Funny Old Car Stories

I love funny little stories related to the old-car hobby that you hear from people writing letters to Old Cars Weekly or talking to staff members at car shows.

One reader said that he once took a job on a 25-man construction crew working in a jungle. I’m not sure if it was in South America or Africa, but he said that there were rules that no one was supposed to bring anything in with them. This man broke the rules and brought a stack of Old Cars Weekly issues into the jungle. I’m not sure how he snuck them through customs, but he did. No one else brought in a magazine, book or newspaper. For six months, the only entertainment the 25 men had was reading Old Cars Weekly. I wonder if they all became car collectors ... or better yet, OCW subscribers?

This second story was told to me by a Bugatti enthusiast, after I told him one of my friends owned a restored Austin A90 Atlantic convertible – a British model that looks like a full-size Dodge-’em car. This man said he had bought the same type of car for $1,500 in the early ‘50s when he worked in Viet Nam. While he was there, a movie company came to town and offered to rent his car to use in their motion picture. They paid him $1,500, the same amount he had spent to buy the car. During the filming, the car was stolen, so the movie company gave him another $1,500 for it. After a time, the police found the car and returned it. The filmmakers had already left the country, so the money did not have to be returned. A year later, the man was reassigned and had to leave Viet Nam. Just before moving, he received a call from a local fellow who said, “I’m the man who stole your car and I liked it so much while I had it that I would like to buy it back. Since the man was moving and had to get rid of the car anyway, he sold it to the their for . . . you guessed it . . . $1,500.

Anyone reading this who has funny stories, please share them.

John Gunnell