Discovery!

Just got off the phone with Randy Mohler who happens to be the son of Raymond Mohler. Raymond's was the name on the receipt I found under the carpet.

After finding the receipt I took a shot in the dark and looked up "R. Mohler Ripon, Ca". My search returned a few phone numbers the only one answered by a human was Randy Mohler's. I spoke to his wife and she told me she would have him call me. To be honest, I wasn't too hopeful but Randy very kindly called back and told me a few things about the car that I could possibly have learned had he not!

Raymond Mohler was the original owner of the Crestline. He bought it from a ford dealership in Manteca, California in 1954 just before he left high school. There is a Knapp Ford in Manteca but Randy wasn't sure if Knapp was the dealership back in 54.

The Crestline served as the Mohler family car for 18 years until 1972. It was never involved in an accident and Raymond changed the oil religiously every 2000 miles! Randy tells me the routine oil changes bordered on an obsession with him! It has certainly paid dividends, in 2008 the motor sounds great!

In 1972 the car was sold to Mr Simmons (Ken?) who owned a dry cleaners in Ripon. Mr Simmons had bought the car with the intention of restoring it himself. It sat in his garage untouched for a while and at some point it was transferred across town to a ranch where it sat covered by a tarp for some time. Randy said he walked past the covered car countless times and it was only after it had been moved that he dicovered it was his father's old Crestline.

The fact that the car was sold in 1972 makes perfect sense. The last service sticker appears to be from 1972 and the California state vehicle inspection sticker on the windscreen expired at the end of 1972.

So this fills in a lot of the blanks! The Crestline has been traced from 1954 to 1972 and some years beyond. That leaves a few years in between, I suspect it sat in a garage or barn somewhere undisturbed for a good number of those years.

Thank you so very much for the information Randy, I'm thrilled to learn more about the car's history. Hopefully I can restore it to the condition you remember it in all those years ago!