When shaking the rust off, don't shake too hard

So as I had mentioned in my last blog post, I have another story to tell about that 1988 Chevy I bought from my grandfather when I was 16. For those of you who may not have read my last post, when I was 16 I bought a 1988 Chevy S-10 from my grandpa thinking that it held all of life’s answers or something.

Source | S10forum.com

 It was a great vehicle for a first car. Standard 5 speed transmission coupled with Chevy small block I-4 engine and a simple bench seat. 

To sum that up, it was great from my perspective because it was clean, good on gas, and made me feel like a “man” because I drove a manual. It made my parents happy because it was low cost to insure, only sat 3 (really only 2 as the stick shift would hit anyone brave enough to sit in the middle), and didn’t go very fast so I was seemingly less likely to get into trouble with it.

Then disaster struck, a relative’s car died and after some pretty intense negotiations, I agreed to help them out by sharing my mom’s car and “loaning” them my truck until they could get another car. I was thinking maybe a week, month tops.

Fast forward a few years, I did finally get my truck back. Only trouble was the condition of the truck when I got it back. It had seen over 100,000 miles while on “loan”. Even bigger problem was that rust had eaten away so much of the body that the poor white Chevy looked like smoked Swiss cheese. Driving like a Flintstone was almost an option as the floor was rusting through too.

Source | zombdrive.com

I had purchased a brand new Ford Ranger well before getting my Chevy back, so to get it back in that shape was especially disheartening. There was nothing I could do with it, the clutch was shot, the body was gone, the transmission was rough, and worst of all I couldn’t afford to insure it let alone repair it.

After accumulating a couple eye sore citations from the city I had to sell the truck for the metal value. Sad state of affairs, as I had paid my grandpa $3k which was a discount and in the end what was left of the truck was $500 worth of steel minus the $200 I had to pay to the city for the eye sore.

I currently have dreams of buying a brand new F-150, so I keep asking myself, what if that truck had been made of military grade aluminum like the new F-150?

And I’m left thinking, well then I probably would have never gotten it back at all…

Trucks, so much more than metal on wheels

I think I can effectively speak for all men when I say; I have aspirations to be like Jay Leno.

No I don’t want to be a media icon, no I don’t want to host a late night TV show, but man would I like to have a garage with more cars in it than I know what to do with.

For those of you that do not follow me on Facebook or Twitter, I made a post the other day detailing a particular struggle I am facing. Every day on my way to work I am reminded that I don’t have $20k just sitting around that I can throw at something I don’t really need! On my way to work I drive past a used car lot that sell mostly classic cars and trucks, and recently they parked a Green and White 1957 Ford F-100 front and center on the lot, and it is killing me.

I have found that the passion for classic cars and trucks is often a manifestation of fond childhood memories, and this story is no different. My grandpa is really the one who led me to my passion not only for Trucks, and by extension, Ford products in general. I would also like to note my grandfather is still very much alive, so please don’t think I am leading you on some Hallmark channel sob story, though he does love the Hallmark channel.

 Growing up, I used to spend summers on my grandparent’s farm in northern Minnesota. He would drive me around countryside in his old International pick-up truck, and we would drive around the countryside for no real reason at all, just to spend time and enjoy the scenery.

When I was 16 I thought that I could tap into that nostalgia by buying a 1988 Chevy S-10 from my grandpa, but that nostalgic euphoria was really short lived for reasons that I will get into in another blog post, but either way it didn’t quite pan out because I was missing the point. It wasn’t just a truck that forged those memories; it was spending time with my grandpa over common interests, listening to nature and riding in pick-up trucks. Here is a link to an article I read about a man that can truly relate.

So, let’s get back to why seeing this truck every day is killing me softly. Like I said, it’s really not about the truck itself, though it is an amazing truck, it’s about life getting in the way of living. As I am sure everyone experiences, as we grow up life gets complicated. We have jobs, kids, responsibilities; and just like I am reminded daily, we long for the simplicity and solace of sitting in the bed of an old pick-up truck with a loved one, staring out at a corn field, not a care in the world.

Ford's September Sales Were Strong as Military Grade Aluminum

This is going to be my first blog post, so bear with me here. Granted I am very nervous about starting a blog but this is something I really have a passion for and wanted to spread that passion. Lucky for me, as September’s sales numbers will confirm, a lot of people have a passion for Ford Motor Company products as Ford’s September sales increased by 23% over last year.

Now, naysayers may want to point out that unlike many years, last year included, Labor Day sales incentives would normally count towards August sales figures and this year it counted for September and that would be valid, if the rest of the month was not just as strong. For the month, Ford sold over 220,000 vehicles, of which nearly 70,000 were Ford feature product the F-Series. It would seem that the transition to the military grade aluminum body has not deterred customers from buying a new F-150 as many had thought, as 70,000 trucks marks a 16% increase over last year’s sales. 

These figures are great, in fact, they are the best sales for the month of September since before the recession, but considering Ford’s sales numbers without a means comparison really steals some of the thunder. I have had discussion after discussion with fellow truck enthusiasts and they always try to tell me that Ford trucks will lose market share because they are too expensive when compared to GM and Ram trucks, and I am elated that I get to gloat for at least another month as Ford continues to dominate, ironically it continues to dominate in higher margin retail segments with 64% of F-Series pickups sold with the upgraded EcoBoost engine option.

Let’s look at the whole automotive industry for a means of comparison, as of this writing, the industry as a whole posted sales gains of 15.7%. While nothing to shake a stick at, that figure dwarfs in comparison to Ford’s 23% increase in year-over-year sales volume, several of Ford’s vehicle lines even doubled the industry average increase with the Escape, Edge and Explorer lines all posting sales gains in excess of 30%.

So, the numbers aside, Ford is pumping out high quality products in to a market that clearly has a higher than average demand for them. The F-Series really do give a great snapshot of Ford’s momentum through September with double digit sales gains while posting fewer lower margin fleet sales.

If you would like to learn more about Ford’s September sales you can Click Here to view a replay of the company’s September U.S. sales conference call, or read this article on The Motley Fool.