On one of our search trips around our country, The Netherlands, at the premises of a recognized dealership for classics we located a very nice Mercedes 250 CE.
Whilst walking around and reconsidering our decision, I noticed all at sudden this very special body -- just arrived, not yet cleaned or polished, matte paint, nearly invisibly parked in the very back end of the grounds. I circled around the car over and over again. I asked for the keys, started the engine and here was this one hundred percent pure sound of a classic, reliable, well-maintained engine. “We purchased this car recently in Switzerland, original owner, 140.000 original kilometers, all service records available, no kidding!” said the owner of the dealership. “Any check-up is fine with us,” he continued. “Wonna drive it?” Sure thing and off we drove. A five-minute ride told us that this 1963 Dodge Dart Sedan would become ours. Jenny was still somewhat reluctant: “How much will it cost to restore?” she was wondering. “Does it fit into our garage,” she continued. “How about repainting and the interior, all this added cost?”
Nevertheless, we bought the car. The interior just needed a firm and patient clean-up. We replaced the carpet with an exclusive, patrol-green-coloured version of Mercedes’ luxury line, the inside of the doors got textiled, the benches were redecorated with original fabric, the tires were replaced with Cooper radial tyres and the engine, well . . . just a full maintenance service for $750US. All that was “wrong” on the mechanical side was the radiator, which needed to be overhauled. Then, we had the body entirely and fully sanded and then resprayed with a double coating. We also discovered that this Dodge had never been involved in any accident. Also, all chrome was in perfect shape. Finally, here she was, after two months of hard work and waiting, our sensational Dodge Dart 270.
After a while, I decided to contact the one and previous owner in Switzerland. From the car documents I learned that the good old man was meantime 78 years old and that he had purchased this car when he was 41! How to approach this man? I decided to call straightforwardly. When I presented myself, mentioning that I had recently bought his Dodge, he became somewhat suspicious. “Well, why do you call me at all?” he said. “Sir, I am sorry to disturb you, I live in Holland and I am the lucky new owner of your Dodge Dart. We had it recently entirely restored to its original showroom condition.” Silence. “May I send you a couple of pictures, Sir?” I tried. “Yes, please, of course,” he then said. “Please include your address and I will send you some old pictures too,” he added warmly. “You should know, Chris, I only sold this car because my three children could not reach agreement as to the future ownership of my car, that’s what happened.” When I expressed my surprise about the fact that the car did not show any rust at all, he amazed me by saying that “of course” there was no rust, since he never drove it in winter time or rainy weather and always as a second car, for fun. We continued to chat for a while and agreed that Jenny and I will visit him in our Dodge Dart 270 next spring, 2001. Then he said, “Tears are coming up now”. All I could answer was: “Your Dodge Dart is in excellent hands, sir, and she will stay with us forever.”
Our Dodge Dart 270 has brought us a new friend too: Leo from San Bernardino. Leo and I are best friends since he found me some emblems and the original fabric for the benches. Leo did not want to have any money in exchange for his good work! All that we could do, was to send him a pile of the finest Dutch chocolates and some real Dutch Delft Blue tiles. Of course, we included some pictures of our beautiful Dodge Dart 270.
Our Dodge Dart is now in a sensational 100% complete, original and technical top condition. For sale? Not really. We have now driven 2000 miles with the car and she has become used to being taken for a ride again. It’s a superb car indeed.