It's not often in the old car stakes that a sight unseen purchase ends up being better than the photos, but such was the case for Mitchell Hoy when he bought this 1956 DeSoto pick-up a few years ago.
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"I wasn't really looking for anything in particular, when I happened to see this pick-up on Gumtree" Mitch said.
"It was for sale in Tasmania and was advertised as 'suit restoration'.
In the photos it was parked in a garden as a feature for the owners business and with shrubs growing all around it, it really looked in pretty poor shape.
The price was good and at the time Mitch was keen to build up a hot rod or a rat rod of sorts. He had a 5.7 litre V8 engine ready and waiting so after some communications with the seller he went ahead with the purchase sight unseen, going by just the photos and description.
"The owner put it on the Spirit of Tasmania and I drove down to Melbourne with a car trailer. I got there before the boat docked so I actually saw the pick-up drive off but having seen the photos, it looked too good. I seriously thought I was picking up the wrong ute but the numbers matched so I grabbed it and ran," laughed Mitch.
The pick up was exactly as it appears today, aside from a coat of dust, and to top it off it was a runner.
"The owner told me he'd used it to cart firewood 12 months before parking it in the garden so when I got it home I decided it was too good to modify" Mitch said.
So the DeSoto is running the original flat head six cylinder Chrysler engine with a three speed manual gear shift on the column.
"It looks tidy and it runs well so there's no plans for a V8 anytime soon" Mitch said.
"We put some brakes in it and it's been on the road ever since". Not that the Desoto gets out too much.
Mitch is pretty busy driving trucks for a living so he doesn't get the chance to drive it as much as he'd like to.
He's happy to keep it the way he purchased it for now and enjoy using it without the fear of bumps and scrapes, but in time it'll probably get a bit of a makeover he said.
Mitch is a member of the Central West Car Club which meets regularly in Parkes.
Central West Car Club
The Central West Car Club was formed in 1954 following a meeting of people from all walks of life who shared a common interest in racing high powered vehicles.
Meetings held first Wednesday of the month at the Leagues Club at 7:30pm. Feel free to join us at 6:30pm to 7pm for a social dinner before the meeting.
For more about the club you can look up www.centralwestcarclub.com.
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