Hagerty Video: Time To Downsize After A Lifetime of Collecting Old Fords & Rare Motorcycles | Barn Find Hunter

Hagerty Video Transcript

You’re the second own over 1936-40. do you need to go work for Jack Rausch and be the guy to start his NASCAR team if you enjoy our YouTube videos and have been wondering how you can help support their creation consider joining the Haggerty Drivers Club which includes a subscription to Haggerty magazine

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Benefits of doing barn find Hunter episodes near where I live is that I get to connect with old friends like Tony Price I moved here in the mid 80s to get involved in NASCAR Charlotte Motor Speedway and Tony was on Bobby Allison’s team Davies Davies so for Robert Yates Robert

So Tony is an old Ford guy and I was an old Ford guy and somehow we connected in the garage area and so we’ve been friends for 35 years yeah yep so I’m now coming to your home thanks for inviting me here man more and welcome anytime Tom so what brought you

Here to the states race cars race cars race cars so I left New Zealand at 20 years old I moved to Australia and I started building race engines with another guy from New Zealand was a couple years older than I was and I got to meet a lot of American races down

There that went down there to race um notably you guys passed on how Gene Welch from Orangevale California and he took four car teams down there each year running late models they’d run one pavement Trek same cars on dirt and I I befriended many of these guys because I

Wouldn’t just help with their engines I would help them at the racetrack and sometimes we’d race when they were there two to three nights a week and they always said oh if you’re gonna ever come over the states come and see us so one day I always bought and sold cars and

Motorcycles one I thought well if I sell these motorcycles sell these cars I got enough money to go to the states for six months wow and uh the first year I was here I built guys dirt late model engines and cars and I lived at their

House where their shot was and that was actually Gene Welch and his son Mark drove and we won uh 26 out of 31 races all over the West Coast the first year I was here so through that I got to know a man by the name of Tom Hamilton that

Owns stock the original stock car products in Los Angeles he’s always telling me look if you want to make money and racing you need to go back to NASCAR and he got me hooked up with Gary Nelson at die guard there you go put me on a project up in Welcome North Carolina

Before Richard Childress was in welcome and sat Greg sacks Greg sacks who won the firecracker 400. I prepared that car ah almost single-handedly under the direction of Gary and Robert and in a Ford engineer by the name of Paul Gilbert Paul Gilton and I remember Paul

And so I had some good teachers that was the first stock car I’d ever seen and that was pretty Antiquated compared to my dirt late models had an opportunity to go work for Jack Roush and be the guy to start his NASCAR team so this is early 80s I was in

Liberty North Carolina no it was no where we’re still in in Detroit he hadn’t started it and I was the first guy he was hiring to start it he flew me up there interviewed me and we put a deal together but he wasn’t ready financially so he had me working on his

Road race cars and then I was we’re actually back in Jack’s Shop in Detroit and Robert Yates called me this is before cell phone so Robert called me and he says uh hey I got a proposition for you he says why don’t you come with me to we’re near Lundy racing we’re

Going to run four races with kale Yarbrough this is the later part of 86 and we’re going to run Davey Allison for Rookie of the Year and you run the whole car side of it crew chief the full bit and I run the engine side of it that was

Early I still remember that rough times about nine o’clock in the morning uh on a Wednesday morning uh I drove back on Thursday and my old truck and worked in Robert’s engine shop out by the racetrack to be here uh next to Daryl’s old Bush shop

There I worked there on a Friday and uh did some engine stuff for a few weeks until we we finally um got to to work in with uh what Al was still and his guys were still there they still had one race left to do with kale

So through all that you never lost your love of old Ford um never lost my love for old Fords I want to take a moment and thank today’s sponsor Consumer Cellular Consumer Cellular delivers premium Nationwide wireless coverage for up to half of what the largest carriers charge has award-winning 100 us-based customer

Support if you need help or want to make the easy switch you can call and talk to a real life person and they’ll talk to you for as long as you need help they have the latest phones but if you want to keep the phone and number you’ve

Already got that’s fine too there’s no contract you pay nothing up front and activation is free be sure to click the link in the description below where was this are built this would have been built in Canada and shipped to New Zealand is this right-hand drive it’s

Right hand drive so New Zealand Forge were built in Canada yeah now they were they were actually shipped to New Zealand at some point in 36 and what they called drop down form I don’t know what that was and then they finished assembling them there yeah it was it was knocked down

Knocked down and they were sold in the components had to be put together yeah there was a few little differences to an America one uh one of the they had a half year engine and 36 with insert bearings I’m actually taking one apart there that’s a half year engine the

American engine you can’t tell from the outside if it’s an lb with insert main bearings but the engine in this car you can it’s got a hole in a casting all the Canadian engines have it which got shipped to Australia also so uh so how how long have you had this car

73 73 so 50 years yeah what’d you pay for it 150 dollars and I had to get a warrant of Fitness being sitting around for years I had to put shackles I made them couldn’t buy anything at that time uh re-bushed the kingpins um that was about it and did you drive

It yeah I drove it drove it oh that’s cool so how long has it been in the states uh about 18 years what did it cost to ship by the way I’m curious about the container I’d get a container of course it was uh about five thousand

Dollars roughly American that’s a lot of money it’s a lot of money especially when I give 150 percent the car’s never really been restored I say that my dad never painted in his life the paint was gone of it he painted it outside his garage um the Chrome was shot so we re-chromed

It this Pine stream on it very rare dealer installed accessory this was not on it right but um I seen it on a Hot Rod Magazine when I bought this car when I was 17 a car with it on and I said man I have to have

That I still have that Hot Rod Magazine by the way I had to have a nice search forever to find it and uh finally got it and when the car got here I put it on I didn’t drill any holes it didn’t have the brackets with it but I adapted it

All without yeah drilling holes and This Isn’t that cool so are these all all fours in here yeah all fours okay so what do you what do you have a a four-door convertible here uh I gotta show you this first okay it’s a forward autographed the glove box

Door and so forth It’s so forward yeah no kidding yeah he sat in it where where was it Charlotte yeah in Charlotte that one Jack sharpsy and the little badge on the dash that’s ashburton Motors that sold at brand new I’m only the second owner dad’s worked on this car

Uh when he had served his apprenticeship at ashburton Motors you’re the second owner of a 1936-40 yeah yeah this book that’s been in the glove box ever since I got the car I bought this Hot Rod Magazine it’s been in there ever since man so a four-door convertible convertible sedan

Convertible trunk back half year only again there’s uh only a hundred and I think 118 of these no one left to exist there’s a guy um ham Town owl in Norfolk Virginia or Smithfield Virginia that’s that’s everyone here in the world he can find he’s documented because he’s trying to

Figure where in 36 they switched to that trunk back yeah wow yeah so where’d the spare tire go inside it’s all wooden shelf inside I got it okay um it’s a very very solid car so this has roll up Windows I mean if Fayette would have had correct crap inside correct yes

That’s a rare car so how long have you had this uh four years I think so it had been hidden away for 30 years and I found it in Lexington North Carolina nice flight yeah so I’m going to make it a driver cool cool and so this truck

What year is that 36 36 yeah I’ve had that about six that’s about six years that come out of Pickens South Carolina from a state um very very Solid Truck hopefully by the end of the year that’s going to be at my shop truck I’m not going to do

Anything cosmetically to it but that’s gonna be my my sir you’re recently retired how long would you retire one year ago one year ago and so you retired from when we stopped can we stop oh I’m not retired I just repurpose my life yeah so who did you work for most

Recently the last 20 years I worked for Jack rash and did everything from gosh crew chief team manager the the last 15 years probably I was assembly shop manager um over the assembly from Pit Stop cars to to show cars to the Xfinity Nationwide and then the cup cars and the

Last several years many years so that model A I heard you say it’s not your car that is not my car that’s a a friend of mine here in Charlotte it’s an old model a hot rod from probably the 60s I’m guessing it’s got the old crack lack

Of paint job it’s got a four-cylinder B engine and transmission with a genuine Miller overhead valve conversion and an Aaron Loveless blower on it here’s a supercharger worked off the crankshaft the carburetor goes on top of the supercharger yes so there’s no way you can have a hood on here no

Um and that’s another project I’m working on he’s got a a very rare Windfield carburetor that I’m having to adapt to it and I put throttle linkage on it so that’s great wow so what I see two Coupes back here what are they so we

Got a uh I really didn’t know you guys were coming in all right I organize a little better but it’s all good so um this is a 41 Mercury Coupe another very solid car uh I have every last piece for it and and including a lot of New Old

Stock parts and these are your cars yeah everything in here except for that Roadster is mine so what what’s your priority of moving getting cars on the road so my three six phones all those years I’ve actually got the engine it’s it’ll get assembled this week

Um so I want to get that so I can back enjoy it the model A is the next project because that’s a customer car um and then after that uh the model A I’m sorry the 36 pickup as a sharp truck and then the 41 Mercury

I’m gonna sell it I I have to downsize I don’t have enough room I don’t need this many cars at this point in my life and uh then the the convertible sedan after that so I just want to go back in time a little bit let me get by you here in

1983 I got my first job in NASCAR and it was working for the doing public relations for the Ingersoll Rand national pitco championship on the NASCAR circuit and I stuck this decal on this toolbox in 1983 and the reason we did that was at the time toolboxes weren’t pit Lane

And when these boxes were opened the television cameras would see them or the car came for a pit stop Ingersoll Rand would be in the background like they’d get free exposure now of course they have these big rigs with umbrellas and chairs up there and all that stuff but

This is going back to the old days I’ve that’s 40 years ago I put that on yeah holy yeah yeah that’s the Box Bobby won the championship uh 93 with that box yeah wow wow oh my God very cool so are those your motorcycles yes so people that watch this show like motorcycles

Would you show us what’s yeah what’s going on there so what we got here this is uh 48 Panhead Harley-Davidson last year of the Springer front end one year Springer only because it has a neck lock and our first year of the Panhead this is a 59 Harley-Davidson uh both these I have

Every last piece for them boxes and New York Stock Parts I’ve had these for a long long time uh look quite a rear motorcycle here is a 49 Indian Scout and in vertical the only American-made vertical twin motorcycle 40 minutes away is the guru of these

Pete sink and uh Wally Brown from Gibbs Racing they’re the gurus on this and Wally’s uh grandfather actually worked in the factory and was part of this motorcycle so I went to a seminar so this this is going to get uh I’m not restoring it I’m gonna get it running

Make it look good so what do you got in the barn back there yeah we got more junk down in the barn down here heading in behind that stuff is the little y model Ford a y model Ford uh it’s a it’s a little English car they made them in several

Factories they first made them in 32 uh and they made them through to 36 with a few subtle changes Edsall Ford was over there in the early 30s and seen this car and came back and had his uh designers copy this car in a larger form with a V8

This has or come with an eight horsepower four-cylinder engine I have the engine and the transmission I have most pieces for this car and just so it’s service rusted but it’s actually quite solid these bodies were wood framed so of course that will need taken care of is your desire to restore this

Or I think it’s too far gone restore okay so it might be cool with a v860 in it exactly a high boy even though it’s got really really nice fenders they’re all the parts are inside this car has really nice fenders um it’s got a decent Grille I’ll dig

That out in a minute but um I think this car would be awesome as a a fenderless Highboy with a tricked out v860 oh that’d be great do you remember do you remember what you paid for this uh two hundred dollars and was it disassembled or it was all

Together uh it was together but they had to take it apart to get in the container to make room Yep this car was in the container on its way over here I’m at the Charlotte um Speedway at the AutoFair and I find a real tail pan for a y model

Ford the guy wanted 90 for and I’m like where in the world it’s in it’s in here it’s in really nice condition where in the world would you find one of these if you needed it no time I give them fifty dollars for it he wouldn’t take it and I

Walked off I haven’t even seen this car I don’t even know if it needs a tail pan or what kind of shape but I went back and give them his ninety dollars for a while but uh yeah we’ll see how we do in the next year with what I’ve got going

On and in a year’s time I might be ready for a a uh something a little different a challenging project so let’s see you said you were the Mercury Coupe you would sell so I’m just wondering if somebody watched this show you sell with the Mercury Coupe what

Would you ask for that do you know hey I’d probably sell it all for twelve thousand dollars with all the New Old Stock parts now that includes New Old Stock trim pieces I have uh some really rare Parts I have cool and engine Transmissions yeah yeah cool yep so

We’re we’re in Suburban Charlotte here you know there’s cars and trucks going by here and never would you realize that you’d find something as rare in the states as a y-type Ford just amazing so uh but leave it to Tony who’s shipping this stuff around the world bringing things

In sending it out thank you sir thank you and you know what if you’re driving down a road like this just because it’s Suburbia it doesn’t mean there’s not a barn in the backyard with cool stuff inside it Happy Hunting