The internet has brought many Stovebolters together and that is a wonderful thing. The internet has also become the bane of many truck aficionados. Fresh from the 2009 Midwest All Truck Nationals event and Reunion, I felt a burning in my loins to be close to my Stovebolt brethren. What better way than to surf the ‘net for that elusive wave that would topple all others that had come before it. My wave came in the form of a 1949 Chevy 3600. I found her on Craigslist just outside of Fort Worth. About eight miles from the shadows of the Texas Motor Speedway, home of the Texas Lone Star Nationals.
Oh great opportunity, two birds with one stone. I already had room reservations for the Goodguys Lone Star Nats show and the ’49 was only a stone’s throw away from the hotel. My cousin said “No! You’re being greedy, you don’t need another vehicle.” Avarice be damned, I had to have her. Calls were made, budgets squeezed of their last life blood, and last minute arrangements made for a borrowed transport. I knew I would have her, soon she would be mine, another victim of the Stovebolt curse. I’m not sure who the most misfortunate victim, me or her.
We drove out to the seller’s place and there she was, sitting almost pristine in the glimmering sunlight, undulating meadow grass about her. She was not perfect but good enough, better than most for her age. Memories of bone chilling cold and my dad placing a cardboard in front of an old pickup’s radiator to keep the water from freezing as he drove me to school came to mind. Another dream complete, I now own a ’49 beauty.
She was from Kansas, an old farm girl, purchased from the original owner’s son by the metal worker that sold her to me. She sat in an old barn for years. She got clipped by a tractor, but the damage only adds to her character. She will breath new life and add many smiles to those who will come to know her.
http://s758.photobucket.com/albums/xx230/58Hound/
