The story of Doorthy begins in 1986. Joe Shea and his family owned a condominium in Purgatory, CO, that they frequented very often from Dallas. TX. They usually drove from Dallas to Purgatory in an old Ford custom van that Joe hated. After several years of frustration with the van and because there was not enough room in the van for the family, Joe got the brilliant idea that what was needed was a used limousine so each of the kids would have their own seat. After thinking about this for awhile, Joe got an even more brilliant idea that it would be better to get an old Chevy limousine since he was fond of old cars and already had a 1962 Chevy Impala SS Convertible. After discussing this idea with Sandy, she said, “You wouldn’t dare, and if you do I won’t ride in it.” That was all he needed.

In February 1986, Joe sent a note to the Late Great Chevy Association in Orlando, FL, asking that the following ad would be published in its next monthly magazine:

Wanted: Late Great Airport Limousine, preferably 1962

with his name, address, and phone number. The ad ran in the March 1986 issue of the organization’s magazine. In late March 1986, Joe received a note from Jay Davidson in Boston, MA, with an ad from the March 1986 issue of Hemmings Motor News. The ad with picture read:

Joe immediately called the number in the ad and finally talked to the seller after a few days of playing phone tag. He told Joe that the car had a little bit of rust, was straight, and that it had sat for quite awhile with no motor and they put in a 350 motor. He also said the brakes were okay, good exhaust, fair rubber, new paint, and it was complete except for some door chrome. He also said it needed shocks. After discussing price, they came to an agreement for $4,500.00 for the car, including shipping it to Dallas by Auto Movers Inc. On April 8, 1986, Joe sent a wire transfer to the seller finalizing the deal. No mention of this was made to Sandy.

On April 17, 1986, Joe sent a note to Jay Davidson thanking him for remembering one ad when he saw the other and told him he bought the limo. He wrote back that he was glad he could help out, but he only wondered why Joe would want that "beast."

A few days later Joe got a phone call from the auto transport company saying the car would be arriving in Dallas that evening some time around dinner. Joe took Sandy and their youngest daughter, Robyn, to dinner at their favorite Mexican restrauant. After serving Sandy two large margaritas, Joe told her what he had done and after dinner they were going to go to the transport terminal to see their purchase. Sandy was not amused.

After dinner, they went to the terminal and got there as the car was being driven off the truck. The car was so loud because it had no mufflers! After it was down, Joe noticed that one of the windows was down and asked Robyn to scoot across the seat and roll up the window. As she put her foot inside the door, her foot went through the floor board all the way to the ground. So much for the Seller’s comment that the car had a little bit of rust! Sandy was convinced that Joe was insane and she refused to ever been seen in the car. Robyn felt that it needed a name and with 7 doors, it was obvious that her name should be Doorthy.