Minnesota man drives $75 pickup – for nearly four decades

Bob Sportel’s 1957 Chevrolet half-ton pickup. Still image from video below.

Is there such a thing as too frugal? In the eyes of Prinsburg, Minnesota, resident Bob Sportel, the answer is clearly “no.” After 38 years, the now-retired Sportel is still driving the same 1957 Chevrolet half-ton pickup he paid $75 for back in 1976.

As Minneapolis-St. Paul NBC affiliate KARE first reported, Sportel was in need of basic transportation to his job at a local feed and grain co-op, when a farmer offered to sell his rusty and tired 1957 Chevy pickup. The two haggled on the price, and Sportel eventually agreed to pay $75 for the 19-year-old truck. He hoped it would last him four years, time enough to put aside some money for a newer truck, but time slipped by.

Four years turned into nearly four decades, yet Sportel never got rid of his ’57 Chevy pickup. Reluctantly, he’d fix things that were broken, but never invested any more time or money in the truck than was necessary. The tinworm has long since eaten through the front fenders, and the headlamps are kept in place primarily with Bondo. The truck is loud, thanks to holes in the exhaust, and the tattered upholstery consists largely of a wool blanket and duct tape.

Sportel hasn’t skimped on oil changes, performing the ritual every three months. In total, he estimates that he’s spent less than $1,000 on repairs over the 38 years, during which he estimates that he’s put over 300,000 miles on the Chevy. Sportel isn’t sure, since the truck’s odometer wasn’t working when he purchased it.

Despite his wife’s urgings that he buy something new, Sportel soldiers on with the old Chevy, admitting that a little old lady once dressed him down for driving such a disgraceful vehicle. In his words, “It kept going, so I just kept driving it.”

Despite the fact that Sportel has now retired from the co-op, don’t look for the hearty Minnesotan to get rid of the Chevy any time soon. We doubt there’s a restoration in the truck’s future, though for safety’s sake (given the holes in the body), we hope Sportel springs for a new muffler.

from Hemmings Daily - News for the collector car enthusiast http://ift.tt/1HMoVfs






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