Vintage Tow Vehicle now gone....

[doug hodder]

So I'm back from the Dam last weekend....unloading the truck and trailer and some guy drives by and yells out the window...."do you wanna sell that car?". I had been thinking about it for some time....."yeah". It's completely covered in dirt and cat prints, but clean inside. He looks it over and I tell him I'll get it running and clean it up by next weekend. He shows up yesterday and we re-enact a scene from an American Pickers episode. I washed it, took the battery out of my truck and stuck it in it, the truck was due for a new one anyway. He hauled it away Sat. afternoon. I kinda felt sorry for the guy, he had to rent a car hauler and he was 2 hours late getting here. He got a performance award from CHP for 65 with a trailer...so that will cost him an additional $300 or so. The State of California has decided that it will pick up it's multi-billion shortfall through motor vehicle citations.

My big lesson learned is that as much as I enjoy older cars, and I've owned a number of them....I no longer have the desire to do the work on one, or want to mess with it. Just trying to fill the tank was such a hassle with today's environmentally compliant fuel nozzles into a 53 year old filler neck stuffed into a fin was usually a bath in fuel. I get more enjoyment out of fixing up crappy $15 stoves than wrenching on old cars. I'm glad, cuz it's much cheaper!

Although I set it up to tow a tear and did drag them around a bit, it didn't really have the poop to do it or stop safely (tiny brakes) with a trailer, and where I live....it's either up hill or down hill anywhere. Oh well, it's gone now, I hope they enjoy it, it was a very nice clean, straight, unmolested car. Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know, I could'a stuck this or that engine in it, or a Mustang II front end under it, etc......but it wasn't worth it to me. Doug

[Lancie49]

I sold a Morris Minor under very similar circumsatnces a year ago Doug.
I know exactly how you feel.

It's a sad sight to see it driven out of the driveway by a stranger but take solice in the fact that at the moment, he wants that car more than you do, and I bet he's going to treat it just the same as you did when you first bought it.

Sometimes mate, when priorities change, we just havta let go.

[Oldragbaggers]

That's a beautiful old car. You gave that guy a lot of enjoyment, which is something you weren't getting from it anymore so it sounds like the car is in the right place now, and with all your newfound cash-ola you can build your next masterpiece on wheels.

[DragonFire]

+1 on both replies..beautiful car. But you have moved on, and time to let someone else enjoy it. I felt the same way about my old trailer, but I moved on, and couldn't keep them both..now I have the Grasshopper that I've actually used.

Just turn the dough back into your new trailer project or whatever is going to be fun...stoves, etc.

And thanks for preserving that car in it's original condition. Most folks don't, and it's important to keep some original...

[Woodbutcher]

Nice car Doug. I have always been partial to the old wagons. Sometimes sending it down the road to a new owner is the best thing. Plus you can buy a lot of stoves with the cash!

[bdosborn]

My big lesson learned is that as much as I enjoy older cars, and I've owned a number of them....I no longer have the desire to do the work on one, or want to mess with it.

I used to do all my own work on cars. It wasn't because I liked it so much, it was because I wasn't making much money and my choices were to fix the car or walk. Now that money isn't so tight I've thought about getting a project car to work on but I realized my days of rolling around under vehicles are probably over. Sorry to see the old girl go but I completely understand why.

Bruce

[Maureenm]

Heart-wrenching and liberating at the same time! Sounds like the time and circumstances were right.

[Juneaudave]

Beep Beep, Beep Beep..The little Nash Rambler went Beep, Beep, Beep

[halfdome, Danny]

Good for you Doug. Sometimes I regret buying my old car, $$$. I see one of those 59's (sedan) on the way to town.
Last year they decorated the outline with lights for the holidays. Selling it to someone who will use & appreciate it is much better. Danny

[teardrop_focus]

My big lesson learned is that as much as I enjoy older cars, and I've owned a number of them....I no longer have the desire to do the work on one, or want to mess with it. Just trying to fill the tank was such a hassle with today's environmentally compliant fuel nozzles into a 53 year old filler neck stuffed into a fin was usually a bath in fuel. I get more enjoyment out of fixing up crappy $15 stoves than wrenching on old cars. I'm glad, cuz it's much cheaper!

You're not alone here.

Spent nigh 19 year driving and wrenching/modifying/improving a '63 Fairlane 2 dr hardtop...

I hear ya! loud and clear. Lanterns, stoves and teardrops are so. much. more. fun.

[DragonFire]

Ya know, Doug is in a little better place financially than you are, even here in Cali. He's no fool.. He'll do fine. It's folks like us who need to keep an eye on our pennies. It's just a bummer that he sold something he liked.. Not because he needed to, but because he really wasn't using it anymore and it was the smart thing to do.

[doug hodder]

We ALL gotta watch our pennies. This whole "Hope and Change" thing....I just HOPE I have some CHANGE leftover when it's all done.

[campmaster-k]

I just hope I survive the Colelman lantern bubble. I have some market share in old lanterns. I think I will wait and sell them to the zombies in the Apocalypse.