Grandaddy's Truck

Here's an interesting story for you. It'a about a Datsun, but that's not the point. It could have been anything. Pretend it's a Ranger if you want...


1983:

My grandfather buys brand spankin' new, a fully-loaded 1984 model black-on-silver Datsun 720 pickup. This is during the Datstun-Nissan name change, one of the very first trucks built in the newly constructed Smyrna, TN plant. I recall in the interior there was a "Datsun" logo with a plate stuck over it that said "Nissan." It's a 50th Anniversary Edition and it's all decked-out. King Cab, automatic, cold AC, camper shell, everything a grandaddy could want in a 1984 pickup. He was quite proud of it. He couldn't wait for the dealership to finish putting the pinstriping he wanted on it, so he took it home and did it himself. Needless to say, he took meticulous care of his truck.

1985:

A few pictures my brother scanned...








1990:

Granddad finds out he's got cancer. He continues to drive his truck for a while, has a hand-operated lever installed for gas and brake, but as he gets weaker he becomes bedridden. Grandmother doesn't drive, never has, and so the truck is parked in his garage.


1994:

Granddad passes away on January 4th. We still miss him, but something tells me he just might be checking up on things from time to time. His truck, now ten years old and barely driven, remains in the garage in perfect condition.


1998:

Grandmother finally sells the truck, still looks like new.


2009:

Grandmother, (her great-grandchildren call her "GG" now) passes away on April 23. During the past few years while she's been sick and needed care, my parents had moved in with her. We spent all our holidays with her, and I can truly say her final days were well spent. We all grew to have a special bond with her and she will be greatly missed.

My parents inherited my grandparents' house. The place was like a time capsule. She kept everything... Bank statements from the 50's, decades old magazines, clothes, many things to go through. Several of Granddad's old wallets were found, and my brother keeps the last one he carried. It still has everything in it, even a spare key to the old Datsun truck.

Last Friday, a month exactly after GG died, my brother is driving home. He takes a different route today for no reason, and spots a black-on-silver Datsun 720 like Granddad's. It catches his eye for several reasons. It's not a common color combination, it's in perfect shape, and a closer look reveals it's a 50th Anniversary Edition. Odds are slim that this isn't Granddad's truck. He stops the guy, and as my brother does so well, gets him interested in selling it. He agrees to meet with my brother and my dad to look it over the next day.

Dad's been looking for a truck. The prospect of having this truck is overwhelming. Everybody's wondering, is this the truck? It's got to be... But we don't know. How many black-on-silver 50th Anniversary Datsuns with camper shells can there be in central Mississippi? Surely it is, but we don't know. The search commences for some paperwork on the truck that might have the VIN, but much of that was tossed out. All we have are a couple of pictures. And we have that key in Grandad's wallet...

Saturday comes and it's raining. They guy doesn't show. This drives everybody crazy. They call and arrange to meet on Sunday.

Sunday, they go see the it. Out comes the key which probably hasn't been used in at least 20 years if ever, and it fits. My father gives the man $2200 and drives home in his daddy's truck.

Granddad would have thrown a fit over the scratches in the bed, but everything else is perfectly fine. It's changed hands about six times, but every owner treated it well. It's got 150,000 miles now, but the interior still looks new, there is no rust, and it's all original down to the hubcaps. Everything is there. Granddad's name is on the original warranty papers found in the glovebox. And also in the glovebox... One partially used roll of pinstripe.


Pics from yesterday, same driveway as the first ones:

 

Nice to see it back in the family again.

 

Now that is a great story.
+1

 

Wow - now that's cool!

 

Very interesting story. Bet Granddad would be happy.

 

I like these kinds of stories too.

For fun you ought to get those two kids (now adults) and the big wheel and stage a now-and-then picture.

 

I think that could be arranged. That's actually a really good idea. I'm pretty sure that big wheel is still around too.

By the way, found a pic of Granddad himself!

 

Ditto what Paint said. I am smiling now.

 

Awesome story,, glad too see the truck come home.

 

Great story. Stories like that make me cry tears of joy. I'm so sentimental.... Glad it's back home....

 

Great story! Glad it's back home! Thanks for sharing!

 

That's a great story. Reminds me of my mom's '77 Corvette that she bought in 1978 and then put over 250,000 miles on it over the next 10 years. She bought it in Indianapolis and brought it down here when they moved down here to GA in 1984. It was black with a red pinstripe down the side that my dad put on, with red interior and a chrome luggage rack on the back. My dad raced BMX bikes from 1977-1984 and they would strap his bike to the luggage rack and travel all over the country. She sold it in 1988, it was wrecked (tie rod came apart and she ran off the road and side swiped a tree) and totally worn out. Guy who bought it claimed he was going to turn it into a tube chassis drag car.

In 2003, my dad and I were at a car show, and there were a whole bunch of Corvettes pulling in. We saw one black one with black interior pull in and that got us to talking about the one my mom had. Then as we were talking, a black one with a red pinstripe red interior came pulling in, and it was a dead match for the one my mom had. We go check the car out, it was totally restored and looked showroom new. My dad mentions to the owner that we used to have one nearly identical to that. The first thing that comes out of this guys mouth is "Well this couldn't be it, this one came from Indiana". My dad said yea, we brought ours down here from Indianapolis in 1984, and they got to talking. As he rattled off details about the car, all the way down to some sticker that was on the back window, it became apparent that it was in fact the same car. Guy said he had bought it out of a junkyard in 1996 and spent several years totally tearing it down and restoring it. He said he liked the red pinstripe so much, he put it back on after he painted the car. Called my mom and she still had some insurance papers from it with the VIN, she came out to the car show and it was positively the same car. The owner let her sit in it and she couldn't help but start crying seeing it sitting there at the car show looking like brand new. My dad tried to buy it off of him, but he wouldn't sell it. We still keep track of it though, hope some day to get it back.

 

Thanks for sharing that great story. I had a tear in my eyes too.

 

Well I'm at my parents' home this week, just got in today and saw the truck in person again for the first time. I've got my detailing supplies with me, gonna clean it up for Father's Day!

 

Very cool stuff!!!!