Kelsey Tire open house: The trip was a “trip”

During the first weekend in May we took a short 1,300+ mile jaunt down to the Lake of the Ozarks area to attend an open house at Kelsey Tire Co. (www.kelseytire.com). We’ll tell you more about John Kelsey’s 70th birthday party in his now-private car museum over the next few days. The trip was a trip, too.

Since my youngest son Jesse sold his ’57 Buick Century a couple of years ago, he has not had an old car. Lately, he’s been looking for one that fits his limited budget. His budget is in the original Kenny’s Klunker’s range of $700 and take it from us, there isn’t a wide selection in that market niche today.

Since we were heading for an area with better weather than Wisconsin, we had high hopes of finding something by the side of the road. We did find a lot of “$700 cars” along the highways and byways—but none of them were priced at $700! A couple of grand was more of the typical asking price.

A couple of cars that we stopped to look at are pictured here.

That Comet Custom hardtop was about the best find. The sign said the asking price was $1,000 and the body was pretty solid. On the other hand, there was no engine and no one around. The sign appeared to be several years old with curling edges and faded writing.

And the location was around 400 miles from home. Too bad. We would have been interested in a car like this, with an engine, a little closer to home.

Maybe one will show up in the Car Corral at the Iola Old Car Show (www.iolaoldcarshow.com).

Jesse better start saving!