I feel like I got very lucky in finding this 1966 Crown. I have been a fan of the older Mopars, especially full sized Chryslers and 1970 Challenger's for as long as I can remember. It had been many years since I had owned one and for a long time I had been thinking maybe I should get rid of my later model car and get one of the old classics. Well, when my current car started to develop some problems I decided to at least look in to getting an older full sized Chrysler.

I wanted to get something with a nice interior and a straight body. I can fix pretty much anything mechanical myself but when it comes to body and interior work I have to pay someone else to do it and I didn't want to go broke getting it looking good. I figured something like a '60 to '73 Newport might be within my reach so I started looking.

Within days, I found a few nice ones on eBay and then just for fun I looked at the Imperials on eBay. This car immediately jumped out at me and I found that I really wanted it, although I didn't get my hopes up too high. The '66 is one of my favorite years for the Imperial. I like the overall appearance of it, it has my favorite engine (440), and I really love all the wood on the dash. I checked into the cost of shipping the car from Florida to Phoenix Arizona where I live and decided that I had to take a shot at owning this car.

I had never purchased anything through eBay, so I talked to a friend who agreed to place my bids for me on the last day of the auction. As the days went by, there were quite a few bids on the car, and I was afraid that I was not going to be able to win the car. Thomas of Florida Muscle and Speed was selling the car, and in his ad he stated that he reserved the right to end the auction early as the car was also for sale locally. So I decided to give Thomas a call and see if we could arrive at a deal. He turned out to be a very nice fellow and after we talked for a while we came to an agreement. As of June 13, 2006, THE CAR IS MINE!!! I sent him some money and within a couple of days had the title in my possession.

Thomas then contacted me with an offer to paint the car using DuPont two stage paint. Florida Muscle and Speed does frame off restorations and specializes in old Muscle cars so they have some experience in doing nice paint jobs. They also have very good feedback on eBay. I was unable to find anything negative about the company, but was still very hesitant to have a company that's 2000 miles away work on my car that I had never even laid eyes on yet.

Well, after talking with Thomas several times, I felt comfortable enough to take the risk. The exterior of the car is to be completely stripped and all the little dings taken out of the body (there was no damage to the body, just the usual dings from inconsiderate people in parking lots and such). The car would receive multiple base coats and clear coats and would have that mirror finish when complete. The underside of the hood and trunk along with the door jams would also be painted. All the bright work would be polished. The exterior window felts would be repaired or replaced. And the headliner would be repaired where it has a small tear in the front section.