Back in mid-May I bought a '53 Sunbeam Alpine basket case. I stashed it at
my son's house because he has an accessible back yard, level driveway, air
compressor, and welding gear - I don't. We both took the afternoon off today
to do some work on it.
During the sixteen mile drive to his house in the '54 Alpine, I noticed a
Peugeot sedan following me. The old guy driving it looked harmless, so I
paid no further attention. When I reached my son's house, he pulled up and
parked behind me - introduced himself, and said that he used to own one of
them. He went on to tell me the history of his old car. The previous owner,
a Navy officer, got busted trying to outrun a cop at an estimated 110 MPH in
Coronado, California (anyone who knows that island town can appreciate the
feat!). Knowing that that car was marked, he sold it to the gentleman in
1960 for $300. He drove it for several years and then gave it to his college
bound son. The son eventually wound up in the Navy and had the car shipped
to his duty station in Honolulu. When the transmission packed up, the car
was abandoned at the side of the road.
When I bought the car, the owner, a retired Naval officer, who is a resident
of Coronado, California, told me that he acquired it at a lien sale in Hawaii
while he was stationed there and subsequently had it shipped back.
But, wait - there's even more - in our conversation, this gentleman mentioned
that his son had severely damaged the front right fender and a replacement
from a four-door sedan had been fitted.
At that point, I told him to follow me - took him into the backyard, and
pulled back the car cover. "This is your old car", I told him. I had
wondered about the green paint on the inner fender - Alpines of that era did
not come in green, but saloons did
It's a small world, after all - ain't it?
"Ole" Olson '53 Alpine (SBA 53) '54 Alpine (OLDE ALP), "61 Alpine (OLE ALP)
Tigres No Mas!!!
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