Right Place at the Right Time

[chevy71super]

I went to a car show a couple of weeks ago in Southern Cal and was talking to a couple of guys showing their 72's. A guy walks up and asks if any either of us is interested in buying a tailgate. The other guy didn't respond so I asked what he had. He said he had a tailgate that was taken of a truck with only 40 miles and he wanted $250 for it. I was skeptical but gave him my name to call me. A couple of weeks went by without a call and I thought oh-well.

He called last week and asked if I was still interested and I said sure. My son and I went over to his house and by god he wasn't kidding. There was a green tailgate that was like brand new. No dents, a few scratches from laying around for the past 30 plus years. It must have been stored in doors because there is absolutely no rust on it. It looked to come from a 69 or 70 as it had the upper trim but not the lower band. The color also looked like a color available in 69 or 70. He also had brand new AC in dash controller which I bought for $70.

That's not the end of the story. He has a complete 67/68 NOS front end trim kit - headlight bezels, grill inserts, hood and fender trim he wants $200 for. I didn't have the money so I'm going back this weekend to pick up the rest after payday. I don't need the trim but I may use it to barter for 71/72 parts.