According To You: What Vehicles Are You Thankful For?
We are getting closer to Thanksgiving weekend here in these United States, and everyone here at Hagerty Media is thankful for you answering our community questions both now and on a regular basis. Your responses to our question of “thanks” were very honorable indeed, as we tend to appreciate the same types of vehicles.
And by the “same types,” I actually mean a wide variety of vehicles. So let’s see just how big of a tent we are gonna need to hold all of them!
Farm Tractors
DUB6: This is – in the words of Harry Doyle – “Ju-u-u-s-st a bit outside” of the traditional definition of vehicle, but it has four tires, an engine, steering wheel and seat, so I’m gonna present it. I grew up in mostly rural Idaho, and much of my youth was spent hauling my paraplegic father around farm fields, trying to set him up to shoot at ducks or pheasants. More than once, I’d get us stuck and have to go plead with the farmer to come pull us out with his tractor.
I learned at a young age what a versatile and indispensable vehicle those things can be. Later I witnessed how they made it possible to prepare the land, plant, and eventually harvest huge amounts of food and other crops. When I bought land to create our small ranch, I initially had to hire much of my tractor work done, as I was still working.
Eventually, I decided it was time to own my own – albeit a smaller one, as ranch land is largely range land, and I’m not tilling or mowing more than a few acres of it. I finally found a deal on a 1954 Ford 8N with a 3-point and all sorts of attachments. That baby has scraped, tilled, spread, drilled post holes, and given grandkids some wonderful times (truth be told, Grandpa too) on the place for about 20 years. It – along with countless tractors throughout my entire life – has done a LOT for us and for that I’m truly thankful. It’s due for a rebuild, and as soon as I clear project space in the shop, I’m going to express my gratitude: it’s going to get all spiffed up with mechanical overhaul, new tires, and fresh paint.
Ken_L: Unless you need a front-end loader and power steering, a N series Ford is hard to beat for a utility tractor.
Those That Crossed My Path
TG: My Corvette came to me in need of a lot of work, but I got it all done and it has been a very fun and surprisingly reliable car. I bought an Allanté on a lark because it was cheap and have had no significant issues with it. My 1 Series Beemer bought as a daily driver has been problem-free and is a blast to drive.
My most recent acquisition, a ’72 Ford F-350 was literally drug out of a farm field and was surprisingly intact and operational. Although there was a lot of time, sweat, and parts hunting invested into getting it road-worthy, the actual out-of-pocket costs including purchase price has been astonishingly low.
DALE Z: I am thankful for my two ex-U-Haul Ford F-350’s. Retired U-Haul trucks can be an excellent value.
Emergency Vehicles
AG1962: Fire trucks. I was a paid on-call firefighter for a few years — the village we were living in expected anyone who could physically manage the job and who did not travel for work to sign up. I learned to drive the beasts, run the pumps at -40, and back them into the garage properly after a call. I have huge respect for those trucks.
A close second would be ambulances. The ambulance arriving as we were cutting people out of a car wreck was always a moment of relief.
Luvs A. Goodstory: I agree with thankfulness and need for a vehicle that saves the day or moment. I am most thankful for something that brings a bit of joy to this grey reality. So I offer tasteful customs and hotrods.
Beaters
Rusty Fenders: Becoming a driver in the early ’70s, I’m thankful for all the cars you could still buy for under $100 as your first vehicle. You never went anywhere without extra oil, water, duct tape, a flashlight, and wire hangers in the trunk, as well as a set of worn and rusty, but functional, tools. You learned to work on cars out of sheer necessity and had about as cheap access to freedom as was possible.
Big Trucks
Tim: All trucks and their drivers who got food and everything else to us during the pandemic and every day. Thanks to the Men and Women drivers and your machines!
Gary B: Trucks, trains, anything that help our goods to cross this nation.
Paul I: The ambulance my son drives and the 777 my other son flies. They have both found their niche. Not much more a dad could wish for. And even more thankful for the woman who brought them and another good man, into this world. The best things about this time of year are the moments spent reflecting on the good things.
Bubba: I too have sons driving an ambulance and flying triple 7s, another is an electrical engineer. I’m truly thankful for three good men and their wives giving me 4 grandsons thus far. As for vehicles, I’m going with the Willys Jeep and Ford Mustang, especially the ones modified by Carroll Shelby.
A Friend That Brings A Trailer
norm1200: Next in line behind emergency response & service vehicles, I’ll look to a friend, his rides, his car trailer, and my personal vehicles. I can mostly blame my friend for the herd of vehicles I now own, having towed most of them home for me. Most were a fair distance, some were actually out of state.
He’s towed with a ’97 Silverado Z71 1/2 ton 4WD, a ’97 Suburban 1500 4WD, and currently a ’02 GMC Yukon 4WD. The last vehicle I bought was not used for 10 years: changed fluids & tires, then we bought a new car trailer and towed this ’91 Corvette ZR-1 with 23k mi from Vista, CA to the Nashville area. My 34-year-old Nissan truck of 13 years ownership has been very reliable and has been a great tool by helping out with getting many jobs & projects completed. I can’t imagine a lifestyle without a truck.
Catering / Food Trucks
LD: Coffee trucks! That’s where you can get bad coffee and sometimes beer, too!
My First Car
02 original owner: I’ll bet you think I’ll say my BMW 2002. Its a great car, but wasn’t what got me started on my 61-year hobby of messing with cars. You’re gonna laugh, but I’m thankful for my first car, a 1959 Renault 4CV. Bought for $300, it taught me that I needed to learn car repairs–quickly, if I wanted to get to my summer job and take my date out.
The lesson stuck; that car was my daily driver for 14 years, and the girl I dated in it actually married me. We’re still married, I still mess with cars and the 4CV is still in my garage.
All Of Them
Steve: I am thankful for vehicles, period – the working, farming, emergency, transport, and service vehicles that allow civilization. But it’s the motorsport and classic/collectible stuff that provides the enthusiasm for that civilization, no?
I’m thankful for all the cars I owned and the ones I own now. I have had fun in all of them.
My 1998 Dodge Dakota LT with its 249K miles on it. Without it I couldn’t take loads of stuff to the local landfill, pickup wood, etc. from big box home centers, etc. It may have POR-15 (or the Eastwood equivalent) on all the rust places and the gray and flat black primer, and a marine rust-sealing undercoat; it may be noisy as the dickens, and may be beat-up from hauling loads of wood and then being used as a snow plow, but it runs and has only required a new ECM and new brake lines. I love it!
I agree with commenters that look back fondly on their many rides. Especially old VW bugs, pickups, and various beaters, but I have to admit, that somewhere near the top of my list, is a Huey UH-1D helicopter. During my year in Vietnam, as an Infantry team leader, Huey’s were indispensable. With no side doors and a door gunner on each side it was always an interesting ride. And much preferred to going in on foot which we did a lot when we didn’t get a ride in a Huey. The Huey’s were remarkably reliable in all kinds of weather too, but looking back on it I’m glad Uncle Sam paid for the maintenance. Not me. I guess my next favorite old ride was a ‘58 Corvette. With it’s stock 283 and Powerglide the previous owner was unable to sell it when he needed a more practical car due to his upcoming marriage. He reluctantly traded it to me for my ‘60 VW bug. When the deal was done I didn’t look back. It was a great ride for me in my last year in College and before I got very familiar with those great Huey choppers.
I suppose I was marginally thankful for Hueys in 1969-70 for getting me out of a few places – but they also usually took me TO those places, so it was love-hate at best. And one tried to kill our middle son a few years ago, so I’m not gonna jump on that bandwagon!
Beater– 1953 Ford 2-door wagon I got in 1968 for painting my landlord’s house. Expertly negotiated mud-hole parking lots at San Jose state college CA.
Ugly, rusty, incredibly useful, 100k miles.
I still have my 1929 Model A Ford bought from a neighbor in 1960. We took it to the base hobby shop in Illinois and worked on it to ready it for a trip to DC (my dad was transferred) and a year later, to Waco, Texas. We drove it all the way! It was my marriage get-away car in 1966 and transportation in college and law school. I still have the same spouse and car today.
Appliance cars, I adore my sports car, I enjoy the amazing utility of my way more practice than a pickup minivan, but I am always thankful for my appliance of a commuter car that gets me where I need to be with economically and reliably most of the time. Going to and from the things we need to do so that our lives can happen, like work and the stores we need to go to, grinds a car to death at a much more rapid pace than we want to believe. Having a disposable appliance of a car that was purpose built to be driven to death performing the mundane tasks sacrificing itself so that the more fun, and/or purpose built, cars can survive is something I am thankful for. I bought my first commuting appliance twenty years ago, and junked it two weeks ago, I have to say I was never particularly proud of that car, but it was probably the best car I ever owned for its ability to do what it was made to do.
Had me a Rambler, in high school. This car had fully reclining front bench seats. I’ll bet you can guess where I am going and, you wouldn’t be far off. I “outfitted” it with full circumference curtains and rented it out on weekends. I just kept raising the rental cost until the waiting list began to go down. YUP . . . there was a waiting list. You could be moved up the list if you were willing to pay off the next person in line.
I was a John Deere dealer for 30 years and we always had a flock of traded in 8N’s and 9 N’s on the used lot. I remember the day in the early 70’s when a fellow pulled in with a sizable trailer and started to dicker on a bulk buy. An hour later he drove away with three very serviceable 8N’s for the total sum of $500.00!
Good thing about beaters if you crash it no loss
My first new car was a Renault 4-CV. I’m still in love with that little gem. …………………Jim.
My first car was a Goggomobile convertible. The less said about that the better! However my 1942 Harley WLA with sidebox which I bought for $ 7.50 in 1966 is still a loyal servant, mostly used for hauling garbage to the tip on Norfolk Island.
There was NO 8N tractor produced after 1952. The 1953 model was the Jubilee, an overhead valve engine tractor. You have your vintage wrong.
See my comment to another who pointed out my error earlier. I appreciate you guys’ pointing the info out. Now my tractor is even MORE vintage, apparently! 😛
8N ford, N series was the model T of the farmer. With Harry Ferguson’s hydraulic 3point system system it made them extremely versatile and Ford kept the price within most farmers range
I just had to mention how delighted I am that you’re still getting “mileage” (heh heh) out of the image of my 1968 Ratamaro Sajeev. A beater that dispensed many beatings of its own!
When I found it in the photo library I immediately knew I needed it for this story! All we see these days on the Internet are perfect Camaros that have been restored in some manner, but I remember when you could buy one like that for $50 in the back of someone’s property!
I lived on a farm as a kid. We had bigger tractors but the little 56 Ferguson was my favorite. We made up a blade for pushing snow on the front and I made a lot of money in town each winter. The Fergie was 12 volt and an overhead engine. I usually had to crank it when it was really cold but it always started. Great little machine.