Post by Mike B on Dec 20, 2008 20:56:35 GMT -4
Truck has a little rust but still going strong at 24
My Favorite Ride, By Laura Lane H-T columnist | llane@heraldt.com
March 30, 2008
BLOOMINGTON — Bob Quakenbush can’t seem to escape the world of cars and trucks that need fixing.
“I’ve been around old cars all my life,” the 75-year-old Bloomington man said.
As a kid in the 1940s, he drove his dad’s old ramshackle Model A pickup truck around the 100-acre family farm. He remembers hauling thousands of pounds of juicy tomatoes to a cannery in Martinsville in the summers.
When he got out into the world, Quakenbush worked at, managed and owned a string of gas stations and auto repair shops. He had a contract with the U.S. Postal Service, and spent years repairing their old mail delivery trucks. He said the old Herald-Telephone newspaper once ran a feature article about him as the man who kept the postal vehicles on the road — rain, sleet or snow.
“There was a picture of me there in the paper with long, blond hair. It was back in the ’60s,” he said
He later fixed foreign cars in a now-abandoned shop at the corner of Rogers Street and Country Club Drive.
In the 1970s, he was Bob of Bob’s Mobil at First and Walnut streets on the south edge of downtown Bloomington.
He had heart surgery in 1985, then retired from the work world in 1990. But he started feeling good, and decided to look for a job. While employed at Bloomington’s Nissan dealership in 2000, he spotted a 1984 GMC Sierra 1500 someone had traded in. Quakenbush had been seeking a pick-up truck and liked the looks of the two-tone GMC.
He figured it was time to replace the Dodge Omni he was driving at the time.
“I was looking for a truck because I had taken the back seat out of that Dodge and was using it as a pickup truck, and I figured I should just buy a truck.”
It had all sorts of amenities — power windows and brakes, chrome rails and running boards, a roomy toolbox, nice upholstery, air conditioning that worked. He paid $5,000.
Quakenbush isn’t sure how many miles are on the odometer.
“Oh my, there’s probably between 100,000 and 200,000, probably more,” he said. “I have kept it up in pretty good shape, but I do have some body work to get done.”
GMC revamped its 1984 Sierra 1500 with galvanized panels to combat rust. But after almost 25 years, it’s coming through the metal, mostly around the wheel wells. He’s had some work done on the engine over the years, but nothing major.
“The engine is good. It uses some oil, but not much.”
And when he needs parts these day, they are easy to come by. Quakenbush, once or twice retired, is back working 40 hours a week, this time delivering auto parts for the Bloomington NAPA store.
“I get my parts at a discount rate, and that helps when you are driving an old truck like this,” he said.
There was a time, oh, 50 years ago, when Quakenbush drove a much cooler vehicle.
“I had a James Dean car, a 1949 Mercury, black, chopped off and with eight or 10 coats of lacquer paint on it. One of my buddies wrecked it. It was good old car,” he recalled.
And it accomplished something his 1984 GMC truck never will:
“I dove 102 miles in that car in overdrive in second gear,” he recalled. “Seems like we got away with a lot back in those days.”
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.
Bob Quakenbush bought this 1984 GMC pickup in 2000. It has somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 miles on the odometer. It’s a good thing Quakenbush delivers auto parts for NAPA. Laura Lane | Hoosier Times
So the Sienna has a little rust around the wheels. Big deal. Laura Lane | Hoosier Times
My Favorite Ride, By Laura Lane H-T columnist | llane@heraldt.com
March 30, 2008
BLOOMINGTON — Bob Quakenbush can’t seem to escape the world of cars and trucks that need fixing.
“I’ve been around old cars all my life,” the 75-year-old Bloomington man said.
As a kid in the 1940s, he drove his dad’s old ramshackle Model A pickup truck around the 100-acre family farm. He remembers hauling thousands of pounds of juicy tomatoes to a cannery in Martinsville in the summers.
When he got out into the world, Quakenbush worked at, managed and owned a string of gas stations and auto repair shops. He had a contract with the U.S. Postal Service, and spent years repairing their old mail delivery trucks. He said the old Herald-Telephone newspaper once ran a feature article about him as the man who kept the postal vehicles on the road — rain, sleet or snow.
“There was a picture of me there in the paper with long, blond hair. It was back in the ’60s,” he said
He later fixed foreign cars in a now-abandoned shop at the corner of Rogers Street and Country Club Drive.
In the 1970s, he was Bob of Bob’s Mobil at First and Walnut streets on the south edge of downtown Bloomington.
He had heart surgery in 1985, then retired from the work world in 1990. But he started feeling good, and decided to look for a job. While employed at Bloomington’s Nissan dealership in 2000, he spotted a 1984 GMC Sierra 1500 someone had traded in. Quakenbush had been seeking a pick-up truck and liked the looks of the two-tone GMC.
He figured it was time to replace the Dodge Omni he was driving at the time.
“I was looking for a truck because I had taken the back seat out of that Dodge and was using it as a pickup truck, and I figured I should just buy a truck.”
It had all sorts of amenities — power windows and brakes, chrome rails and running boards, a roomy toolbox, nice upholstery, air conditioning that worked. He paid $5,000.
Quakenbush isn’t sure how many miles are on the odometer.
“Oh my, there’s probably between 100,000 and 200,000, probably more,” he said. “I have kept it up in pretty good shape, but I do have some body work to get done.”
GMC revamped its 1984 Sierra 1500 with galvanized panels to combat rust. But after almost 25 years, it’s coming through the metal, mostly around the wheel wells. He’s had some work done on the engine over the years, but nothing major.
“The engine is good. It uses some oil, but not much.”
And when he needs parts these day, they are easy to come by. Quakenbush, once or twice retired, is back working 40 hours a week, this time delivering auto parts for the Bloomington NAPA store.
“I get my parts at a discount rate, and that helps when you are driving an old truck like this,” he said.
There was a time, oh, 50 years ago, when Quakenbush drove a much cooler vehicle.
“I had a James Dean car, a 1949 Mercury, black, chopped off and with eight or 10 coats of lacquer paint on it. One of my buddies wrecked it. It was good old car,” he recalled.
And it accomplished something his 1984 GMC truck never will:
“I dove 102 miles in that car in overdrive in second gear,” he recalled. “Seems like we got away with a lot back in those days.”
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.
Bob Quakenbush bought this 1984 GMC pickup in 2000. It has somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 miles on the odometer. It’s a good thing Quakenbush delivers auto parts for NAPA. Laura Lane | Hoosier Times
So the Sienna has a little rust around the wheels. Big deal. Laura Lane | Hoosier Times