BONZAI RUN to Nevada for a roadster! Pics and story!!!

My Brother Corey (Hotrod-40) has wanted a Model A roadster for some time, so when I spotted this one in the classifieds I showed him. This is the car Poverty Flats owned. He sold it to Hamber Jim Galli down in Tonopah, NV. It's a 1931 roadster that was converted to a pickup back in 1942. Jim sent us a ton of detailed pics and description of the car. A deal was made between Jim and my Brother and we loaded up my truck and trailer and headed out. From Spokane, WA to Tonopah, NV is 935 miles each way. Weather looked good and we headed out Thursday morning at 6am. Man, there is a whole lotta nothing in southern Oregon and Nevada. Very deserty and miles upon miles of 75 MPH 2 lane roads going through the desert. My check engine light kept poppin on and off throughout the trip, made somewhat of a nail-biter. Didn't know what was going on, figure my luck would be an O2 sensor goes out, runs leans and burns it up 300 miles from nowere. But it ended doing just fine.
We arrivied in Tonopah at 11pm and hit the sack. Woke up early, and was surprised to see it very cold and frosty. I was hoping my trip south would bring some sun and heat...but it was about the same temp as back home! Went over to Jims, looked the car over, test drove it and loaded it up. Jim was a super cool and honest guy. We hit the road at 10am and heaed back. We ran all the way back home, getting back at 3:30 this morning. We drove about 1900 miles total and had a blast making memorys we'll have forever.

Jim told us the car was pretty tired and worn out. Today we set the timing, tuned it up, messed with the throttle pedal and it helped a lot as it now runs and drives nicely. Still needs the brakes adjusted/rebuilt and some other things, but seems to be a very good ol car. My Brothers plans are to simply drive it as-is and gather parts to return it to a roadster. We also reversed the windshield stantions and leaned it back a bit He's pretty tickled with the car, we were driving it around the block all day in 25 degree weather! Check the video!!!









Frosty morning at the hotel



Meeting Jim and checkin out the roadster in person




Corey going for a test spin





Gas stop in the middle of noweresville



Working on her today



Leaned back windshield





First spin after getting her tuned up!!

 

is he gonna keep the bed on it?

 

Cool car, shame about the pickup bed. But it can be fixed. Nice score, thanks for the pics. The mountain shots are killer.





Oh, and you've got the biggest photobucket account I've ever seen, lol. Nice pics, I'll be checking that out for a while.

 

Hey cool
I looked at some great pics he had posted on here or e-bay looks,like alot of fun..
Enjoy
Brian

 

I wonder who the dumbass is that gave this thread a one star rating...

 

He's gonna just drive it for now and collect the pieces to make it a roadster again. The box and history are cool...but it is a roadster and will make a great hotrod

 

saw it too...liked it...but moneys not there now...good luck with it....

 

Congrats to your brother for buying the little Model A Roadster. When you said first spin was that a spin out or first drive? Just kidding. All the hard core roadster owners always say it's roadster weather even when it's cold and icy. You guys have fun and stay warm. Plus I'd give this post 5 stars, nothing like getting a roadster and having fun.

 

Keep us posted on the progress towards turning it back to the way it started. The "history" behind those pickup box conversions has been hashed over before but I think that the simple fact that during WWII you could get more gas ration stamps if you had a truck had the most to do with it along with those cars being dirt cheap at the time.
Thanks for sharing the photos, looks like a great road trip, what route did you take?

 

Brrrrrrrrrr..............! Glad you guys made it back home OK. It'll be fun to watch the progress. Phaeton's all paid for It was great meeting both of you. Guys like Chris and Corey make you think the worlds gonna be OK.

 

Glad to hear you made it back safe and sound bud. Thanks so much for doing the HAMB relay for me and dropping off the deck lid at Dave's place on your way there. Much appreciated.

 

Chris, Looks like your brother scored ! Also looks like your road trip was fun. Looking forward to the transformation back into a roadster.

41 Dave

 

Awesome another one in good hands.

 

Cool Vee-Hickle !

Was it a BONSAI run (small potted plant?) or a BANZAI run (the Japanese equivalent of "Chaaaarrrrrgggge!!!!!!" indicating a balls out, devil may care, flat out run at the given challenge)?

Either way......realizing the gold when you see it is all cool!

 

Went back many a time looking at that car in the classifieds. Nice car, I can tell it's in good hands.

 

Awesome!!! I am glad that car got a good home. I sure enjoyed it. Even took it on vacation to Wisconsin last summer. Have fun boys.

 

Another fine ride, finds a good home. That car is too cool already, but now it's in your family, it will only become even better. Exceptional photos too. Thank You.

 

That car as had quite a trip(s) since first appearing on the HAMB. I suspect it has finally found a resting place. Keep us informed as your brother makes it his own. BTW, I vote for returning it to a true roadster.

Frank

 

I went to bed at 6:00am, but only to wake up and go to the Antique Auto Ranch at 8:30am. Needed some tune up parts Thanks again Jim.

 

Awesome. I love roadtrips. Lower it, fix the bed and set the loud pedal on 'kill'. Cool. Thanks for posting.

 

Im glad to see someone on here has given it a good home!

 

We went tri-citys twards Boise, cuts down twards Reno then over to Tonopah. Can't remember all the highways, there was lots of cris-crossing.

 

Jim,
Super glad to meet you, and thanks again for everything. I'm super stoked for Corey to finally get a roadster, and I think he loves that lil car Keep us all updated on that phaeton, glad you got what you wanted, too!!

 

Glad to help, it was right on the way. I'm glad I didn't need to call you to post up a stranded Hamber thread!!

 

Your right. I googled it to see how to spell it, and well...guess the rest Fixed it!!

 

I remember seein it on here when you had it...in a parade or something. Either way, I was thinking what a bitchin car it was. Now it's here, wierd how things work sometimes, huh? Do you think the people you got it from have any old pictures of it? That would be super bitchin!!

 

Yeah, I'm thinkin my Brother won't let it go. Car has a lot of soul. Think of the storys she could tell.

 

wow i saw that car and was like damn....congrats to ur bro man...

 

Corey, post your pics if you have em