I would have said “on accident”, but I have used that one before. Anyway, a few weeks ago a buddy that I have known since high school because of cars sends me a text with a few bad pics of a 51 Ford with a note from the owner that was recently widowed almost a year ago. She was wanting to sell the car but also wanted someone to help her make sure it still ran and would also help her come up with a value. My buddy is mainly a 55-57 Chevy guy so didn’t know much about the shoebox Ford’s. Anyway, I decided to just call her and get the rest of the story. She said that they had bought the car out of Kentucky and her husband had then repainted it and had all the chrome replated. That’s about all she mentioned other than telling me about her husband that was a retired marine, was in Vietnam, and decided to become a bodyman after the war. She also mentioned that they had been married 57 years. So, I made an appointment to go check out the car last week that was about two hours from home. I loaded up all the stuff I thought I might need but when I got there, they had already put in a new battery. I shot some starting fluid in it and it fired right up. It seems to run smooth but the fuel pump was leaking so I didn’t run it long. I pushed the brakes and they went to the floor since it hadn’t really been driven since about when Covid started. I gave her a range of what I thought the car was worth and then she asked if I wanted it. I told her I would love to have it but also wasn’t looking. She asked me what I would give and I told her a price that was higher than I really wanted to give but it also became a sticky deal when the guy telling her what the value is also makes an offer. She said she wanted to think on it a couple days so I waited until last Friday to check back with her. When I called her, she said she wanted $1000 more than I offered which was honestly more than I wanted to pay and likely more than the car is worth. I told her I would need to pass and would help her sell it if she wanted help. Fast forward to today, when my phone rang at 6:30 am. She said she would take what I offered and wanted me to come get it whenever I could. So, this evening seemed like a good idea. That was until I hit torrential rains most of the way there and back. Thankfully it didn’t rain while I was loading the car. However, I did end up soaked when my signal to the trailer taillights lost connection at some point. Instead of spending forever troubleshooting that, I just ran a wire from the battery to the taillights while getting soaked. Now that I have bored everyone with the story, here are some pics from what I originally saw and some I took tonight. More to come, but it’s a pretty clean car that seems to have 60k original miles as best I can tell. Pics I saw from my buddy including a before paint pic. Photos from this evening. It was a pretty emotional night for the owner but she later texted me and thanked me for treating her so nice. Pretty sure she is glad I ended up with it. Not sure what all my plans are yet other than likely lowering it and swapping wheels and tires. Oh, and I need to fix the brakes and fuel pump.
Hey Hey Now May good luck be with your efforts. No apologees for telling of adventure that makes one ( or should I say each ) of us wonder,,, Is anyone else out there trying to have a good day? When the conditions would make most holler hell and go watch TV.. ` Will be lookin' for updates. Ya done good.
It’s still all original as best I can tell. No tears in seats or anything, but some water stains. I’ll get some pics later this week when I have some time to get it unloaded off the trailer. Working late the next couple days which is part of why I went and got it last night.
Man I dunno Jeff. I only know one guy around my town who owns a shoebox, and they all say he's a real azz hole.... Lol. Car looks awesome, will be watching for updates. Gotta post it in the shoebox owners thread if you ain't yet. Our boy in the D sent me a Pic of his Bonnie just yesterday. Thing looks pretty sweet nowadays....
Interior pics since I had a minute before leaving for work this morning. I take back what I said about original seats. Looks like they have been redone. It is definitely functional and just needs some cleanup. I could be wrong on the original mileage, but sure seems possible.
The Jalopy Journal
