I think that might be my Grail grill.
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Aw, man. That makes me feel bad for stealing it out from under ya.
I saw the ad on CL, asked the wife if she was up for another road trip, texted the seller to set a time, loaded up and headed to STL. A quick stop at Kingdom City to pick up the mother- and father-in-law (they like going on road trips to get grills - I live in the company of enablers.)
Got to Creve Couer right on time - almost 2 hours exactly after the initial text, and the guy was still wiping dust off the top. He said he'd gotten four other contacts after mine, and suggested it might be worth more than his original asking price. I said "I don't really know what it's worth," and offered him a bill worth the asked amount, which resulted in a hand shake.
We chatted for a bit more before I loaded it up. It was his dad's grill. I said it was likely a 1969 or 1970 model, which he thought was about right. His dad was apparently an OG (original grillfella) - he bought it new at the hardware store the first day they came in. He also had a pretty nice 70's vintage Cadillac convertible in the drive - wouldn't take the same amount for it, though.
We celebrated the acquisition with a burger and shake from Steak 'n Shake.
The cooking grate is in really good condition, the charcoal grate is typical of older grills - a little bowed.
I'll have some questions later about restoring one of these older kettles - what mistakes to avoid!