RSchnell

I used to go to Turkey Rod Run every year going back to the NSRA pre-49 days. I hadn't been in about 7 years so figured I'd take a day trip. If you've never been, it fills the entire infield and some of the garages at Daytona Speedway. A lot of walking! I estimate there were 2000+ cars and just as many vendor spaces. I must be getting old, I was getting annoyed by all the scooters and people pulling wagons. It made for rough going navigating the swap meet. LOL Here's some pics:

This was from 2008, took the shop truck on a West to East Coast of Florida trip with a stop in the Everglades and up to Daytona Beach for Turkey Rod Run. 8 days and never left the state! That's the Gulf of Mexico in the background and my tent & stuff in the bed.

When I was a kid we had a family friend that drove his Model A's all over the place. Alaska, Mexico, South America etc. Interesting thing is, one of those A's was an A-400, definitely not one of the more comfortable Model A's to drive. Somewhere I have photos.

Now that I have some time, figured I'd post this: I bought a '55 Ford Country Sedan wagon in KY when I was up there getting school buses for export. Since we were going to make another trip to pickup the remainder of the buses that we bought from that county, I arranged to have the car dropped off at the school board's garage and I'd get it running enough to drive back to FL. My plan was to stay in KY and get the old Ford roadworthy then meet with the boys when they came through and convoy with them back to FL. With help from the bus garage I was able to get everything ready to ride, even gave the old girl a bath in bleach water & dawn soap which cleaned it up nicely. I loaded my tools, spare parts & clothes into the wagone and hit the road. The first 50 or miles went great! Beat the bus crew to the truck stop by 20 minutes. No sooner than our convoy of 6 buses and one 1955 Ford Wagon in the middle, got on I75 off I-24 the old Ford started running warm then a loud pop and the smell of hot coolant & steam. I pull onto the shoulder, pop the hood and realize the radiator blew apart. Not wasting any time, Hubert runs back and starts putting the driveshaft in the van(their ride up) that was being towed by his bus, I crawl under the Ford and unhook the driveshaft in the wagon, he pulls his bus up in front of the Ford and we get it hooked to the tow bar, I get in the Ford van(now my ride home) and we get back on the big slab. I missed driving the Ford, but the AC and a working radio in the van made up for it. We only lost about 45 minutes of travel time and the rest of the crew was waiting on us at the next fuel stop. I miss those days sometimes.

When I had the shop, Model A's were one of the bread & butter cars for my shop along with C1 Corvettes & 50's Fords. Anyways 80% of the time I'd get the usual "Model A brakes suck or any of the other common complaints about a poorly maintained Model A. I'd take that customer for a ride in my Model A shop truck which aside from a high compression head and a reground cam was bone stock, even 6V system. It'd run 65-70 with no problem and would put you through the windshield if you did a panic stop. After the ride I'd explain that this was my daily driver and had driven it all over the Southeast with no overheating, bad brakes, leaky rear main, etc. It was a tremendous sales tool, but at the same time showed what a properly restored A was capable of.

Used to do a road trip at least once a year. Here's a small sample: 1997- Drove the entire east coast of FL leaving central FL south to Miami from Miami to Savannah Ga. Drove my '55 Ford Club Sedan 1998- Central FL to north Alabama in a '58 Ford Ranch Wagon where I delivered it to the buyer. Bought a 359 Peterbilt and drove it back to FL. Drove my '62 Galaxie convert from central FL to Chickasha, OK for the prewar swapmeet that used to be held there. 1999- did 510 miles in Florida on my '59 Harley ending up in Daytona for Bike Week. 2001- Drove the Model A from central FL to Georgia for a family reunion 2003-Drove my '55 Ford Wagon from central FL to Dearborn, MI for the 100 yr anniversary of Ford. Stopped in TN on my way back and brought back a load of NOS Ford parts. Any rolling stock that I owned I was able to jump in and go anywhere with no worry regardless of age. I eventually quit doing the road trips as it's just gotten too dam crowded down here and getting worse everyday.

The Nomad wagon is a pleasant surprise and will definitely find it's way to my stash. Thanks Tim for posting the pics!

Definitely in for a couple of these, even though I have enough '29 Model A Pickup kits for the next 40 years. The Panhead chopper just makes it all the better!

I'm retiring in 4 years when I turn 50. Extremely fortunate/lucky that I had the opportunities I did in life, but I sure paid for it with the toll on my body and frugal living. LOL I just sold the last couple project cars I had and will buy a couple cars that only need gas & a** to go down the road to satisfy my old car habit. I'm going to be reading this thread with interest as I'm curious to see the responses.

This is a good show/sale to attend, it's one of my favorites! A lot of good deals. The Melbourne location is new as previously this swap was held at Bruton Park in Cocoa, FL.

Surprised this guy hasn't been mentioned yet. He's eaten everything from Civil War Hardtack to numerous ancient rations. Not ashamed to say it's one of the few youtube channels I follow LOL Steve1989MREInfo

Haven't had much time for building since work has been keeping me busy, but I've been adding a few kits to the stash. The '64 Falcon kit is complete, I just need a '65 Falcon convert to go with it! The ICM Model A's look very very nice in person. It's evident they copied a GAZ A (Russian Model A) but a vast improvement over the old Monogram Model A kits!

I always liked this body style of BMW wagons, you don't see them much anymore. The Cybertruck passed me on the way home from the show yesterday on a rare moment of empty I-4. For those in Florida, you know!

Hit up a local show and scored a few goodies. Was pleased to find the much maligned AMT '34 Ford Tudor, it's one kit I built as a kid that I haven't been able to find at a decent price. The AMT '62 Fairlane came with the box and all the parts. The '59 & '60 Mercs should clean up nicely. They'll have a good home next to my other rebuilder projects until I get to them.

We're going to see more & more of this as time goes on and I can't help but wonder at some point the market will be flooded with "unsellable merch" due to changes in buyer's taste & demographics. The last model swap I went to, lots of kits cheap and I expect the same thing with the next two shows I hit this month & June. A lot of the same stuff shows up at the various shows. I'm in my 40s & concentrate my kit collection more towards pre 1969 cars & trucks, but I'm in the minority. I'm almost to the point of having all the kits I've been looking for, but always looking for rebuilders. It's already happening in the 1:1 car world with run of the mill prewar stuff and even some 50's cars are coming down in price, in some cases by 30%. Project cars of common stuff are almost unsellable from everything I've seen, read & talked to.

Will be following this with interest. Thanks for taking the time to take pics & post them!

I think it's priced fairly for what you're getting. This kit blows the old Monogram kits out of the water as far as quality & accuracy.

I intend to build a replica of my Model A Pickup that was my shop truck when I owned the resto shop. I think this resin kit and the chassis from the new ICM Model A will make a real nice combo & should turn out great! And a heck of a lot easier than cutting down a Revell Tudor Sedan that I had planned earlier.

Here's a selection of photos from today's show.

Hit Model Fest in Melbourne, FL this morning and picked up a few goodies. Not the biggest show here in FL, but good prices on kits and talking kits & seeing people you only see a few times a year makes the experience. Was pleased to snag the R & D Unique Model A Pickup for $20-my most expensive purchase. Everything else was under $20, in some cases $10 each. I plan to leave '32 Vicky as is same with the '37 Ford Coupe. I'll post show photos in the show thread.