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The 55er

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  1. When I was a small child my father owned a two-tone blue 1954 Pontiac Star Chief sedan. It was the car that brought me home from the hospital when I was born and I have many fond memories of it. He drove it until 1960 then traded it in on a new car at the local Pontiac dealership. I always wondered whatever happened to that 1954 Pontiac and when I asked my father about it he said someone in a small town about 5 miles away bought it from the dealership but then he lost track of it. It was lost in the shuffle of "common old used cars" that were of little to no value to anyone back then. Anyway about 40 years later an old friend stopped by to visit with his wife and the old Star Chief came up in our conversation. His wife grew up on a small farm outside that same small town and remembered her father owned an identical two-tone blue 1954 Pontiac that he parked out in a field when it was worn out and quit running. it was well-used and rusty by that time so they cut the doors off it and used it as a chicken coop until her father died. Later the farm was sold and all the scrap metal including what was left of that Pontiac was hauled away. I never saw the Pontiac on that farm and I have no way of knowing if this was the exact same car my father owned or not but it seems like a possiblility. After hearing that story I kind of gave up on finding my father's car but if an identical model ever turned up for sale in my area I would certainly be interested. The reality of it is relatively few common old cars survived that IMO it would be easier searching for an identical restored car or a fairly solid and complete one that would make a good restoration project rather than trying to track down the exact car that you owned 60 years ago. What if you actually found it and it's in really bad condition or it isn't for sale? It would be really cool if you found it but I think the odds of finding your car are pretty slim and i would look elsewhere for an identical car if I really wanted a 1952 Buick Riviera. Anyway, good luck with the search!

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  2. A ruff rust belt car. If this 1954 Caddy has actually been stored in that same barn for 48 years, it had a hard life prior to that. Bondo in the bottom of the front fender, rust hole in the rear quarter, cracked and sun-baked taillight lenses, damaged front fender & rocker mouldings and the Autronic Eye on the dashboard is broken off. A current reminder of what old cars looked like when they were parked in the junkyards back in the 1970s-1980s, it's in the barn now but I'm thinking it was parked outside in the weather for quite a while before 1975. Maybe it's a $1000 parts car? If the ladder was moved away where the rockers would be vislble and there was a shot of the rear bumper showing those ends with the exhaust tips that price might even be optimistic. Too far gone, I'm really not seeing much there that would actually clean up. Pictures are just putting that old barn find/patina/dirt thing on display again and little else IMO.

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  3. Back in the day I was working on a 1954 Plymouth project and had a gray 1954 Savoy 4-door sedan parts car. I used the Savoy engine & trans for my Belvedere project and the rest of the car was pretty much intact. It was almost Fall Hershey time and a friend had an extra swap meet space he wasn't using in the old White (airport) Field. He convinced me to part the old Plymouth out and take a truckload of stuff over to Hershey to sell. It seemed like a good idea as it was close by, I was going to Hershey anyway, I could get the parts into the hands of the people that needed them and put a few bucks in my pocket as well. After all it was a huge swap meet and the parts would get great exposure with thousands of people walking by the space. I spent the next few days parting the car out and loading the truck. I made a 1954 PLYMOUTH PARTS sign and priced everything very reasonably hoping everything would get sold. Doors, lids, radiator $25 each, bumpers $10, stuff like air cleaner, carb, grille, trim pieces, radio $5-$10 each. Box lots with smaller parts, hubcaps, handles, switches etc $1. ......Well, long story short, after three days at Hershey I didn't sell a single thing even though his space was on a main aisle in a well-travelled area. I knew I wasn't selling anything rare or exotic like Cadillac, Packard or Lincoln parts but I expected to sell SOMETHING but it just didn't happen. Needless to say, save for a box or two of the smaller items, the Plymouth parts were scrapped and didn't make it back home. Maybe things would be different today but I still don't think parting out a common car like this would really be worth the time & effort. So I have to ask what's your time worth?

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  4. Pacemakers were the lowest-priced Hudson line and they were made from 1950-1952. They were on a shorter 119" wheelbase than the larger series Hudsons  with a 124" wheelbase There were quite a few Pacemaker models available including a Convertible Brougham in 1950-1951. The front ends of the Pacemakers & Wasps were shorter and had kind of a stubby look to them. The Pacemaker front fenders & hoods do not interchange with the larger series Hudsons. The smaller 232 cu.in. six (like in this green Pacemaker that's for sale) was the standard engine in 1950 & 1951 with the larger 262 six optional equipment on 1951 & 1952s. IMO $4K for a somewhat tired looking rusty non-running Pacemaker is pretty optimistic and a better appointed step-down Commodore or Hornet would make for a better (and more recognizable) historical project.

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  5. The 1954 Super Wasp 4-door sedan in the ad appears to be a nice original but the pictures look old to me and not current or "fresh" so I have doubts the seller has any real connection to the car. I still don't think it would start up just like that after 50 years of sitting but I guess it's possible. No rusty connections, electrical corrosion anywhere or even a bad condenser? This is what NORS 1954 Hudson ignition points look like after some long term dry storage in my shop........50 years is a long time, I wonder if it blew any mouse nests out the tailpipe when it started? Again, it's possible but I still think the ad is a scam. 

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