What interesting items have you found in an old car?

[1932 plymouth pb sedan]

What interesting items have you found in an old car?

I'm sure we've all found old pocket change at one time or another. I found an old box of rivets in the quarter panel of my old postal van and written on the box it said "RATTLE?" Anyway working on my Plymouth driver side window regulator this weekend, I found an old gum wrapper and yes, I know no value whatsoever but interestingly very preserved for being in the door for 80 some odd years. Then I Googled it and found it was made sometime in the 30s and researched the history of company and so on until I found I wasted a few hours on the computer getting sidetracked before I figured I better get the window back in.

[George Smolinski]

A dead partially decomposed cat. A mouse nest about 8 inches in diameter, made of dryer sheets(proof that they don’t repel mice). The combination smells of dryer sheets and mouse pee could gag a maggot.

[trimacar]

Not what you want to hear, but in the “socks” high end car seat springs were encased in, dead mice and nest after nest.  I call it the “mice condominiums”, hey Ralph we live in row 2 spring 4, let’s go visit 4-8……

[jrbartlett]

A program for a 1968 Houston Oilers preseason football game, found in a 1968 Cadillac purchased years later by my father. The one-in-a-million irony is that I had personally attended that game right before going into the Navy and Vietnam.

[Oregon Desert model 45]

Raccoons left some nasty stuff in the rear seat area.  There were plenty of bushes nearby the car they could have used, but they were either shy or there was some novelty to using "indoor" facilities. 

[edinmass]

In 1992 I bought a 1931 Cadillac parts car......really a barn find parked in 1942. We found a box of Dutch Master Cigars in the side pocket.......and thought it would be fun to smoke them. It wasn’t. 

[mikewest]

I bought a rt hand drive 1929 Franklin  DC phaeton .  in Florida that came  from Montevideo  Uruguay. When I started  to dismantle the car for restoration I instantly noticed the old leather holster  mounted  on the lower cowl where the driver could easily pull the gun. Behind the panel board was  spent and unspent 38 Cal  brass.  I restored this car in 18 months  and it won every award the first time out. The president on the H H Franklin club owns it today and it still looks as good as the day  I finished it. (almost 30 years ago) 

[1937McBuick]

No gun holsters  in my 37 but there were a couple of 38's on the passenger side lower most cavity in the front right corner of the body.   I've posted pics in other threads like this so won't bore you with it again.

 

But I will repeat:   if old cars could talk I'm sure they'd have some good stories to tell.

[hidden_hunter]

My 1922 Cadillac still has the original job sticker on the bottom of the drivers seat, can only just make it out 

[Buick35]

6 hours ago, 1932 plymouth pb sedan said:

What interesting items have you found in an old car?

I'm sure we've all found old pocket change at one time or another. I found an old box of rivets in the quarter panel of my old postal van and written on the box it said "RATTLE?" Anyway working on my Plymouth driver side window regulator this weekend, I found an old gum wrapper and yes, I know no value whatsoever but interestingly very preserved for being in the door for 80 some odd years. Then I Googled it and found it was made sometime in the 30s and researched the history of company and so on until I found I wasted a few hours on the computer getting sidetracked before I figured I better get the window back in.

I also found an old juicy fruit gum wrapper in my 35 buick.

[Studemax]

A large hornet's nest in the trunk of a '50 Studebaker.... I left in a hurry.

[John348]

I was parting out a 1977 Chevy Monza beside the usual crap I found a bunch of rolling papers, and there also was a 1965 Micky Mantle baseball card in real bad condition along the passenger seat and the tunnel.

Edited January 20, 2022 by John348 (see edit history)

[Roger Zimmermann]

Under the rear seat from my '72 Cadillac coupe de Ville: one "Wrigley's chewing gum" wrapper; two almost complete "Topco" matches holders and one nail file made with cardboard. A small card was under an inside roof molding: this is a registration for a dealer when used with dealer plates. As this card expired on May 31, 1980, that dealer is certainly no more searching that card...

[mosco111]

according to me some interesting items that i  have  found in an old car like:-

seat comfort level

sound system

boot space area

and for more u can find here:-Animaker

[oldford]

In the late 70's, I owned a 1930 Graham sedan (one of the best drivers I ever had). Sold it around 1985 or so to a pair of young guys who wanted to use it to drive across country. I lost track of it for about 20 years, but came across a very similar, but different color 1930 Graham at a show in eastern Pennsylvania. As i stopped to look at it, I noticed a framed DMV registration from an earlier owner WITH MY NAME ON IT. Needless to say, it brought back memories...

 

Frank

[Restorer32]

Found a live rat in a barn find Healey 3000. 

 

[Restorer32]

A pint bag of white powder in another vehicle.  Called the police and they tested it.  Turned out to be saltpetre.

[stretch cab]

I bought a really bad 41 Ford Convertible for $50.00 when I was a kid, about 50 years ago.  The car had been owned by a rich guy on Jupiter Island in Florida.  In the glove box were lots of old road maps and love letters from his girl friend.  I'm sure his wife would have liked to have seen those.  Dumb me, I didn't even offer to sell them back to him!

Anybody know where a really rusted 41 Ford Ragtop that came from Florida is today?

[a griffin]

In a 22 Lincoln, I found a near pristine matchbook for a L.A. nightclub from the early 50s

In a 55 Packard found an old hotrod car club plaque

In a 1918 Buick, newspaper clippings inside the door from the early 20s

In  73 Firebird, a letter from a young woman to her boyfriend talking about the Son of Sam killer and a full box of .45 bullets

And in other cars it was rust, wadded tinfoil and desperation

[Restorer32]

Found a 1919 York, Pa aluminum bicycle license holding turn signal wiring onto the front bumper of a Model A.

[SC38dls]

Moth balls, hundreds of moth balls then more moth balls. I think the original owners manufacturer them. They were in it, on it, under it and around it. It took an ozone machine a week to get the smell out of the 38 but I never found any mouse droppings!!!

dave s 

[Restorer32]

An employee who was dismantling a Model T for restoration yesterday found a 1929 penny in very nice shape but the strangest thing we have ever found was several large shards of glass on top of a piston when we took one of the heads off a 1933 Cadillac V-12 that had been in storage for many years.  Strangely, the shards were way too big to have passed thru the spark plug hole. Still wondering how they got there.  Sabotage?

[oldcarfudd]

In a '23 Packard Single Six, half a pack of Wings cigarettes.

[28 Chrysler]

I found a grease gun and a extra set of headlight lenses hidden under the front seat cushion (stuffing).

[JACK M]

At a swap meet a guy was looking at a Harley taillight assy.

He opened it up to further check the condition and found a baggy containing a white powder.

Everyone wanted to see what it smelled like. Then it was gone.

[chistech]

Nickel plated but rusty .32 cal iver Johnson break action revolver in a 27’ chevy. Still have the pistol.

[Gary_Ash]

When I lifted the cab off the chassis of my 1948 Studebaker M5 pickup truck during restoration, I found a nice, shiny 1947 dime under the rubber pad on the crossmember that supported the back of the cab.  I still have the dime in my files for the truck.  The truck was built in Dec. 1947 and M-series production ended in Feb. 1948.  Maybe someone on the line that day wanted to send some kind of message.  I received the message in 1997, fifty years later.

 

[Andy J]

I,too,found a nickel plated Iver Johnson 32 cal revolver in a car I was parting out at a wrecking yard where I worked.

Many years ago,I was helping a friend remove all the seats from a late '40s or early '50s Flxible bus he'd bought to haul our bluegrass band and equipment around in.We found several dollars worth of silver dimes and quarters in the seats when we disassembled them.

Edited January 20, 2022 by Andy J (see edit history)

[CChinn]

This was attached to the windshield of my 1940 Chevy. It’s a WWII gas rationing sticker. I believe it is original and has survived 80+ years. Gas rationing was instituted on the east coast by the US Office of Price Administration (OPA) on May 15, 1942 and then nationally in Dec 1942. It ended Aug 15, 1945 with the end of the war in the Pacific. The A Sticker was the most common sticker issued to the general public with a 4 gallon/ week limit. Drivers were only allowed 5 tires as well due to the rubber shortage. National speed limits were 35 mph during this period. Other sticker types were B, C, M, T and X.

[Buick35]

This thread gives me an idea. I think I'll hide something in my 35 Buick for a future generation restorer or owner. Not sure what or where to put it. Perhaps a $20 bill behind the back seat cushion? I also have some 1935 coins. Maybe just a note. Greg.

[1932 plymouth pb sedan]

36 minutes ago, Buick35 said:

This thread gives me an idea. I think I'll hide something in my 35 Buick for a future generation restorer or owner. Not sure what or where to put it. Perhaps a $20 bill behind the back seat cushion? I also have some 1935 coins. Maybe just a note. Greg.

That's a great idea, maybe I will throw the gum wrapper back in and find something else to go with it.

[jrbartlett]

In the gas tank of a 1929 DeSoto roadster, we found a six-foot-long length of 1-inch-thick steel chain. This was in 1964. No idea why that was in there.  

[Gary_Ash]

1 hour ago, jrbartlett said:

In the gas tank of a 1929 DeSoto roadster, we found a six-foot-long length of 1-inch-thick steel chain. This was in 1964. No idea why that was in there.

Interesting idea!  Might have been put there to make a rattle no one would ever find.  But, perhaps a handful of ball bearings in the tank would also produce an interesting result.

[oldford]

3 hours ago, jrbartlett said:

In the gas tank of a 1929 DeSoto roadster, we found a six-foot-long length of 1-inch-thick steel chain. This was in 1964. No idea why that was in there.  

Maybe, just maybe, two guys were stealing the car a long time ago and were towing it with a chain. A cop came along and the only place they could hide the chain was in the gas tank.😄   Sometimes my imagination gets out of control...

 

Frank

[1935Packard]

When my '34 Packard was restored 20 years ago, they found a WW2 gas rationing booklet from 1942 underneath the seat.   The car had sat in a barn from the mid-50s until 1999, so no surprise the booklet was there.  Anyway, extra neat because it identified the owner from back then.

[hidden_hunter]

3 hours ago, jrbartlett said:

 

In the gas tank of a 1929 DeSoto roadster, we found a six-foot-long length of 1-inch-thick steel chain. This was in 1964. No idea why that was in there.  

 

Maybe to stop the gas sloshing?

[kuhner]

On top of the cowl tank on my 27 Model T roadster pickup, a 1/2 of a drive in movie ticket. Long gone drive inn from Beaver Creek, Ohio, about 30 mile from where I bought the truck.

[Laughing Coyote]

All kinds of goodies that were found inside the heater box.  Those defrost vents are long and don't have any grills on them to keep stuff out.

 

[chistech]

5 hours ago, jrbartlett said:

In the gas tank of a 1929 DeSoto roadster, we found a six-foot-long length of 1-inch-thick steel chain. This was in 1964. No idea why that was in there.  

Sounds like many years ago someone pulled the tank to clean it. They put the chain in there to loosen all the crap and either were too lazy to pull it out or found it to hard to get out. Putting chains in fuel tanks to clean them out was a pretty common practice.

[chistech]

Found this whole family of five today in one 30’ chevy seat back!