Tag: Pickup

My late father, Lester, had me involved in Model A’s at a young age. As long as I could remember, he tinkered with a ’29 Roadster. Over the years, my brother and I helped assemble, paint, and eventually complete the little car with him. For some of the bigger jobs we couldn’t help with as kids, he relied on an old friend named Artie. Artie was a tough guy truck driver that looked every bit of the part. He was a “collector” of many things, some people now call it hoarding. For example, he had some kind of small switching locomotive in his driveway. Old box trucks on his property were loaded with motorcycle parts and literally tons of train memorabilia. He was single, answered to no one, and collected whatever he wanted.

Fast forward many years to 2008, and his health began to turn. He asked my father to help him sell off some of his things to pay for medical bills. We went down to his house in Elizabeth, NJ, and began to help take an inventory. About a week into this, I finally made my way into the detached garage. Lifting the doors just revealed more piles of old boxes and junk. But one thing stuck out and caught my eye. It appeared to look like the headlight bar and grill shell from a Model A! I went back and asked my father if Artie ever had an A. He said he remembered him having a pick-up, but that was 40 years ago. Digging a little deeper in the garage revealed this 1930 Pick-up. My father couldn’t believe he still had it, and neither did Artie…  It was pretty rough from being in a dirt floor garage in NJ. Humid summers, cold winters, leaky roof, you name it. But the little truck was complete and had good bones. A deal was made and I took the Pick-up home to my garage. Over the next several years we restored the truck to its current state.

I will never forget the fond memories Model A’s have brought me over the years. My father and Artie are now both gone, probably collecting junk somewhere up in the sky. Myself and my wife, Helen, create our own memories now in our A, and enjoy driving the truck to shows. We wave back to the pointing onlookers, many who have never seen a car this old running down the road.

Thank you, dad, and thank you Artie, for this great hobby.