solly

Well here we go,
Despite the fact that My car quest is over I still find Myself cruising the classifieds just for entertainment. The other day I came across a 1934 Dodge sedan that reminded me of this event a sad but true story.
Let me give you a little relevant background. In the 7th grade I met a kid that was a little different, let's say he marched to a different drummer, for example when every other kid in the neighborhood at approx 12-13 was focused on getting a Little Indian or Rupp mini bike Rich was intent on getting a late 1940's Whizzer motor bike running
(and he did) he was already collecting vintage radio's and single cyl engines, as I recall he had a Maytag gas engine used to power a wash machine that was designed for outdoor back porch use. as we got older and other kids were experimenting with cigarettes in a attempt to be cool he took a different path and got a DR. Grabow pipe !! are you getting the picture ?
So now the story, now sophomores in high school approx 4 years into our friendship I get a telephone call "hey Sol can we take a detour on the way home from school today I have something to show you" ( he was very excited) sure I said.
It appears his dad and uncle got a call from a attorney indicating they had been named in a will ! It appears that aunt Tilly has passed away, now aunt Tilly was married but had no children, Rich says he thinks he remembers seeing her once at a family picnic but that's it, having no children the house and it's contents fell to the nephews
(Riches Dad & uncle) Tilly apparently was not much on family and relied mostly on neighbors for help that's why it was surprising she left the house and it's contents to the nephews.
We stop at Aunt Tilly's house on the way home from school (just the next town over) Rich has somehow obtained a key, it's a very plain 2 story early 1900's frame house that looked like it had not been painted in 100 years, we go inside and its quite dismal and spartan except for some pretty cool vintage red velvet furniture and cool oak bureaus and I remember a pie cabinet that I was drawn to because My aunt had one very similar.
Now he says wait till ya see this !! we go out back to a old wood single car garage with a side shed, he opens the door and there it is !! a 1934 Dodge 2 door Sedan !!
it's about 6 inches deep in dust but blowing the dust away reveals a split pea soup green beauty with a greenish brown mohair type interior and pastel yellow wheels.
I cant remember if the tires were holding air or not but this thing was all intact, complete and begging to be brought back to life. I remember the 1959 land of Lincoln license plates indicating it had sat idle for the last 11 years, apparently Aunt Tilly no longer able to drive,
Rich looks at me and says Sol that's mine !! my dad and uncle say once the estate is all settled and loose ends tied up it's mine to do what I want with !!
remember the background story ? while my other friends were dreaming GTO's 442's 64 Super Sports etc.. my friend was dreaming split pea green 34 dodge
right up his alley !!
We made a couple of trips to that house after the lawyer stuff settled to help move the contents to the basements of the uncle and dads houses, to my buddies dad the dodge was not a priority since it was going to involve $$ and a tow truck to have it relocated.
Now the tragedy ,I get a phone call from Rich great depression in his voice Sol its gone, Whats gone I said ? the Dodge !! what happened, it appears per the fire dept report that once the house was vacated neighborhood kids were spotted around the house playing with matches and were kinda using the garage as a hide out, they caught the garage on fire and it burned to the ground with the Dodge in it, the house survived as it was detached from the garage, the dodge was probably about 1 week away from being relocated to my poor friends house, what do you say to a friend that just lost a dream ?
I still stay in touch with him, surprisingly he owns no classic cars, he lives in Hawaii is also retired. he does still collect mostly Lionell, American Flyer and high end German model trains. to this day I remember the look on his face when he opened that garage door and showed me that Dodge.

Charlie Jones

34 Dodge

Tedd Thompson

You say, so sorry for your loss. He probably got over it not long afterwards and found girls to occupy his time and money.....Tedd

rocketraider

As the maintenance supervisor at work often said "You can't have s**t for somebody else messing it up".

I had an Aunt Tillie too. She drove a cab in Baltimore in the 40s and 50s, 1st lady cab driver in Balto and a self-proclaimed "tough old broad". Tillie packed heat and nobody messed with her. She became a RN age 45 and started a line of nurses- her daughter, granddaughter and now great-granddaughter all became RNs.

When I graduated high school she sent me a check with instructions to use it for something utterly foolish, as I'd soon find myself strapped with adult things that took up all the "fun money". To this day I give that same advice to a young friend graduating high school.

Everyone should have an Aunt Tillie.

blakes7

What a lesson in disappointment. I'd have been very sad for a long time.