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UER Mobile > US: South > The Unexpected Find (Altus, OK) (Viewed 3716 times)

post by Dee Ashley   |  | 
The Unexpected Find (Altus, OK)
< on 12/31/2019 9:33 PM >

It was a warm and sunny day in May when I found myself walking through an unremarkable residential area in the town of Altus, Oklahoma while my friend and I waited on my car to get serviced. We had an hour or two to kill, so we decided to just walk to the downtown. Altus is like many other communities in the rural midwest region; as in it doesn't have much going for it. The crime rate is higher than almost 80% of any other town in the country and the population is poor and steadily shrinking with each passing year. Most people look at these dying rural communities and see only blight and faded remnants of a once-vibrant past. Of course, people like us see these towns a little differently.

We weren't expecting to find much on our way to the town's center, but we did get treated to an unexpected surprise. We both noticed a small, unremarkable house across the street from us that we normally would have disregarded had it not been for the neon pink letter affixed to the front door (because we all know what that usually means), and the front door was ajar. The trash bins were overflowing and letters were beginning to spill out over the top of the mailbox. There were lots of clues that the home was probably recently abandoned. Naturally, we had to stop and check it out:


by Dee Ashley, on Flickr

We weren't expecting to find anything interesting inside and we were correct in that assumption. Aside from some fake fruit, a microwave, and some loosely scattered junk deemed unworthy of being moved with the rest of the previous resident's belongings, the house was empty and boring. We decided it wasn't worth our time and left without seeing anything of interest.
Then we noticed these two old cars along the other side of the property under the car port:


by Dee Ashley, on Flickr

The two vehicles were impossible not to notice as they were in stark contrast to the small, unassuming house they resided next to:


by Dee Ashley, on Flickr

The Firebird was my favorite:


by Dee Ashley, on Flickr

I love that red leather interior!

by Dee Ashley, on Flickr


by Dee Ashley, on Flickr


by Dee Ashley, on Flickr


by Dee Ashley, on Flickr


by Dee Ashley, on Flickr


by Dee Ashley, on Flickr

I had never even heard of an "Edsel", before and had to look it up. The Edsel is a discontinued Ford model station wagon, named after Henry Ford's (the founder of the Ford Motor Company) son, Edsel Ford. The Edsel was a dismal failure and was only in production for about three years (circa 1958-1960). If my research of this particular Edsel is correct, only 2,133 of the 9-passenger Edsel Villager (below) were ever made:


by Dee Ashley, on Flickr

Of course, I'm kicking myself now for not taking more photos than I did, because this is evidently a very rare find. From the photos I do have, it looks to be in good condition:


by Dee Ashley, on Flickr

This had started out as a quick post to the "abandoned cars" forum and grew into a larger post after I started looking into these vehicles, so I decided to just start a thread rather than take up too much space on the car thread.

Hope you enjoyed!

Cheers,

- DA


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post by Explorer Zero   |  | 
Re: The Unexpected Find (Altus, OK)
<Reply # 1 on 12/31/2019 11:37 PM >

Posted by Dee Ashley
It was a warm and sunny day in May when I found myself walking through an unremarkable residential area in the town of Altus, Oklahoma while my friend and I waited on my car to get serviced. We had an hour or two to kill, so we decided to just walk to the downtown. Altus is like many other communities in the rural midwest region; as in it doesn't have much going for it. The crime rate is higher than almost 80% of any other town in the country and the population is poor and steadily shrinking with each passing year. Most people look at these dying rural communities and see only blight and faded remnants of a once-vibrant past. Of course, people like us see these towns a little differently.

We weren't expecting to find much on our way to the town's center, but we did get treated to an unexpected surprise. We both noticed a small, unremarkable house across the street from us that we normally would have disregarded had it not been for the neon pink letter affixed to the front door (because we all know what that usually means), and the front door was ajar. The trash bins were overflowing and letters were beginning to spill out over the top of the mailbox. There were lots of clues that the home was probably recently abandoned. Naturally, we had to stop and check it out:

https://live.staticflickr.com/4245/34716358866_b1f5543662_b.jpg
by Dee Ashley, on Flickr

We weren't expecting to find anything interesting inside and we were correct in that assumption. Aside from some fake fruit, a microwave, and some loosely scattered junk deemed unworthy of being moved with the rest of the previous resident's belongings, the house was empty and boring. We decided it wasn't worth our time and left without seeing anything of interest.
Then we noticed these two old cars along the other side of the property under the car port:

https://live.staticflickr.com/4187/34716305206_229917528c_b.jpg
by Dee Ashley, on Flickr

The two vehicles were impossible not to notice as they were in stark contrast to the small, unassuming house they resided next to:

https://live.staticflickr.com/4194/34716324536_7da83e9d5a_b.jpg
by Dee Ashley, on Flickr

The Firebird was my favorite:

https://live.staticflickr.com/4173/33914069864_51b495d6b6_b.jpg
by Dee Ashley, on Flickr

I love that red leather interior!
https://live.staticflickr.com/4155/33914067594_6530f2ec65_b.jpg
by Dee Ashley, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/4202/33914066204_31f5d6a77b_b.jpg
by Dee Ashley, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/4183/34716321916_585688b258_b.jpg
by Dee Ashley, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/4225/34716325616_999ea3251f_b.jpg
by Dee Ashley, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/4243/33914065574_cc9b3b4cca_b.jpg
by Dee Ashley, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/4164/33914064054_cd529634e5_b.jpg
by Dee Ashley, on Flickr

I had never even heard of an "Edsel", before and had to look it up. The Edsel is a discontinued Ford model station wagon, named after Henry Ford's (the founder of the Ford Motor Company) son, Edsel Ford. The Edsel was a dismal failure and was only in production for about three years (circa 1958-1960). If my research of this particular Edsel is correct, only 2,133 of the 9-passenger Edsel Villager (below) were ever made:

https://live.staticflickr.com/4185/34716318456_8bbd24cd36_b.jpg
by Dee Ashley, on Flickr

Of course, I'm kicking myself now for not taking more photos than I did, because this is evidently a very rare find. From the photos I do have, it looks to be in good condition:

https://live.staticflickr.com/4247/34594526312_1a625074b0_b.jpg
by Dee Ashley, on Flickr

This had started out as a quick post to the "abandoned cars" forum and grew into a larger post after I started looking into these vehicles, so I decided to just start a thread rather than take up too much space on the car thread.

Hope you enjoyed!

Cheers,

- DA




Edsels in that condition are rare. Edsel station wagon in that condition is super rare.

That T-Bird is sweet I want it.


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post by blackhawk   |  | This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.

Re: The Unexpected Find (Altus, OK)
<Reply # 2 on 12/31/2019 11:49 PM >

Nice find
I wuv old cars... cars back then had character.
'63 Stingray is a fav.


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post by randomesquephoto   |  | 
Re: The Unexpected Find (Altus, OK)
<Reply # 3 on 1/1/2020 1:30 AM >

Dayum.


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post by Dee Ashley   |  | 
Re: The Unexpected Find (Altus, OK)
<Reply # 4 on 1/1/2020 3:50 AM >

I agree - it's just a damn shame I didn't realize what I had found when I found them!


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post by Cfourexplore   |  | 
Re: The Unexpected Find (Altus, OK)
<Reply # 5 on 1/2/2020 1:40 PM >

This is a sweet vintage find...I'm partial to the Firebird myself, but I'm sure not hating the Edsel, either (especially with the cheeseburger in the trunk😃).
Looks like there was a bit of a selfie op in that Edsel chrome, too! Thanks for sharing! 😀


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post by Dee Ashley   |  | 
Re: The Unexpected Find (Altus, OK)
<Reply # 6 on 1/5/2020 10:35 PM >

Posted by Cfourexplore
This is a sweet vintage find...I'm partial to the Firebird myself, but I'm sure not hating the Edsel, either (especially with the cheeseburger in the trunk😃).
Looks like there was a bit of a selfie op in that Edsel chrome, too! Thanks for sharing! 😀


Hahaha, yeah, I did notice the accidental selfie... I rarely post selfies, but I made an exception in this case.



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post by Explorer Zero   |  | 
Re: The Unexpected Find (Altus, OK)
<Reply # 7 on 1/5/2020 10:49 PM >

Posted by Cfourexplore
This is a sweet vintage find...I'm partial to the Firebird myself,


I had to look twice I didn't see a Pontiac anywhere, must be a typo.


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post by MisUnderstood!   |  | 
Re: The Unexpected Find (Altus, OK)
<Reply # 8 on 1/6/2020 2:24 AM >

Really cool find. Would love to have that Firebird. That RED interior is Awesome! The car looks clean. Did you notice if the tags were up or in need of being updated?

whoops! big mistake, This IS a Thunderbird! Thanks 2x for letting us straight lol

[last edit 1/6/2020 5:20 AM by MisUnderstood! - edited 2 times]

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post by Explorer Zero   |  | 
Re: The Unexpected Find (Altus, OK)
<Reply # 9 on 1/6/2020 3:53 AM >

Posted by MisUnderstood!
Really cool find. Would love to have that Firebird. That RED interior is Awesome! The car looks clean. Did you notice if the tags were up or in need of being updated?


I know this group is too young to recognize the difference but Firebirds are Pontiacs that is a Thunderbird a totally different car made by Ford

T-Bird for short.


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post by blackhawk   |  | This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.

Re: The Unexpected Find (Altus, OK)
<Reply # 10 on 1/6/2020 4:13 AM >

Posted by 2Xplorations


I know this group is too young to recognize the difference but Firebirds are Pontiacs that is a Thunderbird a totally different car made by Ford

T-Bird for short.


You can tell they show it by the vintage Coke memorabilia in it.


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post by MisUnderstood!   |  | 
Re: The Unexpected Find (Altus, OK)
<Reply # 11 on 1/6/2020 5:04 AM >

Posted by 2Xplorations


I know this group is too young to recognize the difference but Firebirds are Pontiacs that is a Thunderbird a totally different car made by Ford

T-Bird for short.



You are totally correct! i thought that car insignias looked to short for Firebird... but Couldnt make it out on my small laptop. Thanks 2X


[last edit 1/6/2020 5:19 AM by MisUnderstood! - edited 1 times]

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post by Dee Ashley   |  | 
Re: The Unexpected Find (Altus, OK)
<Reply # 12 on 1/6/2020 9:01 AM >

Posted by MisUnderstood!



You are totally correct! i thought that car insignias looked to short for Firebird... but Couldnt make it out on my small laptop. Thanks 2X



I actually meant to say Thunderbird in that comment above the photo, my bad!


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post by Dee Ashley   |  | 
Re: The Unexpected Find (Altus, OK)
<Reply # 13 on 1/6/2020 9:22 AM >

As far as I can tell, the Thunderbird is a 1963 model. The caveat here is that I'm making this assumption based solely on a Google image search (link below photo).

1963 Thunderbird (looks almost identical to me):

(http://www.motorbase.com/picture/profile/2007/06/28/1962-ford-thunderbird-dash-krm/)



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post by Cfourexplore   |  | 
Re: The Unexpected Find (Altus, OK)
<Reply # 14 on 1/6/2020 12:15 PM >

Gah, I'm such a dork! Looks like I misread something or got confused...I got to thinking Firebird rather than T-Bird. 😕
Sorry about that!


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post by Dee Ashley   |  | 
Re: The Unexpected Find (Altus, OK)
<Reply # 15 on 1/6/2020 9:31 PM >

Posted by Cfourexplore
Gah, I'm such a dork! Looks like I misread something or got confused...I got to thinking Firebird rather than T-Bird. 😕
Sorry about that!


You probably did that because I accidentally wrote “firebird” in the first post, lol.


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post by 6ozy   |  | 
Re: The Unexpected Find (Altus, OK)
<Reply # 16 on 1/8/2020 5:52 PM >

Keep the cars LOL those are sick.


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post by Explorer Zero   |  | 
Re: The Unexpected Find (Altus, OK)
<Reply # 17 on 1/11/2020 12:33 PM >

Posted by 6ozy
Keep the cars LOL those are sick.


Leave only footprints, take only automobiles.

That T-bird has no steering column lock, no ignition interlock, would take about 5min to start her up. Maybe Dee can share the location with you in a PM and I will tell you how to hot-wire it.


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post by Dee Ashley   |  | 
Re: The Unexpected Find (Altus, OK)
<Reply # 18 on 1/16/2020 1:16 PM >

Posted by 2Xplorations


Leave only footprints, take only automobiles.

That T-bird has no steering column lock, no ignition interlock, would take about 5min to start her up. Maybe Dee can share the location with you in a PM and I will tell you how to hot-wire it.


Hahaha, I like the way your mind works, 2X.
Sadly, the house they resided with (and I assume were considered part of the property), was auctioned by the city for unpaid back taxes. I feel pretty confident that these two vehicles were the only items of value in that auction - the house sure didn’t look like it was worth even a fraction of those cars, lol.


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post by Explorer Zero   |  | 
Re: The Unexpected Find (Altus, OK)
<Reply # 19 on 1/17/2020 12:58 AM >

Posted by Dee Ashley


Hahaha, I like the way your mind works, 2X.
Sadly, the house they resided with (and I assume were considered part of the property), was auctioned by the city for unpaid back taxes. I feel pretty confident that these two vehicles were the only items of value in that auction - the house sure didn’t look like it was worth even a fraction of those cars, lol.


You would be horrified at some of the items and property at police auctions and small county tax auctions. Typically sold for just a few pennies on the dollar.

That bird will find a nice home Im sure


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