Accidental LROM - May 2010 The Tale of the ROO WAGN

Well… I haven’t been here as long as a lot of you guys, and I definitely pale in comparison to nearly everyone on this forum when it comes to car knowledge, etc. etc, but I still love them. I love cars of all types, pretty much, and I always have – I’ve been raised around them.

My longroof-ian tale starts in a sort of off-the-wall manner, as in it wasn’t even supposed to happen. I had a ’94 Cadillac Fleetwood that I was supposed to fix and put on the road. I was stoked about it for months and months. Unfortunately, what ended up happening was my uncle, who gave me the car, his wife lost the title, and it never got signed over to me, and he owed a lot of tax debt, so they seized pretty much all of his assets. Cadillac included. But that didn’t stop me from parting it out first, since it’s not like they know whether or not it was running. Total money from that = $1200.

I also had about $2500 of my own saved up, and I knew it would be about $500 to tag a car (Florida suuuucks). So I started to hunt. I ran across other Cadillacs, trucks, and eventually, a white Roadmaster Wagon. It piqued my interest, because looking at it, all I could think was “This could totally haul an entire house!” So I went to look at it, but it had body rust – a lot of it. Like, holes in the roof type rust, so I passed. Eventually, I decided that I wanted a wagon. It was everything I wanted in a car. It was large, roomy, comfortable, and most importantly, had 8 cylinders (Sorry Greenpeace, global warming is B.S.).



So I hunted around more and more, and realized that wagons are pretty uncommon vehicles. I eventually found this red Caprice wagon for $1950. All that the ad said was: 350 V8, 102,000 miles, red and silver. Must sell. So I immediately called my dad and he went to look at it. He read the SPID and confirmed it had a 350, and got me the VIN, so I checked it out and found that it had like every awesome option: it had the L05, it was a tow package 3.23 rear car, air ride suspension (which dad said worked!), power driver’s seat, third row seat… everything.

I was set on getting this wagon. I kept in contact with the guy while I waited for my money from school to come in, pretty much calling every 3-4 days making sure he still had it. In February, he told me someone wanted to buy the car from Mississippi. He was going to turn it into a donk. I was so sad. I decided to call him one more time and plead my case. I appealed to his better nature, and made it clear I had no interest in doing the whole donk thing, that I liked performance cars, and would use the wagon for a practical purpose. He decided to work with me, with a $250 deposit and told the other guy that it sold.

I was in heaven. When I got home and I heard the car for the very first time, I had the biggest grin in the world. It was love at first rumble. Now, it has 104,700 miles and counting; and I’ll be driving it for a long time to come. Here are some pictures chronicling my wagon adventure. There will be more. This summer, I plan on doing some stuff to it, but I don’t know what. I can’t decide if I’m going to do the body work, paint, some performance mods, or or or … ahhhh the possibilities! I love this car!


Livin' the wagon life.

My dogs love it too!

What a great story and I am glad that the seller had a heart and worked with you.You already have had some great memorable events occur with your wagon and cant even begin to imagine what the future holds.When I saw your dogs in the back it reminded me of my 2 girls who love to go anywhere with me in my wagon.I have American Eskimos and they love to jump from the back seat to the cargo area and try to hide from me.They only weigh about 15 to 18 pounds but both have pure white coats of hair so hiding is impossible except when it snows and then they do disappear.
Thats a great picture of them in the back of the wagon but they look a little crowded so put down the back seat.On a recent trip I left the seat folded and the cargo area covered and after a while they both crawled back under the cover and slept until I stopped.The only bad thing about white dogs is the cleaning up when you get home but its worth it.
Having someone your age in the group is great because I know that your love for these wagons will only grow stronger and that maybe you will make fans out of some of your friends.
Flasheroo

Back seat was down in that shot, I think. Mom took it the day they brought the car home while I was still up at college. My dog, Moose (the one on the left in the shot) loves riding in the car with me though. The other one, Jasmine (the yellow lab/pit mix you can barely see behind Moose) also loves to ride, but she's too fidgety when the car moves.

I was pretty excited when he said he would take my deposit.

Great story, thanks for sharing! That one dog looks a little bored though.

Which? The one on the left with his mouth open? (That's my dog, Moose)

We actually just got back from a car ride. He had his head out the rear window pretty much the whole time. lol

Its nice to read stories like this,. the enthusiasm is great, the passion etc,.. kinda like a girl discovering,, um,. well you know for the first time,.. then after a while you become very jaded,.
we need more newbies,.





to buy my wagon(s)
any of the three,. and the 1/2 car too,.


Nick

Half car?

good story Stingroo and look forward to seeing it in person when you get back from skool.

One of my red interior cars, the PO had an Americacn Eskimo. there is still hair in the car, it just won't come out....

Already back.

We're moving this week/weekend though (south one city, to Hobe Sound).. lol

Great story...glad the seller let you buy it as well At 104k miles now, your wagon has a VERY long life left! Wow!

Well maintained miles too. That engine bay is so clean you can almost eat off of it. The posi works (ask me how I know ), AC blows COOOOOLD (Is this R12, by the way? >_>), power seat works, etc. etc.

And I just scored a red cloth Roadmaster armrest for it: $8!

Quote :

....(Is this R12, by the way? >_>)....

They were originally R12 but may have been converted to R134a. I find that the converted ones don't blow as cold. There is a replacement for R12 now called Freeze12. Great stuff and my A/C blows COLD with it too.

So, if it hasn't been converted (there should be a sticker if it was) don't convert it.

Yeah, I don't think it has been. I've been in converted cars, and I too think it doesn't make it as nice.

This thing will freeze your face off with the fan on Hi. lol That's why I originally asked (Plus, I think we switched to R134a in... '94? I'd have to ask dad, but yeah).

It's definitely not in need of freon, but I figured it'd be good to know for reference.

Yes I agree that a charged r12 does blow cooler that converted r134 systems.I think it has to do with the original r12 components that were designed for r12 and not r134 so I think the effcientsy goes down somewhat.I have been using Artic Freeze in my wagon and it blows much cooler that any other r134 out there and I have tryed a bunch of them.What impresses me is how quickly the AF begins to blow cold compared to the others.
I keep a small dual temp gauge on my dash to read outlet and interior temps.The best way to keep your ac blowing cold is either converting to dual electric fans or if keeping your mechanical fan just add a small pusher fan in front to keep air moving when you stop at lights or are running in slow traffic.Those gauges that come on top of AF cans are pretty accurate and easier to use that my bulky set of pro gauges.My car has a very slow leak somewhere so I keep a refill can and gauge handy at all times.
Take Care and Be Happy
Flasheroo

First I want to thank Stingroo for pinch hitting for someone who could not post at the last minute. Thanks You!

Now that is a great story, got yourself a nice ride for a fair price. You probably don't realize how lucky you are having an unlimited supply of Florida cars. I know you will take good care of her.

thanks again

Tom

Heh. Unlimited Florida cars... ha. I actually have so far today seen 3 different longroofs.

Gotta love Florida.

Great story! I'm glad you kept after the seller and convinced him to sell to you. Love the pictures of the dogs in the back. My Daughter loves to play in the back of mine, she is always loading her toys up like it's her favorite little fort. I look forward to meeting you in July.

Should be a great time. It's looking like there's going to be 3 wagons mingling with the Cadillacs. Hope you make it.

I was glad I got after the seller too, I love the car.