? I'd make sure your experience was known to the proper governing authority in FL.

vettsplit 63

Some things are worth going to jail over.

reddog5

Great advice, thanks for the heads up and glad you got your money.

Not so for the 150 or so in the link below.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...ized-1.2827434

Frankie the Fink

I never will again and shouldn't have this time...

I had so much other 'life/health' stuff going on I did it in a moment of weakness; I've sold ALL my other cars word of mouth or eBay...never a single problem.

I got top money for the car in my pocket and at least I can laugh at the whole mess...

I have the emails about the German buyer BS and the cell phone text messages saved and now that I've confirmed the sale I'll figure out what to do next.

phil2302

Glad it worked out for you Frankie
My experience with 45 years of this has been that there are cars that are for sale and cars seriously for sale. Some people overprice things just throwing stuff against the wall to see if it sticks.
If priced right and the car is represented fairly they sell without assistance.
As a buyer and a seller patience is key.

Rich Yanulis

WTF......
Who can you trust in this day and age? Thank God for good friends.
Glad it worked out for you in the end.

65hihp

someone actually believed something a consignment car dealer said?
it's not malicious lies they're telling you, and it's not personal.
It's just business. They just need to move cars, and make their money.

phil2302

Agree business methods should not be taken personal.
However, fabricating a lie in order to hold money for however long they did and for whatever purpose is fraudulent.
If I were Frankie I would report them to the Florida A/G.