Comments on: For Sale: 1950 Chevy Club Coupe, 437 Original Miles

By: Dale Ramsey

Dale Ramsey — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:23:41 +0000

I Noticed the car showed having an automatic Transmission, I have always thought the Automatic Transmission
came along much later than this..

By: Pat Del Pino

Pat Del Pino — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 04:18:46 +0000

@Derek Deutsch Harry died a few hours after the rescue. It happened at a Lion's Club party at the ranch of a state senator near Modesto. Harry attempted to rescue a young woman and went under himself. The woman's husband came to her rescue as did some others, and they too were in difficulty for a bit. All made it to shore, Harry last, and he was short of breath but otherwise seemed OK. On the way home a few hours later he had a heart attack and slumped over the wheel dead. Jessie was with him for about an hour until a passing motorist stopped. This was in July, 1930. Jessie bought the car in 1950 and you know the story from there. Jessie was quite a character!

By: Derek Deutsch

Derek Deutsch — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 03:54:03 +0000

@Pat Del Pino I am confused if the story is true, but happened in 1930 and the car is a 1950 was the car purchased after Harry's death or did hey pass away 20 years after rescuing the lady? Or did they get the car 20 years ahead of production?

By: Pat Del Pino

Pat Del Pino — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 03:39:14 +0000

Jessie Trueblood was my great aunt. Actually, her husband Harry was my grandfather’s youngest brother. The rescue from drowning followed by a fatal heart attack story is true, but it happened in 1930, not 1950. Jessie kept the plumbing business running after than, even getting a plumber’s license herself! Around 1961 when I was in Modesto visiting her for a few days she told me about the car and actually opened her garage door so I could have a quick peek. She said that he had driven the car just a few times when she had a minor fener bender, or at least a scare and decided she shouldn’t drive anymore. So–she drove the car into the garage, and there it stayed! I can’t vouch for the story about it being traded later for a Rambler for her bookkeeper, but it wouldn’t surpise me because Mary, the bookkeeper, was more like a companion to Jessie in her later years and after Jessie stopped driving would drive her wherever she wanted to go. Jessie Trueblood was definitely “an original,” a Stanislaus County pioneer and someone who’s memory I cherish from my childhood until the last time I saw her, in a nursing home in 1982.

By: tgriffith

tgriffith — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:06:40 +0000

@Norm
Wow, Norm! What are the odds of you sharing some pictures of that GTO as it gets restored? What a great story! That and the ‘67 Cougar mentioned above are cars I’d much rather have than a ‘50 Chevy…
A 1966 GTO for 30 bucks. I’ll bet no one else in the world can say that!

By: Norm

Norm — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:57:15 +0000

Okay here’s my story:
In 1973 a buddy of mine from the local gas station I worked at saw a yellow 1966 GTO sitting in a backyard. Next day we took the tow truck over to see it. It was filthy, sunk into the dirt, 4 flats, crunched right rear quarter. But it was a GTO. I knocked on the door but the man said he didn’t own it, it belonged to his nephew. He took my name and number. A couple of weeks later I get a call, the guy is willing to sell. He wants $100, but all I have on me is $20. We actually settled on $30 – next day I tow it to my friend’s house and begin work. We got it running – but all the lifters were collapsed, it was blowing smoke. At 27,000 miles on the clock, the guy had really trashed the engine. I ended up pulling the block, honed and re-ringed it. Picked up a nice tripower setup from a Grand prix and set that in place of the dirty 4 barrel. 10″ slicks, ladder bars, reverse shift TH350, and I took it out drag racing. Spun a few rod bearings, put in back in the garage, and there it sat until this year. So now it’s 43 years old, with 27,000 miles, and it’s getting a full restoration with power disc brakes and air conditioning, so I can drive it the way it’s meant to be driven – on the street, fast. It’s still my favorite car.

By: Scott Griffith

Scott Griffith — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:41:55 +0000

My first car was a 1967 Mercury Cougar GT. It was purchased new by a young man sent to Vietnam of that year. He was killed in action, and his new Cougar sat in his parents garage until I bought it in 1973. It was not 60 years, but I could not have been more proud to own that car.