340,520 MILES make a good read

[Joe Handley]

but it's all there.

Just most of what's there wasn't when the car was originally built!

[dieseldawg142]

....

Edited May 11, 2018 by dieseldawg142

[Robberbaron]

That old Ford is the rolling equivalent of the woodsman's axe-"Changed the blade twice and the handle three times but it's still the same old axe!"

You beat me to it, Tony! My thoughts exactly. That doesn't make this Ford any less impressive in my book. Nowadays any original-owner car from 1950 is impressive, but the work that this guy has done is just monumental, and notice how much of the work was done in the first 20 years, when these were just used up old cars to most people. This just isn't the example to use for the argument "things were just built so much better in the old days".

[lordairgtar]

Sheesh you guys. You'd kvetch if someone gave you $5000, but didn't give it to you in 50s instead of 100s.

[Chuck Most]

My '98 Mercury Tracer had almost as many miles on it when I quit driving it- never had the engine or trans apart or anything. I never even had to change the brake pads, and as far as I know those were original to the car, which had 176,000 highway on it when I got it. Sure, it went through its share of tires and other wear and maintenance items, but other than having to replace the starter at around 250,000, that car didn't owe me a dime. Even the AC still worked. Only reason I finally put it out to pasture is because it was one or two more winters away from not having floorboards anymore.

[Greg Myers]

Sheesh you guys. You'd kvetch if someone gave you $5000, but didn't give it to you in 50s instead of 100s.

That's what I was thinking. Read the history, enjoy the story. Come on 64 years and 340,000 miles?

[Harry P.]

Sheesh you guys. You'd kvetch if someone gave you $5000, but didn't give it to you in 50s instead of 100s.

Huh?

We're just pointing out the fact that this car is nowhere near "original"... it's barely even the same car that it was when the guy bought it! Almost everything has been replaced, in many cases several times over. I guess I don't see the point of this story... a guy still owns the same car after all these years and all those miles would be interesting, I guess... but that is not the case here.

[Greg Myers]

I guess that's my fault for not pointing out the obvious to everyone . Nowhere in the article does it say the car is original. My point, and I beleive the point of the story is that it's just an interesting car story. Take it for what it's worth.

[lordairgtar]

Huh?

We're just pointing out the fact that this car is nowhere near "original"... it's barely even the same car that it was when the guy bought it! Almost everything has been replaced, in many cases several times over. I guess I don't see the point of this story... a guy still owns the same car after all these years and all those miles would be interesting, I guess... but that is not the case here.

I read the article in the magazine and it does not look like he was mis-representing the car. All those issues were stated in the article. Technically, it's a well maintained and albeit an "extreme measures taken" car to keep it going, At the least it's a nice article about keeping a nice old car going...no matter how many bits have been redone or replaced. A car is much more than the two part axe previously mentioned here.

[Robberbaron]

I don't think Hemmings or the owner misrepresented anything, from what I'm seeing. As I stated previously, my hat's off to the owner for everything he has done to keep this car functioning and, from the pictures, very presentable, especially considering the frame replacement and the body panels that have been replaced multiple times. The only issue I took exception with is some people's knee-jerk reaction of "they built ''em so much better back in the day".

[Harry P.]

The only issue I took exception with is some people's knee-jerk reaction of "they built ''em so much better back in the day".

That's the point I was trying to make... on the surface it seems like this old Ford is still running after 300,000+ miles because, by golly, they just built 'em better in those days! But the reality is that the car has been completely rebuilt, top to bottom, several times over... so the idea that the old girl is still going strong is completely false. True, the magazine article pointed out the fact that everything had been replaced, but usually when Hemmings does a "Driveable Dream" feature article in the magazine, the car featured is actually pretty much original. And in the header of the article, it says "Trusty Tudor: After 64 years of ownership, a well-maintained Ford and its original owner age gracefully together."

Yeah, the owner may be original, the car is anything but. "Well-maintained?" It would have been more accurate to say "nothing on this car is original."