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- My Quest ...
How I Got Started
Several years ago my
wife's uncle mentioned that his landlord was interested in selling his 1944 Chevy 4x4
truck. I was somewhat familiar with the truck and knew it when it ran back in the
early '80s. I knew the owner and since the truck was only about 8 miles away,
it wasn't too much effort to go "check it out." My wife's cousin and daughter
accompanied me to check out this gem.
It was parked at the back
of a field where it had gotten stuck about 14 years before and suffered a broken fan
belt. It was into the dirt up to its axle and still had a load of sand on the
back. Needless to say a deal was made and the rig was mine. As it turned out, this
truck started me on one of the greatest treasure hunts of my life.
The air cleaner of
this old Chevy was missing and water had gotten into the engine. Stripping it down and
further checking revealed a very tired engine. I put an ad in a local paper looking
for an engine. Early one Sunday morning I got a call from a fellow who said he had a
truck just like mine and would I be interested in buying it? This time a fellow MV'r
went with me and we were taken aback by the truck we found. The body was civilian,
but the rest of the truck (a 1944 airfield crash truck) was in immaculate condition with
only 9,000 miles on the odometer.
(1944 with
civilian box as I first saw it)
It was tucked in the back
of a large storage barn among the owner's tractor collection. It needed engine work,
but according to the owner it had not been outside overnight a single night in its life
since it's Army discharge. As you guessed, it came home.
Several months later I placed an ad for a cargo box in our local MVPA chapter
newsletter. I received a call one evening from an older collector in the mountains west of
me. He had a correct cargo box for sale and as we talked he asked what I was putting
it on. When I told him and mentioned that it was very difficult to find the correct
box for an airfield crash truck he said "you should have said so. I have a
complete truck and am thinking of selling it too".
Do I need to mention what
happened next?
(1943 Airfield Crash Truck being loaded for the trip home)
At this point the wife became alarmed and something had to
go. The dump truck needed far more work than my time and budget
allowed, so I ended up selling it.
The quest has been a ball and I have met some great people in the process. The path that this great road has taken me is this website where I can share my
interest.
Stay tuned, the quest continues......
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