Greetings Forward Lookers,
Yesterday, I called the phone number in the ad, which was promptly answered
by Darrell (sp?), the owner of the 56 Desoto wagon. After a short
conversation, we agreed to meet around 6PM at the store in Falls City
(there is only one store, one tavern and one gas station in Falls City so
it's almost impossible to get lost). I was to follow Darrell up to his
shop where the Desoto is stored.
Falls City is located where the pavement ends at the extreme West end of
Oregon's Willamette Valley. It is an old company town that should have
witherd away when, what was proclaimed to be the world's largest lumber
mill burned to the ground in the Winter of '49. Most of the residents
stayed on and were allowed to live out their days in company owned housing
that the landowners soon ceased to maintain.
I boarded in one of these houses as a college student in '68 when I worked
a summer job at a nearby sawmill. The only running water was in the
kitcen sink, which drained to a dry well and the bathroom was a one holer
in the back yard. The old guy I rented from spent his days at the tavern
and nights sleeping in an old overstuffed chair in front of an ancient
black and white TV that was left on constantly for fear it would never
turn on again. The house is gone now, replaced by a mobile home. I feel
compelled to go back every few years and yesterday was just about perfect.
Darrell is a tall, thin, clean cut man who is soft spoken and has a dry
sense of humour. The back window of his old Ford pickup has a picture of
Calvin, the cartoon character, urinating on the Blue Oval. A nice touch,
I thought as I followed him up from the store and up the narrow, rutted
logging road driveway he shares with several neighbors.
When I talked to him on the phone about the '56 Desoto wagon, I asked if he
had any other Mopars. He told me he had a Chrysler station wagon and a
'60 Plymouth Fury, so I wasn't expecting anything like the 60 plus
vehicles resting in general disarray about the property. Everywhere I
looked, there was another Mopar (and a bunch of other stuff). Not a lot of
FL vehicles, but I ended up taking over 100 pictures with Darrell's
cooperation. Darrell seems willing to part with almost anything and the
prices I was quoted were reasonable to very low in my opinion.
All 104 pictures can be found by pointing your web browser to:
http://meljr.net/pictures/010404/
The trailing slash at the end of the address is important as it will
allow you to see the directory listing and click on the pictures you want
to see. What follows is a short index to the photographs:
image001.jpg - 60's Lincoln Continental 4Dr HT (suicide rear doors)
image002.jpg - image005 63 Chrysler New Yorker w/bad 413 I bought for $100
image006.jpg - image008 AMC Marlin with 4 speed (complete, surface rust)
image009.jpg - image011 '67? Olds Toronado (complete, clean, runs and drives)
image012.jpg - image014 '60 Plymouth Fury (looked complete, dry storeage)
image015.jpg - '80? Honda Express (fairly complete, should run)
image016.jpg - image017 70's Chrysler T&C wagon(440 runs, weak 727, straight)
image018.jpg - another shot of AMC Marlin 4 speed (he has 2 other Marlins)
image019.jpg - '68 Corvette (427, new paint, both tops - for sale by son)
image020.jpg - image021 more shots of the 63 New Yorker I bought for $100
image022.jpg - image025 Dodge Delivery Van (circa '49-'55) I looked at
this on at least three times until I realized what it was. These Vans
are very rare. Look in the Bunn book "Dodge Pickup Restoration Guide"
for the history of this over-engineered vehicle.
image026.jpg - Darrel's front yard - 56 Desoto 4DR parts car in background
image027.jpg - '56 Desoto parts car (very complete, compare tail lights w/SW)
image028.jpg - image030 '30 Something Cad-Lasalle Superior Hearse/Ambulance!)
image031.jpg - AMC General 2WD RHD Postal Delivery Vehicle (very complete)
image032.jpg - image039 60's Dodge 1/2 ton PU with 318 Poly, Camper, runs!)
image040.jpg - image046 More Lasalle Ambulance pics (might let go for $1,200)
image047.jpg - image049 More shots of 56 Desoto Firedome part car w/330 Hemi
image050.jpg - image051 Darrell's mother bought this '65 Dodge Monaco new
image052.jpg - image093 '56 Desoto SW I actually came to look at (geesh!)
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll let the pictures do most
of the describing. The hemi started right up on the first try and ran
smoothly without any visible smoke. Darrell drove it up a rather steep
hill from the barn and parked it using only the parking/emergency brake
which must work pretty well. The car is mostly complete, rust free and
smells clean. The worst features seem to be the cracked windshield on the
driver's side, a broken tail light lens, some pitting of pot metal trim
and a misalignment of the hood near the cowl. What an instrument panel!
For those of you who are interested, he has turned down a $3,000 cash
offer and seems pretty set on the $3,995 asking price.
image094.jpg - 095 Another AMC Marlin (has "twin stick" 3 Speed w/OD trans)
image096.jpg - 097 More 56 Desoto Firedome 4DR parts car pictures
image098.jpg - 099 '57 Nash, the last of the big ones, I guess it's a Mopar
image100.jpg - View of 56 Desoto SW looking up driveway to Darrell's house
image101.jpg - View looking down from 56 Desoto SW towards Darrell's barn
image102.jpg - '50 Buick in front of Dodge Delivery Van. Buick might run
image103.jpg - another shot of my $100 Chrysler New Yorker
image104.jpg - parting shot of AMC Marlin 4 speed car (It's now a Mopar too)
There is not much more to say. If you want more information, give
Darrell a call at 503-787-2507. He's looking forward to hearing from you.
-mel (feigning work on a sunny day in Oregon)
PS - By the way, on my way out of town, I saw a Nash/Rambler? under a
tarp on main street and a decent 57 or 58 Plymouth 4 DR in a field. It
was missing the hood and lower grill, but seemed straight and pretty
complete from 100 ft. at 60MPH.
Mel Lester Jr. meljr@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.connet80.com/~meljr
On Tue, 3 Apr 2001, Mel Lester Jr. wrote:
> On Tue, 3 Apr 2001, bill g wrote:
>
> <snip>
> > 1956 DE SOTO WAGON, Hemi motor, automatic transmission, power steering and
> > brakes. New upholstery. Nice running and driving car. $3895 503-787-2507,
> > 503-949-4085. Falls City, Or
> >
> > these were some of the interesting ones. Anyone want to buy that wagon
> > for me?
> <snip>
>
> I live about 30 miles from Falls City and stayed there one summer during
> college while working at a local lumber mill. If anyone would like this
> car checked out, I would enjoy enjoy the drive and could take digital
> pictures.
>
> -mel
>
> Mel Lester Jr. meljr@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.connet80.com/~meljr
>
> Plymouths:
> 56 Suburban Deluxe 2DR SW (2) 56 Savoy 2DR Sedans 56 Suburban Custom 4DR SW
> 56 Savoy 4DR Sedan 63 Sport Fury Convert. 63 Fury 2DR HT (440)
> 63 Fury 4DR HT Race Car 65 Belvedere II Convert.
> Dodges:
> 73 Dart 340 Sport Pro St. 74 B300 CarryVan 76 D100 Adventurer SE PU
> 76 D100 Warlock PU 79 D150 Custom PU 89 Shelby Dakota Race Truck
> 93 Viper RT/10 98 Dodge Intrepid ES
> Others:
> 63 Austin Healey 3000 71 Triumph Spitfire 81 Fiat 2000 Spider
> 84 Chevrolet Caprice wagon 00 Honda Shadow ACE Tourer 1100
>
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