The Chevrolet Collection

Rust In Peace is a collection of actual photos that were taken and the stories that go along with them while growing up in south central Nebraska as a young man in the 70’s and then traveling the United States with a lust for rust. This page has some of the best Chevrolets that have ever been captured on film in their natural settings along with the stories that go along with them presented and told by the author Kevin Houtwed as he has been on the hunt for over 40 years with an unmeasurable passion to find and save any parts or pieces possible along the way.

1964 Chevrolet Nova

This past winter I was driving around in south central Nebraska when I spotted this little Nova under a blanket of snow that would give anything if someone would just take a few minutes and push it 40 feet back into that garage out of the elements to a dry environment for safe keeping. Its hard to believe this car has plates on it that look like someone had a desire to call it a historical vehicle at one time which tells me that they were on their way to caring about it a little more than usual and then all of the sudden it just became a permanent fixture in the driveway of this building with little trees growing up around it. I have always liked these little Novas as to me they were nothing more than a chopped down version of an Impala back in the 60’s. Most of them came with 6 cylinders and 3 speed manual transmissions, were not loaded with options, but could be made into a small block, 4 speed screamer over a weekend if the right guy got ahold of them. I happen to own a 63 SS that is in pretty good shape that I have had for over 20 years, and it too came factory with a 6 cylinder and a 2 speed power glide. I went to the door of the house by this garage and could not raise anyone to see if it could be bought or what they were planning to do with it. I did not get permission to look around so I did not, who knows the garage may be full of them or other desirable cars from the same era. So I just stood at the road and took my pictures and figure I will be back down in that area sometime soon to see if I can find some life to talk to. For now all I have is photos of an awesome little cruiser that is nothing more than a dwarf of an Impala resting under a blanket pure white snow. RIP

1965 Malibu SS

As I go through some of the finds I ran onto this past year out doing my weekend inrustigating that is nothing more than recess for me from the reality of the daily grind we all call work or our careers, I came across this Malibu SS that the story of it just blew me away. .  
I was out in southeast Nebraska this summer when I found this Malibu SS that had been used for a fence post and barb wire storage unit for quit some time by the farmer that owned the car. 
I have to say, at what time would you think to yourself that this old SS was not good for anything more than old fence storage? 
It just amazes me what you can find when on the hunt for rust, weather it is close to home or 500 miles away. 
We all know that back in the late 70’s a car like this would have not had much value as far as in the eyes of the general public. I remember when a car like this could have been bought in great shape for $500.00, maybe right off of a used car lot, drove home and may have needed nothing to be a great ride. 
In my eyes, there would have never been a day that this car would have been used like this on our farmyard, no matter what. I guess you could say I am just not wired that way. 
At any cost as I share this post, this car has been sold and saved to my knowledge and that is what I call a great ending and beginning for this old Malibu that once would have been the envy of the road.  I have devoted years of findings and work to be able to share stories like this one on this site and nothing makes me happier when another one is saved because of my time spent or getting connected with a buyer to get these old rides in the right hands. It just plain makes me happier than anyone could imagine. RIP

Early last spring I took a two hour drive southwest of Grand Island Nebraska to take a closer look at this fence that was made out of hundreds of early car and truck frames that surrounds a huge ranch that I have been told about for years. 
When I got to the location, I could not believe what I was looking at. There is literally frames from every make and model of cars from very early to later 30's that go for miles around this ranch. 
Where did they come from you ask? 
The family that owned this piece of real estate had one of the biggest salvage yards in this part of Nebraska back in the early years of salvage yards. 
This yard was way before my time and was cleaned up many years ago. 
From the stories I have been told, there was nothing like this place as there was about any kind of car or truck that was ever manufactured parked out there that could be purchased, all or parts. 
How often do you hear the high school jock say, I would give anything to go back to 1969 and show these boys how we played ball and so on. 
Well, let me tell you, while they are going back to play ball or become the genius we all did, I want to go back to this ranch and drive over the hill to see thousands of cars sitting there just waiting for me to come from the future with a check book as thick as a wire tied bale of fresh prairie hay, trucks with trailers lined up from my driveway to this location with every gear head that ever lived ready to load and save all the beautiful pieces of iron artwork that these frames that are now being used for fence posts carried down the road. 
I guess you could say the frames did get saved for something that went to a good cause.  
Could there be steel fence posts on land across the road from this ranch that were made from recycled parts of cars that may have a connection with some of these frames after being recycled multiple times since the 50's and 60's when this fence was put in?
That is a question that is impossible to answer, but one question you may have that can be answered is the fact that this is one time almost every automobile manufacture in America has ties to each other, proving when we all work together, stay straight with each other and not worry about shape, sizes, or holes from our past, we can keep even the meanest bulls on the right side of the fence. RIP

1948 Chevrolet Fleetline

I found this old 2 door Chevy about 25 years ago on a farmyard not farm from where I grew up in Nuckolls County Nebraska.
The thing that I noticed about this car was how well it had naturally camouflaged itself to its surroundings.
After this find I started noticing this more often with the cars and trucks I would find.
If you look around the area when you find most cars you will see that this is not uncommon. I have found them to actually almost change color to the trees or soil they are under or next to. Maybe that is why the Indians in Oklahoma carried the name as the Red Man since the soil there was as red as a western sky sunset.
This sounds crazy, but the next time you find something that is kind of buried by its surroundings, step back and take a good look and you will see what I mean.
With that said, there is no camo or concealment that can keep a man like me from finding the good stuff like this Fleetline Chevy, while inrustigating and hunting down the illusive sheet metal survivors that lurk the wilds that I want to share with the world. RIP

1931 Chevrolet Coupe

I found this 1931 Chevy about 12 years ago in south central Nebraska one day while I was out calling coyotes with a good friend of mine. 
For most people this project would only be a memory, but I know there are a few of you guys out there that could make this old stove bolt a reality. The thing that always bothers me is less than 15' to the right is perfectly level ground. Why did this little Chevy coupe have to be pushed over the slope enough to have it look like I feel most days. 
The difference is, I can go to a person that practices chiropractic care when I feel this way. 
We all know it is going to take more than someone that practices to straighten out this old stove bolts bones. Like I always say, it would be awesome to put one like this back on the road, 1 part at a time, no matter how long it might take.
I did not call any coyotes in that day, using this old coupe for my blind, but hunting the four wheeled rusty relic is much more fun and rewarding than a four legged, moon light howling predator of the prairie any day. RIP

1957 Chevrolet Belair

This 57 2 door hardtop has been sitting in this same place since the mid 80's. I have tried to buy it, but that will never happen from what I can see.
The car is still in pretty good shape and I can only imagine what it looked like when it was parked here where you see it 35 years ago.
The man that has it is a very good friend of mine that has some really nice stuff he has restored over the years, but for some reason it seems like this sheetmetal sweetheart just kind of got lost over time.
Maybe it is getting saved for the perfect time to pull it in and restore it, or maybe there is a memory with it that will keep it from ever seeing the road again, who knows?
All I know is, I would love to get my hands on it and make some new memories between myself, the highway and the pride of Detroit that rolled out on the roadways all those years ago. RIP

1963 Chevrolet Impala SS 409 4 Speed

I remember when I took this photo a few years back it was below zero outside and I just could not help but think about the day the man that owned this car and one I did a frame off restoration back in 1983 that his kid still owns to this day, went to Omaha to pick it up to be used for a parts donor for the restoration on his car.  
I got a call from Harold early one morning on a Saturday and he told me, there is a 1963 Impala SS 409 dual 4’s with a factory 4 speed, tach and all in the Omaha World Herald for sale. In storage and needs restored. So he said, if you are not busy lets run up and get it and use it for a parts car for my 63 you are doing. I agreed and in minutes he was pulling into my place with a trailer and a smile from ear lobe to ear lobe. A few cokes and a ham and cheese sandwich later we pulled into a part of Omaha that was not the kind of place us old farm boys were not accustomed to. Knocked on the door and a fuzzy little feller in pure white clothes came to the door. You the boys looking for the Impala? Yes we are, come right through here and I will show you the storage garage. I looked at Harold as he guided us through this old house and I am pretty sure we were thinking the same. If you here screams or scratches on the floor from the basement, just keep moving. We stepped out on the back step and he pointed at a garage that could have not been much bigger than the last layer of paint on that car. She’s in there he said, safe from the world. Harold and I walked around this garage and both said about the same time, are you sure there is a 63 Impala in this little building? The man started pulling the old swing out doors apart to revel the tail panel of a SS Impala and I mean a tail panel. There was so much junk stacked on and around this car you literally could not believe it. I swear if you would have tossed a bucket of water in there it would have all ran back out as there would have not been room for it. It gets better. As we started to unearth this very car you see in this picture we realized how close the apartment housing had been built across the alley, or the block fence of the apartments and started having concern if the car was going to be too long to turn across this narrow alley and out of the garage. Well, we had the bulk of his back yard destroyed by garbage that we pulled out of the garage when we decided to try to pull the car out to find there was no way this car was coming out with that fence so close across the alley. As we stood there and were trying to decide how this was going to work, ole meat department man came walking off the back step out of the house with a sledge hammer. Use this on that corner of the garage and then I think you will be able to pull it around and get it straight in the alley. Harold looked at me and said, well I won’t tell you what he really said or what I was really thinking, are you serious? Harold handed me the sledge and said have at it. I started knocking the corner out of the garage. Took about 8’ out of the wall forward from that corner. We got the car out and finally got it loaded. Harold paid the man $300.00 for this car and we drove off. as we were turning out of the alley I looked back at that garage and told Harold to stop and look back. We started laughing so hard he could not hardly get it together enough to drive. FEMA has not seen this kind of destruction, I mean we murdered that garage that day. We brought this old car home and used every part we could from it to restore the maroon one you see in the bottom photo that shows Harolds youngest son and his boys are washing. I restored that car in 1983 and I think it still looks great. This photo was taken about a year ago in their farmyard down in Kansas. 
You know the Impala is one of the fastest animals on 4 legs that roams the African outback. I bet this old 63 that has been right where we put it in 1983 would give anything to have a chance to run right along side one of those four legged friends and show it what happens when you combine all the 4's this metal wrapped carcass had when it rolled out of Detroit. RIP

1936 Chevrolet Sedan

I few years back I was in west Texas around the Stratford area when I came across this 1936 Chevrolet sedan sitting in a very dry pasture in what seemed to be the most deserted piece of land in North America.
I parked and got out of the truck and started to walk through the ditch towards this old chevy when a Jack Rabbit jumped out from under my foot in the tall grass along the road and proceeded to run across this dry landscape to absolutely nowhere. I watched that critter run until I could not see him anymore and I said to myself has everyone and everything that ever lived here ran as far as they could from this place?
I mean to tell you it was so flat out there you could watch your dog run off for three days. 
As I positioned myself to take this picture, I was thinking of who, when and why anyone would have gone to this location to settle back in the day. I guarantee you the dirt that was in the walls and on the floor of this house could possibly been left there from the dirty 30's. You know, they swept it out everyday the best they could to stay ahead of it, but there was no end to it coming through the window seals and around the doors or any other crack in the building.
Obviously this car was not sitting there during that time or it would be full of dirt also and besides being a 1936 model it was more than likely driven up into the early 50's. 
I look at a vacant farmyard like this and ask myself, Who lived here and what was their names? Some man and his wife came here, with all their pride, tried to skim out a living while building the home of their dreams for the family to be raised in.
I wonder if the relatives that carry the DNA of the family that lived here have ever looked out their windows across the perfectly manicured lawns in the suburbs of a city like Dallas and said to themselves, I sure am glad our Grandparents came out here and suffered the elements back in the early years to make it possible for us to enjoy everything we have today.
You see, no matter how perfect we think our worlds are or have been in the recent years, there is very few of us that do not have someone pretty close to us that went through these times that were not much fun and really were nothing more than a place to be that was called home to them. 
This same picture was used in a poster a few years ago and the person that used it added a tornado coming across the plains in the background. I saw it at Hobby Lobby and thought to myself, how did this house survive all these years from grass fire or a twister? 
I just hope the Jack Rabbit returns and raises its family in the area as it probably has for who knows how many generations. I would bet the farm that the DNA of that rabbit could be traced back to the rabbits that lived in that same area when the dirt was flying in the 30's.  
You should never be ashamed of where you come from or how you were raised and always know that like the rabbit, no matter how far we run from where we come from, there is still no place like home. RIP

1964 Chevrolet Step Side

Traveling down Highway 69 about 5 miles east of Greenville Texas a while back, I found this 1964 step side chevy just sitting along the side of the road watching the cars and trucks fly by it everyday at 75 mph no more than 35 feet in front of it. 
I had a feeling someone was not to far from it, as there is a place on both sides of the road that looked as though life was going on to some degree, or had in the recent years. 
As I pulled off the side of the very busy road, I jumped out with my camera and headed towards the yard. About that time I heard a, hey man, and that is when this man emerged and asked me if I was a buyen. 
I told him I just wanted to take a picture or two of his old truck and he responded, that be fine. At that point I knew he and I were going to get along just great. 
I asked him who the owner was and he proudly said my Daddy owns this truck. 
Is your dad here, I asked? he dead, died on the road one day in an accident. Right there in the road, as he pointed in the lane of the black top.  Walking across to get the mail and got hit by a car.
I told him I was sorry to hear that, yeah, he were a good ole dad, he said looking off to the side with a light fog in his voice.  And then the very moment I took this photo, he grumbled with a look of deep concern or even hatred in the tone that came across his lips, them people never stopped.
He always said to me if you have someone ask about the truck, tell them it is for sale. Never take less than $2,000.00, but if you have to go to $1,800.00 that is fine if the man serious. 
So, I can honestly say this 6 cylinder, 3 speed column shift is for sale, or at least it was that day if you want to drive out and find it. It's all there, a little rusty, but very restorable. 
Now, back to the man in the picture. He goes by the name of Chilton. He lives right there and if he is as nice to you as he was to me, I am sure you can strike up a deal. 
He will tell you with pride, this was my daddy's truck and he drove it everyday. Did everything he needed to do with this here truck.
I do not get the chance to meet a guy like Chilton everyday, or hardly ever here in central Nebraska, but I will tell you, yes, he has a little different vocabulary than I am used to, a little bigger than the average farmer I talk to out in the country in my travels up north, but do not under estimate the level of respect he has for his late Dad and life in general.  
Take a ride, find a new project and enjoy the same conversation I had with Chilton right there along highway 69 in the great state of Texas. RIP

1968 Chevrolet Camaro SS

I have been watching this 1968 SS Camaro sink into this back yard in Kansas for about 20 plus years.
You have no idea how hard I have tried to buy this car, if for no other reason, to get it put inside.
The owner has told me he has so many people that ask about it, and I am sure he has, that he has just decided to do nothing with it.
This car was so nice when it was parked where you see it, that it could have just been driven on a daily basis from what I can see. Maybe there was a reason it was parked, but either way, it would need very little to make it back to the black top, where it needs to be.
This is a 350 car with a 4 speed and air, along with the SS hood and plenty of other options you cannot see in this picture.
I just find it so hard to believe, someone would not at least park one like this inside. The factory white interior is pretty decent yet today, but showing drying and cracking like you would expect from the sun over the years.
I know everyone will want to know where this car is at, but I cannot give the exact location as the owner would not care for that, and I do not blame him. Can you imagine if I gave out his cell number, if I had it?
I advertised a 1969 SSRS 396 Camaro in 1996 in the Omaha World Herald news paper for $2,500.00, I owned that was nothing more than a shell. I did not have the front clip or any drive train what so ever, basically it was just parts. 
When that paper came out, my phone started ringing at 5:30 in the morning. I literally could not get out of the chair to go to the bathroom, as my phone rang non stop until 12:30 that night. I believe I took over 250 calls that day. I am not kidding when I say, my ears hurt at the end of that night.
It was amazing the questions some people asked. I had one guy want to know if there were any rips or ware holes in the interior and if the engine used any oil? Are you kidding, I said. This is a $2,500.00 69 Camaro, at that price you are not buying one to take off on a west coast vacation the day you buy it, this is a total project that needs everything. 
He responded with, You need to get your numbers right, I have done my research on a car this old, and you need to do the same. How do you respond to that?
I guess the same way I will keep responding to the fact that this Camaro is not for sale, never will be, and just may be where it will keep peeling off to Rust In Peace forever. RIP

1936 Chevrolet Pickup

A while back I had a fun surprise from an old friend of mine that use to haul boats for me from time to time. 
Jerry Warneke called me and said I got my old Chevy on a trailer headed your way and I want you to see it and tell me what you think. 
A few minutes later Jerry pulled in and I was surprised to see this 1936 Chevy in such good shape setting on that trailer. 
This truck has a long history with Jerry and his father, as his father bought it very early in his life when it was just a few years old. 
His father used it on the farm for many years, in fact his last license plates he put on it are still on the truck today. 
With 1956 being the last year he drove it and owned it, the truck went down the road to another owner to be long forgotten about until one day he was at the local well drillers yard and saw it sitting in a back lot. 
This was sometime in the 80's. He walked over to it and told the well driller, I am positive this is my old truck I had when I was a young man. 
A little talking, $200.00 and an old shotgun traded, he had his old truck back again. Jerry and his father hauled it home and put in the building and now 30 years later, Jerry is starting a restoration on it. 
Jerry told me the last time he remembers riding in it he was 8 or 9 years old, he said with a scuff to the side, and as hard as that is to believe, that was 66 years ago. 
He is restoring it to original along with the early 50's Sears Blue Flame 6 his father put in it when the original engine bit the bullet. 
Speaking of the bullet, as we walked around it, I noticed a 22 rifle shell that had obviously been hanging down out of the door jam for who knows how long, you see in the picture. Jerry opened the door and grabbed the 22 shell out of the spot it was wedged in, held it out in his hand while I took the picture. I knew exactly what was going through his mind at that moment as I just looked at him and neither of us said a word.
Is it possible this very bullet was dropped by Jerry as a young man handing shells to his father on a rabbit hunting outing many years ago when every farmer in the world hunted the long eared jack? Its that kind of stuff I love to inrustigate when I get involved with a vehicle like this.  
It is this type of history and personal attachment that makes a truck like this exiting to restore by the man that literally will return to his childhood every time he goes for a ride.
I cannot get enough of these beautiful endings from rusty memories that people like Jerry take the time to share with me, so I can in turn share them with you. RIP

1937 Chevrolet Coupe

Mossy Oak Camo has nothing on this old 37 Chevy coupe. I found this car about 15 years ago in southeast Kansas. It was almost impossible to see from the road back in the trees where it had been sitting since the family that drove it parked it in the late 50's.
I actually purchased it from the original owners daughter who said she remember riding in it when she was a little girl. She shared a few good stories about getting stuck in it with her family and having one of the neighbors bring a big draft horse down the road and pull it up out of the mud and back on the road. It was kind of fun to reminisce with this elderly lady as she could not believe the car was even in existence anymore as she had moved about 80 miles from this old abandoned farmyard and tree line that held this old coupe that was forgotten about years ago. She told me after her husband died she could not even remember the last time she was out to this place. I really believe it made her day that I took the time through old neighbors to find out who she was and get in touch with her. It was funny, one of the neighbors was a man in his late 70’s that said he may remember an old coupe like what I explained to him, but there was no way it was still over there on the farmyard as far as he knew. He lived less than a mile from it and drove by it multiple times a week, if there is something like that in those trees I would know of it, he said.
Camo or not, I will smell them out and hopefully get them to a good home or put them away for myself. I sold this one to a guy from Oklahoma without moving it. I really hated to do that, simply because the memories of cutting down trees and figuring out how to get it 300 feet out to the open where we could load it is much more fun than driving it will ever be. 
There is usually only one memory like that when you find one like this and if you are not there for the few hours it takes to get it on the trailer, well, that is like a kid going out to recess by himself after everyone else just went back in. RIP

1939 Chevrolet Coupe

About 10 years ago I found this 39 Chevy coupe up in the Sandhills of Nebraska pushed off the edge of a field in this ravine. These old chevy’s make real nice drivers, original or rodded as they are chucked full of room under the hood and in the interior which makes it very easy to work on when building and easier yet to drive and ride in when you are over 6’ tall. 
There was probably a day when the farmer that owned this land hauled this car out to where it’s at from around his buildings just to get it out of site, or maybe there was a farmyard close to this ravine that got cleaned up and the big stuff just was pushed over the edge to be left right here where you see it.  
Sometimes when you find one like this and it looks like it was wrecked, the damage may have come from the person that pushed, pulled or dragged it to its final resting spot. I have seen some really nice bodies that have been destroyed not by the guy that drove them, but by the same guy that probably was behind a 200 horse power loader that said so long to this one.  
I guess maybe back in the day when they had no value it did not matter how they got parked, just as long as they got pushed out of sight or out of the way to get the farming done.  
I just wish one like this could have been put inside instead of an old wagon or trailer that was never going to have any value and took up the same space under a roof. Just my thoughts. RIP

1965 Chevrolet Impala

This 1965 Impala was sitting in a pasture about 45 miles north of Kearney, Ne. for a long time. I tried to buy it a few times just to save it from the crusher man. As you can see it had became the victim of a parts car over time and I would almost bet the farm that a lot of the parts that were taken from it went on a car that was not in half as good of condition than this one is in.
After a few unsuccessful attempts I gave up only to find out about a year ago the place was cleaned up and guess what? It was sent to the crusher. I think about cars like this that really were not to bad other than pieces and parts missing every time I make a piece of toast and look at that toaster and think, where did that steel come from to make this little piece of junk that browns my toast on a regular basis? Think about how easy it would be in todays world to put one like this back together with all the reproduction parts and pieces you can buy today. What is really sad is I took this picture less than 5 years ago and it still did not get a second chance at life.
After it is too late, I guess all we can do at that point is butter our toast, add jelly and taste the memories of the day I took maybe the only picture that was ever taken of this fine impala in the great Sandhills of Nebraska. RIP

1970 Chevrolet Chevelle

This 1970 chevy is setting right where it was parked over 25 years ago in northeast Nebraska by the owner that says it is not for sale at any price as they have plans to fix it up one day.
We have all heard these stories before and that same old someday is always the word that gets used during the conversation. Another good word I hear a lot is, That was one heck of a car at one time. I always come back with, yeah it was, you know it was even brand new at one time. 
All you have to do is take care of them the best you can and they can stay fairly decent for years. 
A car like this will still be there years from now and it still will not be for sale. I appreciate the fact that they are not for sale as we never know the whole story behind why someone may want to keep them. 
Never try to pry to hear any reason why, just respect the owners desire to keep the car in any condition and hope someday they may change their mind and let go to give the car a new life in the hands of someone who really wants to breath life back into it. 
You cannot own them all and actually it is kind of fun to see one like this that makes you sit back and think about what you could do with it. RIP

1956 Chevrolet

Traveling around in South Dakota this past week I was told by one of my friends R.J. Wright on Facebook, about this 56 Chevy that has been parked where you see it for many years, or at least as long as he remembers.
So I drove off the beaten path and found it, exactly like he explained it to be. Just as lonely as the basketball hoop on the old garage behind it.
I spoke to the people that owned the property about taking pictures of it and if it was for sale at any price. The lady told me, It does not run, why the engine is in it sideways she said with a grimace, there is no way it will ever go down the road like that. 
She said another man owns it and it is not for sale, no way, no how. It does say in the windshield, do not ask. I still had to ask, just in case. She told me there has been so many stop over the years she quit counting.
I will say the engine is at a different angle than it should be, but that is no problem that I can see. It just needs a little TLC and that engine will straighten up just as nice as the quarter panels, and it would go down the road with more pride than the first time an 8 year old kid made his first 3 point basket from about the same area the left front headlight is looking out of that rusty fender. 
Think of the memories that are sealed in this picture of that farmyard that over looks the prairies of South Dakota. There is a garage that was used for many years to keep the weather off of many cars like this 56. There is the basketball hoop and backboard that is almost rotted off the front of the garage, the busted up concrete that was once the biggest court to ever play ball on, and then there is this awesome 56 Chevrolet 2 door post.
Standing there while I was taking this picture I could almost see that car turned around, parked about where I was standing, all painted with its factory 2 tone colors and sparkling new chrome, along with the brightly painted garage that was the back drop for the basketball court with its new backboard and shiny white net with about 3 young men thinking for sure one of them had all the moves of Wilt the stilt Chamberlain, trying everything they could to impress those 2 cute little sophomore girls that rode their teal and white schwinn bicycles over to watch them play for the afternoon.
Now, it is all just splintered memories, but none the less, memories that hold dear to the hearts of anyone that was a part of this setting back in what I described from around 1964 or 65. I would bet anything that day happened at one point or another and maybe more than once. 
According to the land owner the car has been around there forever, so is it possible to say my story maybe more than just some dreamt up hieroglyphics in my mind?
As for me, I think it is just a matter of time before this old Chevy with the sideways motor will one day be a slam dunk on the street again, with some young man that gets a night with Dad's restored 56 to court the girl of his dreams, not having a clue how long this beautiful 2 door Chevrolet sat on the edge of this court with a time clock that would not stop, waiting to be thrown back into the game to prove itself one more time. RIP

1946 Chevrolet Pickup

Every time I look at this picture of this chevy truck sitting in the vibrant green grasses of western Nebraska, I think of spring and how nice it is to see everything starting to grow and the whole countryside just exploding with color from every kind of wild flower or bush there is. 
Of course my favorite smell is that of the the soil the first time you work a field in the spring, breaking the surface, turning the dirt, getting the field ready to plant the crops you will harvest in the fall. I guess you can say, it is hard to take the boy from the farm.
I have always been a fan of the 40's era pickups, no matter what make or model they are, and this one would rate right up to the top of my chart on the favorite list.
I found this truck about 5 years ago on a farmyard on the edge of the Sandhills, just outside of Broken Bow, Ne. 
The owner was an elderly man that could never make up his mind about parting with it. I stayed in good touch with him for a long time and finally gave up asking.
The old chevy was really in good shape, with hardly a part missing from it at all. I would not be surprised if the right person would have got his hands on it, that with a little lubricating and wrench turning time, it may have been able to run.
I remember, just like all the old cars and trucks, quite a few of these sitting around on old farmyards, just like this one. I remember thinking, too bad it is not a 40 Ford or something like that. Guess what, these trucks are looking just as good as the 40 Fords ever did as far as I am concerned. 
Thats just my thoughts, but keep in mind, I like them all and think they all need a second chance at life on the move. 
I remember the day I took this picture with the old guy along that owned the place where it was at. It was a beautiful day, with the spring just crawling up your legs in that tall lush green grass as we walked out to where it was sitting. We both commented how peaceful it looked, stretched out in that perfectly unkept grass, with that big wide grill smiling at us for the picture, with not one tooth missing, and the hood looking like the good ole boy that never wore his hat straight, almost saying to us, please do not move me one inch from this place I have called home for the last 35 years. This really was about the perfect painting of what I would call heaven on earth for our 4 wheeled friends.
What if a sheet metal covered carcass like this could think for its self? I am pretty sure if they could, we would not have gotten them to haul the loads or take us to the places they have over the years in all kinds of weather, good and bad.
I have returned to this location recently and the truck is gone and all the old buildings that were around the area. I do know the truck was saved from the jaws of death, however, I never found out where it did end up, but the owner told me he sold it to a good home. 
That is all we can wish for with a nice little rig like this that has weathered every storm and parts hunter that ever drove by this farmyard in the past 30- 40 years.  
Its is safe to say, it did not go to GREENER pastures, but at least it may have a new owner that makes people green with envy, when he drives by on those beautiful days in Nebraska like I had the day I discovered this perfect little truck that spent more years resting on the plains than it ever did being a work horse on that farmyard in the great Sandhills of Nebraska. RIP

1957 Chevrolet Belair

I spotted this 1957 Chevy years ago while out doing some Saturday afternoon inrustigation in a little town out in the Sandhills of Nebraska about 60 miles from Grand Island where I live. 
I would stop over the years to see if anyone could give me an answer to the fact that it might possibly be for sale. 
I knew the answer would always be no, since it was setting on a vacant lot, right out in the open for anyone to see. 
I just could not believe that a 57 like this would have not been put inside, even if the owner never had any intentions to do anything with it at all. 
You can see that this car had been sitting right there for years before I took this picture, back around 1994. 
Would it not be great if you could find one like this that possibly the owner did not care about, but might let someone do something with it for a good cause, and then a group of volunteer professionals would come in and restore it to be donated to the charity of choice for auction to the highest bidder. 
Think how many winners that would create, and how many cars would get saved that may never get that second chance to live again. 
Instead of just becoming nothing more than a pile of sheet metal suicide, they could change so much for everyone involved. 
With that thought, I am not sure what ever happened to this sweet little 57 that sat for years right where you see it, but it has found a different address and I sure hope it is one I may see regularly at some of the local cars shows, or at least pulled inside for someone to drag out 25 years from now and give it the loving it deserves. RIP

1951 Chevrolet Sedan Delivery

Went down to my old stomping grounds a while back to check on my old Chevy sedan delivery I bought from a man named Ken Kriger when I was 14 years old. It is still right where I put it years ago, and I do mean years ago. 
Ken was a man that lived in my home town that actually worked for my family off and on, he had a few neat old cars in his possession that I was always trying to talk him out of that he would never put a price on. I am pretty sure at my age back then he really did not take me too serious. As it worked out, I was in the cafe one night after a ball game in Ruskin and there was Kenny sitting at the bar having a cold one or should I say he went out for one and was not going to get home before 1:00. I asked him again, why don’t you sell me that old sedan delivery you have behind your house? He looked at me and said to the bartender how much is a couple of cases of bud? Around $15.00, why? Never mind Kenny mumble and then he turned to me and said you can have it for $15.00. We shook hands and I paid him $15.00 right there on the spot. 
A few days later he found me with the title and I picked it up and took it out to the farm. 
It is still sitting there waiting for me to do something with it. You would think I could at least put it inside after all this time. It was 1976 or close when I bought it and it is just not like me to leave a vehicle like this out in the elements.
It was all black back in the early years, but the weather has washed that paint off to reveal Max’s name on the sides and back door. I do not remember Max being in the Ruskin area, but I am sure there are plenty of people who do remember him and probably even remember this old delivery running up and down the road in that area.   
It really is pretty solid and rust free for as long as it has been a victim of the elements and to be honest I would not change a thing on the exterior if I ever were to get it back on the road. RIP

1966 Chevrolet C10 Step Side

The Rabbit that hitched the ride to town.

Scott Renz working on it and starting it for the first time in 20 plus years.

After a few repairs and a little clean up.

This is my 1966 Chevrolet step side pickup my wife and I found while driving around northwest of Grand Island, Nebraska on New Years Day a few years back.
We were out in the country about 20 miles on a gravel road when I looked over and spotted this nice little truck sitting beside a bigger farm truck out at the edge of a farmyard.
I told my wife, that thing really looks complete, I bet it is not for sale since it was in plain site from the road. Usually when they are that visible from the road you will find yourself in line for asking and the line goes back to Butte, Montana. 
what I found was unbelievable. This little truck had not been drove for years and had been sitting in a building for a long time and then was moved to the edge of the farmyard maybe 20 years ago and there it sat. 
I asked if anyone had ever wanted to buy it and the farmer told me a few, but they never came back with any money. 
This truck was bought brand new by the family in may of 1966 in Dodge City, Ks. 
The condition that it was in was like none I had ever seen for one sitting so long. Everything works on it including the original headlights and everything else that was bolted on it in Detroit back in the day. 
It is just a 6 cylinder with a 3 above the knee, or column shift as it should be said. Of course radio delete. 
I asked the farmer if he would want to part with it and he gladly said yes as he was never going to do anything with it again. We made a deal and I paid him on the spot. 
Lets keep in mind the day ( New Years Day ) in Nebraska and it was around 7 degrees outside. So we did not do much with it that day except trade money and the title. We waited for it to warm up a little and Scott, the guy who works in the weld shop took a trailer out and hauled it in. 
Something kind of cool was, when I lifted the hood for the first time there was a rabbit on the engine that had made a home beside the old 6 cylinder carburetor and the head of the engine. He was not scared one bit as he just sat there and looked at me. Poor guy I thought later, I broke into his home like a June tornado and took the roof right off of it.
When Scott hauled it in, the Rabbit came to town with it. As he opened the hood in the shop the Rabbit darted out under the engine and through the shop to find a new home here in town.  As always Scott used all precautions before starting the old 6 cylinder as it had not run for over 25 years and we did not want to damage it in any way. 
After a few hours of prep time and a little cleaning here and there we fired it up and it ran like a top. A little smoke at first as you see in the pictures, but overall it really took off and wanted to be driven again. 
Like I said the condition was incredible. The more I got to looking at it the more I realized this truck had hardly been used. I called the previous owner up a few days later and asked him if the miles on the odometer was correct and he said yes. I could not believe this late in the game I had a 1966 chevrolet sitting in my building that had only been driven 35,735 miles since the day they had bought it new. 
In the glovebox was the perfect original owners manual along with a record book with receipts of everything that had been done to it since the day they brought it home. 2 of the tires were even original from GM. Overall, this little truck is amazing. 
I still own it and have no intention of selling it. I promised the original owners I would come out and give them a ride one day and that is exactly what I plan to do. 
Sometimes the gems are in plain site, you just have to ask and be ready to act on a good deal. RIP

1967 Chevrolet Step Side 10

I was driving across Kansas a few weeks back when I spotted this step side parked on a farmyard not far from the road. 
I instantly recognized this little truck, or was almost positive it was one I rode in when I was a sophomore in high school to help the guy that owned it then, pick up a model A coupe that was about 25 miles from where I was living on a farm near Ruskin Nebraska. 
It was a Sunday morning when I stopped to look at this little truck, and I have to say, it almost took a jack hammer on the front door to raise anyone in the house. 
After a short visit, I learned they had been storing it for a brother in law for over 25 years and the people that had stopped to inquire , was off the scale. It sounded like the line started in Butte, Montana, if I wanted to go to the back of it. 
Needless to say, it is not for sale at any price. 
I am almost certain it was the same truck I rode in all those years ago. ( you know how something just says to you, I am it? ) 
I mean, I have seen this all my life, you could park 10 of the exact vehicles side by side, and you could pick out the one you know.  
I so badly wanted to ask if I could help pull it less than 50 feet to put inside, and get it out of the elements. 
It always goes back to the fact, that if it is not yours, you cannot control its destiny. 
I would venture to say, it would not take much to get this rig running and back on the road. 
A month ago or so, I wrote about a 1956 Chevy I found in South Dakota that was setting on the edge of an old run down basketball court. I find it interesting that is exactly where this thing was parked also. 
I wish I could blow the whistle and send in the A team to pull this one out, before the clock runs out of time on that broken down court, that has put this trucks future in deliberation. RIP

1948 Chevrolet Coupe

This car is sitting down in Nuckolls county Nebraska where it has been sitting for 40-50 years. It is so lonely out there in that pasture that I am sure it feels like the whole world stopped the day it was parked or dumped there.
I happen to find it one day hunting for another lead I had received for a 36 chevy pickup that never did surface.
I often wonder what would happen if you took a brand new car today and parked it out in a secluded setting like this and just let the elements have it, like this old coupe.
I am sure there would be some parts that would fair much better and some that would not. 
At any cost we know that will never happen, but one thing we do no for sure that this chevy coupe could tell some stories about the storms on the horizon and the cold winter nights as it has spent all those years out there waiting for someone to care enough to take it home and at least use it for parts. RIP

1978 Chevrolet Scottsdale Pickup

I remember a few issues with getting gas or at least a few people trying to convince us the world was out of fossil fuels or close to it. 
Out here in rural Nebraska, I never got caught up in a line for fuel, but there was the day in the fall of 1980 when my older brother and I took his 78 Chevy 4x4 to Kennard Nebraska to look at a 1969 SSRS 396 Camaro that was for sale for a whopping $600.00. 
We got there, drove the car and did not buy it because the engine was smoking a little and the owner would not budge on the price. Please keep comments on what were you thinking to yourself as you post your response. But really, what was I thinking?
Well, where this story is going is on the way home we stopped about 20 miles east of Columbus Nebraska to get fuel for his truck. The old man and lady that were running the gas station would not sell us fuel and proceeded to give us a lesson on why it was our fault the country was running out of fuel. You do not need to be out running around in a pickup like that with big tires and a fancy paint job when we are in this crises of the fuel shortage they told us. At that point, we stood just outside the door to the station and were basically down to one option, we had to Keep rolling and hope everyone did not think like these people at this location. 
We limped into Columbus on nothing more than smell hoping to find some fire for that little small block sitting under the hood of that truck that we thought really did not do that bad on fuel. 
We pulled into a station on the east side of town. We walked into the place and asked if they would sell us gas? How far are you going the woman asked? 
Home to Nuckolls county about 140 miles away. 
We all stood there and looked at each other for a few seconds and she decided she would sell us 10 gallons and not a drop more. 
We got our 10 gallons, as she watched us pump from inside the station like we were fresh out of Alcatraz and looking for trouble, fired that little red truck up and headed for home. 
My brother and I both realized that old fuel barrel at the farm never looked so good when we pulled down that driveway 2 1/2 miles south of Ruskin Nebraska we called home. RIP

Fords and Chevy’s

When I found these two pieces of history sharing this wind break, I thought to my self what a perfect time to talk about to vehicles that grew old together, that not one part would interchange on and had totally different objectives in life. Well, maybe we need to compare these 2 relics to people of today and say what is wrong with crossing the line and becoming one like we really are in life. As we grow old it is easy to think we have all the answers and even feel like we do not need each other some days, but the truth is the day you decide you can do it alone is the day you will end up in the wind break much like a lot of these cars and trucks I have found over the years that eventually fall victim to time with all the answers and yet not one person cares enough to ask. We truly are linked to each other weather we like it or not and like the Ford and the Chevy that are linked together in this picture we can enjoy the lush grass and cool breeze that spring brings each year as we grow old making stories together or we can choose to cut those lines and forever be nothing more than a falling down body with a label on it that has not one story to tell. RIP

1964 Chevrolet Impala SS

At what point do you decide that a 64 Super Sport Impala is nothing more than parts or not worth saving?
I remember a day when these cars were every where you looked, but I also remember thinking what a great cruiser or just plain good car they were. 
I have a question to all Impala owners. How many of you remember filling the radio grate on the dash with pennies? 
I was in a salvage yard in my home area around Superior Nebraska back around the early eighties called Oscar Kramps. 
There was a 63 Impala in that yard that had faded red long angel hair type of carpet or covering over the dash with a penny still in most of the slots on the dash above the radio speaker. 
At that time I could not believe someone had not taken them out when it was hauled off to the salvage yard. 
Maybe the penny never was that important in my lifetime, they sure are not now as every time I stop for fuel like I did in Kaycee Wyoming the other day on my way home from Great Falls Montana, there was multiple pennies and even a dime on the ground around the pump I used. 
I think just because I am not a wasteful person, I simply bent over a picked up about 8-9 pennies and that dime and gladly dropped them in my pocket. 
Like this once awesome SS Impala, how many people have given up on the value of small change that at one time in America’s past meant, you ate or had a ride when you most needed it. RIP

1961 Chevrolet Apache Pickup

I just love these old chevy trucks like this 1961 model that was sleeping in the wilds under the stars for many years northwest of Grand Island, Nebraska.
These pickups are getting so hard to find these days in any kind of condition, especially all together in one piece like this one. 
The land owner had a buyer for this one, so he said and I never pursued it from there. It is gone, so I am pretty sure it did find a good home.
I remember when we were growing up on the farm in Nuckolls county Nebraska my dad would buy one of these old chevy's it seemed like every summer for us to use around the farm to irrigate with. We did not have ATV's then so this was the next best thing to that. I grew up driving one like this, basically learned to drive in one real similar to this one. I guess maybe that is why I have a soft spot for them. 
I can remember driving that old truck all over the county, long before I ever had a drivers license. In today's world my parents could be arrested for child abuse for letting something that crazy happen out there on the farm. It just blows me away with how soft the world has become when it comes to growing up.
I would almost say, most young kids today could not drive this truck simply because it does not have power steering or air conditioning.
Just think what would happen after you had been checking irrigation rows down on the river bottom in 100 degree weather and all you had to drive back to the yard 10 miles away was a rig like this that you actually had to pay attention with while driving? No air conditioning, no drink holders, why that is not possible and the safety alone while driving with both hands, one eye on the temperature gauge and the other eye on the road, I am telling you it is just shear luck that any person like myself ever made it through it alive. 
I think the whole world would be a better place if every generation could revert back 30 or 40 years for about a week and see what the elders around them did and went through in their past to make the world a so called better place for everyone who thinks they could not, no way live like that. 
Now that myself and thousands of other guys just like me that suffered so terribly through those dangerous and unpredictable years out there on the dirt roads of America are heading into our middle ages, we have to ask, Why is there so many dysfunctional young kids today? 
Maybe it is the power steering, air conditioning, tilt wheel, or I guess the general comforts that this old chevy never gave me when I was a young man that kept us from being lost souls. Did I find comfort in friendships and conversation with the people around me and actually notice the landscape as I drove through the country side?
I can assure you that driving around sweating your butt off all summer and freezing it off all winter in a rig like this taught me far more than all the information that will ever be available on that little hand held device that has the answer to everything on it we know as Google. RIP

1948 Chevrolet Fleetline

This 1948 Chevrolet coupe was resting in the sun in the sandhills of Nebraska a few years ago one fine fall day.
I just love these old Chevy's like this from the late 40's with all their interior room and room under the hood to do what ever you want to do while restoring them.
It has not been to many years ago a person would walk right by one of these to get to the 30's era cars and I was one of those people that did. 
With that being said, I have seen some of the 47-48 Chevy's like this one that look just as cool as any earlier coupe and the comforts you can create on the interior. I am telling you, being over 6' tall, a man has to think about keeping his legs straight when riding or driving in a car when you get to be in your 50's or older.
I remember taking a 1932 Ford coupe to the Good Guys meet in St. Paul, Mn. back when I was in my 20's. It worked then, simply because at that age I could wrap my legs up and around my ears and hook my feet on the back of the seat and ride for miles, stop and get out and take off running.
Try that today and see how many steps you can take before your knees start working, or your back lets you straighten up. I am not saying I am crippled by any means, I am saying I am crippled if the firewall is 20" from the front of the seat and you ride to far with no place to store your legs. Or you are driving with your right leg on the right side of the shifter and hope everything works out with your left leg to find the brake pedal when needed. 
I remember when I went to St. Paul that year, I went with Keith Bond from Gibbon, Ne. That is Dwight Bond's youngest son. Dwight owned Gibbon Fiberglass for all you guys who know him. 
Anyway, we were at a gas station on the way up there and a couple of guys walked over to our cars and asked us who we were and where we were headed. Keith and I at the same time said we were headed to the Good Guys meet. These fellers had never heard of that meet before. They asked us next what do you guys do for a living? Keith responded very rapidly, We are professional show offs. All we do is drive around and show off. 
The one guy straightened up and grabbed his hat and said Hot Dang, can you believe that guys, to his friends. Hey, he said to me, How do you get a job like that? 
Keith and I told him, you just have to know the right people. I often think about that day when I am at work, not showing off or never have since that day. I think and laugh about those guys and wonder how many times they told their friends about the 2 guys they met in those 2 1932 Fords just driving around the country showing off. 
I also think of how I almost had polio by the time I spent a week in that 1932 Ford coupe SHOWING OFF when I could have been in a car like this Chevy coupe with my legs where they should be when you are driving instead of tucked up in my chest ( showing off ) and being able to walk when you reach your destination. Those were the good old days. RIP

1931 Chevrolet Coupe

A few years ago on a Saturday afternoon I was in Comstock, Nebraska with a friend scouting the country side. To my surprise we found this sitting along the street, a load of rusty gold.
I could not believe someone was hauling this little old race car off for iron, but it was obvious they were. 
I walked up and down the street trying to find someone to talk to that day. I am telling you, a man would have thought the air raid sirens had just sounded and everyone ran for cover. Never did find who, where or why this load was parked here. 
It is for sure that old chevy coupe was done going in circles as it was taking the longest straight run it had made for years, right to the hydraulic jaws of death to be made into something that will never create the kind of memories that were made while it was # 77.
I guess some things just happen with no reason or maybe for a reason, but I will promise you I could see no reasoning to haul some of the stuff off for iron the was on that trailer that day screaming for someone to throw out a line a pull it in.
These old race cars may not be for everyone, but when a person sees one being hauled off, you really need to think about talking to the person and seeing if they would be willing to part with it. 
You remember the 34 Ford story I have wrote about multiple times that I pulled out of a pasture in Sargent Nebraska and ended up talking to a 80 plus year old man in that same town at the convenience store that guided me to its original owners that raced it.
Well, just maybe you could get a car like this back to its original owner that would be so happy that it was found and saved, that you could make a friend for life or at least, give the life back to its friend that put it on the track many years ago. 
I can promise you, whoever built a car like this is still a car guy and always will be. RIP

1937 Chevrolet Coupe

I delivered a wire winder to a farmer that we manufacture a few years ago and behind the hired mans house was this 37 Chevy coupe that had been left there about 4 hired men ago. 
I asked the farmer if he wanted to sell it and he asked me how soon I could get it out of there? 
Are you kidding? I drove 245 miles back to Grand Island that day and headed back up there with a trailer and $500.00 cash to give him for it. When I got there it was almost dark. We got the car loaded and I handed him the money, he did not want to take it, I insisted. 
3 days later I got a letter from him in the mail with $200.00 of the cash I had given him for it. He said in his letter that he asked me nothing for it and that he was so surprised and impressed with my honesty that he wanted to send me some money back. 
This was in 2008 and I have never forgotten that. I told him the day I picked it up that it really was worth $2,000.00 to $3,000.00 and I really wanted to make sure he did not think later that I tried to get it for nothing, or I was one of those guys that tries to pull a quick one. 
I have never been the quick one guy, and never will be, so the lesson for the day is, the less you ask for, the more you get. 
Always be honest and truthful and the rest is easy. RIP

1969 RS Camaro

You are probably thinking, what is this pile of run down, beat up, junked out stripped down to nothing 69 Camaro doing on this page?
I have to tell you, anyone that knows me, also knows how serious I am about second chances. I have always believed that everyone and everything deserves a second chance.
With that being said, I better not run for any position that concerns a judge or any part of the court system.
This 1969 Rally Sport Camaro ended up wrecked when it was not real old and spent most of its life in a salvage yard in western Nebraska, being a parts supplier for anyone that needed what was salvageable on it.
I took this picture and got involved in the salvation of this Camaro in the fall of 1994. I knew at that time it would have been crushed for iron if I did not step in. 
Since I had already resurrected a few other cars like this that had been left for dead over the years, I thought I would add this one to the list of the impossible second chance road warriors.
The first thing I did was get the serial number and send it into the state to see if it was even on record and see who might have owned it last and if it was possible to get a title for it. 
Like I said, This is not the first Camaro I did this with, so I thought I would give it a try. 
After sending it in, I received a letter a few weeks later that told me who the last owner was and where it was last licensed before it was wrecked.
I started my inrustigation immediately, and before long I had the original owner on the phone and he agreed to send in for a lost title for me if I was going to buy the car from the salvage yard.
Next, I went back to the salvage yard and bought the car for $150.00. Hauled it home, and I mean you could have brought what was left of it on a motorcycle if you could have done a good balancing act. What I am saying is, there was not much left.
After getting the title back a few weeks later from the original owner, I decided to sell it as is, and move on. I really figured I had done as much for this one as I could at that point. 
I remember the guy who originally owned it and wrecked it, could not believe it was still in existence, since it had been many years since the accident.
You just cannot believe the response you get from someone like this when you look them up after all these years and tell them you are trying to put their old car back on the road.
I will say, the few times I have done this it becomes such a challenge, sometimes with insurance companies or family members that had a bad experience, but usually the reward in the end is unmeasurable. 
I cannot believe how many perfectly good cars over the years went to scrap or got parted out, because someone lost a title or was just to lazy to spend an afternoon tracking the last owner down to have him send in for a lost title. 
At any cost, believe it or not I am 100% sure this car was put back together and is on the road again after I sold it.
I never stayed in touch with the owner as that can be hard to do sometimes, but every once in a while when I am walking around at a car show in the Omaha, Nebraska area, I ask myself when I see a 69 RS Camaro, is this the car I believed in enough to make sure it did not get a date with the hydraulic sheet metal suicide baler, or is that one still sitting in a garage somewhere partially restored waiting for the next second chance guy to find it and believe in it enough to make sure it gets bugs splatted on the windshield one more time? RIP

1937 Chevrolet Sedan

I found this badly wounded 1937 Chevrolet on the very top of a mountain that does not even have a road going to it, just east of Custer, in the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota.
Not sure who drove it up there, or why it is even there, but one thing for sure, it is probably in its final resting grounds at this point since it would be near impossible to get a trailer or even a loader to where it is at to get it off the mountain.   Less than 50’ away is a miners dug out that looked like it had far less room in it than the interior of this old chevy. I am thinking the guy that drove this car may have called that hole in the side of the hill home. 
If so, I am pretty sure he did not hit the mother load during his career as a miner or what ever he was doing while calling that mountain top home.  
As you can see in that Detroit stamped bullet ridden hide, the white man must have thought this was one of the last remaining buffalo that roamed the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota and decided to make sure to leave that 4 wheeled hump back pile of sheet metal as a reminder of what really happened to the last of the majestic Bison that once roamed the plains and the hills by the millions, only to be slaughtered for their hides or for what ever reason we have been told to believe. RIP

1963 Chevrolet Impala

Making a Sunday afternoon run through south central Nebraska a few weeks ago I ran across this 1963 Impala that looks like it was parked behind this old farmhouse sometime around 1980 and has not been anything but a parts car since. 
Not sure if it is for sale, however a friend of mine close by said he would check into it for me and let me one way or another. 
This is one of those cars that 25 years ago would have been left for dead, but with everything you can buy for the early impala's now to restore them, this car is a great candidate for restoration. 
I had a real love for these big impala's back in the day when every one had one in the 70's. 
I actually owned one that a lady drove that worked at the local bank for years. I always told her, if she ever wanted to sell it, I would be interested. 
That day came around in the fall of 1981 and I bought it for $300.00. 
Can you believe, a 1963 impala SS, 327, with tilt, power steering, power brakes, power windows, auto, and in great shape. I mean, this car still had the factory SS hubcaps on it, all for $300.00. 
All the SS trim was in perfect condition, along with the interior that was really in great condition. 
It did need a paint job as the red had faded, but with very few dents and hardly no rust, it would have been an easy one to do. 
There is a story that goes with this car that is pretty hard for most normal people to believe that I got involved with after I had owned it for a few months.  
I had drove this car for a while and like any car this old it had a few things it needed worked on. One was the turn signal switch in the column. So I got the parts and took the steering wheel off to fix it. When I got it apart, I soon learned I did not have the right plastic part I needed that went in the column for the signal switch. 
I did not want to put the steering wheel back on, since they told me the right part would be there in a few days. 
I really was not planning on driving it anyway. 
Well, that was when my friend Kent Betten showed up and we decided to drive it around town using a vice grip as the steering wheel.
How you ask? I clamped a vice grip on the steering wheel nut and off we went. Yes there was alcohol involved, and yes we drove it all over that night like that. 
Now, you remember the old steering wheel spinner balls every old car had on them back in the day before power steering? 
You heard of so many people breaking fingers, especially thumbs when they hit a pot hole or anything that made the steering wheel spin. Let me tell you, that was nothing compared to having a full size vise grip spinning in your lap wanting to rip your mid section off as it goes by. 
We ended up driving about 30 miles to Chester Nebraska that night in pouring rain for breakfast at around 2:00 in the morning to eat at Footes truck stop. The wind was blowing so hard, I swear it was blowing our headlights to the side. Keep in mind I was using a vice grip for a steering wheel.
Could you imagine in today's world trying to do that? I cannot believe we did it without a cell phone, or letting our parents know where we were every five minutes. I mean, how did we survive? 
The next day our local sheriff was in Ruskin at the gas station, when I pulled up from around the block. 
He walked by that car and noticed there was a vice grip on it for a steering wheel. He came walking back into the station and told me he needed talk to me. 
He actually laughed and said, I cannot even write you up on this one Kevin. FIX IT or get it off the road. I fixed it that day. 
Moral of the story, rain, wind or the local sheriff has no bearing on what a man can grip on when the nut is tight and in a vise. RIP