Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Even though I didn’t follow in the steps of my father it doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the path he cut.
Both my dad and my father-in-law collected and restored antique and classic cars. Wandering a car show or seeing classic cars shined up in a parade still gives me a strong connection to them.
I fetched tools, I helped load cars, I drove parades for them when they needed another driver, but I never really caught the bug.
They sought cars out and then worked on them until they looked and ran like new. I owned a few vehicles that had potential for a restoration, but I had better things to do with my money and time.
I’m glad I got to ride in those old cars with these men. It gave me an insight into what they valued and what was worth working for to get. They restored the cars they always wanted when they were growing up or they fixed up the ones just like they remembered their dads driving.
I got to ride with my dad in a Model-T Depot Hack and a Model-T Speedster, complete with Aa-Oga horn. He completed and sold numerous Model-Ts and Model-As and finally his pride and joy, an early 1940s Hudson pickup.
I got to know my father-in-law on long drives along the canals around Tucumcari in his blue early 1930s Chevrolet truck. I wouldn’t know there had ever been an automobile called a Star car if he hadn’t driven one in parades for another family who entrusted him with its care. He also drove a goofy looking Nash Rambler to work every day for many years.
My dad kept the old John Deere tractor he owned early in his married life and used it decades later at a caliche quarry. My father-in-law found a little Allis Chalmers tractor like he used when he farmed in Iowa. He fixed it up and was proud to show it off and explain everything about it.
Both of these men passed away many years ago, but some like them are still rescuing relics that need to be loved one more time. Guys like them were remembered by those attending the Heritage Days Car Show in Portales this past weekend.
Links to our history and our heritage are important. We need museums to interpret the past and books to explain it all where it makes sense. But there’s just something special about a piece of history that starts and talks to us in its own language of engine noise. It’s even better when the guy leaning on the fender can take you for a ride and tell you the story himself.
Karl Terry writes for Clovis Media Inc. Contact him at:
