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Well, I gone done it and sold my Doris Day to a great guy in California who has been kind enough to wait till after I delivered the car, personally, to announce his new “girlfriend”.
Dan Melnik has been asking a lot of questions about items for a ’66 Imperial, and that Imperial was (was being the operative word!) my Doris Day.
Due to my new condo, getting my current condo fixed up, on the market, and getting some debt paid off, I kept in touch with Dan all the past year since my failed attempt to sell Doris last year. Last year the car would have been given away at the price range I was dipping to, but this time around I put out my price, and Dan graciously accepted it. It was a smooth, gentlemanly, well communicated transaction, and I have to say that if I had to give her up, I could not be happier that it was Dan Melnik who purchased her. I have no concerns about her care, and even the “Face Lift” I am certain she will have bestowed upon her.
Thanks, Dan, for everything.
That car will always be a part of me, and I will have another classic one day after I close on my new condo, but who knows what the future holds? Perhaps an Olds? I could borrow for a Toronado! I drove Imperials daily for 11 years, or more than ¼ of my life. I doubt I will be Imperial-less for very long. Maybe I will by the hybrid ’70 Chrysler 300 Hurst that has the Imperial interior? Maybe it could be a ’69-’70 Chrysler 300 Convertible? Any of those would do. When the time comes my boss said we could have our weekly meetings cruising up and down Hwy 99, or wherever, checking out what would be my next baby.
I may even make use of the Roadmaster and her tow package to just buy a restored Silverstreak, or an Airstream. “I don’t need no ‘stinkin Motel, I got my house on the back of the car!”
There were adventures on the way to California that caused me some headaches, but it all boiled down to a piece of the hood pad had come loose and was being sucked into the air snorkel. I could elaborate on that, but I will save that for another time, if there is one.
On I-5 Southbound I did get to blow out some of the built up carbon from the bad running pad/snorkel deal, and she stayed at 115 mph for a good minute before I became fearful not of the car, but the Highway Patrol!
Thanks go to Daniel Le Plaunt for the BRAND NEW Triple band whitewalls that helped Doris just float like a dream. Best tires I have ever had on an Imperial. Diamond Backs. Forget the Firestone 721’s and the Yokahama/Dimension IV wide whites and spend the dough and get the good tires! I wish I had done it years ago! Of course I got the set of 5, yes even the spare, for .50 cents on the dollar of what Daniel paid, but that is his story to tell about how he fought the Rubber Co. and the Rubber Co. did not win! Go ahead Daniel, tell them all!
A special thanks to all the great people I have met on this list, but especially, Leslie, Mikey Sutton, who after Dick Benjamin is the definitive final word in all things Imperial related, in my own opinion, and Mikey has always been there with technical knowledge, then the layman’s version which I can understand, and has passed his opinion of Doris, which he has driven on more than one occasion on to Dan. I think that helped make both of us more comfortable with a long distance, sight unseen purchase.
I volunteered to drive the car to San Francisco as my Swan song farewell cruise, Dan flew up from southern CA to S.F. and I barely made it to the Airport on time, after stopping to pick up my Mom so I could GET to the airport on time! The car was full of parts, and all turned out well. Dan may have some input on that though too.
Anyway, I guess that’s that. I am not signing off just yet. I am not quite ready to cut the cord altogether, and hope my page may stay for at least awhile, and my (Dan’s) FSM makes it onto the website. I was glad to donate it’s spine for a worthy cause, and the spiral bound version Kenyon returned is just great!
Happy motoring ‘ya-all!
Billy
Wm. R. Ulman Seattle, WA '95 Buick Roadmaster - Rock Hudson - WA State Vanity Plates: FIT4KNG (soon to have the traditional plates: FIT4AQN transferred to Rock. If that’s not ironic, I don’t know what is! LOL!)
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