I want to share how I came about owning my first Checker 5 months ago. I have a 13 yo son, and my wife and I had a casual discussion about needing to get him a car in a couple years. He’s a real car nut. In particular, he loves old big cars. You could put a Porsche 911 turbo S next to any old big car, and he’ll take the old car every time.
While talking to my wife, I mentioned that at one time one of my old Aggie buddies owned a monster old Checker. He had bought it right after we got out of college in late 80’s, and on a couple of occasions we rode around Dallas on a Sat. night really believing we might pick up some chicks in this thing.
Fast forward to November 2015. So I told my wife that our son would love a Checker, and that was confirmed by looking at pics of them online (probably some of y’alls). The next day I called my buddy who lived about 4 hours away, and asked him if he still had that Checker. Unbelievably, he said it was sitting in his backyard, and had been sitting undriven since the early 90’s.
I asked him if he’d have any interest in selling it. After a long pause, he said let me think about it. I figured I’d get a no answer. I’d known this guy for 30 years, but he is what you’d call a bit eccentric. A wonderful human being, but most would describe as odd. He loved this car, and that’s the reason he held onto it for all these years.
Here’s the golden part. The next day he called me and said I have a proposal for you. I’m in failing health, and there is no way I can restore the car. I hate to see it waste away. So, my friend, if you will promise to restore it, I want to just give it to you. No one was around to see the look on my face. I told him I would restore it, and we would cherish it as a part of our family.
So, between work, kids sports and activities, and life in general, I’m making slow progress in restoring it in my garage. That’s the story of how I became a Checkerhead. One of my favorite pics is my 13 yo son steering as we winched it onto the trailer to bring home.
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