Man reunited with '69 Hurst Oldsmobile 442 after trading it 40 years ago

Rich Moline bought his exact '69 Hurst Oldsmobile Cutlass 442 back after spotting it at a local car show

Aug 8th 2019 at 11:24AM

Stories like this warm our hearts like an engine coming up to temperature after a cold start. A man was recently reunited with his original 1969 Hurst Oldsmobile 442 after attending a local car show in Reno, Nevada.

Rich Moline and his wife, Darlene, attended Hot August Nights one evening in 2016, and while checking out some of the show cars on display, Moline stumbled upon a ’69 442 that reminded him of his own back when he was high school. At the time, they thought nothing of it and continued checking out cars, even after speaking to its owner at the time, Bill Nipper, who had no idea of the history of the car he brought to the show.

 

A year later at the same show, Moline spotted the same car and chatted with Nipper again, who told him the vehicle number was 211. And it was with that piece of information that Moline determined that this was the exact car he had originally purchased over 40 years ago. Moline later traded the 442 for a 1975 Blazer when he relocated to Iowa for a new job.

“Bill found documentation to verify that the car was number 211,” Moline told Hot Rod Magazine. “And Bill noted that it originally had been delivered to Billion Motors in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Well, I grew up in Sioux Falls, and I bought my Hurst/Olds at Billion Motors in 1972. The car before me was my car!”

Moline attempted to buy the car back from Nipper, but was told it wasn’t for sale. But the following November, Nipper gave Moline a call and told him that if he still wanted the car to come with a check before Nipper put it up for auction at Mecum in Las Vegas.

“That November, I got the call that he (Nipper) had booked a slot for a premium Saturday time at Mecum in Las Vegas in a week. If I wanted it, I needed to show up with a check,” Moline said. “We agreed to meet the next day, and we drove to his home in Fernley, Nevada, for a test drive. As I backed it out into the street, the sound and feel were that of my youth, and memories flooded back after more than 40 years apart.”

Check out the story, along with more pictures of the Olds, at Hot Rod Magazine.

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