47-55.1 Lost and hidden AD

[Russell Ashley]

This a couple of miles from my house and every time I ride by it it makes me a little sad. A little back ground info: I moved out here 33 years ago and it was in the country. The roads were curvy two lane, and things like the hardware store and auto parts store were individually owned and not part of a chain. An older gentleman lived in the house that sits next to this old shed and drove a nice looking blue AD. I spoke with him several times at the local businesses and always asked him if he was ready to sell it to me, knowing he wouldn't. About twenty five years ago he got too old to drive and backed it into this shed, parked it with the grill showing, and it never moved again. There is also a Ford 8N tractor parked next to it. The family got so tired of people asking to buy it that they put up the blue tarp to hide it, and it and the tractor are still there rusting away. They are widening and straightening the road now and the shed was a lot farther from the road before. The fence is new and probably necessary now. Excuse the poor cell phone picture.

[1project2many]

Good story but sad. Too bad the family doesn't realize there are people who would love the truck as much as the old man did.

[mongocanfly]

At least it's in a shed....someday someone will get it....far to many of these "family" trucks sit outside and cant be bought....(nope,,I'm gonna fix It up someday).....20yrs later it's still sitting in the same spot...or what's left of it...

[Advanced Design]

We’ve all probably encountered that situation, which must be a part hoarders mindset and part psychological ....if I sell it I admit I am giving up on my dream or besmirching the memory of my Grandpa.

Vehicles are an emotional possession more than a logical one. If It was purely logical, we wouldn’t have the passion for them as we do...and own so darn many of them.

[cmayna]

So sad. I hope that who ever gets the truck and tractor, makes the original owner family proud.

[MiraclePieCo]

Steal it.

[weim55]

If you're still interested in purchasing think about writing a letter expressing that and your contact with the owner years ago. even if they don't contact you I've learned people are likely to hang on to that letter and just maybe you might get a call years later. Not too long ago I purchased a '50 3600 that sat outside in plain view on a residential street for 35 years. I just happened to ask the owner on the right day, just got lucky on the timing. You never know ......

Steve weim55 Colorado

[Russell Ashley]

Originally Posted by weim55

If you're still interested in purchasing think about writing a letter expressing that and your contact with the owner years ago. even if they don't contact you I've learned people are likely to hang on to that letter and just maybe you might get a call years later. Not too long ago I purchased a '50 3600 that sat outside in plain view on a residential street for 35 years. I just happened to ask the owner on the right day, just got lucky on the timing. You never know ......

Steve weim55 Colorado

I didn't actually want to buy the truck back when I would chat with the old guy who owned it. I knew that he would never sell it, but I doubt that anyone would want it now. That shed is mostly covered by the trees in the summer so not a lot of sunshine gets to it to dry it out. It has a dirt floor and the roof probably leaks too. Since AD's are not exactly rust proof, I suspect that it is so rusty by now that it wouldn't be worth anything. I have heard that the family members get mad when anyone even asks about it and there is a "Keep Out" sign on the fence now, so I'm afraid that that truck is entombed in that shed until it falls or the truck gets hauled off to the scrap yard when the family dies out.

Brian, thank you for NOT saying that there was a 56 Corvette in that garage, I think that would make me loose sleep, LOL. It's bad enough that a 56 Hard top and that 66 Plymouth are wasting away like that.

[MARTINSR]

This photo is of a yard in the neighborhood. The guy who lived here passed away about 10-15 years ago at 94 years old. Now mind you, this house is worth over a million dollars! I would bet a crisp $10 bill that the plates from his last meal are in the sink, NO KIDDING!

In the garage right behind this Dodge is an original 56 Chevy four door hardtop that he bought new! The garage is falling on it, this car was near perfect, original paint! My brother parked the car in that garage just a year or so before the man died. My brother had done a complete brake job replacing the master cylinder and all kinda job for the guy so he could give this car to his grandson.

Yep, it is damn odd what happens to our things when we go. I am going to be more like my dad, throw out everything and leave a few things for the family to go through that they will treasure. I am so blessed, I KNOW I am so blessed that my dad did this. My sister, brother and I went through our parents things in about an hour and took what we got to our homes, done deal. What I have witnessed personally in these matters is CRAZY, I am so blessed, I KNOW I am so blessed to not have been caught up in some crazy crap like this. That house, I talked to the grandson a while ago and like he said, he is renting a house here in town (about $3000 a month) for him and his family and here this house is empty with his mom and her sister fighting over what to do with it. He has been paying rent for years while this house just blocks from the one he rents sits empty. So damn sad.

Brian

[Advanced Design]

Some people get funny when money is involved. Seen it too many times...families fighting over possessions.

[Dachshund]

Not a truck, but I know of a Farmall tractor that is sitting beside the road. There is a tree growing through it that is 30 feet tall, and 18" around! 2-3 years ago, my BIL and I stopped to ask the man who owns it about selling it. He didn't tell us that he was going to fix it up some day....nope....he actually told us he still USES it!
Guess the tree is pretty important to them, and they need something to hold it up....

[Russell Ashley]

Maybe we should start a thread about forgotten trucks and equipment. Here's another one that is sinking into the ground. This one was "running when parked" after the owner inherited it when his father died about thirty years ago. He also got a nice 72 Ford pickup that sat in the garage without being moved until it left a couple of years ago. The owner would never sell either one but he has dementia now and might not even know that the truck is gone. This is in the land behind my house and I took this picture from my window. I asked his wife about it last year and she would like to get rid of it but won't until he dies. You can get a glimpse of it from the road in front of their house, and she says people stop and ask about it all of the time. I checked it out and I'm not sure it would be worth saving now.