The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

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September 2, 2009

UPDATE: Army specialist finds special car in Mercer County — from Iraq

By Joe Pinchot

GREENVILLE — John Wolford slipped into the ’96 Ford Mustang and turned the key, juicing the 4.3-liter engine. The small confines of his Greenville dealership showroom boosted the roar of the loudmouth exhaust.

“Sold,” said Army Spc. Dennis Johnston, barely audible over the muscle car din.

Those were the words Wolford had been waiting to hear.

Johnston went Wednesday to J.P. Wolford Sales with money in hand to buy the burgundy Mustang, but had never even seen the car in person before, let alone test-driven it.

In fact, the deal was made over the Internet — while Johnston was in Iraq.

Johnston, 22, of Dunbar, Pa., was wrapping up a nine-month stint in suburban Baghdad and wanted a ride for when he came home.

“You know, when you got that money and you want them wheels,” he said.

He checked out cars on Craig’s List and found the Mustang, and salesman Jeff Otto’s photographs and description of it.

Otto opened his e-mail box one day and found this message, “I want to buy ur 96 Mustang. Email me right away.”

Otto and Johnston sent e-mails back and forth, although the Internet service Johnston was using from the war zone was slow and unreliable. Some of his messages never got through, and he feared he had lost the car.

Wolford said he was amazed that someone half a world away would contact his business about a car.

“It was unbelievable,” he said. “Here’s this guy, way over there.”

Wolford wondered if the messages could be cranks — especially when a deposit Johnston was supposed to send never arrived — but he kept faith that they weren’t.

“We could have sold this car three or four times during this whole thing,” Wolford said. “But, we kept holding onto it because he’s in the service and he had his heart set on it.”

Johnston, an infantry veteran of fire fights, patrols, house raids and cache searches, battled fears that the car might not be all that it seemed on the Internet.

“I noticed it was coming from a dealership,” he said. “I could trust that.”

The Mustang has 107,000 miles on it, but you can’t tell that by looking at the body or the interior. The previous owner handled it with kid gloves, and added toys such as Hot Wheels rims and racing headers.

“It’s a sweet ride,” Otto said. Wolford added that he had nothing done to the car after he bought it.

“I’m not sure I want to drive it,” Johnston quipped, noting the condition. He said it will be a fair-weather car, and he already has lined up a place to store it for the winter, or an expected deployment to Afghanistan.

In honor of Johnston’s service, Wolford threw in a free six-month warranty, and handed him $200 for gas.

“Awesome,” Johnston responded. “Thank you. I’m glad I did my homework and I found it.”

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