| Re: [GMCnet] Greetings and a question [message #77189 is a reply to message #77173] |
Fri, 19 March 2010 03:48   |
Mark Torgerson
Messages: 19
Registered: March 2010
Karma:
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Junior Member |
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Greetings!
I'm a newbie myself. You will find a great group of people here to help you.
You remind me of how my dream of owning a GMC coach - which just came true.
In the 80's my parents bought a 1973 Winnebago motorhome. In the back magazine rack I found a 1973 RV buyers guild. It contained every class A,B and C motorhome on the market for 1973. When I was bored on a long trip I grabbed it and came across the write up, specs and photos of the GMC coach. I could not believe it. Smooth sides and roof - aerodynamic design and super large windows - no other RV looked so cool. It looked like it came from the future.
Growing up I noticed the prices for these were way too high for me. Finally in my mid thirties the prices were coming down to between 10 - 12,000 dollars for one. So I waited and waited. Driving the remote country one day I saw one for sale sitting in a field. I had to turn around and check it out. It was within my price range. I meet with the seller and made sure the air suspension, the generator and the roof air worked - and went for a test drive. The closet door came open. The refrigerator door came open and each started banging into each other. I was trying to focus on the noises of the engine when a side window fell out and disappeared into a million pieces as it smashed onto the road. Not a good first impression - but I liked it and made a low ball offer. He would not take it stating how much these are worth. I noticed the tags were expired. I asked if he had clear title - he admitted he did not !
He bought the coach from a widow after her husband had passed away - she couldn't find the title and ever since this guy bought the GMC he could not title or register it.
He said he had a bill of sale from the widow and would be willing to write me a bill of sale too.
Wow. Thats nice.
A call to the Motor Vehicles Division (DMV) told me what I already knew: Don't buy a vehicle without a title !!!!
But I just could not let it go. I have been a private Detective for over 15 years so I did some research. Long story short it took me over 5 months to track down and gather documentation on 5 different people who still had security interest in the vehicle - one didn't even know it. I had to find and obtain the following: proof of death on two (2) of them, a release of interest (1) and a bill of sell (1) from the widow AND a bill of sale (1) from the guy selling the coach.
Honestly - I can't imagine someone else doing what i did to get title to this coach - but the fact that he didn't have a title allowed me to wear him down to a $4,500.00 sell price. Finding dead people is not easy. In fact DMV wrote me a letter stating my request for title could not be completed without a signed release from one of the deceased security interest holders. I told them on the phone "I can't get a signed release from a dead person!!" After 2 months DMV finally accepted the proof of death and a letter from the attorney who handled the decedent's will. Crazy.
As another gentleman said - look at this as a hobby. I think we all share the joy (and pains) of bringing the coach back to life again.
'73 Canyon Lands
________________________________
From: Bryan Hayes <hayesnet1@gmail.com>
To: gmclist@temp.gmcnet.org
Sent: Thu, March 18, 2010 8:30:07 PM
Subject: [GMCnet] Greetings and a question
Greetings, all. I'm brand new to this list. I've been interested in GMC
motor homes pretty much since I was a kid in the mid-1970s. My family and I
were traveling along a strip of interstate highway somewhere on a trip in
our 25' Dodge Explorer motor home, which had had no end to problems. As we
were driving along, a shiny new GMC glided past us. My mother, no doubt
summing up all of the repair bills and lost vacation time in her head,
commented, "I wish we would have gotten one of those." For some reason, the
sight of that futuristic-looking motor home and my mother's comment has
stuck with me all these years.
I'm now actively searching for one, and have seen some beautiful
restorations that were way out of my price range, some fairly decent units
that were moderately priced, as well as ones that would make great
restoration projects. One question has been nagging me though, and that is
this:
Why hasn't a company stepped forward to design and build a new, updated
GMC-style motor home?
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