The purpose of this Blog

This blog is to detail my 50 years (1973 - 2023) with a 1928 Chevrolet tourer, affectionately called "The Red Chev".

The acquisition, restoration, improvements and my experiences over the years are covered in as much detail as I can remember.

Some of the later postings include car club outings and other vintage car items that I hope will be of interest to people.

If you have the time, scroll back to where it all began in 1973 and follow the journey so far.

Thanks for dropping by.

Regards Ray Dean


See my new section "The Red Chev - Repairs, Improvements, Maintenance and Technical Details" located on the left hand side of the screen.




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Saturday, June 29, 2013

Monty Stretches his Legs through Gippsland

Check out this great posting by Grant on his blog

http://montythe1928chevrolet.blogspot.com.au/

To Sale and Back 247kms

 
 
Gidday,

Around 9.30am on this frosty, fogged and very still Saturday morning I had fuelled up the Chevy, checked all the vital signs, flicked a bit of oil about the engine bay in the appropriate orifices, kicked all four tyres "good enough", and rugged myself up with a few layers of thermal undergarments and we were rolling out of Trafalgar and headed for the East Gippsland township of "Sale" some 77miles away.

With the morning glow of the winter sun trying to break through the fog and bath me in warmth, I had the small 6 volt motor of the wiper doing its thing as best it could in keeping up with fog and frost at it settled and blanketed back down on the windscreen before the next swipe of the wiper arm slowly removed it once again, no warm de-mister in this ole banger, just the fresh 45mph crisp air blowing about the dash and also my ears.

Out through Newborough, down beside the Yallourn Power Station and along the twisting road towards the little town of Tyres we went before the fog lifted and the paddocks of the surrounding farmlands were bathed in bright sunshine, yet still covered in the morning frost, it looks lovely.

I was heading up to Sale to see my parents life long friends, Eric and Liz, lovely people who I had not seen in about 12 months and beside it was a good fine day for a longer than normal drive and I also wanted to show them dads old car.

Through Glengarry next and the traffic was basically zero, very quiet and the Chevy was cruising along well with me keeping it at constant speed of 72kph, this rev the little 4 cylinder engine seems to like and always finds this speed on the dial whenever I glance down at it for a look..

Toongabble was passed with a blink of an eye and within a few mintues I jumped on the brakes and came to a holt outside the Cowwar Pub, no not for a early beer but to get a photo out front of this lovely old building and also the old corrugated iron fire station across the road.








Heyfield, Tinamba and then Maffra were all reached and passed and then soon afterwards I was entering Sale after 1.5 hours since leaving home, I quickly weaved through the traffic of the town centre and then made my way over the Eric and Liz's house on the edge of town - trip meter showed 77 miles.




After a greet, a good chat and a few coffee's with Eric and Liz, goodbyes were once again said and I was soon rugged up and back in Monty, headed home but this time I stopped for a few more photos along the way and with a head wind now blowing and also with time on my side I backed off the speed a little and enjoyed the views of the countryside. Time to get home was 2 hours.

Total distance was 247kms or 154miles and 40 litres of fuel used.

Some more pix of the drive - Cheers







This old post n rail fence went for some distance along the front of a property near Maffra - Love it!










I had a great few hours and the Chevy has once again proven to be very reliable, yes a little slowish, but reliable just the same! - Cheers




Friday, June 28, 2013

Classic Car Dealership Up For Auction 30th June, Ohio.

Found this on a great site

 
 
http://www.barnfinds.com/classic-car-dealership-up-for-auction/
 
ron-hilens-antique-classic-cars

When we received an email with a link to YouTube video of an upcoming Ohio auction, we knew that we needed to investigate further. We headed over to Penny Worley Auctions’ website, where everything is set to be auctioned off on June, 30th. After looking at the collection, which includes 12 complete cars and 52 project and parts cars, we started hunting around for the history behind it. We quickly discovered that this is Ron Hilen’s Antique Classic Car sales and restoration business in Dayton, Ohio. He is closing his business after 37 years and is selling off all his cars, parts, and memorabilia. Thanks goes to Jasper for the tip.

ron-hilens-antique-classic-cars-showroom-2

Before Ron bought this building in 1976, it was a Rambler dealership, complete with showroom, parts counter, body shop, and machine shop. The showroom currently houses 10 running vehicles, with one being a vintage fire engine and the other an old Ford tractor. The auction house has provided videos of each vehicle running and they all sound good.

ron-hilens-antique-classic-cars-machine-shop

The majority of the other cars are housed in the body and machine shops. Some of the cars in the machine shop have been torn apart, while others look to be complete. All of these cars are covered in a thick layer of dust and mountains of parts. We aren’t sure if the parts piled on each belongs to that car or one of their neighbors, but figuring out what goes where should prove interesting.

ron-hilens-antique-classic-cars-chrysler

Given how buried some of these cars are, just exploring and trying to figure out what some of them are would be a fun way to spend an afternoon. Sadly, what makes for a fun exploration trip doesn’t necessarily make for a fun buying experience, as it could be a challenge to determine their condition and what’s still there.

ron-hilens-antique-classic-cars-hupp

Most of the cars in the body shop appear to be more complete than the ones in the machine shop, but are still in rough shape. It appears that most were prepared for paint years ago, but never made it to the paint booth and will likely need the body work redone before being sprayed
.
ron-hilens-antique-classic-cars-fire-engine

Whether you’re looking for a project, a parts car, or even a fire engine, this auction just about has something for everyone. We know this one is coming up quick, but if you are in the Dayton area, be sure to stop by tomorrow for the auction preview and take a look. Even if you aren’t in the area, you can still view everything online and even place a bid. So what cars, parts, or memorabilia would you like to have from this collection?

Read more at http://www.barnfinds.com/classic-car-dealership-up-for-auction/#p7KREgS6jvJdWl44.99







4 Day Car Part Auction

Does any body know how this 2012 auction went

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Lambrecht Chevrolet Auction. Step back in time. Brand New Chevs from 1955 onwards. As low as 1 mile on the Speedo

Can you believe this, Chevs from back in the 1950's onwards, never been sold, brand new, still with plastic covers on the seats. Some with a little as 1 mile on the speedo. Boy there is going to be some big money changing hands here.
 
This is not a barn find, its a warehouse or should I say complete Chevrolet dealership find. You may have heard about the Lambrecht Chevrolet collection to be auctioned in late September.

But like me you may have only seen cars parked outside in the weather, reportedly new or ex trade ins never sold off.

Well these videos change the whole thing. We are looking at numerous brand new Chevs, always parked inside the dealership.

Read the story in more detail and then take a look at the videos.

Lambrecht Chevrolet of Pierce, Neb., was like many Midwestern, small-town dealers — owned and operated by a family, with minimal overhead and little need for advertising since most customers were neighbors. Ray and Mildred Lambrecht ran the dealership with just one employee for 50 years before closing up, and later this year the Lambrechts will sell off a trove of 500-odd vehicles they've held onto over the decades — including roughly 50 with less than 10 miles on their odometers. It's less a car sale than a time capsule auction.

While many of the cars in the Lambrecht collection were customer trade-ins that were left outside to rot, the Lambrechts would occasionally take something they couldn't sell and just put it in storage. City folk might find it unthinkable to leave so many vehicles lying around for so many years, but there's always more space in rural Nebraska, and the annual costs fall to zero quickly. I wouldn't call it hoarding, but I know many people who gather old metal like this do form an attachment to their kingdom of rust; every ride has a story, even when there's weeds growing around it. Jeannie Lambrecht Stillwell, the Lambrecht's daughter, says the decision to sell wasn't an easy one for her parents, and that the cars "comprise a lifetime of hard work, tears, and joy."

Fortunately for collectors, the Lambrechts preservation-through-neglect has created the type of barn finds that many search years to discover. Among the dozen low-miles pickups sits a 1956 Chevrolet Cameo pickup with an odometer reading of just over one mile, and a 1964 Chevy Impala with six miles that still has its original window sticker and the plastic sheeting that covered its red leather seats. Although even ardent Corvette fans look askance at the late '70s models, the '78 version here with five miles has an appeal that's grown over time.

The rest of the 500-car list reads like an inventory of popular models from the '50s and '60s — Bel Airs, Corvairs and even a couple of Vegas — which the VanDerBrink Auction company is still documenting ahead of the sale in Pierce on Sept. 28-29, along with dozens of pieces of memorabilia, hubcaps and even a Corvette pedal car. You can see the auctioneer take a walk though the Lambrechts' garage below: