Post by Mike B on Dec 20, 2008 11:35:36 GMT -4
Looking for a match
Old Ford Fairlane sought; 1963 Ford Fairlane for sale
My Favorite Ride: by Laura Lane H-T columnist | lane@heraldt.com
January 13, 2008
SOLSBERRY — When Tony Shick’s Great-aunt Ann died in her late 80s, she left behind a 1963 Ford Fairlane — a four-door, green with a white top.
His brother took possession of the car for awhile, then sought a new owner when he moved. So a decade ago or so, Shick inherited the car and parked it inside an old barn on his property near Solsberry.
It’s still in there, sitting on a cement pad. “It hasn’t been licensed for 20 years or more,” he said. “But it looks like brand new. It was always kept in a garage, then the barn.”
Ann Shea of Nebraska left this 1963 Ford Fairlane to her family when she passed on decades ago. The car has been hidden away in a barn on Tony Shick’s property for more than a decade. He hopes to find a new home for the car with someone who will restore and appreciate it. Courtesy photo
The 45-year-old car Ann Shea drove around Nebraska until she gave up her keys has some surface rust, and the engine needs some serious attention. But it’s got just 63,000 miles on the odometer and the potential for a second life.
Shick, however, is not going to be the one to take on the restoration.
“I can’t really afford to fix it up,” the carpenter said. “Eventually I thought I would, but it just never happened.”
He never considered selling the car — not until he read my Dec. 9 column about an auction at an old car cemetery and Carmela Huls’ desire for a 1963 Fairlane.
I encountered Huls at an automobile junkyard in Mitchell, where the late Georgie Watterson had squirreled away nearly 300 cars from several decades, then left them to rust away into the landscape.
Huls lurked around two cars among the lot. The first, a once-red, now-rusted early 1960s Ford Fairlane station wagon, had a tree growing into the driver’s side door. When she was 12, her dad taught her how to drive in a car just like it.
The other vehicle that caught her attention was Car No. 156, a 1963 two-door Ford Fairlane, faded blue and missing its entire V-8 engine.
The interior of Tony Shick’s 1963 Ford Fairlane is in pretty good shape. Courtesy photo
She reminisced, remembering the first date with her husband, Jim. Back in 1972, Jim Huls had borrowed his younger brother’s baby blue Fairlane — he didn’t have a car of his own — and picked her up for a night on the town.
Surveying the junkyard cars before the Watterson auction, she suggested to her husband that they buy the 1963 Fairlane, which at the time she thought could be restored to be like the car from that long-ago date.
It still had the plastic covers over the seats, she noticed.
But in the end, the Huls decided the car was too far gone for them to tackle restoring. Someone else bought it and hauled it away.
When Shick read about the Huls, he realized he might have the very car they were seeking. He asked me to get in touch with them so he could tell them about Great-aunt Ann’s Fairlane.
“I have never put it up for sale, but I thought since they were looking for a car like that to restore, this might be the one,” he said.
But I can’t find the Huls’ phone number.
So, Jim and Carmela, if you are out there, call or e-mail me. There’s a guy in Greene County who has an old Fairlane with your names on it.
Shick has a few other dilapidated vehicles sitting around, too, outside the barn.
There’s a 1974 Chevrolet Impala — a boat of a car — with 63,000 miles on the odometer. It doesn’t run but “is in pretty good shape,” he said, and in need of some serious work. There’s also a 1970s vintage Chevrolet van sitting out there.
The one car he owns that’s not up for grabs is the 1987 Mercury Lynx he drives every day. “It’s got just 25,000 miles on it,” he said.
“And I guess I’ll drive it till it don’t run anymore.”
Got a story to tell about a car or truck? Call 812-331-4362, send an e-mail to lane@heraldt.com or a letter to My Favorite Ride, P.O. Box 909, Bloomington, IN 47402.
Old Ford Fairlane sought; 1963 Ford Fairlane for sale
My Favorite Ride: by Laura Lane H-T columnist | lane@heraldt.com
January 13, 2008
SOLSBERRY — When Tony Shick’s Great-aunt Ann died in her late 80s, she left behind a 1963 Ford Fairlane — a four-door, green with a white top.
His brother took possession of the car for awhile, then sought a new owner when he moved. So a decade ago or so, Shick inherited the car and parked it inside an old barn on his property near Solsberry.
It’s still in there, sitting on a cement pad. “It hasn’t been licensed for 20 years or more,” he said. “But it looks like brand new. It was always kept in a garage, then the barn.”
Ann Shea of Nebraska left this 1963 Ford Fairlane to her family when she passed on decades ago. The car has been hidden away in a barn on Tony Shick’s property for more than a decade. He hopes to find a new home for the car with someone who will restore and appreciate it. Courtesy photo
The 45-year-old car Ann Shea drove around Nebraska until she gave up her keys has some surface rust, and the engine needs some serious attention. But it’s got just 63,000 miles on the odometer and the potential for a second life.
Shick, however, is not going to be the one to take on the restoration.
“I can’t really afford to fix it up,” the carpenter said. “Eventually I thought I would, but it just never happened.”
He never considered selling the car — not until he read my Dec. 9 column about an auction at an old car cemetery and Carmela Huls’ desire for a 1963 Fairlane.
I encountered Huls at an automobile junkyard in Mitchell, where the late Georgie Watterson had squirreled away nearly 300 cars from several decades, then left them to rust away into the landscape.
Huls lurked around two cars among the lot. The first, a once-red, now-rusted early 1960s Ford Fairlane station wagon, had a tree growing into the driver’s side door. When she was 12, her dad taught her how to drive in a car just like it.
The other vehicle that caught her attention was Car No. 156, a 1963 two-door Ford Fairlane, faded blue and missing its entire V-8 engine.
The interior of Tony Shick’s 1963 Ford Fairlane is in pretty good shape. Courtesy photo
She reminisced, remembering the first date with her husband, Jim. Back in 1972, Jim Huls had borrowed his younger brother’s baby blue Fairlane — he didn’t have a car of his own — and picked her up for a night on the town.
Surveying the junkyard cars before the Watterson auction, she suggested to her husband that they buy the 1963 Fairlane, which at the time she thought could be restored to be like the car from that long-ago date.
It still had the plastic covers over the seats, she noticed.
But in the end, the Huls decided the car was too far gone for them to tackle restoring. Someone else bought it and hauled it away.
When Shick read about the Huls, he realized he might have the very car they were seeking. He asked me to get in touch with them so he could tell them about Great-aunt Ann’s Fairlane.
“I have never put it up for sale, but I thought since they were looking for a car like that to restore, this might be the one,” he said.
But I can’t find the Huls’ phone number.
So, Jim and Carmela, if you are out there, call or e-mail me. There’s a guy in Greene County who has an old Fairlane with your names on it.
Shick has a few other dilapidated vehicles sitting around, too, outside the barn.
There’s a 1974 Chevrolet Impala — a boat of a car — with 63,000 miles on the odometer. It doesn’t run but “is in pretty good shape,” he said, and in need of some serious work. There’s also a 1970s vintage Chevrolet van sitting out there.
The one car he owns that’s not up for grabs is the 1987 Mercury Lynx he drives every day. “It’s got just 25,000 miles on it,” he said.
“And I guess I’ll drive it till it don’t run anymore.”
Got a story to tell about a car or truck? Call 812-331-4362, send an e-mail to lane@heraldt.com or a letter to My Favorite Ride, P.O. Box 909, Bloomington, IN 47402.