Martha!

[Faulkner]

...and here she is!

She needs a headliner, a master cylinder, and the area around the tailgate hinges needs some work. Also, there's surface rust around the driprail, but overall the body looks solid. I'll get new tires for her, too. And she's got overdrive! It was about half my budget, so I've got some money to spend on fixing her up. Yeah, it's a flathead! But the '54 230ci came in at 110 bhp, 20 bhp more than the '53 218ci. I'll take it.

Now, to get her from Redwood City (south of San Fran) to Philly. Can anyone recommend a hauler? I've put the question to John Fowlie.

Looks like we'll have something to haul parts back from Carlisle

[william0431]

THAT IS AWESOME!!!! and a 2dr wagon!!!

[Faulkner]

Thanks Will! "Martha" (Paul McCartney's sheepdog is her namesake) is on the trailer in your home state tomorrow, en route to me. I guess at some point she'll be cruising by Carlisle And, she will be back...

[Faulkner]

The dash glass either needs cleaning, or replacement; but, I assumed the odometer had rolled over...

But, is it possible those are the original miles?!? The body and interior seem to be in exceptional condition. And tonight, I stumbled on these VINs from this site:

Here's Martha's VIN:

So, Martha was built in San Leandro, about an hour away from where she currently sits! Is it possible she has little more than 17K miles on her?

Maybe, she is a real diamond in the rust... I can't wait to see her in my driveway!

[big m]

Congrats on your find, Dan!!

Looks to be in nice shape!!!

---John

[Mark Merritt]

Dan; I like it !!!! My uncle in Florida had A model "A" and his daily driver was A 58 Chevy Apache pick-up. The mileage might be 17,000 you never know. Check door hinge wear, brake pedal wear etc. Some early titles had the engine serial # on the title as well, could be the original engine. My 55 Buick is that way. Looks like A winner to me, I love it. Mark

[Faulkner]

As you can see from the dash pic in the initial post, there are two radio delete plates - one for the dial, and one for the buttons. They removed the upper dial delete plate and stuck a radio in there, leaving the lower. I hope they didn't cut the dash to fit it, it doesn't look like they did - I scored this '54 radio for 15 bucks on eBay:

I won't restore it, probably just stick a bluetooth receiver/amplifier in it.

(*sigh*...) Meanwhile, Martha continues to languish on the Left Coast. I can't get a trucker with a winch up there to bring her home. I'm on my second broker now...