Manitoba farm auction find!
I attended a farm auction just NW of Neepawa on Oct 16, 2009. This was a lifetime collection of cool old farm equipment and cars.
I went in anticipation of buying the remains of a 1926 T touring car.
One of the coolest parts of the day was talking with the fellow that was selling off everything.
After I introduced myself, he looked at me oddly and asked "are you Johnny's kid?". I said I was, and he told me to follow him.
We walked down the row of cars till we came to this old '48 Chevy grain truck.
He told me that back in 1960, when my parent moved from Minnedosa to Dauphin, he had lent my dad this particular truck so they could move their furniture! Damn, what a cool old story! Too bad the truck was so big, I would have bought it if I had a place to store it.
Anyway, here are the six Model T cars and trucks that were up for grabs at the sale, along with pallet loads of parts...
The first was this decent 1917 touring car. It was apparently last driven in parades in 1989 or so. It was the best of the bunch.
I wish I'd been able to afford this one, it would have been fun to get it running and drive it the way it sits. Not all old cars need to become hotrods.
Next up was this 1926 coupe. The body was amazingly straight and fairly rust free. It had a rare Ruxtell rear axle under it.
Next up was this brass era touring that had been cut down into a pickup. It was listed as a 1912, but appears to be either 1915 or 16.
This one was also used in parades as recently as 20 years ago.
I had my eye on this '23-25 touring, but it sold for a little more than I could afford to pay, especially if I got the '26 that I wanted.
This is the forlorn looking '26 that I had come to buy. As you can see, it came with a pile of extra parts piled up inside.
I originally wanted something like this to use as yard art in the front flower garden, but it turned out to be too nice to use that way.
So, I'll use it to build another hotrod. I'd rather start with something like this than to take a nice car and cut it up.
I was lucky and managed to get it for a very reasonable price.
I've always loved Ford Model T cars, and I've been looking for a nice touring to build for over 25 years.
Every one that I looked at was either really rough or terribly overpriced. This one is pretty straight, not overly rusty, and the price was right.
The best part of the car is the doors. They're usually rusted out at the bottoms, but these ones are nearly mint!
Loaded up and ready for the trip home.
It had snowed the previous week and the roads were in terrible condition. By the time we got back to town you could barely tell what was on the trailer from all the mud and grit. I stopped at the local car wash and gave the T and trailer a bath. That was a good idea, as not only did it clean the dirt off, it also stripped away all the moss and lichens that were growing all over it!
The big dent on the cowl was easy to pop out. Look at those near-perfect doors!
We emptied all the pieces out of the car to prepare for unloading.
There was almost a complete T-bucket body stashed in the pile, along with a ton of other goodies.
I've already sold a bunch of these parts off.
Front half of an early T touring body, loosly assembled!
All tucked away in the garage, ready for disassembly.
Starting to clean it up and take it apart.
As I was cleaning all the dirt and leaves out of the body, I found these two old bottles buried in the muck.
An even cooler find were the 1919 Canadian dime and 1927 Canadian nickel that were under the seats!
Plans for the car are up in the air for the time being. Until I get the Essex freshened up the T will be put in storage.
I'm not 100% sure of the direction I want to go with the T when I do start building it.
I've always loved them stock bodied and lowered, similar to this beautiful red '27 that a friend of mine built in Moose Jaw SK.
A couple of other full-fendered tourings that I found online.
This flathead powered one is gorgeous!
Now comes the problem. I've always liked these cars to be full-fendered. Always!
Then I saw a few nice traditional styled highboy tourings. Now I'm torn about which way to build the car.
The only downside is the Manitoba gestapo...errrr...government seriously frowns on fenderless cars.
To be a rebel or not? Aghhhhhhhh...decisions, decisions!
Picture this one with a flathead V8 sitting between the rails. Drooooooool!!
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