Event Coverage my vacation trip to Wisconsin and Iola swap meet plus day 2 and 3

The best way to experience a big nationwide swap met like this is to have a booth yourself so you have a place to carry the stuff you buy to and sit and rest and relax and then go again. It is worth the price. This event is a part of my summer vacation and I enjoy the weather and atmosphere and local scenery.

 

So move Pov! We'll all just "skooch over"...... there's room.

 

Always room for another hotrodder in the north

 

Iola has been sort of the focal point of inspiration for me when it comes to this hobby. I've been goin' for as long as I can remember, and have more than a handful of awesome expiriences there. I was surprised with how many of the booths you photographed I recognized, but in the two days my pop and I spent there, I think we got around it 3 times, but we're rather hard core and expirienced. Day one always begins with a quick once over scan of the whole swap, and then from there we go back to certain sections we thought had some of the stuff that matched our needs most.

This year I came away with a lot of neat little buys, including some old Falcon ads from the early sixties, and a 4v intake. I usually hunt for deal prices, and lately it gets more difficult. With ebay and craigslist, alot of these folks think they can get retail prices, and frankly, I'm not gonna walk 20 miles sweating and burning to pay retail prices. Call me a cheap skate, but that just ain't the swap meet spirit.

The car got a rather good reception, there was always a couple people snappin' photos and stopping by to chat, which really makes my day. I'm a little miffed at the show crew at the moment. The stick wavers and people at the registration tent were giving me grief about my car. For the last five years I have shown my car there, and it has always been greated with smiles. Now this year they haggle me and tell me I "ain't gettin' in next year" because they are going to enforce the rules of no primer and no rust on the show grounds. Let me first point out that my car has neither. It's flat black, sure, but it's not primer, and there is certainly no rust on my car! I plan on composing a letter to the club as I hope the years of such a great atmosphere are not in the past. For someone like me who has supported the show since I could walk, have spent money in the swap meet, have a chicken dinner every year, purchased a parts falcon many years ago, it really feels like a slap in the face. I'm apparently not privilaged enough to be allowed on their show grounds.

Hopefully everything turns out for the better. Hope ya'll got a bit of the best damn deep fried cheese curds in the country!

-Gayl

 

there is NOBODY like Povertyflats when it comes time for shameless self-promotion and self-glorification. But when it comes time to snap some photos of a buddy's car and give him a little promo, nah.

That Olds was just a sweetheart. It was sold at Back to the 50's to the man I bought it from. Wish I would have spotted it there myself, but I was too busy entertaining Povertyflats at B250's. Then, that man brings it to Iola. I bought it from him in the morning, left his sign in the window with the same price on it, changed the phone number and in the PM they were lined up to buy it. Most couldn't understand that "FIRM" on the price meant "FIRM" on the price. The man that bought it loved it as much as I. And guess what, he is planning to flip it again!

That Olds was so original and so nice that it has room to be sold a couple more times. It is a time capsule and was obviously garage kept all its life.

The man that bought it didn't have enough cash on him. He lives north of Milwaukee. He asked me for a favor...drive the car back to Jefferson so he could come in Saturday and finish paying for it and because it was much closer to his home.

WHOOEEEE! Stopped in Scandanavia and filled the tank. Never stopped again. 150 miles of pure heaven. Rolled 75-80mph down I-39 and just loved passing those Toyotas. To me, that was worth more than the few bucks I made flipping it.

Great thread, Paul. I rated it to be the very best.

 

Thanks Paul... enjoyed the coverage.

Looks like Dick made it down to Gus' in his newly finished '56.

See you there next year.