7Feb17    It may not be a good thing to be a senior LDS missionary with a blog about his 1935 Dodge Pickup. The “missionary” part of our assignment is somewhat ethereal; there is no mission president, and we are feeling good about where are in our human rights education work in Geneva, Switzerland.

Why “old guy” in the blog title? Well, that’s what I am. I will be 75 when May comes around. That is inarguably old. And I am okay with that because I an happy, healthy, enjoy great companionship here with my dear wife of nearly 50 years and a great hot rod in the making. Incidentally all successful hot rodders have “dear” wives or they are single.

Why “street rod “in the blog title? Well, because whereas an old guy can have a hot rod but it just seems more appropriate to my self conception to call it a street rod. I’ve heard most all of the arguments about the difference. Not much of substance. Jay Leno might even call it a “resto rod” or “resto mod”, meaning an old car that has been brought back to life but modern stuff like disc brakes have been added to make it stop better. So not a strict restoration exactly since it originally had mechanical brakes. My hunch is that if Jesus Christ saw churches today bearing his name and claiming restoration status, he would gently move them to “resto mod” Church. They all have innumerable modern features, of course. And for much the same reason as placing disc brakes on an old car–remember that car has to drive on a modern highway. Just can’t call it a “restored” car anymore.

My son-in-law, Perry Marshall and kids were with me that winter day. It was very cold. I traded an old Mitsubishi and cash for the rusty old Dodge. Without exception my grand children thought I should be the one receiving the money.

I explained that the truck was older than I am. “Then you need even more money Boppy.” The truck later showed up on their door step, where it serenely presided in rusted glory until it was hauled off to Ephraim, Utah and into the hands of my good friend Ralph Derico. I will have a lot more to say about Ralph later. He owns a small, one-man shop called KAR Restorations.

The plan is to post photos of the original truck when it was purchased in Haxtun, Colorado.  Let’s get going with that idea!