Bringing Betsy Back
Hi. My name is Betsy. I am a stock 1965 Plymouth Barracuda. I earned my factory stripes October 20, 1964 in Hamtramck, Michigan. I was shipped to Hahn Chrysler-Plymouth in Vancouver, Washington, and adopted when I was barely a month old. After seven years of faithful service, Rochester Ronnie stupidly traded me away in 1971; the nerve! He immediately regretted his mistake and spent the next 31 years searching for me. He had no idea I spent two years in Centralia, and the next 29 years in Rainier, Washington. I had given up hope we would ever see each other again when in 2002 I was listed on eBay, Rochester Ronnie found and rescued me and, unbelievably, we were reunited! At that point I was in terrible shape and it took nine months of intensive restoration work before I again looked as spiffy as I did from 1964-1971. Rochester Ronnie is turning his 250 page journal and 1,300+ photographs detailing my restoration into a book (starring me!) entitled Bringing Betsy Back! It’s great to be home again!
Here I am in the fall of 1966 at the ranch where I first resided. I was still wearing my original thin whitewalls and Lewis County "LBF785" Washington license plates:
This photo was taken in late 1969 just before we left for San Antonio to join the USAF:
I was under several inches of snow when Rochester Ronnie and I reunited in 2002. That's my brother Bart parked next to me; we left Rainier together.
Charley the Classic Car Carrier delivered us to the restoration shop. Ten years worth of grime, moss, and blackberry vines camouflaged much of my water and body damage. Note my trailer hitch; oh, the shame of it all!
Total disassembly took quite awhile; I have a lot of parts!
Removal of original paint left me stark nekkid! Once my heavy metal fabrication repairs were completed, I underwent extensive finishing body work and mechanical repairs:
Just like the original factory paint job, my center section was painted red, the stripes were taped off, and white paint was sprayed over the red:
It was very exciting when the tape was removed revealing my red racing stripes. After all I have been thru, I have definitely earned them!
I was soon beginning to look like my old self again:
Here I am with Rochester Ronnie at the 2006 Greenwood Classic Car & Hot Rod Show in North Seattle. Life is good! (Olin Darling photo)
We enjoyed attending a BBQ and car show Saturday, July 3, 2010 at Ed Camus' in Rochester, Washington. Ed was a high school classmate of Rochester Ronnie's and does first class car restoration work. It was fun to meet lots of new folks who said nice things about me, and it sure is great to return home to Thurston County!
July 11, 2010 was overcast, cold, and breezy, so I wisely stayed home while Rochester Ronnie attended an antique tractor and engine show in Elma, Washington. Nancy, Tommy, and Wendy joined him for breakfast and spent the afternoon trying to keep him from acting on a ridiculous urge to buy and restore a tractor. Rochester Ronnie grew up utilizing Allis-Chalmers equipment. Here he is standing beside a beautifully-restored A-C WD 45 and wishing a similar model was parked here in the shop next to me. Pffft! Note, those John Deere green weights help hold the front end down during tractor pulling events.
The August 14, 2010 Olympia Street Rod Association's "Lucky Eagle Casino Rod Run" near Rochester, Washington was an enjoyable experience. The quantity (a new record of 435) and quality of vehicles on display was topped only by the new daily record high temperature of 95°. I enjoyed lots of attention, particularly from fans of MOPAR A-body cars. Here I am with Rochester Ronnie. He thinks his newly acquired Rochester Warriors ball cap is pretty cool.
Sunday, August 22, 2010 we participated in the T-9-0 Quarrymen Car Club's "9th Annual Snow-n-Shine" in Tenino, Washington. In spite of a threatening rain showers and competition from several other local car shows, the show was well attended and great fun. Here are several cars we liked a lot:
This is a seldom seen '49 Kaiser "Flax" (that's the model name and the paint color).
Although one might have trouble finding a '49 Kaiser Flax in a large parking lot, this highly customized '49 Ford Convertible would certainly be easy to spot!
Sammy Motlow motored over from Olympia to show off his nice '63 Plymouth Valiant 200 Convertible. Restoration continues with a new paint job due later this year. Nice car!
We'd never seen a '51 Lincoln "Lido" coupe before. Only three of them are known. This beauty was saved by Buffalo Restorations in Puyallup. We're not 100% sure, but think this car won the "Best of Show" award. It is quite an interesting car.
This anything-but-subtle '68 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible won "People's Choice."
Talk about an eye-catching '37 Ford Pickup! Note the ghost flames on the front fenders.
This stock '54 Ford Skyliner features a hood with an ultra-rare plexiglass insert. Dealer display cars had such hoods so potential buyers could admire the V-8 engine. Nice!
The "P-51 Mudstang" snuck in from Rochester (probably cross-country; there's no way it is street legal!) We won't even try to describe it; let's say guys just gotta have fun!
We really liked this '49 Hudson Coupe. Note the frenched headlights and wire wheels. The customizing work is subtle yet very effective. Beautiful car!
Here's one of my younger cousins, the Walters family's '67 Barracuda Coupe.
This attractive '27 Essex Super Six Coupe sports a 327 Chevy engine.
We don't recall seeing a '39 Chevrolet Canopy Express before. Visit StoveBolt.com for more information about this interesting rig.
Our eyes continue to love '40 Fords, particularly stock Coupes as sharp as this one with very tasteful pinstriping. It is hard to believe these cars are now 70 years old!
We also liked this extra clean '39 Ford Pickup! Talk about sanitary!
We'll wrap the T-9-0 show report with a shot of yours truly with Wayne and Lucy Yerkes, long-time friends who came down from Seattle for the day. We were all surprised when they announced my name as winner of the "Favorite '60s Stock" trophy! Thanks, T-9-0!
Likely wrapping up our 2010 car show season, we attended the Hub City Car Show in downtown Centralia, Washington on August 28, 2010. A large crowd experienced perfect weather for viewing about 250 cars. Here are some of those we particularly enjoyed:
We'd no sooner parked than the rumble of this '68 Dodge Super Bee's Hemi engine caught our ears. MOPAR or no car!
And now for something completely different, how about this diesel-powered '48 International truck! It's a work-in-progress with a very proud owner. To each their own.
This customized '57 Plymouth Belvedere has a '58 front end. Nice car!
Looking fresh off the showroom floor, this '57 Chevrolet Pickup was for sale for $26,000.
Every part of this '32 Ford Pickup was either red, black, or chromed. Nice!
This '51 Chevrolet Belaire Hardtop is extra clean and definitely a head-turner.
This '47 Chevrolet Aero Sedan was our favorite car at the show. It is simply stunning!
As for this '37 Ford Pickup rat rod, res ipsa loquitor (the thing speaks for itself)...
We've admired this '39 Chevrolet Coupe at previous shows and love its smooth lines.
It is hard to beat the looks of this stock '31 Ford Model A Phaeton.
Yes, yet another '40 Ford Coupe caught our eyes.
We weren't surprised this '57 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz was a major award winner. What a beautiful (and very valuable) car!
We liked the Eldo, but would rather go grocery-getting in this bubble top '61 Chevrolet!
This interesting '33 Ford Roadster Utility came out of Australia. Note the right-hand drive.
Here's one for those of us who also like the new generation Dodge Chargers. This 2006 Hemi Daytona is loaded with options and special features. Different strokes...
Then again, old school rodders probably prefer this '34 Ford Coupe with massive flames.
We'll close this show season with one more shot of you-know-who. This winter Rochester Ronnie will hopefully install my new speedometer cable, and finally get my stainless wheel well trim back in place.
My complete life story will finally be told once Rochester Ronnie wraps up his other major writing projects and gets busy on Bringing Betsy Back. For now, my "auto-biography" continues to be on hold. MOPAR or no car!