Twenty Eight Dollar Model A owned for 53 years

[lookin-backtexas]

While cruising around the area in my '29 Tudor yesterday I spotted a '29 Model A Pickup parked in someone's driveway. Being our local club's membership chairman, and seeing a man working outside in the yard, I stopped to visit - just might recruit a new member. I have seen the Pickup parked there before but no one had answered the door when I rang the bell. This time the owner was outside so what better time to introduce myself and "kick some tires" since I was driving a Model A as a conversation icebreaker.

After introducing myself and letting him look over the '29 I was driving, we walked over to check out his Pickup. He volunteered that he has owned it for 53 years and that he paid $28 dollars for it (yes, thats twenty-eight dollars).

He said that he was 66 years old and when he was 13 he spotted the Pickup with a FOR SALE sign in the window and immediately fell in love with it. He talked to the owner who told him he wanted $30 for it. He said, "All I had at the time was $25 saved up from my paper route and of course I wasn't old enough to drive yet."

He rushed home on his bicycle and walked into the house where he found his Dad and Uncle playing poker. When he walked into the room they immediately scooped up their money and tried to hide it, only leaving the coins in the middle of the table.

His Dad asked what was up and he said, "I found a Model A I want to buy but don't have enough money." His Dad told him that he could have the three dollars worth of coins that were left in the middle of the table from the poker game and he went back to the seller and showed him the $28 he had and proudly became the owner of a '29 Model A Pickup.

Yesterday the truck was actually pretty presentable considering that it has been parked outside uncovered for several years however it hasn't been driven in many years and he said the usual, "I'm gonna do this, and gonna do that when I get around to it." He had at least five other collector type cars parked in the driveway showing signs of neglect and zero cars in the two-car garage which was filled to the ceiling with "stuff" like a segment from the TV show "Hoarders".

I wasn't able to recruit a new club member but I'll keep an eye on the driveway in the future to see if there is any progress made. As most of you know, some guys are just not "joiners" but would rather remain Lone Wolves. I enjoyed the story of how he bought it and thought I'd relay it to my fellow Ford Barners.

I told him about another local club member who I think wins the prize for the Best Procrastinator. He has a '31 Model A Roadster that he disassembled to restore in 1958 and still hasn't finished it - that's 55 years of "I'm gonna get a round to it."

Fred