The Amazing Tale of Acquiring a 1933 Dodge Phaeton – an interview with Jeff Owens

              

 

 

 

By Kimberly Simoni

 

What did Jeff see advertised in Hemmings over 12 years ago?? A 1933 Dodge Brothers Touring? Actually, the seller had it misclassified – listed in the wrong location/category in Hemmings. But Jeff knew better because the picture showed no rollup-windows, thus he knew it was a phaeton…but not just any phaeton – an Australian built right-hand drive phaeton (which the Aussies would refer to as a roadster UTE). What is ‘UTE’? Jeff has no clue, but suspects that it is short for ‘utility’.

 

So 12 long years ago, Jeff saw the ad in Hemmings. He called the seller and he sent Jeff some pictures – horribly bad Polaroid pictures which showed not much more than an open car. Jeff made a ridiculously lowball offer which was summarily dismissed, after the seller had the ‘opportunity’ to explain passionately to Jeff why he couldn’t even consider such a figure! (Turns out the seller’s father had originally purchased it 20 years earlier, unrestored, for $5000 MORE than Jeff was offering for the restored vehicle (albeit 20 year old restoration) now!) The conversation ended amicably, and Jeff made 5 more offers to this gentleman over the past 12 years, all to no avail. The seller would not drop his asking price one cent! What finally turned the tide in Jeff’s favor? Jeff’s winning argument was to convince the seller that if he’d accepted his first offer 12 years ago, and invested the money in the stock market, he’d be a wealthy man today. The seller finally agreed (recall this argument was made in the boom days of the stock market last year!) and in June 2000 they sealed the deal.

Jeff and Sue flew to Chandler, Arizona (suburb of Phoenix) where the car was located in an old museum. When they first saw it, dust was so thick that the car looked tan – it hadn’t even been dusted in 20 years, but Jeff verified the car was as represented, and closed the deal. All Jeff had to do was to arrange for a car hauler to deliver the car to Sebastopol. Meanwhile, Jeff and Sue ‘rounded out their trip’ by buying loads of antiques, most of which were too large to carry on a plane (e.g. a 7-foot long mission-style bench among other things!). Jeff and Sue flew home (without their car OR their antiques) to make car hauler arrangements and figure out how to get their antique purchases to Sebastopol!

 

 

In September, they drove back to Chandler (maiden voyage for their new Toyota truck) to meet with the car hauler and finalize delivery arrangements. The hauler never showed up (!) so Jeff and Sue went antiquing (again!) – this time to such an extreme that they had to have a trailer hitch installed on the new truck, and rented a 6x12 U-Haul trailer (loaded to the gills!) in which to haul all their new antiques home! Not only the 7-foot mission style bench, but 2 bars and a 20-foot long ladder, to name just a few eclectic items! Of course these antiques won’t fit in Jeff and Sue’s current house, but are already located in their new house (which is in the ‘mental planning’ stage! J )

 

Ahhh, finally during early September, the car hauler arrived in Sebastopol with Jeff’s car. Unfortunately, once the car was unloaded (100 yards from Jeff & Sue’s driveway because of limited space and other logistics nightmares), the hauler couldn’t get his massive trailer rig turned around to leave! It took him 4 hours to jockey his truck such that he could leave Barnett Valley Road! He was so angry that he swore he should have just dropped the car off in downtown Sebastopol and left it there!

 

Was the car itself OK? Yes – and after the unload, the fun began! A neighborhood crowd formed and insisted on pushing the car the 90+ yards UPHILL towards Jeff’s driveway…….and then they couldn’t push it any further! Lots of cheering, yelling, grunting & groaning, and finally Jeff retrieved his tractor and towed it to it’s special stall in his new garage, keeping the Chrysler next door company.

 

It had been there since September – almost 10 months now. Jeff says he learned something important: never say to Sue, “I want that car – even though it’s a museum car and I have no clue what the drive train is like…” . So, guess what – it has a bad engine, and now Jeff DOES care!! It needs a rebuild (yet another project), but in the meantime Jeff has already rebuilt the entire gas system, brake system, cooling system, and electrical system.  He’s always been certain it will be a great car, and once the engine is rebuilt, it’ll be perfect from top to bottom. Estimated time to completion? Optimistically, 3 months. Realistically, by September – 1 year from acquisition!

 

Ironically, Jeff says one of the reasons for purchasing the 1933 Dodge Phaeton was to drive it while he restored the 1931 Chrysler. Well, the 1931 is still being driven (‘nursed along’, according to Jeff), while the 1933 is getting the rebuild!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                       Home at last