“Could you fellas find me an old truck, actually maybe two or three of them, to put on my Christmas tree farm? They don’t have to run at all. I want to create an old time atmosphere and experience for my customers. I’ll have Wintergreen Tree Farm stenciled on the sides. I want things to look rustic and old, so my customers can take pictures with them when they are buying their trees. Even an old junker truck from the 60s-80s would do, but they’re not really old enough to create an antique atmosphere. We all drove those trucks everyday in our younger days. We’re not really that old, are we? 1950s and older would be much better. Money and budget are always a factor in business. I don’t want to have to spend large amounts on old relics just for the sake of atmosphere. This is not Hollywood. I’ve been watching Hemmings (old car magazine) and I know you can’t touch a 1920s-50s truck for less than big money no matter what condition it is in. They’re asking ten to twenty thousand for them. Do you have any ideas?” So asked Bob Stehli, my neighbor and good friend about a year ago.
We’ve been keeping an eye out for trucks since then. In our wanderings looking for Model “A”s we very often encounter old trucks parked behind the barn, squirreled away in sheds, or just rusting away in a field or woodland. They were left there most often because that is where they gasped their last breath and stopped. Some of the vehicles we discover in sheds or barns were put there because the farmer possibly recognized that it would some day have some antique value, or maybe one day he would restore it. Or more likely it was just too much trouble to haul it to the junkyard. We know how that goes. We regularly drag old Model “A”s out of barns that were put there long ago by a now deceased family member most likely for parts for the next used truck he was running. The family is subsequently often faced with a major clean-up of the property and would just as soon call the junk man.
Just about a month ago we got a call from nearby Bainbridge to go look at some Model “A” parts. The elder family member had become incapacitated and a much younger son or grandson had taken over the property. He had decided that, like Grandpa, he would be a “Hot Rodder” and that he would hot rod Grandpa’s 1929 Ford Coupe. Thus, he had no use for any of the 90-year-old mechanicals and would like to sell them reasoning that “old means more money” albeit rusted into unusable hunks of metal. Surely they should be worth substantially more than modern parts. The car was in worse shape than most of what we drag out of the woods and had very long ago been rudimentarily chopped and channeled. To us that means “No touch—pass on this one”. We declined his offer, told him what the actual value was, and proceeded to go on our way. What caught my eye though was what was sitting behind the Ford coupe……. which was a forlorn and rusted 1947 Studebaker pickup and a 1930s Dodge sedan. I wondered aloud if they were for sale. The answer was a resounding NO! He had big hot rod plans for those because they were worth “lots of money…….”, the constant theme of his. Oh, I was that young and naïve once too, I thought. Eventually you do learn from experience, but in retrospect that was a fun time in my life, wishing, hoping, planning. We wished him well. So it goes. I wished, though, that I could have gotten that Studebaker for Bob.
Bob Stehli needs an old truck for pictures and atmosphere. It will never leave the farm. His customers would love it. As it happens Jerry and I had bought a mysterious pile of totally disassembled Model “A” parts last fall. I don’t know why they do this—totally disassemble parts into a pile of scrap. Admittedly they were a mixed bag of various year Model “A” parts just piled on top of a frame—no title, no paperwork, no identification. One part did resemble a tell-tale back cab panel of a 1929 Model “A” pickup but there were Model “T parts mixed in as well, an Essex bumper and who knows what else. We bought the whole thing cheap since it was a hodge podge and stuck it in the corner of Jerry’s barn until we could sort out the Model “A” parts.
About the time that the first snow falls in Geauga County Jerry gets the itch to stoke up the wood stove and work on something in the garage. Jerry simply cannot resist poking around a pile of parts. What could it be? Just like a kid who has dumped a thousand piece jigsaw puzzle onto the kitchen table he cannot turn away. He is captivated—loses sleep over it. Well, the arm bone’s connected to the hand bone—you know the old song. It’s not long before there is a rolling chassis assembled and soon enough an engine is sputtering to life. Now what? The mechanicals are the easy part. Rusted, twisted, missing body parts, oh boy!!
One thing to know about Model “A” Ford parts: Model “A”s were produced from 1928 through 1931. Though they seem to look alike or at least similar, each year is distinctly different. Thus, sheet metal is peculiar to each separate year and often will not fit another model year or body style without major alterations, often not at all. Mechanically though, the parts were all very similar and can usually be used interchangeably from year to year.
Not having a title for this vehicle definitely limits what we could get for it. Thus, we can’t really put much money into this Frankenstein. A rolling chassis might bring around $1200 but Jerry sees enough parts to piece together a cab. Oh, this puzzle is missing plenty. Mind you, we are in no way properly restoring the vehicle which purportedly might be a truck. We are just reassembling it into a recognizable vehicle using the rusted out, rusted through, twisted, just plain gnarled panels and parts, regularly improvising what could, might fit together. Henry Ford originally assembled all his cars with square head bolts and slot head screws—what was available 90 years ago. What we put back together is held together with modern hex head bolts and Phillips screws. Anybody who bought this thing for an actual restoration would have to change all that and also replace the many ill-fitting, improvised, hodge podge panels with the actual panels that fit properly. As we worked it became obvious that we had what resembled an extremely rustic, rusted 28-29 pickup. What to do? The most we could get out of it without a title is about 5K. Jerry already has way too many hours into it plus a near thousand dollars in various parts—batteries, tires, glass, seals, bed wood. The original bed was simply too far gone to use or rebuild.
Bob Stehli pops into my mind; a rustic OLD truck for a reasonable price. It will never leave the farm. What we have here is quite literally made to order and within budget. I bring him over to Jerry’s garage. He is delighted with what he sees. He says, “ It’s perfect for what I want. Sold. I want it”. I say, “Hold on Bob, give us a month to finish assembling it and get it running consistently and we’ll bring it over. And do note that the mechanical brakes, as with any Model “A” in this shape, are poor to non-existent.”
