How 1969 muscle car brought ex-owners together
Jeff Leckinger never thought he would see his first ever car again, let alone 55 years to the day he bought it back on April 1, 1969.
Leckinger’s 1969 Oldsmobile F-85 Cutlass W-31 has been passed off to several different owners and locations until it ended up in New York with Steve Puleo.
After years of restoration and planning, Steve and his brother, Joe, managed to get all the previous owners of the Cutlass together to celebrate 55 years of its life and the joy and memories it brought to each and every person who got to drive it.
“I’m planning a party with people I’ve never met in a place I’ve never been,” Steve Puleo said.
His party was hosted Monday at the location of the former Courtesy Oldsmobile, on the corner of South Monroe and Jennings streets. He managed to get in contact with the current owner of the building, Mike Wester, who let them keep the car overnight before the big surprise in the morning.
Steve, 50, Leckinger, 73, and Richard Mabie, 70, the third owner, along with his brother Ken, all managed to get together to swap stories of owning the car, taking it out racing, and they even got to cruise around in it for old time’s sake.
Leckinger’s story with the car is a short-lived one.
While attending high school, he purchased a brand-new 1969 Oldsmobile F-85 with the help of his father from Courtesy Oldsmobile for $3,335.22, which today would be the amount of a down payment on a new car.
The car came painted gold with black rally stripes, featuring a black interior with a bench seat and SSII Rally wheels.
After only a year of owning the car, Leckinger traded in the Cutlass