I was going through some old boxes of stuff and ran across some pictures of one of the coolest things that's ever happened to me. It was back in high school and I drove trucks with my friend for his dad. We would drive from SLC Utah to Winnemucca Nevada (the groin of America, in case you were wondering). We took a short cut one time on a long dirt road. It was kinda weird because out of nowhere there were a bunch of mailboxes next to a road that went up a small canyon. I was always on the hunt for old gas pumps and signs, so we checked out the road. Sure enough, there was a small town, about 10 houses if I remember correctly. Cool little place. One of the first houses had a '31 model A, full fendered, raked a little bit, old wire wheels, was black at one time but was mostly surface rust now, no hood so you could see the chromed out flatty peekin at you, and it looked a little "Hot Rod-ish". The best part was the for sale sign taped to the back. We stopped, I knocked on the door and an old guy, probably in his '80s or older, answered. Long story short, he couldn't part with the car. He couldn't even get to a price. It was his son's car that he built into a hot rod in high school in the early sixties. His son worked on power lines and was electrocuted in the late sixties. The dad kept his sons car and would frequently go out and start it up to make sure it still ran. He put a for sale sign on the car, but couldn't get himself to part with it. I thanked him for taking the time to tell me about the car, and asked if it would be ok for me to look at the car a little more and take a few pics. He said "Sure. Why don't you go drive it around for awhile. It would be good for it." I politely declined, but inside I was dying to take it out. He insisted. After much arm-twisting, I agreed. Me and my buddy took it out and ran it around for about 20 mins. I have ONE picture of me sitting in the car. We were so excited that I completely spaced taking more pics. I need to track this car down. When I ran across this picture today it made me realize how nice and how cool this car really was. big mac
OK, I got all inspired to find this car now. I'm sure the old man that I talked to is long gone. This town is so small and out of the way that there is a chance the car could be found. I'll post any progress I make....
small world man. i know the car. scoped it out for years too. place is called Unionville, Nevada. i have pictures of it too but no scanner. it was there up until about 5-6 years ago. i'm close by and know of some family ties. the rest of the story: long story short, a bunch of "**** ****ers/druggies" moved in on the family. took total advantage of them and took them for everything. a guy who works for my uncle is actually related to the old folks you talked to. he now has their estate. nothing left. they took it all. my dad knew the guy that hot rodded it. what's your name Big Mac? ruralrod, Pachi Bengochea
Wow, I think you are right! What a small world. I've been on the phone with my friend for the last week trying to figure out where we were... I didn't see Unionville on the map, but if I search for it on Google, it looks like that exactly where we were (within 10-15 miles). Unbelievable. That's too bad that they got taken advantage of. I hate hearing about things like that. What ever happened to the car? Thanks for chiming in, this is crazy. I can't believe this is the same car. big mac
Thats a cool story. To bad the old guy didn't sell you that car. To bad he got taken advantage of. I hate people like that
ha ha ha... actually, I think Battle Mountain is the groin. That would make Winnemucca the "taint" of America.
Battle Mtn. proudly calls itself "The Armpit of America" after some reporter called it that in a story. America's car collection sounds like its going to be awsome!
I've got a name and a couple possible numbers for someone who may know about the car. I'm going to try my best to track it down. If I can wind up with this car it will be the coolest "reunion" of the year! I'll post any progress....
The Jalopy Journal
