"This one is going to be a little more difficult, for you, than the last one..............." Mrs. Louise Blake proclaimed to me and Timmy Newsome. Problem was, I knew she was right. THIS one did not have any front wheels. Oh, it did have a tire-less rim on the left front, and it did have a 3/4 ton Ford truck rear spindle welded over the original right front spindle............BEAUTIFUL and CLASSIC, but that was it. A homespun 'racing' spindle from an earlier era, and it was resting comfortably on the white sand, vines and bushes, and a broken "Sun Drop" bottle all in the little-known community of Maple Hill in rural Pender county, NC.
THIS ONE was a former Saturday night special, a 1937 Ford coupe that had battled over the dusty half-miler at Jacksonville, NC in the 1950's. Me and good friend, Jack Walker, had more or less, stumbled upon this garden of Eden in February of 2009. On that winter, Friday afternoon, Jack, acting on almost a 6th sense, had suggested a detour. Why not drive down THIS particular driveway and lets just see what's at the end? As we neared the (expected) farm house (which was actually a mobile home) our eyes 'bout jumped out..............RACE CARS................OLD ONES................COUPES...............as far as the eye could see!!!!!!
Had we transversed some dimensional plane? Was this scene REAL? Just what in the wide world of sports was going on, anyway? To a couple of old-school racing nuts, we had just ambled upon the mother load, the Hope Diamond of racing junk. The rusty Mona Lisa. Who owned them? What was their story? What was their future? Could WE be part of that future??? HOLY, MOLY!!
There was a farmer at the farm house, and his care taker. Didn't take Dr. Kildare to realize the reign and reality of dementia. He was very friendly, and hospitable, but hard information was difficult to determine. We did get a name, and within 24 hours Jack and his impressive on-line skills had filled in most of the blanks and had all the details I needed. I had a phone number and a name.
The phone number connected me with the farmer's daughter, Mrs. Louise Blake, who was now the administrator of the situation and had legal power of attorney. He dad had been a life-long mechanic......worked on anything and everything, automobiles, heavy equipment, you-name-it.........AND he loved racing and had built and campaigned these coupes, back in the 1950's. They were time capsules, and I realized, having been 'born and raised' in south-eastern North Carolina, these old coupes had been THERE all of my life. Every day of my own existence, they were there, and now I was probably 20 years too late. Mrs. Blake explained, to me, that she would sell the cars, and in fact, NEEDED to sell them for several reasons..........BUT, she did not think her father could handle the reality of their leaving. She would get back with me when that situation had changed.
Winter of 2009 became summer of 2010. Unbeknown to me, Mrs. Blake had to place her father in a facility, but she had lost my phone number, and forgot my name. All she could remember was I lived somewhere near the NC/SC border and was very interested in the old race cars. Mrs. Blake drove from her home, near Greenville, NC, to Little River, SC............looking for me. She stopped at "Lee's Auto Service" in Little River because fellow Bell & Bell Vintage Modified racer, Bob Heckman, had his race car parked outside the Lee's garage. "Do you know of a guy that would be interested in old race cars....around here?" Mrs. Blake had asked the guys at Lee's. They did, and armed with their info, she called me. AMAZING!
Good friend, Tony Powell, was looking for a '37 Ford coupe to make a replica car from his dad's ("Mutt" Powell) career. I easily convinced Tony to purchase the "best" of the litter............a complete '37 that still had all four wheels and they held air and rolled. We easily loaded it one recent Sunday afternoon for it trip to Hemingway, SC and a new life.
Good friend, Timmy Newsome, has been searching for a coupe for vintage racing, and it didn't take too much salesmanship skill to finalize the second sale, on the second best car of the bunch, another '37 coupe............which brings us back to the beginning of our story.
A light-weight floor jack and a few cinder blocks can be down-right awesome, in the hands of a professional rust-bucket salvager, and in no time, we had the front end of the old car raised off the Pender county soil high enough to back Timmy's trailer underneath. We had another secret weapon: a very heavy duty WINCH, that drug that old girl, no front wheels and all, right up on the trailer. Surprisingly,the two rear wheels rolled! We were happier than two dead pigs in the sunshine! And Mrs. Blake admitted she was impressed with our "saving skills". We paid the tab, left the farm house, race car in tow, back down the long driveway, stopped at the "Scotchman" in Burgaw, NC for two Pepsi's and proudly made our way back down I-40 toward home and an exciting future. Timmy will restore the car in his Hartsville, SC shop for 2011 vintage racing. He's already got a flathead, and a classic 348 chevy, and a '58 Chevy pick up to tow the coupe.
These old race cars will be crushed, or sold. Mrs. Blake had explained. The family needs the money and to clean up the property. But, honestly, I've been dragging home, or planning to drag home, or trying to convince my dad to HELP me drag home rusty relics since I was 10 years old. A'int to big thing for me. It's in the blood, evidently. The thrill never changes, but add a beautiful late September Saturday afternoon, a Pepsi, an old coupe on the trailer and a field of dreams........... It don't get much better!
That is beautiful Bobby. The descriptions and the feeling of having all that happen!!! Congrats, buddy, you really "Bopped" into that one.
Wow Bobby, isn't it refreshing to see these old pieces in the right hands? Give 'em new life, they deserve it and so does the old timer who built them. Great Job!!Pete
The whole things sounds like it was mapped out in the world of fate. Very exciting news and so good to hear the old girls are getting a face lift and tummy tuck. Nice work!
Sounds as though you stumbled into another mothers lode. A find as you describe there is rare indeed and as you were able to sort out and distribute the rides to deserving home makes it even better. Digging (JUNK) as some people called mine as we came home,out of a swarm of briars that would make Brair Rabbit happy has a personal feeling of accomplishment to it. After you place that diamond in the rough up on the cradle of jack stands to rebuild your second chance in your Second Childhood starts again. AS ole DW would say-----Oh by the way, you did photo these great finds didnt you?
Truly great, Bobby. Exciting finds. Buckshot would be talking about this one at the track, for sure!
You know Bobby after reading this for the fourth or fifth time I have come to the conclusion either you or Jack need to give the other one a cheap video camera so you can document these finds for others to see.I can close my eyes and envision the trip you so dearly described down that drive, I too made a drive like that also spotting my car. Photos write a thousand words every time you look at it .
Great story,Helping out a family in need and saving a piece of history.That's a home run.I need one but first I have got to get my Howe out of lawaway.