This Limelight 1970 GTX is the fourth GTX that Ric LaFollette of Thorntown, Indiana has owned. Late in 1985, Ric ran an ad in the club newsletter stating that he was looking for a GTX, any year considered but preferably a 1969 or 1970. He was hoping to find a one-owner with low miles, a 4-speed, air grabber hood and, if a 1970, he wanted one of the High-Impact colors. He never expected to be lucky enough to find a GTX with everything he wanted, just a close example.

Soon a club member in New Mexico contacted Ric to tell him of a GTX in that area and it sounded too good to be true. The "X" was still in the hands of the original owner, had less than 60,000 miles on it, was Limelight Green, had an air grabber hood atop the 440 and a console-mounted 4-speed! Unfortunately, the car was not really for sale, but had been sitting for four years because the owner couldn't get insurance due to DUI charges against him. Ric was determined to buy that GTX, so he had the New Mexico member start talking to the owner, trying to convince him to sell the car.

After several months of no progress, Ric started writing letters and making phone calls with promises and offers. Finally, after he was just about to give up, the owner accepted Ric's offer. Between the cost of the car and the cost of shipping it home to Indiana, there would not be enough left to allow Ric to fly to New Mexico and check the car out. So here he was, laying out a sizeable bit of change for a car that he had only seen pictures of and that he was buying from a reluctant stranger. His fears ranged from the chance that the car would be an absolute piece of junk to the possibility that the member that called in the first place could be working a con job on him. By the time the car transport arrived at Ric's house, he was prepared for the worst.

Ric was pleasantly relieved and surprised when the car rolled out of the transport in better shape than he had been led to believe and was in 95% original condition. In the trunk were some of the original parts that the owner had removed. A couple of humorous notes about the car: Remember mention of the DUI charges? When cleaning out the car for the first time, Ric found two empty Coors cans under the passenger bucket seat...not just on the floor but jammed into the corners of the seat itself! No doubt a hasty solution when the owner had been pulled over. The first night that Ric had the car home, he discovered that it had a locking gas cap and he had no keys for it. He had to resort to breaking off the cap to fill the car with gas. The next day a letter arrived from the wife of the previous owner with the gas cap key enclosed.

Ric's "X" is a familiar site at club National Meets and a lovely B-Body that we are proud to have in the club!