Trees are wonderful! Not so much so when they are growing thru the car.

We are going to restore it. It was grandpa’s car and we are going to keep it. “Not for sale”.

I have heard it all. You too, probably, if you have been chasin’ cars for any length of time. There are so many cars and pickups that are rotting away and will never be saved if you can’t buy them from the owner. I once came across a modest collection that included a baby bird, an older Lincoln, a Mustang and a couple others. They were all driven into the the Quonset hut that covered them but the hut had no ends and the cars were somewhat exposed.

I saw them from the highway and stopped and knocked on the door. The older woman said they were her husband’s cars and they weren’t for sale, BUT she did say I could go look at them. The dust was the indicator that the cars hadn’t moved for a very long time and the cars were typical of what I found in my home state Montana.

I had a sales route that took me past this place every couple weeks and I eventually met the fellow who owned them. He confirmed that the cars weren’t for sale and he was going to “fix ’em” up. But he was friendly and enjoyed the visit.

The next winter there was a very heavy snow and the center of the quonset collapsed. When I saw it in the early spring I could tell some of the cars would have minimum damage and I made a note to self to stop by when the snow completely thawed. In the later spring I stopped in and talked with him about the cars. I could see the collapsed roof but what I didn’t see was the mud up to the doors on all the cars. It turned out that the heavy snow fall had created very high streams and the small creek yards away from the cars flooded the area up past the rockers. I wished him luck and checked that collection off my list.

This is probably my worst story as the cars would have been great restoration cars and were pretty much worthless in the end.

As I write this, within 5 miles from me are about 10 cars I have tried to buy, setting beside a home. The family matriarch has passed and the family does want to sell the cars. First let’s discuss price; they chose to use the collector pricing guides and have come up with values that exceed these cars values by several times. Titles? Well, maybe. They weren’t sure. Okay. Oh ya, and did I forget to tell you to bring a chainsaw and a winch?

I did realize several years ago that no matter how “kindly” you try, you cannot save them all. The irony is always that “car that’s not for sale” becomes instantly for sale with a collapsed snow load or a flood… ya, but the price is still higher than #4 condition.

I have learned… I can’t save them all.

Always Another Mile—Always Another Story