My First Florida Car

The car, after a several years, starting to show some rust.

1973 Buick Century

While living in Wisconsin back in the 1980's, I was able to purchase two Florida cars thanks to my dad. He retired from Chrysler in Milwaukee after working there for 30 years. He was only 52 years old in 1979, sold their house and moved the family to Sarasota, Florida. My three youngest siblings moved with my parents as they were still in school. I was already 27 years old and on my own, remaining in Milwaukee.

One day, it was about 1980, I got a call from my dad. He said he had a neighbor across the street that was getting too old to drive and wanted to sell his car. It was a 1973 Buick Century with V-8 and automatic that only had about 12,000 miles on it. Yellow with a black top, he said it still looked brand new and was willing to sell it for $2,000.00. I said "hell yes" and started calling for a plane ticket and to arrange for a few days off. I flew down a couple days later and we went across the street and made the deal. The guy had a car port with no garage and I asked if I could keep it parked there until I left and he said "sure". It rained overnight and the next morning we were outside and he came out with a towel to give me. I asked what it was for and he said that he always wiped the car down after a rain to keep it looking good. I was young, kind of stupid yet, and was about to say that was not going to happen when I got the car back to Wisconsin. My dad must have sensed this as he took the towel, handed it to me and I got the hint that I'd better do it, LOL.

That was a good car that I had for over 10 years and put well over 100,000 miles on it. With a 350 cu. in. V-8 and a two barrel carburator, it had decent power but a four barrel would have really made it go. I thought about replacing the carb but just never got around to it. With only 12,000 miles on it I'm sure the car had the original bias ply tires on that were by that time seven years old. It handled kind of crappy at speed on the highways when I drove it back to Wisconsin so I put a set of (one size over) Michelin tires on with four heavy duty Monroe shocks. After putting a smaller aftermarket Momo steering wheel on, it drove like a freak'in sports car. I was pretty happy with it.

As I happily found out, after buying a second Florida car thanks to my dad, older retirement areas are prime spots to find deals on used vehicles, including motor-homes. It only makes sense, as a lot of them age out or die off and their vehicles need to be sold. Older people of means tend to maintain and not abuse their stuff. It certainly helps to have family or friends in the area to watch for deals.