I was not loving mine so much yesterday when two minivans boxed it in at work. I wound up using a wheel chock to limit my backwards roll while I made the 30 point zig zag back and forth to get out.
When I was a young man, I had a job working in a Griff's Burger Bar, anybody remember those? Sedalia Missouri still has one. Anyway, I was about 14 and rode a bicycle the five miles back and forth to work, that would be ten miles a day.... Along my route to work was the National Guard Armory. One morning they had a lot full of deuces, all placarded up, some kind of suspicious flat load tarped down and armed guards. They blocked Broadway (US81 bypass, they were still building the Interstate) and headed out about the time I got there. They shut down traffic and had two wreckers following them. As the deuces roared by, most of the guys driving had huge grins, most of the passengers had rifles in their hands, one after another, turbos screaming, smoke rolling, a convoy of screaming green trucks, I thought.... Some day I am going to find one of those.
It only took me 42 years...
Since buying one though, I have found that it is cheaper to insure than my 91 Dodge. It will haul more, it starts instantly in the cold, not that my old Cummins does not start, but this deuce seldom turns a full revolution before it starts with no preheater. I had an alternator go down and replaced the rear axle seals. I have been driving it like a pickup for six months. It is wonderful, reliable and strong! The old Dodge has not left the garage since I got the deuce.
Besides the history and the use, I think sharing it with kids and Veterans probably makes my day. The truck gets saluted all the time and several times I have taken kids for rides.
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce/71313-mind-if-my-boy-has-look-your-truck.html was worth the price of admission for me. To see that young man who does not have much in life to look forward to beaming because he got a ride in my truck, well, it is hard to put into words, but it was definitely a good day.
I have a habit of taking slow rides across the state, the deuce is a confidence builder when the roads are not so good, if the road has tire tracks, it is a safe bet the deuce will plow through.
It is just a unique experience, I had a lot of trucks and a lot of muscle cars, this one is in a class all its own. Glen
Thinking of parking some at my parents
Or better yet get some bright orange oil drums!
I love that somewhat musty canvas and oil smell. Reminds me of the good times I had in the National Guard.
