It's a lot of fun having history on our cars. Sounds like you hit the jackpot!

Well Ray the owner was talked out of the 409 and told it was not reliable enough for a family man. So a proven 327 was ordered. So now I know the car is a numbers matching and a 4sp car from birth.
Brian

When I had the 64 Catalina 2+2 I traced the original owner the same way, took a couple of calls to S.C but did get in touch with her, again a long talk on phone. When I was at POCI convention in S.C. I tried to get in touch but no answer, would have liked to get a picture of her with car. She was "blown away" that the car was still in use & even more so that it was in Canada. Last I heard about it ,it was in a storage building somewhere near Huntsville for last few years after "new" owner past away & family put it away????

You are so fortunate to be able to speak with the original owner of your car. You know the expression, "when a man dies, a library closes." The original owner holds many key pieces of the puzzle. The imperatives of the day change in different eras. He said the 409 was not ordered because it might be less reliable than the 327 (I could believe it if he was referring to the solid lifter, hot-cammed 409 as an all-season daily driver).

 

Funny, a current neighbor used to own a 1970 'Cuda 340 until the mid-90s. When I saw it I talked with him (Larry) about it. He was a newlywed in 1970 and he bought the 'Cuda as their first new car as a couple. He told me that he considered the 426 Hemi but the warranty was not very good (plus insurance would have been killer). The car was mint. I told him about a cruise (Markington Square) and the next week he took the car there. Before long Larry was driving a new Dodge Dakota V8. Apparently somebody offered Larry some serious money for the car and he eventually took them up on the offer. His 'Cuda had manual steering, a pistol grip 4-speed, Sure Grip 3.23 rear, 15x7 Rally Wheels with 60 series rubber, Road Lights, AM radio plus a vinyl roof cover. Winter stored since '74 but it looked as though it had never seen salt. Larry still always keeps his cars clean. The 340 had never been apart and sounded quite healthy.

 

When I bought my Chevelle from my late aunt's estate, I chatted with cousin Bob (her son in law) about the car. I learned that my Chevelle was ordered as a demonstrator for Wills Motors and that Mrs. Wills herself used the car for a time. My aunt bought it off the lot on March 20, 1967. When I saw the triangles on the headlights the first thing I thought was "Canadian Tire". Then I saw that they said "T-3" and I realized all the lights were original. Cousin Bob confirmed it as he said Aunty Janet never drove at night (heck, I never saw her drive at all). My car also had incorrect replacement battery cables. Bob told me that one day he got a call that the Chevelle wouldn't start, so he came over only to find that some thieves had stolen the battery. They didn't bother slipping the rings off the post, they simply cut the cables. (You should be able to shoot thieves IMHO )