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Along about 1970, as a lad of 23, I was travelling along Rt. 83 near York, PA and saw this neat old car parked at an old abandoned gas station. I got off the next In a day or two the phone rang. It was the car’s owner. We discussed price and a couple of days later I was driving it home. What I bought was a 1940 Pontiac 2519 series 4-door sedan with 87,000 miles on the clock. It was a base model with only an under seat heater option and was sold new at N.E. Black Buick Pontiac in New Bloomfield, PA, for $884.00. It had four dented fenders as the original owner enjoyed a drink or two and had a problem backing it in and out of his narrow garage. Back then, salvage yards and flea markets were full of used and NOS parts for this car. A radio, clock, and cigar lighter from the local junk yards and NOS deluxe chrome bumpers, fenders, etc. from Carlisle and Hershey. My plain jane car became a well optioned ride, which carried my late wife and our three young children, with diaper bags and strollers in tow to many a weekend car show. We even drove it to Pontiac, Michigan. I joined the Pontiac Oakland Club (POCI) and AACA in 1971. I could not show the Pontiac at Hershey as the cutoff date for the show cars was 1937 at that time. The 25 year rule was instituted a few years later. From 1979 to 1982, I served as POCI President and in 2015 I served as AACA President. This $300.00 purchase over 50 years ago has led me on a fantastic hobby journey, which continues to this day. The people I have met and the places I have been while attending many meets and tours are among my most enjoyable memories and I cherish all of them and hope for many more years to come. Many cars and trucks have come and gone over the last 50 years and many still share space in the garage with my first antique car, my 1940 Pontiac, the one that started it all! |
