Don Bivens has Passed today!!

[d.j. moordigian]

Originally Posted by dean from bozeman

So Don was restoring A616 about the time that I was restoring A495. He actually had a head start of a few years (read "many"). It seemed like he had been dragging his feet for a few years though. He was so close to having it done but it also seemed to me that he did not want to finish it and have it judged for some reason. So when he and I met at the MARC Meet at French Lick 1 he shared a photo album of the work on A616 with me. Just as the album closed I said to him, "Don, I'll bet you $500 that I will finish A495 and get it judged before you do". Well, he smiled and shook on that. He knew that he was a lot closer to getting his car done.

Soon we met up at the MARC Lexington meet. He approached me at my swap space. 'Hey Dean, you owe me $500. A616 is here and it's going to be judged.' I told him that yes we shook on $500 but in reality he should remember that without that impetus he probably never would have finished or showed A616. He smiled. We did agree to a lesser figure that was not in the form of cash but rather a pile of early '28 parts that he picked out from those that I had at my swap space.

For those of you who are not familiar with Don's A616 let me tell you what I know. That this Tudor was given to Henry Ford's illegitimate son. It was subsequently driven by that son from Detroit to Los Angeles at a break-neck speed to show the durability and speed of the new Model A. There is also a photo of Henry Ford sitting in that particular Tudor. Also, when Henry Ford died his wife wanted that car found and destroyed.

Well, many years later Don Bivens found the owners and talked them into showing him the car. Don said that it had been totally hidden under boxes and other things so that no one could find it. Eventually he bought it and then started the process of restoring one of the most historic Model A's ever. It won a Henry at Lexington and then at French Lick 2 A616 and A495 were displayed side by side for fine point judging.

Don will be missed. He loved this hobby and made it the focus of his life. His tireless work at the archives greatly increased the knowledge we have about the Model A and the early '28 Model A's in particular.

RIP Don.

Dean

Thank Dean,....well done..!