Loretta the 1958 T-Bird

My love for classic cars began with my Dad. I have known him to be a car guy for as along as I can remember. He has been an auto body repairman his adult life and in his later years, owned his own bodyshop just outside of Scottsbluff, Nebraska. He is “semi” retired now and just plays with HIS toys now. Here is his 49 Mercury that was once owned by Randy Meisner of the rock group, “Eagles.”

Here is the 1956 Ford F100 that we built together when I was in high school. Sadly, I did not know what I truly had and the memories we had made building this and sold it. I regret that decision ever day.

Upon hearing of my purchase of Loretta and the fact she has some old clear coat peeling off of the upper areas, he offered to give her a “facelift” when the weather started to turn cooler.

The plan was to put Loretta on a trailer and transport her the 347 miles from O’Neill, Nebraska to Scottsbluff. The closest car hauler was 100 miles away, so I decided to drive her to the Uhaul location and put her on the trailer for the trip.

Well, the plans changed.

Waking up to 30 degree fall temps I fired her up, checked the fluids and took off. I was really enjoying this crisp early fall drive and decided to go ahead and “go for it” and make the 6 hour trip driving with my wife following behind, so we canceled the UHaul.

I can’t describe how therapeutic this trip was. Driving this “analog” car in a digital world was just what I needed right now. Ok, I did have to listen to Spotify, but that is a necessity!

We had to stop at Carhenge in Alliance, NE where we also used to live. An odd tourist attraction, but always has visitors there every time you drive by.

With Loretta getting around 10 mpg, we made MANY stops along the way, which was also good as I wanted to keep an eye on the fluids, etc.

We pulled into Scottsbluff and headed to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants and celebrated our successful trip across Nebraska.

We finally took Loretta to her new home for the next couple of weeks for her “face-lift.” I know she is in great hands.