Quote: Why was it considered junk in the first place?
I am not sure Robin... possibly because the Silver paint was toast. Also, there was a series of rapid title transfers, and possibly some litigation... The four title assignments were filled out on the back of the title... never saw that before or since. I will try to post some of the documents that I got from the Texas DMV in the next few days.
In the early 80s I found out that the Texas DMV would provide an "Ownership History" of a registered car for a $5 fee. In the Hemi RR's case, I defintely got my money's worth... copies of a couple dozen documents.
The oldest document was a title showing a lien date of 5/1/69, only about 6 1/2 months after the scheduled build date of 10/15/68. I assume "Dan" was the orignal owner who purchased the RR when new from Mid-Cities C-P, but I am not certain.
Here is the title "Leland" had showing the former owner "Dan":
Update! After MANY years of trying to locate the original owner of the A4 Hemi RR, I just talked to him on the phone!
Dan (original owner) was quite animated in relating his recollections and street "war" stories. I will try to document them in the next few months, but here are a few items that I was told:
> Dan was only 17 years old when he bought the Hemi RR new, literally "off of the showroom floor".
> The original Hemi was blown up with only 26 miles remaining on the warranty coverage. The dealer installed a replacement Hemi engine under warranty.
> The Hemi RR was extensively street raced against all comers... beating them all, except a 1966 Hemi Satellite that tied him. While attempting a rematch, the two Hemis were pursued by four Denton Co. squad cars... the Hemi Satellite was caught, but not the Hemi RR. With the A4 Hemi RR safely tucked away in his father's garage, Dan and his buddies used his dad's (Southlake Fire Chief) scanner to listen to them hunt for a "gray Hemi Beep-Beep".
> Audio recordings were made during many of the races, and sent to a fiend in Vietnam.
> Dan believes that he still has some pictures of the Hemi RR... will send scans when found!
> His payments were about $170 per month on the Hemi RR...
