Mark Schleicher's 1947 Hudson Pickup

On my way to work at 8:00 am, I passed a rather shabby bar/pizza shack of somewhat dubious repute. One morning, I saw in the parking lot an intriguing old black pickup truck that I suspected was the same '47 Hudson I had looked at when it was for sale in Alden about 15 years ago. After I had driven on a couple miles, I began to regret that I didn't stop to check it out. Too late, I was half way to work.

At the same time about a week later, I had a second chance. The hell with work. If I didn't stop to see if the truck might be for sale, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. In a shirt and tie, I wasn't really dressed for the occasion. I walked into the dive. The biker boys were already congregated at the bar for their breakfasts of champions. "Who owns the Hudson truck?" I asked. "Over in the corner" came the terse reply.

I found two little old men hunched over bacon, eggs and home fries with so much grease that I could feel my arteries clog just looking at it. "You own the Hudson?" "Yep." "Is it for sale?" "Yep." I tried to negotiate down $500. "What's $500 dollars? You don't need it and I don't need it." I'm going to remember that line. I gave him his price and went to work happy with my new baby.

It turns out that it is the same truck that I had looked at fifteen years earlier. His five children had bought it for him for his birthday. He drove two miles to the restaurant occasionally. I doubt if he did any maintenance on it. It's a solid old truck that had an amateur restoration quite a while ago. With a little TLC, it'll be a great driver.