Thinning the Herd

In a recent post, I had come to a realization that we had a few too many vehicles in our collection.  HA!  Who am I kidding?  You can never have too many.  I put together this little graphic just to visualize how many we had.  I sort of thought that it was a pretty nice collection if I do say so myself.

However, the time had come to thin the herd.  We sold the '85 blue Chevy to Jodi's dad.  We sold the '91 red Ford to a friend.  And, as much as it pained us, we scrapped the Avenger.  Then, with momentum built up, we scrapped the Ghetto Van.  Some people might reel back upon hearing those painful words, but it had to be done.  The Avenger would have wound up costing me a cool $1000 to get all its issues worked out.  The lack of available time was the other factor.  It wouldn't have been worth my time with what the Blue Book value would be when I was done.

The Ghetto Van was hard to scrap for me because for years it has been my plan to revive my '59.  Upon a lot more consideration, it isn't the most ideal vehicle for me to use to properly restore my '59, though.  So, at some point, when my available time gets freed up and I'm ready, we'll get a proper vehicle for which to put my '59 body on.  Ideally, I would like a '73 to '79 Ford F100 with a carbureated 302 with a 3 speed automatic transmission, basically what I'm driving now except with a 302 small block instead of the 390 gas-guzzling big block I have now.  Unlike the Ghetto Van, I wouldn't have to do anything to the frame or drivetrain to make that vehicle work for it.  Plus, if I get a '73-'79 model, I can use the body and cab to restore the yellow '74 we already have.  It's a great truck and would be a good one for Lyric some day.

All the scrapping was hard.  But on the bright side, I actually received more money selling the Ghetto Van for scrap than what I paid for it.  In case you're wondering why we named it the "Ghetto Van", it's because of the extent of the damage to both the passenger side and the rear of the vehicle.  The guy I bought it from had said that the previous owner had hit a mailbox to which my friend replied "more like a post office."  The damage kept the passenger-side sliding-door from opening.  It also was missing all the glass on the passenger side and rear with the exception of the passenger-side front door window glass.  It made for some pretty cold winter driving.  But, it got me around for 18 months and hauled a considerable amount of building materials for us.  It was a good van.  It served us well.  It looks so lonely and sad sitting there in the scrap yard waiting to be crushed, an unfit ending to a life of good service.  But, 'tis the life of a non-classic nineties work vehicle.

Posted in: automobiles