Hi All -
I'm the new owner of a '78 FJ40 that I purchased from Ebay... I live in Denver NC up around Lake Norman. It's great to find this forum and to make your acquaintance! Here's where the story get's a bit more interesting:
From '98 to '03 or so, I also had an FJ40 - a '77. I built it from the ground up (frame off, etc.), attended GSMTR, etc. Made some good friends through those rides including a guy named Pat Murphy. Someone here may have known Pat - he lived out in Raleigh and had a great 40 as well.
Well, Pat was tragically killed when he was struck by lightning holding a boat on a dock. I will never forget getting an email from his Dad announcing what had happened and that Pat was gone. I also vividly remember attending Pat's wake and the Cruiser being parked outside the funeral home.
Shortly thereafter, Life called, I had to sell my cruiser to make a down payment on a house, had kids, etc. Fast forward about 15 years and I'm sitting on a very boring conference call thinking "I wonder what FJ40's are going for these days". So, I fired up Ebay and the first cruiser that popped up was a well built beige cruiser located in Raleigh. I start corresponding with the guy and trying to get him to end the auction and buy it directly. He was having none of this as he had good interest on it online.
I get in touch with another old friend who I thought might know this cruiser I found. His response: "Holy s&#t, that's got to be Pat's cruiser!" I ask the guy on Ebay if he's Pat's dad and, sure enough, he says yes. Well, at that point, I had to win the auction.
Well, I won the auction. Went to pick up the Cruiser and Pat's dad had a stack of receipts a foot tall and a big smile knowing that the Cruiser had gone to the home of someone who would love it as much as his son had and who had known Pat.
Hope to see you guys at a meet up soon - hopefully will have this rig running as good as Pat did 15 years ago!
Jeff
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I'm the new owner of a '78 FJ40 that I purchased from Ebay... I live in Denver NC up around Lake Norman. It's great to find this forum and to make your acquaintance! Here's where the story get's a bit more interesting:
From '98 to '03 or so, I also had an FJ40 - a '77. I built it from the ground up (frame off, etc.), attended GSMTR, etc. Made some good friends through those rides including a guy named Pat Murphy. Someone here may have known Pat - he lived out in Raleigh and had a great 40 as well.
Well, Pat was tragically killed when he was struck by lightning holding a boat on a dock. I will never forget getting an email from his Dad announcing what had happened and that Pat was gone. I also vividly remember attending Pat's wake and the Cruiser being parked outside the funeral home.
Shortly thereafter, Life called, I had to sell my cruiser to make a down payment on a house, had kids, etc. Fast forward about 15 years and I'm sitting on a very boring conference call thinking "I wonder what FJ40's are going for these days". So, I fired up Ebay and the first cruiser that popped up was a well built beige cruiser located in Raleigh. I start corresponding with the guy and trying to get him to end the auction and buy it directly. He was having none of this as he had good interest on it online.
I get in touch with another old friend who I thought might know this cruiser I found. His response: "Holy s&#t, that's got to be Pat's cruiser!" I ask the guy on Ebay if he's Pat's dad and, sure enough, he says yes. Well, at that point, I had to win the auction.
Well, I won the auction. Went to pick up the Cruiser and Pat's dad had a stack of receipts a foot tall and a big smile knowing that the Cruiser had gone to the home of someone who would love it as much as his son had and who had known Pat.
Hope to see you guys at a meet up soon - hopefully will have this rig running as good as Pat did 15 years ago!
Jeff
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