May 1991- Reading thru an Auto Trader I'm looking for the next generation G Body. Being that I already own a 1979 Buick Regal, I decided to look for another Regal, one that is similar to the Grand National. I locate a 1981 Buick Regal in Farmington Hills Michigan that had just arrived from Oklahoma. The vehicle had only been in the state of Michigan for a few months so my guess is that it has a pretty solid body, unlike the Regal I currently own.
I take a drive from my home on Grosse Ile to go see the vehicle. When I arrived I was greeted by an older gentleman that owns the vehicle. I look the vehicle over and he lets me take it for a drive. The light blue Regal drove just fine and had the body of a true southern car, solid as a rock. I give the gentleman a down payment of $100 and told him I will return the next day to pick up the vehicle.
Upon arriving the next day I am greeted by the man and another individual that was introduced to me as his son. The son expressed that he was sad to see the car go because he had plans to turn the car into his own version of a hot rod. I found it rather odd that the son was sad to see the car go because it appeared that he had a look of relief that the vehicle was going away. Either way, I paid the dad the remaining $900 and drove away a happy soul.
The next 8 weeks were spent striping the '81 Buick Regal of all unnecessary equipment that was not needed for a vehicle to conquer the quarter mile. This included the rather weak 3.8- liter V6 and 200 metric transmission in favor of a more stout Pontiac 400 and turbo 350 transmission. Upon the tear down of the interior I noticed that there was shattered glass located underneath the rear seat. I figured the vehicle was a victim of a random act of vandalism and thought nothing of it. Little did I know that this was far from the truth of how that glass got there.
By mid July the transformation of racing parts from one 79' Buick Regal to one 81' Buick Regal was complete. It was now time to transfer the title and plate to make this vehicle legal to drive on the street.
The day following the visit to the local Secretary of State I received a phone call from a the Michigan State Police in regards to the 81 Buick Regal. It just so happens that this vehicle had been on a wanted list by the Michigan State Police for being involved in a murder. That explains the look of relief the son had the day I came to pick up the vehicle.
The next day two detectives arrived at my house to look at the car. "This isn't the vehicle we've been looking for" stated one of the detectives, referring to the 8 week transformation the vehicle had gone thru. I explained to them what was done and what intentions the vehicle was going to be used for. One of the detectives stated that the reason for the visit was that the vehicle was connected to a homicide. There was a body wrapped up in a bag and placed in the trunk of the 81 Buick. The body was brought to a house and the house was set on fire to destroy any evidence. The 81 Regal was the only link the detectives had for any type of physical evidence to connect the son to the murder. It was also mentioned that the vehicle was involved in a shoot out, hence the broken glass underneath the rear seat.
The detectives asked if I would cooperate in them towing the vehicle to a Michigan State Crime Lab to take some swab samples of the trunk to locate any blood stains. The 81 Regal was towed to a crime lab located in Sterling Heights Michigan. When we arrived to the lab, two technicians were ready to swab the trunk area. It appeared that the efforts were all for not due to the partial restoration job of the trunk area, which left the technicians rather frustrated. After an hour of looking for any type of physical evidence thru chemistry, the technicians gave up.
The 81 Regal was towed back to its home on Grosse Ile, never to know what had become of the case. To this day I still don't know if I aided a murderer by cleaning and painting the trunk area of the 81 Regal.
This experience has lead to the personal plate known as BODYBAG and the launch of Bodybag Motorsports!
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