Dan and Diane’s 1953 Ford Victoria

By Dan Pudelek

 I’ve been asked how I came across my 1953 Ford.  Well, I was enjoying the hot and humid day at the Kane Country fairgrounds in September of 1994 and I started talking to Larry Johnson about cars (what else) and I told him that I would like to find a good 1953 Victoria, when Larry tells me that he has one but it’s not for sale.  I told him if he ever changes his mind about selling it to give me a call. 

Fast forward to 1999.  I bump into Larry at that fall’s Morris car show; he asks me if I ever found the ‘53 I was looking for.  I told him “no” and he informs me that he’s decided to sell his if I am still interested.  He had all the intentions of making it into a hot rod but between his job and all his other cars he never found the time.  Larry gave me his phone number and told me to call and set up a time to come out and look at the car.  I tried three or four times over a couple of weeks to contact him and all I got was the answering machine; he never called back so I figured he changed his mind.  It’s now the middle of November 1999, I was moaning about the car, so my wife Diane says to give Larry one more try.  Well this was my lucky day - he actually answered the phone, we set the date. 

 Off we go to Larry’s house, we walk into his back yard where he has a beautiful garage with heating and air conditioning for his vehicles and also a wooden shed with a wooden floor piled with so much junk that we could not even see the 53 hidden amongst it all.  The car was so dirty you couldn’t tell what color it was and it was surrounded by so many car parts we couldn’t even get close to it.  When Larry told us it was Flamingo Red and Cream we were really excited; these were the very colors we wanted.  The hood was open and Larry told us that he could turn the engine by hand which was great news.  The car had been sitting in this garage for 25 years, he never moved it or even started it since the day he parked it there.  My other worry was the Fordomatic transmission.  I could not find out if it would shift until the car was drivable.  Diane and I were really debating.  I must say I’m glad she came along.  Before I had a chance to talk myself out of buying the car she tells me buy it now, don’t think about it.  She was right again, I haven’t been sorry since.  Larry and I came together on the price and the car was mine and Diane’s.  I got the car home a few days later and I started working on it as soon as it was off the truck.  It took a lot of hard work and all winter, but by spring it was ready to hit the street.  By the way the transmission leaks a bit but shifts just fine. 

 The summer of 2001 Diane and I drove the car to Branson, Missouri, to the Central National Meet where I won my first Rouge Award - but it took five years before I got the plaque in my hands!  Since that time we’ve driven to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; Dearborn, Michigan; Hiawassee, Georgia; Louisville, Kentucky; and this year we’re going to Batavia, NY. 

The car reeked of the smell of the old wooden garage for the first 4 years we drove it, but now after a lot of airing out, it no longer reeks, it just has the garage fragrance. 

We are only the 3^rd owners of the car, which was built right here in Chicago.  When we bought the car it had 32,000 original miles on the odometer; it now it has 51,800. 

People always ask: “Aren’t you afraid to drive that far in an old car?”  I tell them with my wife by my side and good friends along and a trunk full of parts you can’t go wrong and good towing insurance never hurts!!  And that my friends, is my story of how I found my 1953 Victoria.

 Editor’s Note:  Dan and Diane have been very active club members and participate in most club events and tours.  Dan has been an NIRG officer or board member for most of the years he has been in the club.

Dan and Diane’s ’53 is a great example of a very original, low mileage car.  As Dan mentioned, he won his first Rouge award for the ’53 in 2001.  Since then the car has received Rouge awards at the Dearborn and Hiawassee National meets for the originality of the drive train and interior.  What Dan did not mention is that over the past winter he has freshened up the exterior of the Victoria with chrome work and a beautiful coat of that Flamingo Red and Cream paint.  It looks terrific – as you can see in the photo of the month.