1963 Ford Econoline van.
I had my TV and antenna business going long ago and I found I needed more than a Toyota Corolla to haul TV sets and antennas in, so I started looking around for the right vehicle. I found a big old Dodge pickup truck that was inexpensive. I drove it and bought it. I knew it was not ideal, but it had an old hemi engine it that made it go fast to wherever I needed it to go. The problem with it was with the big hemi in the front, there was no traction in the back. The truck was unusable in places I needed to go, like down steep gravel lake roads. An average rain or snow and I couldn’t use the truck, or even get it out of my gravel driveway.
I needed a solution, so I sold the Dodge to a guy who liked the horsepower and bought the 1963 Ford Econoline van in 1975 I think. The van already had 135,000 miles on it, but it had been well cared for. It had enough weight in the back it would go anywhere and there was more than enough room to haul my gear, tools, ladders and even a large console TV all at once. The van had a small 6 cylinder engine that wasn’t going to win any rares, but the fuel mileage was great. I bought it from a man down the hill from our place. The next day I asked Joyce to go to the license bureau in our very small town to get some license plates, while I was working. She went to the bureau and shut off the van to go inside. The bureau was at a car dealership in town; she parked in the space provided for license customers and went in the door. It only took 5-10 minutes and she was done. She walked outside and the van was gone!
The mechanics from the garage were all out on the parking lot with coffee in hand and talking. Joyce went over to them to ask if they had moved her van? One asked if the blue van was hers? She said yes and then the mechanic told her the story. He had just finished a car repair and was driving it around the lot when he saw the blue van backing up. He honked the horn to warn the driver he was behind the van. He got no response and realized there was no driver. The parking lot had a minimal slant from it to the major highway in town, one that is always busy during the day. The van turned slightly and rolled all the way out of the lot, then across two lanes of busy highway and down a steep embankment until it wrapped around a telephone pole about 30 feet down the hill. The mechanic said Joyce was lucky it did that because had it went all the way down to the bottom of the hollow there would be no way to ever retrieve it.
In 24 hours I had bought a nice van without a dent or scratch on it and now the back was bent in a quarter-moon shape against a pole. The garage mechanic got the company wrecking truck, backed it up to the edge of the embankment, went down with its cable, hooked it to the front of the van and hoisted it up the hill. Because the hill was so steep the back was bent from the roof to the bottom of the rear doors, but the bumper was unscratched. They didn’t even charge Joyce to retrieve it and Joyce was able to drive it home.
The next day We went to the insurance office. The agent was not pleased, but he went out to look at the van and took pictures of the damage. I asked him what he thought; he replied the van was totaled. I was shocked. He asked what I paid for it? I said $500. He said he could get me the 500 and they would junk the van. I thought for a minute and asked what they would get for the junk van and he replied $200. I said, how about I give them the 200 out of the 500 they would pay, since I could at least still drive it. He agreed and I already had 300 back in my pocket, making the van just a $200 bill and it would still have plenty of space accessible through the side doors.
My neighbor Ray out in the country was a welder who after his wrestling career on the state circuit was over he went into the business of making docks for the lake area. I stopped one afternoon and asked Ray if he could help me get the van back to the point where it didn’t look so bad and I could use the back doors? Ray was retired and had nothing going at the moment so he said he would do what he could as long as I would not hold him to blame if something went wrong when we tried to push that metal back out. I had nothing to lose so I said let’s try.
Ray had this huge hydraulic jack, perhaps 6 feet long shaft and had an 8 inch steel brace on the end. We put the base against the engine compartment between the front seats and the end brace went right up against where the 2 back doors were pushed in. He took it slow and just pushed against the doors a couple of inches at a time. In 2 hours time he had the doors out to where they belonged and I could easily open them. Best thing was they looked normal and there wasn’t even any paint chipped or wrinkles in the doors. I asked what I owed him; he said no charge neighbor.
The van never failed to start, was only stuck once due to a broken universal joint, but never got stuck in snow or mud or anything else. When I closed the TV business and sold my inventory, I put an ad in the local paper and sold the van for $500, so overall I made $300 and used it for 2 years. Not a bad deal at all.
I needed a solution, so I sold the Dodge to a guy who liked the horsepower and bought the 1963 Ford Econoline van in 1975 I think. The van already had 135,000 miles on it, but it had been well cared for. It had enough weight in the back it would go anywhere and there was more than enough room to haul my gear, tools, ladders and even a large console TV all at once. The van had a small 6 cylinder engine that wasn’t going to win any rares, but the fuel mileage was great. I bought it from a man down the hill from our place. The next day I asked Joyce to go to the license bureau in our very small town to get some license plates, while I was working. She went to the bureau and shut off the van to go inside. The bureau was at a car dealership in town; she parked in the space provided for license customers and went in the door. It only took 5-10 minutes and she was done. She walked outside and the van was gone!
The mechanics from the garage were all out on the parking lot with coffee in hand and talking. Joyce went over to them to ask if they had moved her van? One asked if the blue van was hers? She said yes and then the mechanic told her the story. He had just finished a car repair and was driving it around the lot when he saw the blue van backing up. He honked the horn to warn the driver he was behind the van. He got no response and realized there was no driver. The parking lot had a minimal slant from it to the major highway in town, one that is always busy during the day. The van turned slightly and rolled all the way out of the lot, then across two lanes of busy highway and down a steep embankment until it wrapped around a telephone pole about 30 feet down the hill. The mechanic said Joyce was lucky it did that because had it went all the way down to the bottom of the hollow there would be no way to ever retrieve it.
In 24 hours I had bought a nice van without a dent or scratch on it and now the back was bent in a quarter-moon shape against a pole. The garage mechanic got the company wrecking truck, backed it up to the edge of the embankment, went down with its cable, hooked it to the front of the van and hoisted it up the hill. Because the hill was so steep the back was bent from the roof to the bottom of the rear doors, but the bumper was unscratched. They didn’t even charge Joyce to retrieve it and Joyce was able to drive it home.
The next day We went to the insurance office. The agent was not pleased, but he went out to look at the van and took pictures of the damage. I asked him what he thought; he replied the van was totaled. I was shocked. He asked what I paid for it? I said $500. He said he could get me the 500 and they would junk the van. I thought for a minute and asked what they would get for the junk van and he replied $200. I said, how about I give them the 200 out of the 500 they would pay, since I could at least still drive it. He agreed and I already had 300 back in my pocket, making the van just a $200 bill and it would still have plenty of space accessible through the side doors.
My neighbor Ray out in the country was a welder who after his wrestling career on the state circuit was over he went into the business of making docks for the lake area. I stopped one afternoon and asked Ray if he could help me get the van back to the point where it didn’t look so bad and I could use the back doors? Ray was retired and had nothing going at the moment so he said he would do what he could as long as I would not hold him to blame if something went wrong when we tried to push that metal back out. I had nothing to lose so I said let’s try.
Ray had this huge hydraulic jack, perhaps 6 feet long shaft and had an 8 inch steel brace on the end. We put the base against the engine compartment between the front seats and the end brace went right up against where the 2 back doors were pushed in. He took it slow and just pushed against the doors a couple of inches at a time. In 2 hours time he had the doors out to where they belonged and I could easily open them. Best thing was they looked normal and there wasn’t even any paint chipped or wrinkles in the doors. I asked what I owed him; he said no charge neighbor.
The van never failed to start, was only stuck once due to a broken universal joint, but never got stuck in snow or mud or anything else. When I closed the TV business and sold my inventory, I put an ad in the local paper and sold the van for $500, so overall I made $300 and used it for 2 years. Not a bad deal at all.
No comments:
Post a Comment