I was hanging out at home the other day with @mrsbozz when I got an unexpected phone call. It was @a4xjeeper and he wanted to know if I had any plans for Saturday. I looked at my wife with that "do I have any plans for Saturday?" look and she whispered for me to see what he wanted.
He explained that he needed some help hauling some tractors from a town in the "thumb" of Michigan called Elkton, to a house just a couple of miles from where I live. It was about an hour and a half drive, so I figured I could definitely spend the morning helping my buddy out.
It's pretty rare that he calls me for help, usually it is the other way around, so @mrsbozz was pretty insistent that I do whatever I needed to help him out. It didn't take much coaxing anyway, I really enjoy spending any time I can with my friends.
When I first talked to @a4xjeeper, he thought we were only going to need to take one trailer. He has the goose neck trailer you can kind of see on the road in the photo above. We planned on riding together and picking the equipment up and bringing it back.
After he got more details, he realized we were going to need to take two trailers with us, so that meant my trusty 2500 was going to see some action. He brought his flatbed and a hitch for it, but the hitch didn't work with my truck, so we had to wait and see if he could find something different.
At 6:30 AM on Saturday morning he showed up with a different hitch and we were able to get the trailer connected to my truck and on the road.
What started out as picking up a couple of tractors had morphed into us picking up three cars at an old farm out in the "thumb". We call it the thumb because if you look at Michigan it is shaped like a left hand. The state is often referred to as the "mitten state", and the thumb is the portion that creates the East coast of the Saginaw Bay and looks like a thumb.
The drive over to Elkton, MI was pretty uneventful. They are doing some construction near Bay City, MI and for many of us, that is considered the gateway to the thumb. It wasn't a big deal though because their are four bridges across the Saginaw River in Bay City and even though two of them were being worked on, the other two were open.
As I was walking through the barn, I noticed this old Dodge Charger sitting along the other side. I'm not great with cars, but after looking it up online, I believe it is a 1969 or somewhere close to there. Unfortunately, we were not taking that car with us today.
If you look just beyond that car, there is another vehicle with a cover over it. Apparently that covered vehicle was a Plymouth Barracuda, but I wasn't able to get any pictures of it. It also was not one of the cars we were hauling that day.
Instead, we were tasked with moving a Chevy Beretta circa 1990 something, a 1972 Caprice Classic, and the Dodge Brother's antique auto you saw in the opening photo.
It really felt like one of those stories you hear on the news where some old guy passes away and then they start exploring the property and find this barn full of classic cars. In this case, it was an older person who had passed away, but the family had hired my friend to move the three cars they were taking back to their house.
Of course it is never easy. None of the vehicles were able to be started. We had to pull each of them out of the barn with another truck. Then we had to tow them with the same truck up onto the trailers that we were hauling them home with.
The Beretta proved to be especially obstinate. The brakes had seized up on it, so one of the tires was completely locked. Then, once we got it moving and the brakes broke free, we soon found that I had no brakes at all. Which made it a bit difficult to control.
Finally, we got it up onto the trailer only to find that I was stuck inside of the car. I had been in the car so that I could steer it as they were pulling it up onto the trailer. Unfortunately, my friend forgot about the fact that the trailer had fenders over the wheels.
With the car up on the trailer, there was no clearance for me to get the door open on either side. The car was new enough that it had power windows, but with the battery dead, those weren't working for me to climb out that way. Eventually, the group of people that were there watching lifted the side of the car on the suspension so the door would clear the top of the fender and I could get out.
I'm not usually the claustrophobic sort, but it was getting hot and smelly inside that old car and I just wanted to get out!
With the three cars finally loaded up and chained down, we started our trip back home. We stopped in the town of Elkton to check the chains on the vehicles and we had several people stop and ask us about the cars. They wanted to know what year they were and if they were for sale.
I said, "I'm just hauling them, sorry".
We made the hour and a half trip back with only one slight issue which I will get to in a second. I tried to get some more photos of the old Dodge Brothers car because it was really cool. I especially loved the detail in the wheels with the old wooden spokes.
I don't know the exact date of the car, but if I had to guess it was 1920's or 30's based on the images I am seeing online.
One thing I do know is that there was very little space inside the vehicle. They must have made these things for short skinny people because there was very little room for a fatty like me to squeeze in between the seat and the steering wheel.
It looked like at least until recently the car was in working condition. It would have been cool to get a photo of the engine, but since I was just the guy hauling it, I didn't want to be presumptuous. The seat itself was actually pretty springy and comfortable. It was just getting in and out that was a pain.
Remember how I said there was a small issue coming back? Well, running over one of the sets of railroad tracks, the Caprice bounced and one of the chain connectors punctured the gas tank and my friend was dripping gas all down the road.
It sounded like they were going to sell that car anyway, so they likely will just get it patched or sell the car as is. At least from the looks we got on the way home, there area lot of people who would be interested in this boat of a car. I'm not kidding when I say it was huge!
Needless to say, with no brakes, the Beretta was a bit exciting to get down off the flatbed I was hauling. It almost ended up running into the front of the pole barn before they were able to stop it. I was just trying to steer it straight, but all I heard was a lot of screaming as I started gaining speed going backwards off the ramp.
In the end, it ended up being fine. The owners were very happy we were able to haul them and they handed us each a tip of $100.
By now it was close to 2:00 PM and what I thought was going to be a quick morning drive out to the thumb turned into a most of the day thing. We got the trailers back to his house and I was getting ready to leave when he handed me a stack of money.
He has given me money before in the past to invest in crypto (that's how he ended up with Hive account), so I thought he was just giving me more money to invest for him.
He said "I didn't tell you this was a paying job?". Here I thought I was just hanging out with my friend for the morning and I end up heading home with a wad of $100 bills in my pocket. Talk about a great day!
@mrsbozz was pretty happy too! :)
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nice find , that charger hmm , if we didn't have to pay road tax based on carweight and it would run on water i might have been intrested to buy, coulld be nice to convert it to a EV .
My friend has an old truck that he put a new engine it. He said it is better that way because you can find parts a lot quicker that way. Once metal 3D printing becomes a thing, that might be less of an issue. Road tax based on car weight sounds horrible. Can you imagine how much my truck weighs?
i guess arround 3000kg so that would cost you € 658,- per 3 months
convert that US dollar that would be $2860 ,- each year ...
and then they wonder why most of us drive small cars ...🤣🤣
That is pretty crazy. Everyone over here would be even poorer than they already are!
indeed not to mention our fuel prices .. we pay +/- $ 7.12 a gallon ...
Dang yeah! That would suck!
Good that you could help your friend, those cars are a classic jij, that's $100, not bad, good for you, cheers.
Yeah, it was a good time. It would have been cool if we had been able to ride together, but I was happy to help out with my truck.
Wow, very cool. Loves the photos of the 1920s car. I've not a car person at all and usually couldn't care less, but that one is really cool!
It was pretty cool. It just wasn't very big on space. I think most people back then must have been rail thin and only 5 feet high!
haha different time, different standards. My grandpa always used to tell about when he was going through the draft office for WWII. He was 6 foot, 130 lbs, and a farmboy so much of that was muscle. They told him he was overweight and needed to slim down to 120. He loved to tell that story, especially because in later life he ballooned up to 250.
Wow, that is crazy. Skinnier would have definitely helped. I am right around 250 and it wasn't easy. Tall would have been an issue though, there just wasn't a ton of space between the firewall and the seat.
How cool that you guys do that! I bet you've seen some beauties. I'd take that Charger, my dad had the same year. It was an amazing car for the time but many modern family sedans could probably outpace it now.
Sorry, this was just the first time we have done it, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was fun. That car was a beauty. My parents used to have an old two door Nova, but it wasn't very conducive to a family. I wish they had held onto it. I don't know, most cars these days only have 4 cylinder engines. Even with turbo they top out at like 150 horsepower which is causing issues for my wife. Her 2014 Buick gets 304 HP and she is insistent she isn't going to go lower than that. She might end up with a Mustang or Camaro...
Oh, I thought I remembered you and your friend hauling before. I must've been mistaken. The Nova was a nice car, a lot of people customized those. The Mustang or Camaro are great cars. They're discontinuing the Camaro though, it might be a good time to buy one at a discount.
We probably did something. He is always getting me into trouble! Oh, I think I know what you are thinking of. He and I took the trip over to Wisconsin to bring back that log splitter. That was probably it. I think I would get in trouble if I had a Mustang or Camaro. I have a pretty heavy foot. I need to be inconspicuous!
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Real nice cars. I love the Charger, even if it was not moved. A charger is on my wish list, when I have a paid home and no debt :)
Yeah, I hear you there. I can't say that I like the color, but it was still a pretty cool looking car. I'd love to own a classic car one day too.
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Beautiful cars.
I think they will be really nice once they get them cleaned up!
Dang Bozz, cool old schools
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Wow - that old blue car looks incredible for the age ! And nice to get paid for a day helping out your mate - excellent work !!!
Yeah, It was pretty amazing. I was so excited that I got to get behind the wheel of it.
That's a little adventure. You have to wonder how many old cars are sitting in barns. The really old one looks in good condition for around 100 years old. There's a big classic car scene over here with lots of shows. I was just thinking that some cars I knew in my childhood are over 50 years old now. I think the modern ones tend to last better as they don't rust to pieces as fast.
Yeah, that might be true about the newer ones. More things to break though. I bet there are some really awesome cars over there. Old rolls royces, Alfa Romeo, and that other one I can't think of.
New cars do have too many gadgets and are much harder to work on. There was an old Rolls parked by a house near here for ages. Someone around here still uses their Morris Minor that must be over 50 years old.
That is cool. I think Austin Healy is the brand I was trying to remember. Is that a British car?
Oh yes! Their cars look great. There used to be loads of British car companies, but all the big ones are owned by foreign companies now.
My parents both owned an Austin 7 when they were young. I think my mum paid £6 for hers :) It would be worth much more now.
That is so crazy. What a cool looking car! Reminds me a lot of the Dodge Brothers here.
My first Childhood Car was a 1930 Model A Ford with a Rumple Seat... I use to play in it... My Uncle later sold it for $100...
Wow, that is pretty crazy. My childhood car was a Chevy Nova sedan. What that Model A would go for today... !
I have no idea what that car is now worth... I wonder where it's at, or if it was Crushed...
Probably long gone, you are right!
I love the Charger, but the Doge Brother looks amazing, considering it's possibly over a century old. What a great collection they've got... I enjoyed every photo un this post. Thank for sharing , mate
Thank you! I appreciate that. yes, the Dodge Brothers is what initially caught my eye! It was pretty impressive.
Before reading your post, it had been a while since I had seen a Dodge Brother's car. This was the last one I saw...
That is really awesome. I like the black, it really makes it pop!
That sounds like such fun! I bet it was worth it, even only for the cars! Those are beautiful.
Yeah, it was a pretty good time. We will probably be telling stories about it for years to come!
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It sounds like you are a great friend.