So I'm on Craigslist and I see this ad for a 1971 Rupp Hustler. Pictures were not great and he was asking 1500 Which was crazy. So I give the guy a call and he tells me it's all original never been touched which I found hard to believe cause there were no Hustler decals on the tank. So I ask him to give me the numbers off the Engine. HS40 55355C. Nuff said. He was negotiable on price so I drove the 90 miles this morning to check it out. Turns out the guy is 59 years old and is the original owner. Even gave me the owners manual. Drove it for one summer and parked it. Took off the Hustler decals himself because he didn't like them. Inherited his dads house a year ago and it was still parked in the garage. Tires are flat but have very little wear. Motor is free but carb choke is frozen and I couldnt get the gas cap off..stuck solid. Anyway I've seen enough of these that I know what im looking at and when I saw the seat pan and original seat foam stilll wrapped in plastic I knew I had a winner. After a little haggling it was strapped in my Tacoma on the way back to Western Ma. At less the half of his original asking price I am very happy with the deal. Just not sure what to do with it. Clean it up and leave it as a survivor or full resto... or it would be a good donor on a black widow clone. Probly get it runnning and have fun with it this summer first. First pic is the one from craigslist.
T he rest are in my garage
T he rest are in my garage