Gary and Friends,My uncle Cliff Johnson bought a Ford Model A fourdoor car when he was
going to highschool in Towner, ND. He actually bought it from Jess
Hosmer’s dad, Joe Selzler, in about 1948. He owned many cars after that
and the old Model A just sat in the yard at the farm, where it was used
once in a while, to go to the field or pasture where they didn’t want to
use a good car. It had sat for a couple years without running and in the
early 60s I got it going and drove it around the farm. One day some
people stopped in and asked if it was for sale. Cliff said it was if
they had $50. They didn’t and drove off, much to my relief! He told
Grandma not to let them take the car if they didn’t have all the money!
I said I would like to buy it, to which he held out his hand for me to
put the money in! He went back to wherever he was teaching at the time
and I told Dad what Cliff had said. Dad said to send him some money and
a letter stating that I would be sending the rest when I could. It took
several months but I paid him the $50 and it was mine. John Bogus and I
put in a set of rings and ground the valves and had it running great.
Then it was time to fix up the body. I sanded the car by hand from one
end to the other and painted it green with some leftover paint I bought
from Jim’s Body Shop for ten bucks. The top is fabric and was about
shot. Where in Dunseith can you find a piece of canvas big enough to
cover the top–MY TENT, I don’t use it anymore anyway. With it tacked
down, I needed to put some tar or coating on it so I went up to Gambles
to see Art Henning. I told him I needed some tar. He asked why, and I
said for the top of my old car. Art took me down in the basement and on
a shelf sat two cans of DuPont Top Coat– the real thing for car
tops–Art said it was there for 30 years and he gave it to me!! The
interior was shot but again, where in town can you find upholstery
material that looks like 1929? I used seat covers and Mom sewed some
black cloth together for a headliner and I needed some stiff composite
material for the wrap around in the back behind the back seat. John and
I made a trip to the most logical place–the dumpground! There we found
some linoleum that we reversed and painted and we were ready for the
road! To you Model A purists, yes, the car is a 29 and the wheels and
headlights are 30, but they were all I had at the time.I still have this
old car in my collection but haven’t run it for many years. It still
looks the same as the picture but needs a REAL restoration to be
presentable! Someday, maybe, when the world slows down!!

Dick

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