On Dec. 19, 1969, Mike Gabriel — who had recently graduated from college and turned 24 years old — gifted himself with the new Rallye Red 1970 Plymouth Hemi ’Cuda from J.E. Grissom Chrysler-Plymouth in Center Line, Mich. The well-optioned ’Cuda arrived at the dealership from the Hamtramck Assembly Plant and went into dealer inventory, where Gabriel spotted it. His first choice was actually a Hemi Road Runner, but the dealership didn’t have one in its inventory, so Gabriel “settled” for the Hemi ’Cuda instead.
From 1970 to 1973, Gabriel used the Hemi ’Cuda as a daily driver, even during Michigan’s snowy winter months. In 1973, he decided not to put himself and the Hemi ’Cuda through another Michigan winter and its white-knuckle driving conditions. Michigan’s application of road salt further influenced Gabriel to store the car during the snowy season as he attempted to keep it from succumbing to rust. Fortunately for Gabriel, a promotion at AMC allowed him to lease a company vehicle. In 1973, he was relocated to Jeep headquarters in Toledo, Ohio, and his vehicle of choice for the daily commute from his residence in Plymouth, Mich., to Toledo was a Jeep CJ.
In 1976, engine noises caused him to buy a cam, and remove the valve covers, and it's likely he then discovered he'd have to pull the engine to replace the cam, so, that simply stopped all progress. He did died in 2011.
I worked with Mike, he at the end of his career, me just starting. Nice man taken too soon.
ReplyDeleteHeard rumors about the car. By the time I met him, he was all in on Jeeps.
Glad to see that it is still in the family and unchanged. Hope it stays that way for a long time.
I hope they fix the engine, get it running, and make it more than a car to get dusted off, while the rust continues it's cancerous growth, and use it to keep his legacy alive in their family by passing it down from generation to generation, an incredibly rare care, that will never depreciate in sentimental, or financial, value for their family.
DeleteRemarkable story!