Never ends the way you expect: Part Three

I followed the couple to their home about 45 minutes away.  It was in the wrong direction to where I needed to go, but you never know what you are going to find.  And what is another 2 hours of my life.  

The first thing you see pulling into their property was a old Ford truck.  I was told that the father was the second owner.  He used it for years upon years and every so often he gets it running and takes it out.

We moved over to the guys shop. And what a shop it was! This is the kind of shop I would wish to have. Two stories, lift, storage, another whole separate building for more storage, room out back AND an awesome view. There is nothing wrong with any of this. And the cars in the first area were not half bad either.

The guy put his main project, a 1972 Dodge Challenger Rallye in the second building where he was working on it. Finishing up some body work. Getting ready for primer and paint. Also put his running and driving 1968 Plymouth Road Runner in there to easily get it in and out.

We moved around the side of the building  Where they stashed their project or parts cars. The 65 Coronet was a nice car, he said he got it from the Southwest. Looked clean, being from the Southwest I have no doubt it was.

Around back was just three parts cars. There was a 65 Barracuda and two Road Runners. All three were sadly well beyond saving, but their parts will live on in other Road Runners and Barracuda for years to come.

After the tour of the shop and cars the owner asked if I would like to see the cars in the bushes. I was a bit confused, what bushes? 

He said that his father stashed a bunch of cars in the bushes in front of the shop and they are almost completely overgrown now. But if I wanted to take a look, I could. Not to turn down more pictures, I jumped into the mess head first.

After going through all they had. We talked for a bit. It was getting really late by this time. So I took one last look at that beautiful view, said good bye to some new friends and headed back the way I came to finally go take a look at that Daytona Nose my friend had lying around.

But I will save that for the final part.

If you know of any barn finds or old cars in garage. Let me know. I'm more then willing to drive out and document them. And I don't reveal any locations.

Just drop me an email.

Thank you,

Ryan Brutt

HemiPwr70@aol.com

The Automotive Archaeologist

9th ANNUAL TOUR d’ ORANGE

9^th ANNUAL TOUR d’ ORANGE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3gQt0ZnYHo

All cars welcome!

RING IN THE NEW YEAR WITH A FUN DRIVE THROUGH THE STREETS AND HILLS OF ORANGE COUNTY.

·      New Years Day at Redhill and Fischer in Costa Mesa

·      Vehicle Staging at 7:30am

·      Maps past out at 8:00am

·      Drive starts at 9:00 am

·      Free Coffee, Water and Doughnuts

·     Weather Forecast 77 degree’s  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ9nknpa-mI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrCtUVOvvak

http://www.youtube..com/watch?v=yLk1Fbg7NVk&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLA15D60EE3604D0FE

please drive safe!

Never ends the way you expect: Part Two

I left my new friend and headed towards the Daytona nose. Just a few hours behind schedule, I did not thing my friend would mind since he hadn't yet to call me back. And by the time I had gotten out there I had yet to hear from him, so I made my way to Steve's house to see his collection. I wasn't able to see the whole thing last time, since he wasn't there when I went by. But this time I pulled into his driveway and him and a friend were sitting outside just chatting away.

He was more the happy to throw the covers off of everything, unfortunately he couldn't move anything around. His son had recently had some... difficulties with a Ford Torino GT and rolled it in a ditch. 390 car and fairly rare for what it was.

Steve went over every car with me, allowed me to shoot anything I wanted. He told me all about how he was so into NASCAR and wanted what he saw on Sunday, and then went and bought on Monday. Over the decades he had amassed quite a collection of cars that were homoligated for the street so they could drive them in NASCAR.

The barn was full of cars, but his favorites were the Fords and the Mercury's. That is what he had the most of.

One of the cooler cars in the collection was a matching set of Lee Roy and Cale Yarborough Mercury Cyclone Spoiler's. Supposedly one style was made for East of the Mississippi and the other for the West.

There were a few other project cars sitting around for a rainy day, mostly just old Torinos. All were solid cars, still able to be restored eventually.

Even had a 70's Cougar in there.

Out of this massive collection of incredibly awesome cars, there was one that really spoke to me. And not because it is the only Mopar in the collection, but because Steve bought the car brand new in 1970. he said he saw the Superbirds and Daytonas beating everything in sight, so he had to have one. Walked into the dealership and got the one off the showroom floor. Not a big Hemi Superbird, but a 440-6 Superbird with a 4-speed! You can not go wrong with it. The car is mostly original, he hasn't done much with the car, preferring to drive his other cars more often. So it sat for most of its life with only 83,000 miles on the clock.

I hung around with Steve and his friend for a bit longer. We talked about everything from the weather to the cars we loved to drive. Steve mentioned about my Challenger how much fun it was driving in it the last time I was out that way. How he hadn't gone that fast in a car in a while. I told him I was more then happy to take him for a ride around in the car.

With daylight slowly fading, and the cat wanted to go to bed and close the door. So I parted company with Steve and told him the next time I was by I would stop in and we can grab a bite to eat. I made my way back to my friends house not far from there. He was home and with company. His company was very nice and invited me to their place about 45 minutes away to show me their collection of barn finds. So off we went, on another adventure.

Unfortunately two weeks after I visited Steve he passed away quietly in his sleep. Timing for once was on my side you could say, that I was able to spend the time I did with him.  I was fortunate to have met him and spend the time I did with him. That's why I did not hide his name from this blog, so people would know that he was a good man and was more then generous in his ability to share his passion for cars.  He died too young.

I wish the rest of his family a peaceful and long life.

Rest in Peace Steve M. “Rudy” Powers.

Stephen M. "Rudy" Powers Obituary