So the big news in Fort Stockton this week was about an old Ford, but not a 1960 Fairlane 500. Binderman’s 1959 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan is just about finished and should be cruising the streets soon.
If you’ll recall, he was the lucky winner of the Bring a Trailer auction for the car back in March of this year. The Tahitian Bronze Poly and Colonial White was described in the listing thusly:
“This 1959 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan was purchased by the seller in 2024 from a friend who reportedly owned it for four decades. The car is finished in bronze and white over green upholstery, and it is powered by a 292ci V8 paired with a Cruise-O-Matic three-speed automatic transmission. Equipment includes quadruple headlights, wraparound glass, 14″ steel wheels, and a push-button AM radio. Work performed in preparation for the sale after a decade in storage has involved rebuilding the cylinder heads and replacing the fuel tank, sending unit, and wheel cylinders. This Custom 300 is now offered with a broadcast sheet, manufacturer’s literature, and a clean Arizona title in the seller’s name.
The Custom 300 was marketed as a value-oriented option within the 1959 model range, and it offered a wheelbase equivalent to that of the contemporary Fairlane. This example left the factory finished in “Style Tone” Tahitian Bronze and Colonial White, and the seller notes that the front fenders were repainted under prior ownership. Exterior details include quadruple headlights, wraparound front and rear glass, dual exhaust outlets, and aircraft-inspired emblems on the quarter panels. Paint chips, dings, and flaws around the car are shown up close in the gallery below.
Color-keyed 14″ steel wheels wear bright hubcaps and are mounted with 215/75 Hankook Kinergy narrow-whitewall tires. The car is equipped with drum brakes, and the wheel cylinders are said to have been replaced in preparation for the sale. The seller notes the shocks are worn.
The seats are trimmed in green ribbed vinyl and patterned cloth, and they are complemented by a color-coordinated dashboard and door panels. Bright metal trim accents the dash, which houses a push-button AM radio. The front seat was reupholstered under prior ownership. The air conditioning system is inoperative, and the seller notes that the compressor clutch bearing is worn. Wear on the gray patterned floor coverings can be viewed in the gallery.”
And that would have been enough for most. A fantastic example of mid century modern design geared towards the masses looking for affordable transportation for the family. This particular example had been owned by a professor at Arizona State University at one point, and was still wearing the faculty stickers from 1963-66 on the rear window. It would have been a good solid investment in basic transportation.
The dry climate helped preserve the car. The original paint and interior make it a time capsule. But that’s not exactly what Binderman had in mind when he purchased the Ford, a throwback to the very first car he ever owned. He pictured a sleeper in his mind. And a sleeper is just what he got.
Almost as soon as the car was offloaded from the transporter he’d arranged to bring it to him after the purchase, it was loaded up on a different one and sent to Michigan. Once in Michigan, the process began of transplanting a brand new crate 5.0 Coyote power plant under the reverse-opening hood.
The choice of shop to do the work was based on reputation rather than convenience. The individual used had a reputable history of doing such Ford conversions and his work was second to none. The only downside with individuals of such talent is that they tend to work at their own pace. But in the end, the process is worth it, no matter the delays. The rest of the car remains bone stock, with exceptions made for suspension parts and tires and wheels to better match the raw wild horses under the hood.
The pictures shown below highlight that process, as well as the finished product. Binderman made arrangements to visit the car in Michigan at about the time of its scheduled completion, take it for a test drive and make sure everything was functioning to his expectation. He’d even given thought to driving it all the way back home.
In the end, the prospect of driving a 65-year-old car with a brand new engine and a thousand miles of new wiring and electronics proved to be a bigger challenge than he was up for. So, for the third time in eight months, the 1959 Ford Custom 300 Tudor Sedan is going to be loaded onto a car hauler, this time for the final journey home.
I suspect that Lucinda is going to drool over the thing the first time it shows up at the Folgers-N-Fenders at the Grounds for Divorce. It’s got all the makings of what makes old cars fun. Something for everyone. Chrome bumpers on either end, flower pot tail lights at the rear, and raw updated power up front under the hood.
Stay tuned; maybe there will be a video provided in a future Bermuda post.
Elsewhere, I happened to come across this unlikely pair as Buttercup were on a journey to points unknown. I have absolutely no use for the back half of an old Cadillac, and yet found myself trying to figure out something to do with it. Maybe sticking out the side of the garage, as though it was a runaway vehicle that finally met its match? Maybe a barbecue grill in the trunk? I dunno. Just seems too good to pass up.
Speaking of “too good to go to pass up,” a couple of things came up in comments over the last week that require some further discussion:
First, carrying cash: How many of you still have actual cold hard cash in your pocket? I know BossHoss had mentioned he knows just how thick a thousand dollars worth of folded bills feels like in his pocket. But does he actually carry that as ‘walking around money’. I don’t think I’ve had anything bigger than a folded Hamilton on me in twenty years.
Second, the Sunday Drive: SquareLeft mentioned taking a Sunday drive recently. By coincidence, Buttercup and I had talked about just that thing a day or two earlier. She couldn’t remember her family ever taking part in that tradition. However, I seem to remember that being a thing in my own youth. Maybe a stop for ice cream or an A&W root beer along the way. Often out into the country with no purpose other than getting out of the house and enjoying 40 miles per hour with the windows down and rural sights flashing by.
Do others of you have fond memories of just such a thing? Is it something you still enjoy and make time for every now and then? Does it involve a stop for refreshment or something else to complete the tradition? What’s the favorite car you remember taking a Sunday drive in, and why?
Coming up, we start a whole new series this week. It’s a full 7 days long and is full of passion and regret. Okay, mostly passion and not all that much regret. It also features a lot of MoPar products. It might be something you enjoy.
In the meantime, remember what Lucinda says, “Nothing will kill a great employee faster than watching you tolerate a bad one.”
Have a good week,
18 responses to “FROM THE BACK OF THE BERMUDA, 11/17/2024”
Cash is King!! This past week I’ve been walking around with 25 Benjamin’s in a lump in my front pocket (makes it hard to get to your pocketknife), but I’ve been looking for a golf cart for Annie and/or a Bobcat trailer for here at the Ranch. I got in the habit of carrying several $100 bills years ago.
When I ran the big company and found somebody doing an exceptionally good job, I’d further incentivize them with a ‘Hundred Dollar Handshake’.
It Works!!
I carry cash, especially when doing anything related top the car hobby.
Swap meets,
Cruise Night,
Car Show,
National Tours
You never know when an opportunity will present itself,
and I’ve been fortunate to score some decent items unexpectedly.
having cash has also helped several friends in various ways over the years
I find that cash has a way of bleeding off without a ripple. Use a card and review the statements…DANG! Forty Billion Dollars this month at the local watering hole…better cut back. Cash…who knows where it goes?
A couple years ago I was drinking in Chicago. More than a few of the places I went wouldn’t accept cash, but would charge a “convenience fee” of 5% for using a credit card…really frosted my cake. You want to charge $10 a beer? That’s your choice. You want to charge $10 and add 5% to use a card but have no option? Just charge me $10.50 for the beer and say you have to use a card. Still fuming about that to this day!
It’s all perception, isn’t it? I don’t mind paying $17 for something on Amazon and getting free shipping. But spending $12 for it and $5 to ship it steams my clams.
Why clean the tranny if it’s not going to be reused? If it’s going to be sitting around your shop; you’re going to bump into it every so often – and – you’ll probably have to move it at least a couple of times. Clean stuff is just easier to deal with.
As to pickups, I’ll have to brag a little. I just won a 2003 GMC 2500 HD on Bring A Trailer. I’ve been chasing one of these for quite some time and have been out-bid twice. My friends kid me about being ‘Mr. Analog’ because I don’t really care for electronic extras on my vehicles, so this one is just what I wanted! (I’m RallyDave on there..) https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2003-gmc-sierra-2500hd-8/
@SquareLeft. Congrats on your buy. Whether you overpaid or underpaid or just right – life is too short not to have as much happiness as you can. And, you can quote Lucinda on that.
@SquareLeft.
Congrats – You’re going to really enjoy your new truck – kind of similar to my 2006 Avalanche 2500 with 8.1L and 4-WD. My primary regret on is that the 5-speed Allison 1000 was not available in the Avalanche or our ’02 Suburban 8.1L. I bought ours in 2015 with 130,xxx miles from a Texas car-club friend who bought it used out of Virginia. We’re knocking on 200,000 miles on both the Avalanche and the Suburban, and the Excursion 7.3 Diesel is over 405,xxx miles.
Did y’all read the Post on BaT (forget what they’re called – stories of items won on BaT) about the lady who sold the Porsche with 325,000 miles and EVERYONE was excited about the transaction. The engine had been overhauled twice in its life, and been repainted, etc. once or twice.
BTW, I’m sitting here cooling off with a “Shiner Orale Limon’”
Lucinda would like this: “Every drop of Shiner…is brewed in Shiner,TX”
and…
My outside, work-in-the-yard long-sleeved shirt is a genuine Luckenbach!
If you could only keep one, would it be the Excursion or the Suburban? The Battle of the Big Boys.
If I could only keep one, as the Captain queries?
That’s almost like asking which child I’d allow to drown in order to save the other.
Our Suburbans go back to 1977, and if they had offered a Duramax Diesel / Allison drivetrain as in the 2500/3500 pickup, that is what I would have chosen when I bought the ’02. At that time I had a huge amount of GM Card purchase credits which could only be used toward a new GM vehicle – but before I decided to buy, they quit putting the diesel in. According to a friend who retired as head of GM engines division, the Suburban’s new (2000) floorpan didn’t allow the Duramax and Allison. He believed it might happen and suggested I wait, but after two years he told me to go with the 8.1L Suburban since I really had no need for a pickup. The 8.1L is great, but seemed not to have the Oomph for pulling my 10K trailer and Caddy up the Rockies while travelling with a friend who was driving a stick shift Dodge Ram / Cummins combo.
As Max Shulman used to say, “But I Digress”-
For general use, family use, vacation travel, and most “normal” trailering, my Suburban is my absolute choice.
If I’m pulling 10,000-12,000 lbs over the Rocky Mountains, crossing West Virginia or anywhere over the Continental Divide, I’ll use the Excursion but primarily because of the 7.3L diesel, and we constantly ask each other to repeat because it is so damned noisy. It is slightly larger in all dimensions but seems not to be a significant benefit.
The Suburban is more pleasing to drive and does everything well, and if I could have it with my preferred drivetrain it would be my primary vehicle.
If I cold keep only one ??
The Suburban !
CONGRATS ont the BaT acquisition! I worked for a company that bought me a new truck of my choice every two years for quite a while. I always went F-150s, just because. Some time in the early oughts they said, “You’re going to have to get a Chevy this time; the price difference is just too much.” I picked out a black Silverado about the same vintage and style as the one you just bought. I always enjoyed that truck. I’m sure you’ll be happy with it and glad you finally won out!
Send photos of it when it’s sitting you your driveway and I’ll post ’em for everybody to enjoy.
@RallyDave
I see you believe in Strong Bidding. Jumping in $2000 increments announces your intentions Right Up Front!
I still carry cash, but not a lot. I like to do so as I am able to budget better and be more frugal. I still use my credit card for things I must have, regardless of the budget, or at a restaurant. When I buy beers at my local watering hole, I always pay with cash. The staff there are quite appreciative.
Regarding the ’59 Ford, glad to see that the braking system has received an upgrade. If you are going to go faster, you also need to stop faster.
Cash works better for tipping, too. Right?
“First, carrying cash: How many of you still have actual cold hard cash in your pocket?”
I left for the Army in ’75. Dad talked to me about Vagrancy Laws and ‘walking around money’. He gave my brother the same talk when he went to the Navy a few years later. It was, “Always carry enough to get you home.” Neither of us had credit cards. We carried about $500. In those days that was one and a half month’s take home pay. With debit and credit cards I have reduced the wallet amount but still carry a money clip for small bills.
Second, the Sunday Drive: Dad liked to show Mom the crops regarding straight rows and weeds then compare the neighbors’ to his. Favorite car for these trips was the ’65 Volvo 122 when we would go West to Highway 146 on the Johnson Brother’s dirt road past the sand quarry. It was straight and had quick hills & flats with twenty foot amplitude and 200 foot frequency. 30 mph and everybody who wasn’t driving was flying. If we did NOT ask for ice cream, we had a decent chance of stopping at the Tastee Freeze in New Sharon. I hope to take Sunday drives with Sweetcorn when the ’51 Chevy has a finished interior including sound-deadening. Since we started dating fifty years ago yesterday and, celebrated the occasion at Ruthie’s in Riverside last night, she has seen the corn several times. We’ll head straight to the Malt Shop in North English and we won’t be taking Johnson Bros Road.
Why would someone clean the tranny like that when it is not going to be reused?
It been said: “You can’t put your foot in the same ‘creek’ twice.” but I’ll ask again, how can the other two have such great NEW vehicles, and GM can’t! My example again is, I lust after (not like Lucinda), the Ford pickups’ styles of “The King Ranch,” and the “Harley-Davidson.” They are in a class by themselves. When you drive them, you ARE them – you just feel good about yourself!
Staying in the same creek, it’s like at GFD, you have the tarty-ladies flouncing around their size XXXL size, and then the Rice Krispy girl – Bambi’s in – and shuts all the conversations down.
I know – I know – it’s kinda hard to shift your mental gears from pickups to…uh…The Pickup, but c’mon GM do better!
I’ll start you off, GM, even though it’s 40 years too late: How about a Star Wars Edition Pick Up?
Or, the “J.J. Watt” big-boy edition! Sheesh!
Why clean the tranny when it is not going to be reused?
I would ask –
Why would you not?
Besides, someone, somewhere could likely use it at some time.
… Just me … ?