More Transporters Of A Different Nature

As I am sitting around the Taj Mahal getting ready for the Baby New Year to arrive, I get a call from the Bus. Turns out he was down in Taneyville, Missouri, a godforesaken backwoods town in the Ozarks, I am sure, to acquire a motor for his air compressor. How did he find it there? Who the hell knows.

Anyway, while down in that neck of the woods, he spotted, within just a few seconds, an old Ford Falcon Station Bus like mine, an old Ford Bronco like the barngoddess's and a purveyor of concrete farm animal statues. And, of course, he had forgotten his camera, so I am somewhat skeptical of this story. But, I trust the Bus so it is most likely true.

So as we were chatting it up, he mentions the image I included on my blog about my totally acceptable home, at least to thejeepjunkie, my Really Cool Stuff Syndrome---as opposed to OC, you gotta see the comments to get it. Anyway, the image below
contains, at the top left of it, a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy that the Bus did back in 1989 of an old GMC truck carrier carrying old GMC trucks.

The Bus mentioned to me he was the original owner of this image and had, in fact, found it in a book way back in 1989 and had a plastic scale model of the truck. He also wanted to build a scale model of the trailer and would I forward an image of it to him for reference purposes.

Well, AOL may be the preferential domain of the longrooffan but it doesn't let me transfer images well. It is easier to use By The Numbers. Prior to posting a Just For The Bus blog, I thought I would google Fleet Carrier Corp. to see what I could find.

Well, I have to tell you, over at this website, I found the following picture

and it is a shot of the exact same transporter with the exact same cargo on it. The panel truck, the windowed Suburban, the 3 window white pickup and and the 5 window two tone pickup are the same as the photo the Bus found 20 years ago, long before these tubes Al Gore invented became popular. Even the tractor and trailer numbers are the same. I love it!!

I scooped the Bus.

Seems, according to Fred Gruin, these tractors are GMC, not Chevrolet, and only transported GMC's! I guess ride sharing was not in General Motors vocabulary then, either.

Remembering I had done a couple of posts about transporters recently, along with justacarguy, I thought I would share the following with you.

I then surfed around a bit and found these old transporters. If you want to see a ton of old transport trucks, visit this site and click through the links.

In the meantime, enjoy these old transporters.

An old GMC carrying Nashes. Looks to be circa 1957.

At first I thought this was a mid '50sDodge truck hauling a bunch of MOPAR products to their ultimate car lot. Then, upon further examination, it had to be a bunch of used cars headed there. While it is a Dodge, I think '55, truck, I am confident that in addition to those MOPAR's on the tractor, on the trailer is a 53 Chevy coupe and a mid 50's Merc, along with that cool old Dodge pickup on the rear.

I think an International.

And yet another.

Howard Sober, Inc. with a unique variation to the car hauler. No hydraulics required.

Another old GMC with no hydraulics necessary.

And the sister photo to the one that got this whole blog going.

This would be Ford's version of transport in the mid '50's.

And the loaded one. Points awarded to those identifying the car to the left of this photo.

And, even more rare is this photo of this Dodge transporting these MOPARS to their final sales point. Only 4 cars per ride.

And while this is not a transporter, I remember seeing this rig around my hometown circa 1972-73....and love the Vega, like the Bus owned, also captured in this shot.

Fred Gruin, Jr. also provides this photo of a bunch of T-Birds and a Lincoln, or Merc?, heading toward their ultimate destination.

Hope you have enjoyed these photos courtesy of Mr. Gruin and I will link several more once the Bus gets back from taking the Bus out and about with a bunch of fun folks in the frigid Ozarks weather.

Til Next Year.

Happy Birthday barngoddess

Today is the barngoddess' birthday. She turns 49 out there on Haven Lee Farm.

The barngoddess is the whom the horsefarmer, thejeepjunkie and the Kid built the chicken coupe de ville for this past summer. You can read about the construction of that coupe here and its completion here. Hope thehorsefarmer treats you real good today and

again, Happy Birthday.

ps. I know you are real special because all over the world, lots of folks are partying with you on your birthday.

Could I Be OC, Also?

Last week, while down in Naples, I did a couple blogs on Carri's decor and new roommate, as well as one on christmasmama's house. You can see them here, here and here. The Private RN left a comment that Carri was OC and to watch out.

I got back from On The Road In The oleragtop, hit my favorite grocery store in my favorite plaza, did a few hours on these tubes looking for gainful employment, spent a little time with thejeepjunkie and the Kid.

I got home last evening and looked around the Taj Mahal and realized I could be interpreted as OC, also.

The images presented below as a case for me being OC are taken in my living room.

I mean, nearly every decoration in the Taj Mahal is automotive based. I have my entire collection of diecast cars out, including the new to me Buick Roadmaster tin friction car thejeepjunkie brought back from the Ozarks. Thanks, Bus, I like it alot!

In the above image, you can see, at the top of that display case, an old French Street sign my favorite teacher in Sl-Ocala had regifted to me. To its right is a cushion I picked up at the Inaugural Indy 200, now an obsolete race, but I attended the first one in 1992 and came away with this souvenir, actually two of them. To the right of that display case are some handicap placards TheGentleman Farmer gave me, a hood ornament off of some unknown car from the '50's. Every time I go to an event, I try to find another one like it. Another Mystery! Just above that is a piece of carbon fiber from a Daytona Prototype thejeepjunkie found in the infield of the Speedway. We saw the car crash at the 24 Hour race and three weeks later we were in the infield at the 500 and he found it and gave it to me. That shelf in the upper right of this image continues all around my upper kitchen cabinets and is full of 1/16 diecast, in addition to those silencer headphones.

The shot above is just to the left of that display case. From the top down: A poster showing the winning Porsche 962 at the 1989 24 Hours of Daytona, the first year I attended. Also pictured are some framed auto related ads, a Cooper Tires clock, a Chevrolet clock, an old hubcap, some license plates, one from Nassau, Bahamas and the other, the Texas tag from the olestationbus. That green tin is a calendar showing an old BMW V8. It is pretty cool. There is no year, you just move the circles from month to month and day to day. It is permanently set on my daughter's birthday. That number 30? That is the plastic sign marking our motorhome parking spot at the 2008 24 Hour race. The yellow frisbee is from the Swamp Buggy races down Naples way. Every year, after the driver's meeting, which is open to the public, the drivers all autograph them and throw them out to the crowd. After everyone left the building, I wandered over to the box of remaining frisbees and grabbed one. I autographed it and it now hangs there, providing fond memories of the only time I attended that redneck race. Finally, just above the license plates is a framed ad showing an old covered bridge shot across a golf green. More importantly, it is the text in the ad that makes it. It is attributed to Jack Benny: "Give me golf clubs, fresh air, and a beautiful partner and you can keep the clubs and the fresh air."

I seem to be making a pretty good case against myself, aren't I?

In the above image the following appear: a cool, old, original Fallout Shelter sign I got several years ago from thehorsefarmer, one of the few non-auto related items I have. A Bo Diddley concert poster from a concert I attended many moons ago at The Regency Showcase in downtown Springfield, Missouri. The two framed prints are of me as a kid, in one I am reading a book entitled Automobile and in the other, I am returning to the car after checking out a wrecked Nova on a hook on a trip with TheGentlemanFarmer. The No Alcohol sign I swiped from a park after a jazz concert in Orlando a couple years ago. Those two frames on the far left are collages made with every race or auto event ticket I had been to, up to that point. And the base to that glass top table is two racing slicks.

Man, I am starting to scare myself.


The above image contains a reproduction firetruck pedal car, a remote control F1 car, a rim from a BBS racing wheel the jeepjunkie and I got one year at about 3am from the wheel guy at the 24 Hour race. On the windowsill are all of the 1/64 scale Citroen 2 CV's I own, most of which acquired from the Bus. That pink tag just above the wheel is the eviction notice for the wrecked oleragtop. An old Ford radiator guard Mom gave me from TheGentlemanFarmer's stuff. She tried to sell it for $15 but no takers. She then wrote my name on the price tag and it remains there to this day. Between that guard and the firetruck is an ice scrapper so kindly given to me by thehorsefarmer. Hope I never need that thing! Incidentally, the two spots on the wall next to that ice scraper are invisible to the naked eye.

The jury is still out but leaning toward OC!



This image contains about half of my collection of 1/43 scale cars, most of my 1/64 and 1/87 scale cars and trucks and a bunch of mixed scale diecast I have acquired over the years. The round chrome things supporting that upper shelf on the top of this display case are center caps from the wheels of a BMW. And a handicapped parking sign that was on the ground behind a building I used to work in. Finally that orange pylon I lifted from the Speedway several years ago and check out that printer stand!!

Now I'm really scared!


This image contains the remainder of my 1/43 collection in that display case, a bunch of old hubcaps and wheel covers, a sign, beside the door, I shamelessly lifted from the World's Most Famous Beach. A cool old mirror Mom gave me a couple posters of NASCAR drivers from thejeepjunkie. The handle next to that Curious George lunch box is connected to an old Bullseye putter. The rock on the floor, next to my front door, I stole from Mount Vernon, the George Washington homestead, on a visit there many years ago when Jessica still lived in that neck of the woods. And the entertainment system here at the Taj Mahal? That chrome radio on top of that display case.

This one shows a portion of my 1/25 collection in that display case, several license plates including one from Exuma and a St. Louis Cardinals one. That Texaco thing on the top of that display case is a doorstop I got off ebay. Actually, it is the second one I have owned. The Kenman liked the first one I owned so much, I gave it to him and won another one. On top of that display case, in addition to the picture of The Gentleman Farmer and me taken next to his Fiat Spyder, are a bunch of auto themed ashtrays. On the wall is a super cool 24 Heures de Lemans poster the Kid gave me. I like it alot. And that tall black thing in front of the wagon made by TheGentleman Farmer for Jessica the Christmas before she was born? It is a spare dashboard I harvested from the wrecked oleragtop for replacement of the cracked one in the new oleragtop.

Even I am starting to believe I am OC!


This is a shot taken from my perch across the room. In it you can see the slow moving vehicle emblem I got this year for Christmas for the olestationbus. To the right of that washer/dryer combo is an old French ad for a Ford Taunus and yes, I have a 1/43 diecast of one in my collection! On the table are two tow trucks hauling race cars and the liquor dispensing gas pump Carri got for me for Christmas. The bulk of the frig magnets are auto related also. Above the frig is the other end of the shelf above my cabinets and shown are the two fire trucks my favorite teacher in Sl-Ocala gave me.

Not even my bedroom escaped unscathed. This is the wall above my desk. A Daytona bucket, a BMW clock, a Grassroots Motorsports calendar, a Goodyear calendar, the old John clock Dad made me and that DUI Checkpoint sign, that is from BBB.

This jeepjunkie built garage contains the remainder of my 1/25 diecast and is located next to my bed.


Above my bed are the two non automotive items I love the most. On the left is an autographed Benny Goodman poster, dated from the early '70's. On the right is the old Gay Philosopher portrait that used to hang in Mom's basement in St. Louis.

In the other corner is the cool plaque Dad made me from the front emblem of a '51 Ford pickup and a ton of auto related stuff on the bulletin boards below. Also included is a pass to get in to see President Ronald Reagon at Hammonds Center in 1980. The only President I have seen in person. I did see Billy Carter once, at his gas station in Plains, Georgia, but that doesn't count. But it was cool.

And this is my bathroom wall! On it are all the Kenman's Christmas cards, parking passes from both Sebring and the Speedway and a couple posters from the 24 Hour race.

Well, I have come to the conclusion, while I may be OC, I like this stuff and don't really care!!

On The Road, In The oleragtop

I spent all day yesterday recovering from the nightmares I had Christmas night about Carri's new roommate, cleaning six years of accumulated lint out of her dryer vent pipe, replacing the kick panel on her lanai screen door and visiting with my daughter, Jessica.

So, this morning, I got in the oleragtop for the ride home. I spent the first 45 minutes on I-75 to get up to North Fort Myers, then I cut off on surface roads for the remainder of my trip.

The first thing I spotted was a bunch of beekeepers out in this field near the

I thought that was pretty cool.

Now I have posted about flatlands several times previously, and spent about 90 minutes crossing them again.

I did see this swamp buggy for sale at one farm out there in the boondocks.

I also saw this

a huge concrete, I presume-this is as close as I got-Charlois bull. The field behind that shed in the background was full of them.

I got over to US 27, a divided roadway that runs up the center of the state and I call it the Orange Grove Corridor.

Oranges are everywhere.

And this is the Bok Citrus Tower. Why is it here? I don't know and, more importantly, don't care. I saw another one a hundred miles later On The Road but did not get an image of it.

Although Lake Placid has a nice lake in the center of town,

it is not as big as the one in Sebring.

I did spot this old Spitfire like the Bus used to own.

I liked his, with its British Racing Green paint and wire wheels, better.

And WTF?

And more big animals.

I think they just follow me around.

And why hang a topless mini pickup inside a sceen room? Because I CAN!!!

Also saw this cool old '60 Ford Panel Truck.

It has minor modifications to the drivetrain but the inside had wood paneling on the ceiling and walls. $8,500.

In some town along the way, I noticed this BMW droptop following me with a longhair, hippy looking dude driving and a similarly adorned woman in the passenger seat. An unlikely pair for this ride. When they passed, the driver and I flashed each other the peace sign at the same time. We both started laughing!!

I also spotted this old car. Think it's a Nova? Nope, a mid 70's Pontiac Ventura, a Nova knockoff.

I also saw this old street rod across the street.

I decided to stop and get a cold soda

but not before passing through Washington, D.C.

taking a casual glance at Mount Rushmore

and a quick driveby in New York City.

As has happened to me before, On The Road, my momentum was slowed by a tractor on the highway, and no, it was not an INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER. It was a Kubota.

And another large animal, although this one is mythical.

This is a shot of a paratrooper that I missed totally.

And back to the Home of the World's Most Famous Beach.

All in all, a great trip but I am happy to be back at the Taj Mahal.

Wishing you all a great holiday season and remember to

Celebrate Life.