Anybody remember this car that was for sale on V8 Buick last fall? Here's a little back story and update to our purchase.
What Can Go Wrong? It started in 1978, when my family moved to a new house. Our neighbor’s son Billy, who was several years older than I was, had a 1973 Buick Century. The rear end jacked up with air shocks and wide tires was so cool. The glass pack mufflers exited under the rear axle and sounded just right. Even though the car was brown it had the look. These days the 73 thru 77 GM A body cars are seldom seen and are not highly sought out. Despite literally millions of Monte Carlo, Cutlass and Grand Prix cars cranked out in the day, they are not spotted on the streets very often today. Here’s how the internet causes trouble for us car people. Bored one evening, I started a Google search for 1973 Century. Not many cars for sale turned up but seeing the car’s shape again reminded me how cool Billy’s car looked. Not that I needed another car, seeing these cars again struck a cord with me and I started wanting one. Since they are not very collectable, I figured a nice one could be reasonably bought. I saw this blue with white bucket seat Century on V8Buick. A beautiful color combination and nice looking car all around. Even though I was not that interested at the time, I requested additional photos and information from the owner whose name is, get this, Billy. The price was a little more than I was looking to spend, and the car was 2500 miles away in California. So, I continued to look more local to our home in Michigan. After not finding anything of interest East of the Mississippi, I decided to look at the blue car a little more closely. Several calls and more photos and I was convinced this was the car for us. Trouble is I’ve never purchased a car without inspecting it personally. Would a car inspector look it over as I would? How do you ship a car across country? What are the costs involved? Then Billy suggested we fly in and drive it home. At first the idea seemed ridiculous. Could this really work? Buy a mostly original 45 year old car and drive it 2500 miles across country. What could go wrong? We decided YOLO. On Sunday, September 30, we booked a one-way flight. Cost was made more affordable by redeeming my saved airline miles. Our adventure of a lifetime started in 5 days. Leslie asked why we needed to do this so soon and I responded you never know when the weather is going to get bad. (more on that later) Not wanting to be completely helpless in case of a breakdown, some quick research let us know what tools could be packed in a carry-on suitcase and off we went to Detroit Metro airport on Friday afternoon October 5th. I was more worried about getting through security with the plate in my leg, courtesy of a motorcycle accident, and forgot about the packed tools. The leg was no problem; however, security flagged our bag for inspection. After an explanation and inspection, they gave us the green light to board. Our inexpensive flight featured a layover in a place I've always wanted to go. Salt Lake City, UT. The 20 minutes we had between flights didn't offer much opportunity for sight seeing but I knew we would be driving through on our way home. Arriving in Medford, OR just before 11 p.m. exhausted and suffering from altitude adjustment, we took an eventful taxi ride to the hotel. The "taxi" driver was in his early 20's, not the brightest bulb on the tree, and may have been partaking in the wacky weed. This made for an interesting 15-minute drive. We arrived at the hotel to find the lobby locked and no one around. After knocking on the door and waiting for about 10 minutes, finally an employee showed up to check us in.
Saturday morning, October 6, we woke up eager to finally get to see the car. We got a decent night's sleep, the best you can with one eye open. Did I mention we had several thousand dollars in cash with us? Billy lives in Northern CA about an hour south from the hotel. Billy said he would drive the car to the hotel and be there around 8 a.m. About 9:00 a.m., still no car for viewing, so I called the owner who said he emailed me to say he was running late. Around 10:00 a.m., Billy called and said he was a few miles from the hotel but ran out of gas and was waiting on AAA for a refill. Finally, around 10:30 a.m. the car arrived, After I inspected the car, Billy offered to drive us to his place in CA, so we could get an idea of the car’s drivability. Since our route home took us within miles of his home we decided OK. First stop was a gas station as the tank was on empty. Then the owner drove us through the winding, narrow mountain roads that follow the path of a beautiful river. Recent wildfires left a charred, barren landscape; a smoky odor still hangs in the air leaving an acrid sting to the nostrils. (Note: this was one month before the devastating Camp Creek fire started.) We inspect the car some more and around noon make the decision to buy it. After a quick check of the oil and trans fluid, the proud new owners of a 45-year old Buick Century with 63,748 miles began their cross-country journey home. Twenty minutes from the guy’s home, we stopped at a Mexican restaurant for lunch. Steve says enjoy your last meal on a plate for a few days. The journey out of CA was spent driving through mountains, small towns, many campgrounds, and shopping for supplies at hardware and auto stores. To stave off the What Can Go Wrong, we bought shop towels, water, quarts of oil, and an upper radiator hose that was close but not exact just in case the questionable looking flex hose decided to give up. Who knew it would be so difficult to find a radiator hose for a 45-year old car on a Saturday afternoon in small towns in Northern CA. Everywhere we went, people admired and commented on the car. While on the road, a test of the cigarette lighter (a power port for our younger readers) found a lack of voltage for phone charging and operating the makeshift sound system we made up. Knowing the radio in the car was the original AM only unit, we had packed a pair of USB powered speakers and a Walkman to have music for the road. Another stop at an auto parts and catastrophe averted by a $1 fuse. Good thing we were prepared since the in-dash radio was non operational. The car runs and drives very nicely without any major squeaks or rattles. One annoying sound was coming from the passenger side. No, not the passenger. The old, dry door weather strips were not quite working as new, allowing lots of wind noise. Leslie found that a shop towel tucked into the upper corner of the passenger side window did wonders to cut down on the chilly wind and noise. Replacing the towel became standard operating procedure whenever the door was opened. At this point with evening quickly approaching we decided we should see if the cars lighting was working. Kind of late to check but better late than never. Luckily the lighting appeared to be OK. By 6:30 p.m. we made it to I-80 in Western NV and enjoyed the scenic drive across the state. As it became dark, we noticed the left headlight was not doing its job very well as its light beam was focused about 10 feet in front of the bumper. A brief stop found the adjuster was stripped and it would not hold the light up. High beams were used for the remainder of the trip hoping the right side light could get us home. We pulled into Elko, NV around 11 p.m. for a decent night’s sleep after a hectic day. We filled the tank and found a hotel that was under renovation had the only rooms available. This place was the most scary part of the trip so far. As we parked the car we could hear people talking off in the dark distant hills but could not see anyone. So I moved the car around to the front as near the lobby as we could get it.
Sunday morning, October 7, before getting back on the road at 7:30 a.m., we noticed fuel odor coming from the running car. Thought it might just have been from running on the choke or perhaps we overfilled it the night before. Off we went on I80 Eastbound. The Bonneville Salt Flats, outside Salt Lake City, was a must-stop on this trip. The Flats were a sandy swath of land that surprisingly contained a lot of moisture. There is a 3 to 5-mile black top road leading to a turn-about with a shallow lake at the end of it. With the mountains in the background, the bright blue skies, and freezing wind blasting through the area, it was an exhilarating experience. What Can Go Wrong finally appeared while parked at the turn-about to take photos. We discovered the source of the fuel odor, the fuel pump return hose had a leak. At the entrance to the Flats was a Travel Center Station, so we drove back there for supplies and repair work. Parking the driver’s side wheel on the curb allowed access to crawl under the car to remove the original fuel hose. The Travel Center did not have any replacement rubber hose but did have screw type hose clamps and a utility knife (as we all no know - no knives allowed on airplanes). The under hood vapor canister hose, also 45 years old, became a temporary fuel line. After a few hours of Flats viewing and repair work, we got back on the road. The Buick motto of Driving Fast with Class rang true on the highway outside the Flats area, when the Century reached the Century mark on the speedometer. Triple digits at Bonneville. Whoo Hoo! After leaving the Salt Flats, we were on a mission to quickly get home. No more hotel stays and only stops now were for fuel, food and bio breaks. Coming into Salt Lake City we could see a portion of the lake from the highway but no signs of where to get off to see it up close. The city itself is like an oasis. Very much a modern city as you would see in any other state except it is surrounded by vast open spaces. Very nice but no time for sightseeing. Upon reaching WY in the evening, and it was sunny with spectacular views of snow topped, red rock mountains. We saw a few overpasses with no roads leading to them, then we finally figured out these were overpasses designed not for cars but for critters to use to avoid the highways. Ingenious if it works as designed. Venturing through WY, the weather turned for the worse and 5 miles east of the Continental divide it became a mixture of fog, rain, sleet and snow. What Can Go Wrong made another appearance when the top of the windshield began freezing over. The numerous road signs about the use of tire chains and what exits to take during road closures due to inclement weather provided a glimpse into the treacherous winter driving conditions in WY. There are what appears to be cattle gates right on the sides of the highway they simply close when the road gets too bad. Lucky for us the roads were warm enough that the snow just melted. We heard in the news the following weekend they did close this highway due to the weather.
I visited Steve to pick up the shock absorber bolts and chatted with him for many minutes. I also had the opportunity to view his 1973 Buick. He was in the process of making sheet metal repairs and others. It will take him some time to complete the tasks restore this car. Keep at it, Steve!!
October 8, nightfall with rain brought us into Nebraska. Not much to see here except construction most of the way across the state. Their roads were very smooth between the construction zones. Still no let up in the rain but the break of dawn brought us into Iowa where we stopped for a hot breakfast, on a plate, and a much-needed break from the car. Through WY, NE and IA, we took turns driving while the other napped. Napping in the car proved difficult for Steve due to his height and the seats not reclining, plus his fearing What Can Go Wrong and heightened awareness every time Leslie let off the accelerator just the slightest. The drive across IA, IN, IL and MI proved mostly boring until What Can Go Wrong showed up again in IL in a construction zone when a traffic cone made an appearance under the driver’s side. Luckily, no permanent damage was done to the Century. The old saying, " that will buff out", was true in this case. Late Monday afternoon, we crossed into MI and were never so happy to drive on roads laden with potholes. After a stop at the airport parking lot to pick up Steve's daily driver 96 Roadmaster wagon (AKA roadsmasher), we completed the last leg of our journey, arriving home Monday October 8 around 8 p.m. Our adventure spanned 4 days and 10 states and all types of weather including hot, humid in MI, IA, IN and IL and cool, sunny, cloudy, smoky, rainy, snowy, sleet in the Western states. The car averaged 13 MPG which is not bad considering the high speed running and how much fuel was lost due to the return hose leakage. Supplies: 2 One-way airline tickets to West Coast, 2 Hotel stays, $400 for Fuel, $125 for Meals 1 Utility Knife and hose clamps, 1 Box of Fuses, 3 Quarts of Oil, 1 Radiator Hose (unused) 1 Sweatshirt from WY bought because of the cold and snow All priceless compared to the opportunity of lifetime of flying to the West Coast and driving a 45-year old Buick Century across the USA and celebrating our 10-year anniversary at the same time.
