Imagine owning a car that's almost 100 years old and getting it back on the road. That's exactly what Dan Johnson from the Central West Car Club has done.
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It's a 1928 Chevrolet 1.5 tonne truck making it 96 years old, and after a brief resurrection it's hit the road again! Dan's family farmed just out of Parkes at Goonumbla and that's how Dan acquired the Chev.
"From what I recall, Dad bought it in 1963 for something like 5 pound at a clearing sale" he said.
"I seem to remember it came from Wards Rock near Tullamore. We used it as a farm hack for years carting fire-fighting gear and grease guns for the headers during harvest, driving it across the paddock with flat tyres but it always made it home, " Dan laughed.
When the family farm sold in the 1980's the Chev went into storage in various sheds until 1988 when Dan decided it needed restoring. He pulled it apart and sandblasted the body and chassis before repainting it.
"I even learned how to use a sewing machine to repair the seat," Dan said.
The engine is a 170 cubic inch 4 cylinder and the restoration had it running strong enough to hit the road. So much so that Dan used it for 8 years as his work truck.
"By this time I was living at Mullumbimby and working as a builder so I ran the Chev on full rego carting building materials and tools," Dan said.
About 10 years ago when Dan retired he brought the truck back home to Parkes where it once again spent some 'shed time' at his sister's place until its latest revival over the last month or so.
The old Chev once again had a 'tickle up' and is now back on the road, this time on club registration. Ironically it made a return journey to Adavale Hall recently for their open day just down the road from the old family farm where it all began.
"That was a great little shake-down run for it," Dan said.
"But there's bigger things to come. I'd like to build some type of camper body for the back of it and do some touring around Australia."
With a top speed of 30 mph it'll be slow going for Dan; but something tells me that he's in no hurry and there's no doubt he'll get plenty of looks and interest.
