In about 2010 I added to my car collection a 1962 Chevrolet. I have been a car collector for many decades starting with a 1926 Buick Master Country Club Rumble Seat Coupe with a side door for golf clubs. That car was sold sometime in the early 1970s and I have had numerous others that I have treated myself to since retirement in 2020. Now, I am down to 6 collectibles, and I have decided that this one is the last one I purchased it will be the last one to be sold.
Does anyone Collect Antique Cars?
- Thread starter DustyRusty
- Start date
ken erickson
Well-known member
Equipment
B7100 hst, 2650 front mount snowblower, L2501 hst qa loader
I love it! My dad was a police officer for a village in southeast Wi from 1964 and took a moonlighting job as an ambulance attendant .
My memories of John Wards ambulance is very much like your's.
If not mistaken at that time the village did not own any and contracted out to private companies to supply ambulance service.
Do you have historical history on yours? Did Chevy sell an ambulance "package" or were they standard station wagons and then set up by third parties?
My memories of John Wards ambulance is very much like your's.
If not mistaken at that time the village did not own any and contracted out to private companies to supply ambulance service.
Do you have historical history on yours? Did Chevy sell an ambulance "package" or were they standard station wagons and then set up by third parties?
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i7win7
Well-known member
Equipment
BX2370, B2650 grapple, tree puller, trailer mover, 3 point hoist, mower, tiller
Usually considered antiques by the time I get rid of them, others call'em rust buckets
How it worked back then, there were private body builders that would take a standard vehicle, and modify it into an ambulance, hearse, flower car, or limousine. My car started life as a special order Chevrolet BelAir station wagon that was delivered to the Cotner Bevington shop in Blytheville Arkansas for the conversion process. It took approximately a month for them to cut the roof on to add additional height and remove the station wagon rear gate and install a one-piece swinging rear door. There were other companies that just started with station wagons and did minor configurations to convert them into an ambulance or hearses. This was all done when labor was inexpensive, craftsmen were abundant, and people took pride in building things. Being a retired EMT and having worked in these types of vehicles when they were new, I coupled my love for antique vehicles with my love of EMS. I have the history of this car going back to the time it was ordered by a small funeral home in Nebraska from Hormel Chevrolet in McCook, Nebraska.
OK, I'll put my entry in, as an 'antique car collector'.
I got my driver's license in 1973, and my first car was a 1971 GTX 440+6. Oh boy. What fun!
Over the years since, I have owned/driven:
1950 Dodge pickup (bought for $25 from the school board by sealed bid.)
1937 Plymouth P4 coupe (bought for $1600 in 1977, sold 10 years later for $2000) - all stock except for paint, interior, and engine internals (wink).
1939 Dodge 1 ton AWD pickup hotrod (bought in 1984 and fully restored) Super off-roader. [The "AWD" should give you a clue. Yep, Binder (IHC) chassis.]
In 2006, I built a 1977 Dodge M880 (ex-military) with a Cummins diesel. Have never looked back. Such an incredible platform! The economics? My capital cost is $0.04 per mile. No kidding. Getting set to install the fourth engine this chassis has seen. This truck is the newest vehicle I own (not counting Kubotas!), and my current daily driver.
I am not AT ALL responsive to the contemporary automotive marketplace.
I spent $2000 this year on vintage, NOS sheet metal (for the M880). Peanuts.
-Paul
PS, you wanna see where the acorn fell, go to the Instagram page for metalbycharlie. It'll blow your mind.
I got my driver's license in 1973, and my first car was a 1971 GTX 440+6. Oh boy. What fun!
Over the years since, I have owned/driven:
1950 Dodge pickup (bought for $25 from the school board by sealed bid.)
1937 Plymouth P4 coupe (bought for $1600 in 1977, sold 10 years later for $2000) - all stock except for paint, interior, and engine internals (wink).
1939 Dodge 1 ton AWD pickup hotrod (bought in 1984 and fully restored) Super off-roader. [The "AWD" should give you a clue. Yep, Binder (IHC) chassis.]
In 2006, I built a 1977 Dodge M880 (ex-military) with a Cummins diesel. Have never looked back. Such an incredible platform! The economics? My capital cost is $0.04 per mile. No kidding. Getting set to install the fourth engine this chassis has seen. This truck is the newest vehicle I own (not counting Kubotas!), and my current daily driver.
I am not AT ALL responsive to the contemporary automotive marketplace.
I spent $2000 this year on vintage, NOS sheet metal (for the M880). Peanuts.
-Paul
PS, you wanna see where the acorn fell, go to the Instagram page for metalbycharlie. It'll blow your mind.
Big fan of Ford cars from the 60's. At one time I had seven different rides stashed in the shed at the same time, but down to just Mustangs as they were my original interest. Here is my 66 that I've enjoyed for the last 26 years.
Oh, how could I forget.
In 1992, I bought a 1966 Dodge Dart wagon out of a barn (really!) for $300. Built in Fresno, never licensed outside of California. Still had the black tags on it when I bought it. Dropped a 360 crate motor and OD trans, drove the sh*t out of it (200K miles). Currently being restored. Might get a W9 (NASCAR) motor. Ha, HAH, just googled up this old image by searching "1966 Dodge Dart wagon":
Ayup, that's it. At the Chryslers at Carlisle show.
Then, in 1996, I bought a 1965 Dodge Coronet 2 dr sedan. Currently getting built into an A990 (Super Stock) clone. Curb weight: <3000 lbs. 800hp 426 Hemi in the pipeline. Bonafide 10-second car.
-P
In 1992, I bought a 1966 Dodge Dart wagon out of a barn (really!) for $300. Built in Fresno, never licensed outside of California. Still had the black tags on it when I bought it. Dropped a 360 crate motor and OD trans, drove the sh*t out of it (200K miles). Currently being restored. Might get a W9 (NASCAR) motor. Ha, HAH, just googled up this old image by searching "1966 Dodge Dart wagon":
Ayup, that's it. At the Chryslers at Carlisle show.
Then, in 1996, I bought a 1965 Dodge Coronet 2 dr sedan. Currently getting built into an A990 (Super Stock) clone. Curb weight: <3000 lbs. 800hp 426 Hemi in the pipeline. Bonafide 10-second car.
-P
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jkrubi12
Well-known member
Equipment
B2601/LA435/QA54"/BH70/B8160box/BB1254/PFL1242/SGC0554/WC-68 Chipper
Please forgive me. Yes, trucks are welcome also. I once owned a 1934 Dodge long-bed Model KCL pickup.
Beautiful 1963 split window coupe. Too many of them were converted to look like the 1964 model, resulting in the increased value of the truly original 1963 Corvettes.
I've got a few air cooled / H20 VW's and a few old Volvo's but I've been lighting the herd lately.
Also a 1948 Thames e83w panel, a 1929 Model A roadster and 1928 Chevy in sad shape.
1946 GMC Panel.
Way too many projects but they make me happy
Hank
Also a 1948 Thames e83w panel, a 1929 Model A roadster and 1928 Chevy in sad shape.
1946 GMC Panel.
Way too many projects but they make me happy
Hank
DustyRusty, I have to admit I chuckled at when you claimed this would be your last one. You will be at a car show or even just driving down a street and then you will see it! The next one you just have to have
That’s a beautiful car. When I was a kid my grandfather had a used car dealership. He took in all kinds of things on trade and often when a car was traded that didn’t run or had been wrecked he would park them out back. He had a 66 or 67 mustang set aside in the garage. We were supposed to restore it as I approached my 16 birthday. He had 16 other “donor” mustangs in his collection. Unfortunately, he passed unexpectedly at the age of 59, I was 11 at the time so we never got around to starting the restoration. Being so young I’m not sure exactly what all transpired between my father, uncle and aunt. What I do know is the mustang in the garage was first to go, then the 48 Chrysler that was also stored in the garage. Then soon there after a company that crushed cars on-site showed up and the other 127 cars were all crushed and sent to the scrap yard. I believe the mustangs were sold to one individual while the rest were scrapped, now that I think about. Almost all of the cars were from the 60s and 70s. Man the cars that were lost, impalas, Chevelles, darts/wedge, can’t remember all of them. I used to love old cars and could tell you what they were just by a glance but my interest in cars waned as I got into motorcycles. Sorry for the thread derail, that pic just sparked some memories.
Quite proud of my daily-driver M880, although it gets severely abused in use. But, that's what old trucks are FOR!
Back about 2005, a local army truck restoration guy made the choice to unload ALL his M880 stuff. I got TWO complete trucks, and a big load of NOS parts, all for the princely sum of $900:
I immediately turned around and sold the worst one for $900 to an acquaintance to use as a farm truck.
Then, I was inspired to do a massive upgrade to the drivetrain. These trucks were built as cheaply as possible by Chrysler for the military - about 55,000 of them were sold, all with the weak-sister 318-2bbl, Dana 44F, Dana 60R, NP203 (chain-driven) full-time 4WD transfer case. They all came with manual steering. Just a crappy truck to drive.
My concept was to build "the truck that Dodge SHOULD have sold to the military". Cummins motor was 20:20 hindsight, and a no-brainer, since the first-gen factory Cummins trucks had identical frames as the M880, technically, a 5/4 ton truck. Should be bolt-in, right? Right! Here's the swap:
That was right after the engine was dropped in, back in 2007.
Also upgraded the trans to the 1993 47RH with lockup and overdrive. Dana 60 front and rear, 205 (gear-driven) part-time 4WD transfer case (see the lockout hubs!), 3.54:1 gears, Sure Grip front and rear. Power disk brakes on all 4 wheels. Power steering. Running the Chevy hydro-boost setup in tandem with the PS pump. Cuz, turbo-boosted motors don't have any vacuum to run the power brake booster! Tweaked the injector pump, 4" exhaust (no muffler).
Turned this truck into an absolute dream to drive. All the power you could ever want, 90MPH top speed, 18-20 MPG. With the upgraded front axle, GVW rating is 9800 lbs. It's been to Florida twice, and to Arizona 4 times.
Still wearing its 1980s NATO camo scheme. It's due for (another) repaint, and I'm going to put it back to the 1970s 4-color camo scheme.
M880s don't garner much respect in the military vehicle collecting world. Won't be long and they'll all be gone... A shame, because they're so highly serviceable. I'll drive mine until they take my license away!
I had a bearing failure about a year ago and WASTED the rear axle housing. The heat actually melted the left axle shaft in two! I knew of a potential donor truck in a nearby junkyard I found back in the mid-1980s. 1967 Dodge D250. Still laying there. Bought the rear for $100, swapped the gears, and bolted it right in. Gotta love Dodge interchangeability! Great thing was that the factory pinion depth setting was exactly the same in both the wrecked axle and the donor axle. So, my 3.54 Sure Grip gears dropped right into the 'new' housing. I was back on the road in two days.
-Paul
Back about 2005, a local army truck restoration guy made the choice to unload ALL his M880 stuff. I got TWO complete trucks, and a big load of NOS parts, all for the princely sum of $900:
I immediately turned around and sold the worst one for $900 to an acquaintance to use as a farm truck.
Then, I was inspired to do a massive upgrade to the drivetrain. These trucks were built as cheaply as possible by Chrysler for the military - about 55,000 of them were sold, all with the weak-sister 318-2bbl, Dana 44F, Dana 60R, NP203 (chain-driven) full-time 4WD transfer case. They all came with manual steering. Just a crappy truck to drive.
My concept was to build "the truck that Dodge SHOULD have sold to the military". Cummins motor was 20:20 hindsight, and a no-brainer, since the first-gen factory Cummins trucks had identical frames as the M880, technically, a 5/4 ton truck. Should be bolt-in, right? Right! Here's the swap:
That was right after the engine was dropped in, back in 2007.
Also upgraded the trans to the 1993 47RH with lockup and overdrive. Dana 60 front and rear, 205 (gear-driven) part-time 4WD transfer case (see the lockout hubs!), 3.54:1 gears, Sure Grip front and rear. Power disk brakes on all 4 wheels. Power steering. Running the Chevy hydro-boost setup in tandem with the PS pump. Cuz, turbo-boosted motors don't have any vacuum to run the power brake booster! Tweaked the injector pump, 4" exhaust (no muffler).
Turned this truck into an absolute dream to drive. All the power you could ever want, 90MPH top speed, 18-20 MPG. With the upgraded front axle, GVW rating is 9800 lbs. It's been to Florida twice, and to Arizona 4 times.
Still wearing its 1980s NATO camo scheme. It's due for (another) repaint, and I'm going to put it back to the 1970s 4-color camo scheme.
M880s don't garner much respect in the military vehicle collecting world. Won't be long and they'll all be gone... A shame, because they're so highly serviceable. I'll drive mine until they take my license away!
I had a bearing failure about a year ago and WASTED the rear axle housing. The heat actually melted the left axle shaft in two! I knew of a potential donor truck in a nearby junkyard I found back in the mid-1980s. 1967 Dodge D250. Still laying there. Bought the rear for $100, swapped the gears, and bolted it right in. Gotta love Dodge interchangeability! Great thing was that the factory pinion depth setting was exactly the same in both the wrecked axle and the donor axle. So, my 3.54 Sure Grip gears dropped right into the 'new' housing. I was back on the road in two days.
-Paul
I'm working on being an antique tractor collector.
But my tractors are both only 20 years old...Hoping to be working them when they become antiques!
I admire the interest and enjoyment you guys get from antique vehicles...Like some mentioned above, most of mine have always disappeared just before they were about to reach the classic car stage...never would have made the antique car stage...
But my tractors are both only 20 years old...Hoping to be working them when they become antiques!
I admire the interest and enjoyment you guys get from antique vehicles...Like some mentioned above, most of mine have always disappeared just before they were about to reach the classic car stage...never would have made the antique car stage...
bbxlr8
Active member
Equipment
L2501 w/R14s, LA525, BH77, SGC0660, CL 5' BB, CL PHD, WG24 + Ford 1210 60" mmm,
I'm pretty eclectic when it comes to interests - pretty much anything with an engine...
I normally don't post on this, but I'll play as this is a great group!
- 72 Oldsmobile conv from when I started driving; did the body & dropped in a worked 455 in early 90s (now dressed as W30 with original parts from "back in the day") 200K+ miles and never in the rain since the partial restoration.
- 20 years with a 67 vette conv. L79 (bought right...)
IMO Trucks, 4x4s and old tractors more than count
- 97 Jeep TJ Sahara 5sp & of course my little frankenmower - Ford 1210
I normally don't post on this, but I'll play as this is a great group!
- 72 Oldsmobile conv from when I started driving; did the body & dropped in a worked 455 in early 90s (now dressed as W30 with original parts from "back in the day") 200K+ miles and never in the rain since the partial restoration.
- 20 years with a 67 vette conv. L79 (bought right...)
IMO Trucks, 4x4s and old tractors more than count
- 97 Jeep TJ Sahara 5sp & of course my little frankenmower - Ford 1210
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