Posted by Chris Lube Lublin (Miss my ol '70 W200) on Tuesday, October 07, 2003 at 11:44AM :
In Reply to: Ugly Truck Contest... posted by Dana on Tuesday, October 07, 2003 at 8:49AM :
Dana:
Our local fair used to have an ugly truck contest each year. Pretty much every vehicle I have ever owned, even my newer, nicer ones are still ugly. Back in my high school days, it was really bad, because I ran anything I could Scrounge up for $500. Or less, and sometimes freebies that people wanted out of their yard. I didnt care what it looked like, as long as it would start without having to pour too much gas in the carb to prime it, and as long as it would stop on at least one wheel, I would drive it! I had some real doozies, for shure. But anyhow, back in I THINK it was summer of 96, I had my '71 Dodge D-200, my '81 Dodge van rusted to peices and a pretty beat up '78 Chevy K-20. Well the Dodges were both past the point of being able to make it to the fair grounds so I had to drive the Chevy. It had a tired out, oil burning 307 put in by the previous owner. There was no exhaust under it, just a Y pipe that was rusted out, It needed a tune up badly, as you could see the plug wires 'arcing' on the valve covers at nite. The truck got 7 MPG and the gas tank leaked. I must say, the front end was tight and it had brakes on all 4 wheels which was rare for me back then. Well I drove it to the fair to see what I was up aganst, there there was a really rusty Jeep J-10 pickup that was 5 times worse than my ugliest one. I even tried to cheat, buy putting duct tape to hold headlites in, takeing off a mirror etc. No go, he still wone.
Heck, pretty much all of my older Dodges I had, even my clean rust free ones, were still very ugly. You know, mis matched colors on body panels, Body lines not lining up etc.
Now adays, even my Beater work truck is nicer than anything else I had back in school, but most people still say I drive junk. Oh well, Atleast mine is paid for, and my insurance is cheap. I figure the more money I save daily drivers and other expenses, the more money I can put into my passion for Dodge trucks and IHC tractors. I am trying to do this hobby on a budget, but it is hard. Heck there are people on here who spend more on their truck to restore it, than I make in a year!