Most club members will be familiar with my two
“rag top” vintage cars (1929 Chev Tourer and 1930 Model A Ford Roadster)
which I have owned and rallied for much of our club’s long
history. Although I dearly love these sometimes cantankerous old girls,
there are nonetheless times when I have wished for a vehicle more
suitable to drive on the longer rallies we sometimes get involved in. As
many members are well aware, old vintage cars can be quite tiring on
really long trips.
Accordingly,
last October found me at the famous US Hershey car swap meet, largely
to check out what the market was offering there. My interest for a
possible purchase tended to something a bit rare to Australia, such as a
coupe or convertible from the 1940s. (I actually owned a ‘47 Ford
Mercury coupe many years ago when living in Canada.) Of course, I saw
many interesting cars at Hershey, but anything nice cost
plenty. Furthermore, there was nothing reasonable in the brand and body
style I favoured, namely a 1940s era Plymouth.
It
wasn’t until I was on my way home, in part travelling by train from
Hershey/Carlysle to Detroit and Chicago that I spotted an ad in Hemmings
Motor News, listing a 1948 Plymouth coupe for sale. This was described
as an original unrestored, low mileage model, located in the eastern
state of Ohio. Unfortunately, by then I wasn’t in a position to
sidetrack my journey, so had to put off further enquiries until I
returned home.
Back
in Canberra a week later, I called ‘Gene’, the Plymouth owner in
Ohio. When I obtained more details about his car (and that he approved
of its export), my interest went into overdrive! However, I still was
not convinced enough to make an offer on the car without a formal
inspection. Fortunately, by a stroke of luck, a Vancouver friend had
relatives in Ohio living within 40 miles of the Plymouth. Furthermore,
they had a background in farm equipment/motor mechanics, and seemed
quite happy to inspect the car for me. To cut a long story short, back
came a fairly glowing report that “my” car was a little beauty, being
solid and well cared for, with low (43,000) miles and with great
potential. By then, wild horses couldn’t dissuade me, and, as other
buyers were ‘in the wings’, I immediately contacted Gene offering him
the listed price and commenced arrangements for shipping the car to
Australia out of New York.
When
the car arrived in Sydney this autumn, readers can imagine my
excitement as I pulled up at the Botany shipping terminal with my ute
and car trailer. There it was, an original 1948 Plymouth Special Deluxe
Coupe, just out of its shipping container, parked beside the Customs
facilities. It was slightly travel stained from its long voyage, but
nevertheless, to me it looked pretty terrific and very pleasing to the
eye.
Once
back in Canberra, I carefully checked out the car and was amazed to
find it in such good order. Virtually everything worked, including the
various electrical accessories; the cloth upholstery was original and
spotless while the black (factory?) paint was very acceptable for a 63
year old vehicle. Even more surprising, the chromed bumpers and
stainless steel trim were unmarked while the motor ticked over like the
proverbial clock. All in all, I was now convinced what a fortunate
purchase this had been.
Later,
on putting the car through rego, I was not too perturbed that the
inspectors found a few minor faults. These were principally leaking
seals on the brakes, transmission and differential, probably suggesting
long periods of storage. Fortunately, Gene had sent a parts/repair
manual with the car, and I was able to order replacement seals from the
US. Our club’s Albert Neuss (a Chrysler product fanatic if ever there
was one!) wrestled with the very rusty bolts etc on the brake cylinders
and a Fyshwick company adjusted the steering. (I have no plans, by the
way, to convert the car’s left hand drive.) The final motor registry
inspection took place in early June and the car now carries historic
plates on club registration.
So
there you have it, the story of yet another car (a ridiculous 3rd) in
my stable. This car I feel will quite satisfy my needs at this stage in
my ‘vintage’ life, although the true test will only come with extended
driving and how it stands up to future events. I can only wish we both
will have many years ahead of happy rallying together.
Brian McKay.
