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Old 03-05-2019, 11:48 PM
BrettS872 BrettS872 is offline
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Further conversation with (who I thought was) the 3rd owner revealed the car had actually changed hands NINE times in 11 years, all the while remaining in Lebanon, PA.

I constructed a timeline of the car's history:

December/1969 – Regal Black GS 455 w/”Stage 1” option is built the last week of 1969. The “Transition car” (plastic radiator cover, clear overflow but flat gauge lenses) is assembled at the Flint plant and delivered to Fritchey & Waddell Buick in Woodward, NJ in January of 1970.

February/1970 - The GS ends up in Lebanon, PA and also ends up repossessed – with very low miles. The former Gingrich Motor Sales – of Lebanon - purchases the car at auction, adding to it a Buick 8-track player and also swapping out the original 14” wheels (that are listed in the GS Historic Society documents) for the “flashier” chrome factory rally wheels. This is most likely in an effort to sweeten the pot on the used car lot – a practice that is still very common today.

Still within this time frame, the car is next purchased by Robert Demler Sr. and would be owned by him and his sons Robert Jr. and Gary until early in 1975. Robert Jr. subsequently removes the factory chrome wheels (which he's still in possession of today) and replaces them with aluminum slots. Also added are air shocks, rear brake drums painted red and the period correct raised white letter tires of the era, to complete the “Day 2” trim look. Also, the car is subsequently clear coated by Gary because he wanted it to be “nice and shiny”. That clear coat still remains today.

Early 1975 – The car is purchased by Jack Yeagley, who turned out to be the cousin of the next owner's future wife. Jack owns it for a short time and then trades it in at Goodman Dodge (also of Lebanon and now named Ladd-Hanford Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep) for a new Dodge Ramcharger.

Spring/1976 – Keith Peiffer – now the 6th owner of the car in 6 years – purchases the car from Goodman Dodge for $3500. He owns the car for 2 years and then trades it in to Ed Miller's Auto Sales, also of Lebanon, toward a 72 Chevrolet Impala with a 400 CI small block engine and a host of other options.

Spring/1978 – Ed Miller's nephew Joe (future owner of Joe Miller's Paving) buys the car from his uncle's lot and owns it for a couple years. During this time, he replaces the clutch and subsequently sells it to another native of Lebanon, a high school kid named Micah Miller.

1979 – Micah Miller (no relation to previous owner Joe) owns the car for a short period of time before managing to blow the original “SS” Stage 1 block. Amazingly enough, the born with Muncie M21 and 10 bolt 3.64 rear are still with the car today. Micah also sideswipes a stop sign, resulting in the driver's side quarter being replaced with an NOS one. This is the only area of the car that doesn't have the small bubbling/spiderwebbing from the excessive clear coat applied a few years earlier by Gary Demler. As an aside, (years later) a subsequent owner would actually track down and contact the shop owner who replaced the blown Stage 1 motor in an effort to retrieve the car's born with block. The shop owner recalls the car and also recalls the motor was too far gone to repair. It is unknown if the Stage 1 heads made the swap.

1981 – By the very early 80's and at the behest of his father, Micah took possession of a first generation Mustang and some cash in return for the Gran Sport. Dave Donmoyer would own the car the longest – from 1981 until October of 2016 – an only amass roughly 8,000 miles during that time. Some of these miles were done a quarter mile at a time at race tracks local to that region. As the years go on, he drives the car less and less. In the fall of 2016, Donmoyer decided it was time to find another home for the oft passed around rare piece of Buick history and he posts an ad on Craigslist.

October/2016 – Having been out of the car game for a while and recently scouring Craigslist, Dan R. happened upon Donmoyer's ad and contacts him right away. This was done in an effort to both send a deposit and then get the ad taken down as quickly as possible, so there would be no other potential suitors. A couple weeks later, Dan goes to Lebanon (with trailer in tow) and purchases the car, subsequently posting a picture of it on a Buick Facebook page. This writer sees the picture and inquires with the WA resident who finds cars for people all over the country. (more so the reason Dan hurriedly sent the deposit to Lebanon, PA)

February/2017 – After much dialogue that began between the December holidays of 2016, I flew down to suburban Baltimore (with my longtime mechanic/close friend) to get a better look and drive the car. The car far exceeded my expectations and the exchange was made. 7 weeks later, the car arrived in Southeastern, MA – changing hands for the 10th and final time.

Last edited by BrettS872; 03-06-2019 at 11:35 AM.
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