Pages

Monday, April 1, 2013

Another One - A Fathers 1927 Pontiac Restored By A Son

Gidday,

This morning I opened my emails and what instantly caught my eye were the words "My dads 1927 Pontiac"

The email was beautiful to read, it certainly brought a smile to my face and as I read it, it brought back a few emotional memories from only a couple of years ago and I have to thank Ryan Turner from Mount Gambier for sending his story and the pictures below through to me.

Here are a few words that Ryan wrote:


G’day Grant,
I stumbled across your blog about Monty the 1928 Chev today and was touched by your story. It is similar in many ways to my journey in restoring a 1927 Pontiac that was originally owned by my great, great uncle and then my dad for another 50 years. Dad inherited the car from his great uncle when he was just 12 years old and used to drive it around the back yard as a kid.
Dad was only 61 when he contracted cancer in 2010. He had never smoked and was very fit so it was sadly just one of things as they say. Dad battled for a couple of years but we lost him in 2011. It wasn’t long after this time that a decision needed to be made about what to do with the Pontiac. Mum was selling the service station she had owned and run with dad for more than 40 years and the Pontiac was still sitting in the back where it had been since about 1970.
I’ve attached a story I put together when the search for parts started in 2012 and also some progress photos which show how we’ve been putting it back together since then. As you can see, I have gone down the full restoration path as sadly there wasn’t much to preserve when we started. A couple of old blokes in Mount Gambier are helping me with lots of the work I’m unable to do myself and we’re not far from getting it back on the road.
I hope you enjoy my story. It would be good to catch up some day. It reminds me how cars can transcend generations and bring strangers together!
Cheers,
Ryan and Kirsty


Here is another letter but details more history about the Pontiac


"I have recently inherited a very tired looking 1927 Pontiac tourer from my dad.  It was originally owned by my great, great Uncle Bill Turner who lived in Wandilo near Mount Gambier, South Australia.  Dad was only 12 when his great Uncle Bill died so it was more like a big toy for him at the time.  Dad painted the bonnet and doors black with a paint brush and decorated the panels with Golden Fleece Activ-8 oil stickers.  He’d obtained these from my grandfather who owned a service station next door to their home.  According to my Nana, dad used to drive his Pontiac around a paddock behind the house and charge children from the local area for rides!
The Pontiac wasn’t exactly well looked after during this period and sat under a tree in between use.  Dad often reflected on this time and wished he’d taken more care of it as a youngster.  He bought the service station from my grandfather in the early 1970s and was soon after approached by someone who had seen the car in the backyard.  They asked if dad would sell the Indian head radiator cap however dad had plans to restore it one day so refused.  The next day he noticed the Indian head had been stolen!  Concerned more bits would go missing dad moved the car into the back of the service station where it was more secure.
When my dad died in February 2011 after a couple of years of illness he still owned the service station with my mum and the car was still parked in the same place.  It hadn’t moved in about 40 years.  During that time dad had often talked about restoring it.  He was going to get it ready for my oldest sister’s wedding but that came and went along with two other weddings in my family.  Dad was a mechanic but apart from getting the engine to run one time in about 1995 no restoration work was started.
I wasn’t sure what we would do with the Pontiac when mum and I started cleaning up the service station for sale in late 2011.  Mum helped me remove years of odds and ends that had been stacked around it over time and it was quite a sad sight.  Not having any experience with vintage cars let alone restoring them, I initially thought it was sadly too far gone.  With assistance from a couple of local blokes who had themselves restored older vehicles I learnt that anything was possible given enough time, money and hard work.  I was excited to think we might be able to get dad’s car back on the road and I know he’d be very happy to know it was finally being done.
Almost every spare minute since this time has been spent finding out about the car, it’s history in the Turner family and how to go about restoring it.  With assistance from my very supportive girlfriend Kirsty I have learnt a lot about General Motors and in particular Pontiacs from the early 1920s.  It has re-kindled my interest in finding out more about my great, great Uncle and others in my extended family.  Mum hasn’t seen it going since she started dating dad in the late 1960s so it will be quite a thrill when I can take her for a drive"




























Great effort and congrats to you and your family.

Cheers
Grant



No comments:

Post a Comment