Not Bad for 55 Years Old!

[StevenGuthmiller]

Pulled out the '69 Grand Prix this afternoon to clean a little of the dust off of it.

It still amazes me how well the original interior on this car has survived after 12 years of use prior to me, 7 or 8 years of abuse by a hard living teenager, (that would be me ) and then 28 years of sitting in a dirty, damp, farm outbuilding, where it was subject to pillaging and damage after the meth heads moved into the farm house for the last few years of storage!

 

This interior will be remaining original, except for a new headliner, (which the mice have eaten and turned into a condominium) new rear package shelf, (which the meth heads destroyed trying to get into the trunk through the interior) and probably sun visors, carpet, and possibly a few other little pieces here and there.

I could never bring myself to re-upholster these "survivor" seats, even though there has been some discoloration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Bucky]

It looks great, Steve! I've seen much newer cars look far worse. I bought a '69 Dodge Dart GT in 1983, promptly put gray duct tape on the driver's seat cushion, and held the headliner up with one hand while I steered with the other! LoL ? 

[NOBLNG]

Wow, I’m amazed the mice didn’t destroy those seats too…or the meth heads. These are great looking cars.?

[Ace-Garageguy]

Very nice indeed.  

[StevenGuthmiller]

3 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

Wow, I’m amazed the mice didn’t destroy those seats too…or the meth heads. These are great looking cars.?

Apparently my mice were relatively courteous tenants.

No apparent damage that I’ve been able to find in the wiring, and it appears as if the majority of the nest building material stuffed into the hood latch area of the hood, and behind the headliner has come from the headliner backing/insulation.

The only real damage from the mice is the holes chewed in the headliner itself, giving it the appearance of a nice Swiss cheese, and the steady rain of chewed up headliner backing material and mouse turds falling from the roof! ?
 

 

 

 

Steve

Edited May 12, 2024 by StevenGuthmiller

[1930fordpickup]

1 hour ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

 

The only real damage from the mice is the holes chewed in the headliner itself, giving it the appearance of a nice Swiss cheese, and the steady rain of chewed up headliner backing material and mouse turds falling from the roof! ?
 

 

 

 

Steve

That should keep people from eating in the car. 

[1930fordpickup]

You are right Steve. No need to change the seat covering yet..

[Bills72sj]

Thanks for sharing Steve. Nice to see another survivor Grand Prix. I just started the resurrection of my spare 455 for my 72 SJ.

[gbdolfans]

How about some exterior pics

 

[espo]

The interior still looks great, and I agree, they are only original once. Fortunately, there are several companies that offer OEM level replacement parts for the rest of the interior. 

[FoMoCo66]

Nice original interior. My dad's first car a 1966 falcon has it's original intirior. Besides the cracks in the drivers seat everything is practicly mint (before him getting it in high school it was a preachers car with a straight 6). Now it's got a 289.

[JollySipper]

Steve, that interior looks great! My old man also has a survivor car with it's original interior........ I hope it's okay to show you here! It's a '73 Charger with an appearance package called the Aztec. I believe the package was just the bronze exterior paint, and the funky pattern on the seats.........

 

[Danno]

Interesting, Timothy, that it has a 'halo' vinyl top. I had a '74 - no vinyl top - and loved it!  But, I don't recall seeing either the Aztec Package or a 'halo' top on any of the 71-74 Chargers. 

Thanks for sharing. 

[NOBLNG]

Yeah, some exterior pics would be nice. There was one sitting out behind the dealership in my hometown with no engine in it. I kinda fell in love with it. I was maybe ten or twelve years old and I thought those door handles were just the coolest thing ever.?

[StevenGuthmiller]

54 minutes ago, JollySipper said:

Steve, that interior looks great! My old man also has a survivor car with it's original interior........ I hope it's okay to show you here! It's a '73 Charger with an appearance package called the Aztec. I believe the package was just the bronze exterior paint, and the funky pattern on the seats.........

 

Brings back memories of a '73 Charger that my dad bought new in 1973.

A triple black SE with the "opera windows" and a 318 auto.

 

Kind of a funny story, but my parents went to a dealership one weekend in the summer of '73 with the intention of buying a new Dodge or Plymouth wagon for my mother.

He saw the Charger sitting on the showroom floor and immediately fell in love with it, and to my absolute amazement, somehow talked my mother into going along with his delirium!

 

Long story short, buy the spring of 1974, the Charger was gone, and my mother was driving a new Plymouth wagon!

 

 

 

 

Steve

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, NOBLNG said:

Yeah, some exterior pics would be nice. There was one sitting out behind the dealership in my hometown with no engine in it. I kinda fell in love with it. I was maybe ten or twelve years old and I thought those door handles were just the coolest thing ever.?

Here are a few quick snaps as it sits in my garage today.

As you can see, the paint did not fare as well as the interior after all of those years in a leaky out building, and there is some rust to repair, but I've seen worse.

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Bucky]

Great looking Poncho! Doesn't look like it needs a whole lot of work. My favorite GP has always been the '69-'70.

My cousin had a '69 that was gold with a gold or tan interior.  He was very young and just couldn't handle that 400!!