Vintage car cruises Newcastle

KateLynn Slaamot
NLJ Reporter
 
Most people have probably seen the vintage car, driven by Joseph Ferguson, around Newcastle. Joseph is the 18-year-old son of Jim and Deanna. What they might not know is that the 1947 Chevrolet Fleetmaster holds special sentiment for Joseph and his dad. 
The car was given to Joseph last year by his grandparents who live in Oregon, after he had been eagerly anticipating the day he could take it home since it was promised to him over five years ago.
“Grandpa bought it for Grandma in 1976, so it was almost 30 years old then, when they got it. I guess she had had a similar car previously, but something happened to it …, and then they got that one for $500 or something and drove it until 1990,” Joseph said. 
He added that, at that time, there were enough small problems that needed to be fixed that they just stopped driving it. So, it sat at his grandparents’ home for 30 years until last year when Joseph brought it here. 
“I’ve always liked old cars, and I’ve eyed it in their woods, and Grandma said I could have it,” Joseph said. “So, I finally got it last year and brought it home, and it was pretty easy to get running again.” 
Joseph has been working on the car and honing his mechanic’s skills since getting it, and he said that he’s greatly enjoyed the experience. He replaced the brakes, radiator, tires and spark plugs and spark plug wires, in addition to rewiring the whole car. 
“Everything still worked, but every once in a while something would spark, and it’s just not good. So, I just pulled most of the wiring out and rewired it,” Joseph said. “And I got a muffler because the exhaust was rusted through from sitting on the ground for so long.” 
Joseph has a keen interest in mechanic’s work and restoring vehicles, and he even entered the car into Newcastle’s annual Shine and Show Car Show this fall.
Having his son now own the car, fix it up and drive it around everywhere is special for Jim because the car holds so many memories for him. 
“I love it. I love seeing that car drive by. It’s like, there goes Joe, there goes that car,” Jim said. “When I was 7 or 8, I rode from Oregon all the way to the East Coast and back in the backseat of that car. And I remember drawing little pictures on sheetrock tape — we had a roll of sheetrock tape— and my brother and I drew cartoons on those for thousands of miles.” 
“It’s fun just to see him going around in that old car, and it definitely sparks lots of conversations. … I mean everybody knows who Joseph is because they’ll see him driving around,” Deanna added. 
Joseph laughed. 
“And right now, it’s the only car I have. So, I kind of have to drive it,” he said. 
And, of course, Jim said that because of his own special memories with the car, he is happy that his son gets to continue making memories with the vintage Fleetmaster.