Due to Covid 19, I haven’t been out of the state of Michigan since February 2020, when I flew to New York for a quick business trip. Its a fair statement that with all the lock down and endless bad news, at least for me, I’ve been in a bit of a funk. Being fully vaccinated, we decided to take a journey recently to do some antiquing around Springfield, Ohio with some dear friends. The ride to and from the area on U.S. Route 68 , beginning in Findlay, was very pleasant through small town Ohio.
Do any kids build model kits anymore?
A cousin is in the estate sale business (still is at 79), so I grew up being around events like this. How can you not have a bit of fun , even if you’re not into collecting as a hobby? Hard to find a person in a bad mood here. I’m sure the fairgrounds wasn’t as crowded as pre-Covid times, but it was well attended. In this part of the country, in mid-April you never know what you’re going to get. Could be 70 degrees or it could be 40 and freezing rain. The weather was great and around mid-day our jackets came off. While it’s always fun to nose around, at this point in my life, I’m much more interested in purging and thinning the herd of possessions than accumulating. While I wasn’t bored by any means, my eyes soon drifted toward the conveyances of the vendors and how they transported all their wares to the show, and they were as varied as the often eccentric vendors and show attendees themselves.
No surprise here at all, but Ford was the clear winner here as the hauler of choice, old and new. The sales charts year in and year out bear this out, and the Econoline and Transit were by far the most popular rig, and yes, most often in white.
Which isn’t to say Chevy’s cannot get it done or were rare on this day. The top one is a 1977 and aside from some patina, was super solid and the female owner said she’d drive it anywhere. The long wheelbase Chevy/GMC’s are a great choice and you’d like to think with the 20+ model year run with just incremental changes, it’s probably a decent enough van despite being long in the tooth.
Back in my early working days, our warehouse van fleet was 100% Dodge, and these crusty old mules were around for 20 years, then often were sold to employees who wanted a hauler. Our fleet buyer back then felt the Dodges’ were superior to the Chevy’s and Fords , with the 318 V-8, virtually un-killable. And you have to like the ingenuity of the retrofit air conditioning unit on this one for a road show. The last body on frame Dodge vans were built in Windsor, Ontario and production wrapped up in June of 2003.
A used U-Haul or Penske cube van was the choice for some, with the integrated ramp and high roof allowing a lot more cargo room. Have to believe these are quite and well used up by the point of being sold to the general public. That said, I recall hearing someone telling me that used U-Haul’s aren’t terrible as the Company maintains them quite well and has (or had) a very rigid preventative maintenance schedule. When I moved into my first house 24 years ago, my rental was a particularly gnarly and disagreeable Ford U-Haul , 3 speed, that had to of been 25-30 years old.
Then there were the custom jobbers. This lady has a traveling Western-chic ladies mobile clothing store in a converted school bus with a diesel generator going to keep it cool in the summer and to keep the lights on. She gave all the credit for her rig’s configuration to her husband. Next up was him coming up with a built in retractable awning on the side of the truck for much easier set up and take down than the freestanding tent.
In the end, while I bought nothing, the ladies found a few honey holes for their passions: all things mid-century modern and vintage Pyrex, and they were well pleased. It was great to be somewhere not in the 248 area code for a spell. In the end, I think this trip was just what I needed.
A short trip really seems to clear out the COVID cobwebs. We were up in MI last weekend for a race and after getting back late Sunday and immediately getting to sleep, this week I’ve felt better than I have all year. A+++ would do again, even if we did get rained on in the paddock for 12 hours straight.
One could do a huge story on all the vehicles used to move items to and from the massive, at the time, Alameda Fair on the old NAS Alameda Naval Base every last Sunday (?) if I remember correctly. Trying to think what Sunday it was where I got caught in god awful traffic trying to get off the Island through the two lane Webster tube, ugh! Been going on since 2000 at least.
Another interesting area for looking at all manner of hauling rigs are the various farmer’s markets. Old, new, vans, pickups, minivans, sedans – many are represented.
In regard to the second Ford van you show, I have discovered an interesting quirk about them. Our 2000 E-150 (white, of course) recently developed a few rattles in the rear of the cabin. Then, the other night, I noticed one of the four bolts holding in the glass on the left rear door was quite loose. Taking off the top of the door panel revealed all four of these bolts were varying degrees of loose. A 10 mm socket fixed it and the other rear door and side doors were examined, with all having some degree of loose nuts on the back of the bolt.
I’ve been out of state six times (Kansas City, Kansas, five times since September due to medical reasons and just barely into Illinois in May for a funeral). It was certainly nice to see something different, if still familiar.
Now you’ve got me thinking about checking out those bolts in the windows of my (white) 2009. It’s parked over at my Daughter’s house, or I’d go out and check them right now.
I had the need to use the van yesterday and I thought about this post as I was opening the back doors to load it. Since it is a cargo van there is no trim in the way of the bolts and I found the uppers on the right door extremely loose, like 2 or 3 turns with my fingers before it started to hint at being tight. I think it is highly likely that was the source of the occasional leak in that corner.
So thank you for fixing my van, or at least pushing me in the right direction to get it fixed! I don’t know if they had been rattling or not since it is a cargo van there is E track with a few D-rings ready and waiting as well as a couple of other D rings in various places that all clang and rattle all the time.
Congrats on getting out! I’ve been looking for the right short-ish trip to go on myself as I too think it’s just what’s needed.
I also think you’re right about ex-Uhauls. I’ve had to rent several times in the past couple of years, and have been impressed by generally how well these are maintained nowadays. Very different from my memories of 40+ years ago when Uhauls were the common way our family moved around the mid-Atlantic. More than once we were left stranded on the side of a highway when the giant 3-speed manual trucks blew up in one way or the other.
Here in California there are still Ford Courier and Toyota based ex U-Haul bob tails driving around doing yeoman duty .
I loved swap meets but stopped going some years back because I always find some cool thing I lusted for 45 years ago cheaply….
I too need to begin cleaning out my worthless old crap .
As far as covid-19 and motorvating, I didn’t stop, I just go alone or follow one or more others , still have fun , trying to be safe .
The Desert is wide open and safe .
The new cases are going _UP_ here so don’t stop wearing your masks just yet .
I remember building model car and aircraft kits in the early 1960’s fun times .
-Nate
Just went to the Swap Mart flea market in Ft Lauderdale. It was a full house, only a handful wearing masks. Each time I go, I’m reminded of my youth with old toys, models, trace track sets, Schwinn bikes, etc.
Good grief! We have a set of those Pyrex bowls in that Harvest Gold color. They are from when we first wed. I also have two of three that I bought in 1966 that are clear and equipped with bilateral pouring spouts. Funny stuff!
At the age of 17 in 1969, and a young gearhead fascinated with vintage vehicles, I began vending Packard & Studebaker car parts at local automotive flea markets, car shows, and car club national meets. My initial vehicle was a 1957 Packard Clipper sedan, but a year later I replaced it with a bright red 1966 Plymouth Sport Fury convertible. This car had a humongous trunk, and by popping out the complete rear seat I almost doubled the cargo area. The next year, I began using a small 1/4 ton trailer for parts that didn’t need to be protected from the weather.
In 1973 I took a big step and ordered a brand new Dodge B200 3/4 ton long wheelbase panel van with a V8, stick shift, PDB & PS, and factory A/C [that cost about $450!]. I kept that van for another 20 years, racking up over 200,000 miles, the only emergency repair was the rear u-joint in Amarillo Texas, that I replaced in a parking lot using hand tools. That van took me to a total of 49 states, but most of that was not while vending car parts.
One year, when it came time for the Carlisle, PA event, where I had a couple of indoor spaces at the show, I had trouble with the van’s starter. With no time to replace the starter, I took my 1960 Vanden Plas Princess limousine, covered the rear interior with blankets and loaded it full of stuff, also cramming the trunk full as well as the front seat next to me. As the trunk lid folded down flat, I took an original 1930s Packard trunk and filled it with parts. I strapped it down to the trunk lid. It was a slow trip up to Carlisle, but it was not that far a drive. And instead of sleeping in the van for 3 nites, I slept in total comfort in the back of the limo.
My next vehicle was a very rare Ford E350 1.5 ton long wheelbase van with extended body to the rear, it had a powerful 6.9 diesel & that van could still cruise comfortably at 75mph fully loaded & pulling a small trailer [with it’s own braking system]. I bought the van after it had been hit in the right side by a truck. Locating a donor van, I removed both right side doors, the center post, and the entire lower rocker panel & door sliding system. A couple of days later I had a fully operational set of doors, & we used that van until 2006.
We were headed to my wife’s parent’s house In Lawrence, NY, that 4th of July weekend in 2006, loaded with a ton of brick pavers for the new patio I was building for them. Driving over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge [I-278] from Staten Island to New York City, 60mph in the left lane, I struck a large piece of truck tire tread lying in the road. I hit the brake pedal, only to have the pedal go to the floor! I tried pumping the brake pedal, each time it went to the floor.
I was driving a diesel van, so it had no engine braking. I hit the right turn signal as I dropped the shift lever into 2nd gear & began slowly applying the emergency brake as I moved over 2 lanes, then I dropped the trans lever into low gear. Luckily there was an immediate exit into New York City, and I took it. The exit was actually uphill & there were parking spaces to the right on the street, and I managed to stop the truck in a parking space just before the traffic light. [Whew!]
With my adrenaline levels at an all-time high, I got out and noticed brake fluid flowing from underneath the van. Looking under the hood I found a large piece of truck tire tread jammed up between the inner fender and the brake master cylinder and booster. BOTH brake lines from the master cylinder to the proportioning valve were sheared off.
I managed to finish repairing the brakes, and made it to the in-law’s home before the sun went down, but how I was able to do the job on a holiday weekend is another story for another day [and it’s quite a story!]. Wife refused to ride in that van ever again, so I sold it to a neighbor who was a self-employed contractor.
To replace the van I bought a 2000 Ram 250 pickup with an 8′ Stahl utility body. It was an ex-GSA US government vehicle that had spent it’s entire life at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, and it had done a whopping 11,000 miles, always parked inside overnight. I’ve still got this truck, it’s been very reliable. I recently had to recover the dashboard and the instrument panel cover, as the original plastic parts fell apart, a situation that happens to ALL Ram pickups.
I figure now that I’m 70 years old and no longer doing flea market vending, this truck will be the last one I buy. The utility body compartments are now filled with various tools I use for home repairs, as I now do small repairs for low income home owners, and only ask them to pay for materials. THIS 4th of July weekend I’m putting up a 4′ x 4′ piece of drywall to repair the hole in the ceiling, after the plumber repaired a water leak.
You’re a great writer !
Woodie Man,
Thanks for the compliment, but I owe a lot to my computer and the word processer that allows for quick corrections and spell check!
Since early this year I’ve been slowly writing my own biography, with a central transportation theme as I’ve owned hundreds of vehicles over the years, and I’ve been blessed with what others say is an interesting life.
Where I live, I could almost pitch a rock really hard and hit those fairgrounds. Interesting that you have been there lately and I have not. I guess I get my fill of old stuff at the thrift stores.
EDIT- If you ever get back this way, at the museum downtown we have a Westcott automobile on display.
I was an auto swap meet vendor for several years, selling Datsun parts. I’ve been to So Cal mostly but I went to Canby Oegon for a big meet. I used my F150 with different U Haul enclosed trailers. I actually think that large vans are the best vehicles as you can really cram those full. If something shifts or falls over it doesn’t spill into the road. My Wife was into buying and selling shabby chic furniture and other artistically altered items. I’m thankful that she now concentrates on journals, altered books and other smaller crafted articles. It’s really saved my back!
I actually enjoy going to Antique Fairs and swap meets. I look primarily for old car related items like books and memorabilia. I’ve been to the Rose Bowl swap meet several times and we plan to go again next week. No more vending! I’m also trying to divest my stash of stuff, even my Wife is reducing her “inventory”… somewhat. She doesn’t complain about my seven cars, I’m smart enough to keep my mouth shut.