Thanks Stephan for posting some more pictures, thats that cadi I was talking aboat, it would make a cool Beatnick car.
Perhaps more interesting than the cars is Buck himself, so you are probable wondering what would make some one collect so many cars? Well let me tell you a little aboat Buck; For starters Buck was nursed on old fords, his dad was an ace mecanic and raced a 32 five window at Balboa Stadium, El Centro, and other tracks around California in the fifties, I'll try to post some pictures Buck has later. Since Buck was a tot, his dad had shown him the ropes on turning a wrench, by the time he was nine, he had rebuilt his first flathead, by twelve he had built his first hot rod, he would always go with his dad to the races, his first job was sweeping the garage at old man's Staderds wrecking yard, You old timers have probably have heard of Staderd, he had the largest collection of early v-8 fords on the west coast, When staderd p***ed away, I was fornunate to be able to go to his auction, he had every ford convertible ever made, so buck learned hoarding from the best, Buck told me the first lesson he learned from staderd was ; ya open your eyes , ya listen hard, and keep ya mouth shut, and ya just might learn something. After high school, buck got drafted so he joined the Air Force and was in charge of running their motor pool, when he got back , he got a job as a heavy equipment mecanic at a gravel company, one day he got injured on the job when a bunch of oil barrels fell on top of him, so he decided to learn a new trade, he was friends with Ron Wheeler, Ron was an ace metal man, so buck ask him to teach him the art of metal work, now boys , there was'ent no mig welders back then, I am talking hammer welding, peck and file and lead work, that's how body work was done back then , and Buck learned from the best, if you did'nt have a part, you made it. Buck went on to help Ron design the firewalls and floors for *****'en Products. Buck started collecting old fords in the sixties when he was a teenager, so when he got injured at work, he decided to do it full time, In the seventies, I had heard stories aboat this big burley grumpy indian biker looking guy in Ramona, that had all these early ford bodies, by then buck was hauling bodies back from south dakota and the mid west, I was hauling model "A" bodies out of Mexico and selling them at Antique Automotive. So thats were I finaly met Buck , and we started buying and trading with each other and became friends. Now as to his reputation for being grumpy, well there is some truth to that, Buck is half Irish and half Indian, so he does have a short temper that has mellowed out with age, but of all my friends, he is the one with the biggest heart, many a time he has bailed me out when I have needed help, so don't expect him to give you his stuff away, but if you ever break down on the road, he will be the one to pull over and give you a hand.
ya open your eyes , ya listen hard, and keep ya mouth shut, and ya just might learn something... Damn...Where have I heard that.LOL!
Ducan and Paul came down to San Diego from merry old England, so I gave them the tour of the Lifter's hoarding yards , It was fun to see someone that apreciates the finer rust in life, had a great time and I hope you guys come back soon.
The Jalopy Journal
