The year is 1989. John Lammers of Ontario, Canada, is returning home from his daily commute to Rochester, New York. On this particular Monday, Lammers decides to veer off I-190 and drive a more relaxed Route 20 to sample the small towns of rural New York on a pleasant summer day.
John is not looking for Mopars, but out of the corner of his eye he spots a black Charger parked on a car lot in Darien, New York. He parks his truck and walks over to the '69 Dodge. It looks different from a regular Charger-the grille appears odd, as does the back window, but what really catches his eye is a big Hemi badge on the door.
Although he doesn't know it at the time, John has run across one of the rarest and most desirable Mopar muscle cars ever built-a Hemi Charger 500. It has a mere 1,270 miles on its odometer.
Lammers pops the hood and stares at the marvelous engine. He figures this car must come from somewhere down south because there is no rust anywhere. Lost in wonderment, he wakes up to a deep-throated yell from the other end of the car lot: "Never mind looking at that car. That car is not for sale."
John continues to ogle the engine compartment. He can't take his eyes off the 426 Hemi. Speedy Greco hustles closer, still talking. "You've never even seen a car like this before."
John has to admit to himself the man is right. He has always liked Mopars, but this is the very first Charger 500 he has ever seen. The voice continues to distract Lammers. "Look at that serial number. Look! You've never seen such a serial number like that before. It starts with XX."
John looks down at the trim tag for the XX. "That's Chrysler's designation for their altered cars for the NASCAR circuit."
John is getting an education he hadn't asked for. Speedy continues, saying the car has been sold to a famous athlete who collects muscle cars. "He also bought the Superbird inside. I'm just about finished restoring it for him."
John figures this big man is one of those salesmen who likes to "shovel off the lines." It didn't matter if what was being said was the truth anyway, because John really wasn't out to buy a car. He just thought the Charger was incredible. He closed the hood, got in his truck, and drove home.
Trouble is, once home, he was so intrigued, he had to find out more about that 20-year-old Hemi car. What was it, exactly?
Reading every Mopar book he could buy, John found out Dodge was supposed to build 500 Chargers to homologate its aerodynamic features for the track. That's why the car had looked so odd to him. Dodge pulled the regular grille and replaced it with one from a '68 Coronet, which fit flush with the front end. In the back, they custom-built a window to meet the rear pillars, also for a more slippery shape. This custom fit required body work and a shortened trunk lid with relocated hinges. They stopped production at 392 and went to work on an even more aerodynamic Charger, the winged Daytona.
Full of this kind of information, John had to see the car again, even if it was sold. Every Monday, he took Route 20 home from Rochester and stopped at Speedy's lot. Speedy didn't mind John inspecting the Charger. He could crawl inside, open the hood, look, and touch. He inspected the lack of wear on the foot pedals. John noticed how the ignition key fit and how the doors closed like they were new. He crawled underneath the body to see how it was undercoated and to view fascinating like-new parts, such as the OEM exhaust system.
For the next two months, he got to know the car very well, but even more importantly, he got to know Speedy. Every Monday, the two would drink coffee and talk about Mopars. They became great friends. Speedy, John found out, was as honest a man as he had ever met. He was a real car person and loved Mopars.
Likewise, Speedy learned how much John cared about the black '69 Charger 500. One day John came into the shop yelling, "Speedy, Speedy! Get me a towel. There's water in the trunk."
In one of his many Mopar books, John had read about the poor sealing trunks and how they were prone to rust if left parked out in the rain. It had rained the night before and John's first concern when he got to the lot was to check the Charger's trunk.
John discovered Speedy's Charger originally was shipped to Meister Dodge in Fredonia, New York. They were having financial problems and didn't pay Chrysler in the allotted time. So, Chrysler repossessed the Charger and sold it to "Greco Sales & Service," owned by Speedy and his brother. Speedy was really big into racing, and Chrysler figured he would be interested in this Charger 500. He was real excited about it right off the bat.
Greco used it as an attraction for their dealership. They displayed the car in the showroom, took it on parades and special events. The following year, in 1971, the Greco brothers parted. Speedy's brother kept the dealership. Speedy left with a couple of new cars, one of them being this '69 Charger 500. However, the Charger 500 was never titled or fitted with license plates. Nor has it to this day.
He kept it until 1989, when he put it up for sale to raise capital for a state-of-the-art spray booth in his restoration shop. Apparently, he had made a deal to sell the Charger to the famous professional athlete and muscle car collector.
Finally, after two months, the collector's buyer flew in from down south into Rochester, New York. He met up with a guy named Jim Guck, who had a flatbed truck. They loaded the car and the deal looked done.
The buyer then arrived and had the cash in a money belt, and he started counting out the C-notes. He stopped $5,000 short of the agreed price. Perhaps he didn't realize the kind of person Speedy was. Speedy didn't need signatures on paper or deposits. He felt that a person's word should be good enough. When the man stopped $5,000 short, Speedy looked at the guy and said, "No, that's not the price we agreed on."
The man said, "Yeah, I know, but the car isn't really perfect, either. It's got a couple dings in the side. The headliner is chewed out. It doesn't have the original tires."
And Speedy shot back, "No, that's not the way I do business. Why don't you just take the car off the truck and get off my property."
The buyer wanted the car. He pleaded, "We can work this out."
Speedy figured the deal was off. "No, I tell you what. You could give me $5,000 more than the agreed price and I wouldn't take it 'cause I don't do business like that. So take the car off the truck and leave."
This was a Monday and guess who shows up twenty minutes later? It's John Lammers, ready to drink coffee, talk Mopars, and look at "his" black Charger 500.
Speedy, still wound up by the bum deal, hustled up to his good friend Lammers and said, "John, you really like that car, don't you?"
John replied, "Speedy, that car is incredible."
"Well, you'd love to own that car. Wouldn't you?"
John, who hadn't really thought about owning the car because all along he figured it was already sold, answered, "Oh, yeah, Speedy. Sure. You know I'd love to own that car."
Speedy said, "I'll tell you what. The car is yours."
In a state of shock, John said, dumbfounded, "Ohhhh?"
Speedy kept talking. "And I'll tell you something else. I know you appreciate the car so much, you can have it for what that guy offered me for it."
As they sat down to doses of caffeine, Speedy related the story about how the deal for the Charger 500 fell through.
When John left that evening, he drove home wondering how he would get the money to buy the low-mileage Dodge. He didn't come back for weeks, but when he did come back, he explained, "Speedy, I'm sorry, but it's going to take some time for me to come up with this money."
Speedy didn't care. "That doesn't matter. Whenever you have the money, the car will be sitting here."
"Well, I've got some money here, let me give you some money down just to let you know I'm serious about this."
"No, I don't want your money. I told you the car is yours, and I don't care how long it takes you. When you get the money, the car will be sitting here."
Every time John could get some money together, he gave it to Speedy, who kept a little piece of paper in his desk drawer. He'd write down how much John gave him.
After a year and ten months, John paid off the car. Over that period, the value of Hemi Mopars climbed rapidly, but Speedy never backed out of his deal or squawked that he needed more money.
John brought the car home and in his ten years of ownership has driven it only 350 miles and left it pretty much unrestored. Speedy had sprayed an oil based preservative on the engine and undercarriage, which kept the car rust free and in good condition.
Apparently, the first dealer pulled the original rear stripes, so John bought a replacement set and put them on himself. The original tires dry rotted. The negative battery cable has been replaced. During one long storage term, mice chewed through the original headliner.
Otherwise, this Charger 500 with Super Performance Axle Package and 4.10:1 Dana rearend, is probably the lowest mileage example left on the planet. It's a rolling time capsule of originality. Inside, the red upholstery, dash, and carpet are nearly mint. The paint is original and looks beautiful.
Speedy Greco passed away a couple years after John bought the car. John's life has really been touched by Speedy because of his honesty, friendship, and the opportunity to own this very special Hemi Charger.