(cars revving)
(Blues rock guitar music)
- [Interviewer] We're on our way to a local car collector
who I met a week ago, his name is John McDonald
and he lives in North Pole.
I hear he's quite a character,
he's got cars scattered around his property
along with a lot of other equipment.
So I've not been there, we're gonna experience it
for the first time together.
(cars revving)
(Blues rock guitar continues)
Well, this could keep us busy for the rest of the day.
(Blues rock music continues)
Well, I'll pull in your driveway,
this is the kind of place we like to find.
I was in Fairbanks a couple weeks ago for a car event
and met John at a antique car picnic and cookout.
I got his phone number, I said I'm gonna call you back
in a couple weeks when I'm back here.
So, what's your thing?
I mean, people told me you were a Studebaker guy,
but I guess you're more than that.
- [John] I'm everything you know, I have a bucket list,
you know, and it changes every week.
Just scrolling down the Internet
on the Ebay Motors, you know?
Oh my god, there's a nice car! You know?
I can afford that, that's not that West Coast.
So I just have it shipped up.
- Let's go take a look at some of these things here.
- Yeah, just ask me a few questions.
- Alright, it's a '57 Ranchero.
- Bought that for a birthday present.
- To yourself? - Why not?
- So 272, 293?
- According to the door push it's got a 312 in it.
- 312, this seems like a pretty solid car.
- It ain't bad. But I'll drive it
till I wear it out and then I'll sell it.
- So the keys in here, does this start?
- Well start her up.
- Oh sweet.
- Yeah.
- Oh man that sounds sweet.
Did you put duals on it, or it came with duals?
- Came with duals.
- That's not original paint is it?
- No, it's been restored several years ago.
- It's just worn enough that it looks original.
- I've been driving it every day this summer,
almost everyday. - No kidding?
And that's for sale? - Why not?
- That's what I say.
So, okay, if I wanted to buy this, what would you charge?
- I'd got to get 20 grand out of it.
- 20 grand.
And you could drive it to Florida from here no problem?
- I don't guarantee road trips.
- Okay.
- (chuckles)
(upbeat rock music)
- So, then you've got a Ranchero which is a car/truck.
Then here you've got a Studebaker champ,
which is like a lark in the front,
and a truck in the back.
You've got a few of these.
- Yeah, that's the 1 ton model right there.
- This is 1 ton? - Yeah
- What a good looking truck! - Oh yeah, it's beautiful.
I love the Studebakers.
- Does it have a V8?
- Uh, a V8? I don't know what the size is,
the 242 or the 245?
- What year is this one?
- 1960.
- It's got a three on the tree.
- 53 thousand miles. You don't know if that's
original or not?
Came out of Washington.
- Runs well?
- Runs pretty good, yeah.
- Eight bolt wheels.
I'm looking at the double wall
thickness of the bed, you know.
Trucks of that era didn't have that.
I don't think. Maybe some fleet sides.
Alright, so how much is this one?
- Ah, give me 6 grand, you can have it.
- Alright. - That's today's price.
(chuckling together)
- Another 32?
- I'd say ton and a half dual weight.
It's got a flathead V8.
A flathead V8 and it runs pretty good.
- Didn't most of these come with a four cylinder?
- Yeah, four cylinder. - Yeah.
- I got the four cylinder and drove it,
and drove it, and it kept over-heating.
Well, I mean I had two,
uh two cracked cylinders.
(Engine starts)
- Can you believe it? I don't have any car
that starts that completely.
(Engine idling)
So you have alternators on all your cars?
Good idea. - Yeah, it is.
Generators, nobody wants to work on them anymore.
(Engine revs)
Boy that's smooth.
- Very nice.
- Had a Rochester carburetor. - Yep.
- Runs excellent. - That's very nice.
(Vehicle turns off)
That's a 1933 Ford Pick-up truck.
- Uh-huh
- It had a Ford Bangor in it when I got it,
but I put a flathead V8 in it. - Oh, okay.
- It run's pretty strong.
It's got a '98 Ford rear-end in it.
- Wha- (laughs). And aluminum heads.
- Aluminum heads, those are called the Cheater heads.
- Yep, yep.
- Harmon Collins ignition.
- And an alternator, so slightly modernized.
That's another story, the exhaust pipes
follow the pick-up bed.
- That's all old school.
- Did you build that?
- I built that, yeah. Yeah, but back in high school.
- So what would uh, if I wanted to buy this truck,
what would you charge?
- Uh, 18.
- 18 grand. That's a good runner/driver.
- Yeah, runner/driver, but check on the internet
and they're going for 25, 30 thousand dollars, you know?
So, it's got the, uh, dual springs on the back.
The transverse spring against the Collin,
and uh, '98 Ford rear-end... - Hydraulic brakes?
- Hydraulic brakes.
- So you'll use these wheels on this truck?
This is a Power Wagon.
- Yeah, I've got to modify these wheels a bit to fit,
but uh... - This is World War II era?
- World War II.
This is a special rig here,
That I check out this tag on the door over here.
Ambulance that was bought with war bonds.
- Oh wow, look at that.
"Field ambulance presented to the United States Army,
"by the telephone accounting employees.
Washington, D.C. through the purchase of war bonds."
Isn't that interesting?
So this is like a '44, or something?
- A 1943. - '43.
So, you ever drive something like this?
- I drove it in the golden days, a couple years ago.
And it drove down the highway about 40, 45 miles an hour,
the front wheel started shimmering a bit, you know?
- Somehow I have the feeling that the
Orange shag carpet is not original to this.
(chuckles)
I've seen some of these with like late model Hemis in 'em,
with fuel injection and super-charged.
- Yeah, I just want to keep it semi-stocked
so I can drive it, you know?
(Loud metallic screech)
- And that's a flathead six cylinder?
- Flathead six. - One barrel carburetor.
And is that a low-mileage vehicle, you think?
- Well I think it remained here in the United States,
and they probably used it as a Utility truck.
- Oh, so it never went to war?
- Well, I don't know that for sure,
but that's my best guess.
That's why it's got the windshield on the front,
and the head-ache rack on it.
- Did you put the antlers on there?
- Why not? (chuckles)
- Huh, that's a neat vehicle.
So what would you ask for that?
- I gotta get eight out of it, the way it sits.
- Eight grand, as a running vehicle?
Well, I can see somebody wanting that.
Okay, so, we got a nice little Chevy Pick-up here.
- 1950 Chevrolet.
- Three-quarter-ton?
- Uh, 1-ton. The 380 series, 1-ton.
It's got the nine foot box on it.
- A creeper gear, in first gear, I'm sure.
- That looks like a salter.
- Is that original paint?
- No, the paint isn't, the wood on the grain box is.
- No, kidding?
- See how wide that board is?
You don't see those anymore. - Hm.
- I've used it for quite a few summers, you know.
One winter mice got into the dog-gone headliner.
- You know what you could put in these?
Have you ever heard about putting dryer sheets in there?
You go to the store, and the laundry detergent area.
If you want to have fluffy clothes
you throw this dryer sheet in them;
You put them in engine decarbon, the passenger,
and the mice hate the smell.
- Well, I heard y'all also you can use moth balls.
- Moth balls, but then you gotta smell moth balls.
So this Hot Rod, did you build this hot rod?
- No I bought that on the internet.
Drove it one summer, it needs a lot of work,
gotta do the interior on it.
- That's a Business Coupe.
- I think it is, cause it's got that long deck.
- Has it got a flathead?
- No, it's got a 351 Cleveland in it.
A moon gas pedal with a three speed floor shift.
Yeah, it's on the bucket list, you know?
Get it finished.
- Cool stuff.
I mean we aren't even done yet.
- Let's go this way, Banjo,
come on, let's go this way!
Good boy!
(Engine roars)
Oh, yeah.
That window coupe.
Oh, boy!
What year is that?
- 1937 Studebaker Dictator.
- That's a rare body isn't it?
- Oh, very rare.
It's got a 283 in it.
(continuous engine revving)
- Did you put the motor in?
- Put the motor in.
It's hangin' on a three speed,
out of a pick-up truck.
Working on it's rear-end.
- Solid body?
- Oh the body has got a couple of rust spots
in the bottom of the trunk, back there.
You got a little rust spot down in the corner,
down there, but otherwise, a solid body.
And the reason it's in such fine shape,
is ain't never hardly drove it,
because it had 611 gears in it.
- Why?
- That's for them San Francisco hills.
- Wow!
- (chuckles) I mean 611 gears,
you're lucky to get 40 miles an hour out of her,
out on the freeway.
- 77,000 miles? - Mhmm.
- That's like at, 80 years old, I guess?
- They got it advertised on that Craigslist,
right now, the Alaska Craigslist, for 18.
- It sounds sweet. - Oh, yeah.
It's nice, yeah. - Exhaust is perfect.
- The old trunk in that thing.
- Yeesh!
- You can camp out back there.
- You guys enjoy this car the way it is.
- Oh, I've been driving it the way it is, yeah!
- Hydraulic breaks?
- Hydraulic breaks I put on it, yeah.
- It's got drums all around? - Mhmm.
- You know, I love the grill on this car.
I mean, the way it slants back it's
somewhat reminiscent of the '37 Ford,
but in my mind, it actually came out better.
Nice emblem.
Did you replace this grill?
- No. - It's pretty good.
That's a nice grill, I like that.
And I think 18 grand is a fair price,
if you just get in and drive it.
- Yeah, well, one guy from Michigan called me,
wanted to know if he could drive it to Michigan.
Well same story, I don't guarantee road trips.
- You just gotta do it.
- Okay, so back here, we got a Model T.
- So that's a 2 speed,
it looks like it has chevy wheels.
- So you got coil spring suspension in the front;
That's after market.
Hm, the back one's after market too.
- And that's got a stock motor?
- No, it's not all hopped up, you can't tell;
It looks stock,
but it's got a Model '08 crank shaft in it.
It's got 351 Ford Cleveland valves in it.
It's got electric track ignition, down here.
It's got a bigger and bigger carburetor on it.
- So I see some speed parts.
They ain't take 'em out of fulls.
- They haven't put that on there.
- These, this is heavy steel. - Yep.
- This is heavy steel, wow!
Alright, so what are you asking for this?
We're trying to sell cars for you here.
- I'd have to have eight for it.
I mean, I've got probably
five or six in the engine, you know, so...
- Oh, this is goofy.
(Upbeat blues rock music)
Does this got a Model '08 engine?
- Model '08 engine with a Robert roof,
I mean, George Riley overhead conversion on it.
- Oh.
(Engine turns over and starts)
(engine sputtering idly)
- That's from the drive shaft.
(engine idling then is shut off)
- And it runs well?
- I mean, you just heard it. (laughs)
- Down the road, it's got hydraulic breaks.
- Yeah, hydraulic breaks.
I did this car about 14 years ago.
- Okay we have another race car; Another speedster here.
- That's a 1926 Model T.
The story I got behind that one,
back in 1967 they had a big celebration
of Alaska being 100 years old, you know.
- Oh, yeah.
- And uh, the guy brought this up from Minnesota,
painted it all up and drove it up here.
- So what kind of transmission does this have?
- It's got the Model T transmission.
- I see a shift lever.
- That's for your Russel two speeder end.
- Russel two speeder, okay.
- That motor is basically all stock,
I gave it a valve job about two winters ago.
It runs really good now.
In fact, it runs too good,
probably got to put some safety belts
and road wiring in it, also. (chuckles)
- Wow.
- And no breaks. - Okay.
- No breaks to speak of.
- So, it's got these rare headlights.
- Those are E&J headlights,
those are after-market headlights.
That's why they put it on some of the Packards and stuff.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And you got this incredibly gaudy hood on it.
(chuckles)
- Got that out of the dumpster.
- So, stock motor, huh.
- It'll do 45, 50 miles an hour, you know.
It's got the rest a two speed, but
I get front end shimmying a little bit.
- What do you ask for this one?
- Ah, 14. - Hm.
- Go ahead and look at this truck right here.
- So this is the truck you drove up from Oklahoma.
I went up to, what is it? 15 gallons of oil.
- This had a 500 cubic-inch Cadillac in it,
when I got it in Oklahoma.
- And that's what burned all your oil?
- Yeah. (surprised laugh)
I was so pissed off at that motor,
I just took it straight to the scrap yard.
I put a 390 Ford in with V6 transmission.
- And now it's a runner/driver, no problem?
- No, nope, no problem.
I got a late model Collin in here.
- It sure looks like it's not touched,
doesn't look like a hot rod.
- I put the dings in the fenders, you know,
hauling firewood, you know?
So that's- I mean, hauling firewood with this
camper about seven to eight years, you know, so...
- Here we're coming up on the last car.
Now we have a chopped up pick-up truck here.
- I did the chop and I channeled it.
- Huh. - Yep.
I put a flathead V8 in it.
It's got a four speed Muncie in it.
- It's a '34?
- '32.
- It's a '32? - '32, yeah.
- Does this start?
- Well I haven't had it started all summer.
We'll see what the battery says.
(Engine turns over)
(Engine squeals and starts)
- Oh, sweet!
(Engine idling)
What is that, a Rochester?
- Rochester.
- And that's like a '51, '52, '53 Murphy?
Well, I tracked the latest distributor...
- Yeah, yeah, that's a 1949...
to '53.
- You got the four inch Murph....
- Yeah, yeah
- That's a sweetheart man.
You got headers on there too.
- Oh, yeah.
(engine turns off)
- Did you put the spider web on here, before we got here?
- That's all custom.
(Laughs together)
- What will you ask for that, or
you don't want to sell that one?
- Well, way it is, I'd sell it for 18.
I gotta do the run down it though.
It's going to be a big problem.
- Is that a Banjo wear?
The old fashioned... - I took that out.
It's what got in there now,
and I'm going to put a modern rear in it, though.
- For 18, that's a good value for this vehicle.
On Bar Fight, we love to start cars
that don't look like they'll start.
Well, in Johns case, he had a bunch of 'em that ran.
And if we had more time, he coulda started more.
Hope you enjoyed seeing this episode
of John and his collection of equipment,
and cars, hidden back on a dirt road in Alaska.
Happy Hunting.
(Car trails off into distance)
- [John] I put a bench seat in it, you know.
I like a bench seat because I got a dog, you know, so...
(laughs)
So you gotta have a bench seat in there.
- You gotta have a bench seat for the dog, or a girlfriend?
- I mean, I don't have a girlfriend.
- (chuckles)
- I've been looking now for 20, 27, 28 years, you know.