The Sebring was about 400 miles away. The owner had assured me that his wife drove the car all the time. He had bought it in New Jersey, where it was originally assembled, and drove it to Florida. It had new tires and I was reasonably sure that I could drive it back to my home in Louisiana. I was also happy that it had a Chevy engine and a standard T5 trans. I've been wrenching Chevys since I started driving (grew up in a GM family) and know them better than Ford's.

The car's body wasn't perfect. It had a crack in the gel coat on one fender and the gel coat was cloudy from age. Also, it had a cracked door glass. The motor needed a tune up and felt a sluggish, but it only had 8000 miles showing on the odometer. The owner claimed it had been assembled with a new crate motor back in '89 and the original owner hadn't driven it much.

As for driving, it had no issues. It steered OK and stopped good. My test drive wasn't as long as I would have liked, since we were in a very congested area. That would come back to haunt me later.

One bonus was that the car came with a removable hardtop. A deal was made, paperwork done, and we started out for home. I was happy that it had cost a small fraction of what a Cobra kit would have been and it was a driveable car with a clear title. That joy would soon be gone, however. The "adventure" was just beginning!