Have you ever bought a car that you had no thought or intention of ever owning only because destiny seemed to be at work? Here's my story ..... Back in 1972 I decided it was time to build another hot rod . I was then in my twenty's and over the years I had owned or built a number of cars and because my family had always driven Chevy's that's what all of my projects were. I had a 39 Chevy coupe with a Dodge hemi, a 55 Chevy with a hot 301 SB, a 61 Vette with a big block L88 stuffed into it just to name a few. I thought this time I'd buck the trend and go with(I didn't tell dad) a Ford. A couple of my friends had pretty hot Model A's with both flatheads and small blocks and because they could be gotten at a reasonable price I figured that might be a good place for me to start bucking the trend. I follower a couple of local leads and all turned out to be junk so I started to look to other sources and found an ad in Hemmings from a guy in Haverhill Ma. who claimed to have a number of almost "Perfect "Model A bodies. Being in Connecticut that was a bit of a hall but I convinced a friend of mine to take a drive up to Massachusetts to see what this guy had to offer. Early the next Saturday morning he picked me and my pocket full of cash up (or more accurately all of the cash that I could muster at the time) and off we went to buy a nice Ford Model A for my next project. We arrived at our destination full of anticipation only to find a yard of rusted out hulks so after a few choice words to the owner we headed back to Connecticut. We were only one town away from home and it was just turning dusk when I saw what looked like a black Model A coupe going by in the other direction and in the rear window was a for sale sign. I told my buddy to hurry up and make a "Youie" to try and catch up with the car. He got turned around and we headed back up the road but didn't see the car so figuring that all was lost we turned around again had headed for home. About a half mile down the road while passing a Mobile gas station I saw the tail end of the coupe in one of the service bays just as the door was closing down. Another U turn and into the station we went just as a young guy was coming out of the door. I asked if he knew who owned the Ford Model A and got a terse response "That's no damn Model A, It's a 32 Chevy(Yup that's right another Chevy). After apologizing for the "insult" I asked if I could take a look at the car. Once I got the close up view it was obvious that it was not a Ford but I immediately took a liking to it. He said that his grandfather bought it new and after he stopped driving a few years back parked it in the shed. He said that he had just gotten out of the army where he worked in the motor pool repairing body damage to staff cars and Jeeps and decided that what he wanted to do as a civilian occupation. He said his grandfather gave him the car to practice on because it had a dent in the left rear fender which he fixed but beyond that he really didn't have an interest in the old car. I asked how much he wanted and he threw out a number that was actually quite reasonable. I told him I thought it was too high and told him what I thought it was worth as I pulled out a wad of 20's that I had stuffed in my pocket for the Model A. The old saying "Cash Talks" proved to be true and we made the deal on the spot. I've owned a lot of cars since but after 44 years I still have that 32 Chevy and a couple of years ago I finished its latest and what will probably be its last transformation....As it turns I never have owned a Ford...some things are just meant to be.
destiny! good story. i had a simular type story hunting parts for my '39 gmc. a buddy of mine and i took a trip up to his dads "camp" in Maine. we spent the week driving around looking for old iron. found some parts from a 39 G.M.C. parts truck, but not everything on my list. at the end week we headed south on 95 towards Connecticut. while talking about girls we missed the 495 exit, but a quick check of the map showed a small rte.that cut back over to 495, we were hungry anyway and planned to look for a place to eat. we stopped at a pizza joint and when we finished i took the wheel for the ride back. i had just slipped the truck into third gear when i noticed an old truck, down a side street, sitting at the edge of the road. so i turned around and checked it out. a 39 G.M.C. sitting on an empty lot that had been dragged to the road side recently. we knocked on the door of the house next door and there was a bunch of guys watching football. the guys told us they had drug it out that morning and it was getting scrapped the next day but would sell it to me for $200. one of the guys was an over the road trucker an offered to deliver it to my house for $50. i counter offered $75 for what ever we could take off it and they could still scrap what ever was left. i think they thought a couple kids couldn't take too much off it so they agreed. we "Harlem" stripped that truck [including a decent grill] in an hour............
Great story. I have to laugh when folks ask for pictures from long ago. A short lesson for the youngsters In the day before cell phones and digital cameras pictures were taken with a camera that held film.The camera cost money. The film had to be taken somewhere and developed into prints.That cost money. Money was usually in short supply when us oldsters were young as it was needed to buy things such as cars,parts,beer and other necessities. I and I suspect many others here never looked at some old derelict or mostly used up old car and thought...I better take a picture so 40-50-60 years later I can share it with others. I do have some pics from "back in the day" and will scan and share them. Sorry for drifting off the the original intent of the thread.
If Moose has pics how would you know if they were old or photo shopped?! The old ones would look new and the new ones would look old!
Hello, In 61, I had a 1958 Impala that I bought from my brother. It was the total racer/cruiser with a great “rep” on the street and at the drags. I kept that car in top condition every week and had a wonderful time as a daily driver to and from school. But, back in my mind, I wanted a woody or sedan delivery to go to the beach to surf. My Impala just did not cut it at the beach with the 10 foot long surfboard sticking out of the trunk. The image did not go along with all of the “surf beaters” in the parking area. So, while cruising my Impala, I always saw this 40 ford Sedan Delivery zip by and hang out at the drive-in restaurant where we all would end up at night. It had a 348 Chevy motor, great sounding motor with just the right amount of the “rupp, rupp” idle, and the obvious cool feeling of a racer and surf wagon. It was very fast as we all knew at the local street races. He liked my car and I needed a surf wagon. I could see myself going to the beach in a fast, cool sounding car with my surfboard that fit into the beach scene. I asked the owner if he would sell his car. He said if the price was right…obviously I did not have a ton of cash and I still had the 58 Impala. I was told by a friend that the owner did not like the paint job that was on the delivery. He told everyone it was racer orange, but it turned out salmon pink under the parking lot lights at night. That would not do for his image. He finally said he would sell the 40 delivery, but without the 348 motor. He needed it for his next project. Well, this fast car went from being super-fast to the slowest car known to mankind after he dropped a used, stock, flathead motor in it. But, the price also dropped. (photo of my 2nd delivery in 1972, this time, it was orange, not salmon pink, but the car looked the same using black rims and smoothy caps with beauty rings ) Even though I had this cool 58 Impala, now I could afford to buy the 40 delivery ($160) from the money I saved from my box boy job. My mom thought it was crazy owning two cars, but at least she now had access to driving my Impala to go shopping, when I was driving my 40 Ford Sedan Delivery. This delivery was an instant hit at my school, cruising the drive ins, and at the beach. I also now had a project car for my auto shop class. Since I took a ton of people to school in the delivery, I had plenty of gas money for buying reconstituted oil for my flathead motor. It used oil weekly, just like filling up with gas. But times were fabulous and it was meant to be… Jnaki
Do you remember WHERE in Haverhill? I need some more model a junk Sent from my SM-G900V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Like @partsdawg said above , I never thought much about needing to take pictures for future reference but I do have a couple. When I bought it, it was black with yellow wheels which is how the original owners grandson painted it. Over the years I did some research and based on the Fisher body tag I found that the factory paint scheme was maroon body with black fenders so I did a complete frame up restore using those colors. I drove it stock for a number of years but it was getting pretty tired and with mechanical brakes and something like 85 horsepower it wasn't working too well in today's traffic. Some people might say I should have never have molested such an original car but what the hell, you gotta do what makes you happy so it turned into what it is today...350 SB ,700R4, S10 rear and a few other goodies...Great FUN
Dude ..... or Moo-de .... (new cool Big Lebowski word for you ?haha) .... that Chevy' is bitchin' !! I always wanted a better picture of it too. Now ... what's it really look like ? lol just kidding to the Photoshop King here. Very very nice Chebbie'.
60 by G V Gordon posted Jun 23, 2015 at 6:50 PM This one. You can read the back story here, http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/build-thread-1960-buick-and-so-it-begins.1022523/
It's not just cars. I grew up on British bikes and have ridden all brands but switched over to BMWs in the '70s. I was killing time in 2013 and dropped in at the local Harley dealer to see what was new and ended up buying a new anniversary edition Sportster. You know the drill with Harley, all chrome and special paint. The last one I rode was a '39 flathead in High School that was brush painted and a real POS. Anyway, I got it home and was going over it checking for loose hardware and noticed the medallion on the gas tank. My bike was number 775/1500. You could almost hear the Twilight Zone theme song, 775 was my corporate employee number where I worked for 39 years.
Ford, Chevy, Dodge, whatever, I don't really care who manufactured it because I just like what I like. And I really like your 32 Chevy. Its just about perfect to me.
Your right about that, I feel the same way but somehow it seems that destiny keeps pushing the Chevy's my way. Thanks for the complement!
Have you ever bought a car that you had no thought or intention of ever owning only because destiny seemed to be at work? Yep A couple days ago I bought a 68 Plymouth Fury. 54,000 miles and looks almost perfect. The paint is shiny. Its a Plymouth and it has too many doors but it is so close to perfect, I couldnt resist buying it. Its almost too nice to strip for parts to fix a 2 dr
The Jalopy Journal
