Page 4 - SAACAC

Cover Car Stories - Jerry DeJong

Recently Judy Whitehead asked me if I would submit an updated ar5cle on my 1939 Dodge for the Clunker. My
first thought was that nothing had changed since the interview published in the Clunker issue of June 2018. On
second thought it would be an opportunity to be a contributor to the club and not just an occasional
par5cipant.
For introduc5on I will copy a paragraph from that June 2018
ar5cle:
“My Dad had never owned a car in his life. But in Canada you
just can’t bike everywhere like you do in Holland. This was 1957 and
he bought a 1939 Pon5ac. To him it was just an old car. To me it was
just fascina5ng. So when I got old enough to have my own car he
helped me find an old car. He had a ’53 Ford lined up. It was in
really nice shape but the owner decided not to sell. I ended up with
a ‘51 Plymouth. I’ve always wondered, if I had ended up with that
Ford would I have loved Fords instead of Chrysler products? I was
not in love with that car. It was okay but a few years later I decided
to do a pre-appren5ce auto body course in Vancouver. You were
allowed to have one project that was your own. I came across a ’39
Dodge and it had the original paint, kind of a mousy grey. Most of it had peeled off, and the rusty coloured
undercoat was showing through. I towed it home and my dad took one look at it and said, “You park that car in
the garage, I’ll park mine on the street. I am embarrassed to have the neighbours looking at it.” I got it running
and drove it back and forth from downtown Vancouver to Surrey. It had no headlights. I was pulled over by
two cops. The younger cop was giving me trouble about no headlights. What do you need headlights for if you
are only driving it during the day? The older cop said oh just let him go. When I finally got that project done
and drove it home dad said, “Oh you’ve got to park it outside, I want the neighbours to see this!”
That was a 6 month course from fall 69 to spring 70. For the next 2 years it was my daily driver, and on
June 17 ‘72 it was our wedding car. We segled in Chilliwack BC. Soon ater it developed mechanical problems
and was replaced with something more reliable. But somehow it stayed with me, with the hope that someday I
would pay it the agen5on it deserved. In ’77 Chris and I moved to Falkland BC. Then in 79 we moved to the
Picture Buge / Nobleford area and the ’39 tagged along. Then followed 4 years in Three Hills and 14 years in
Papua New Guinea. All that 5me the ’39 stayed in Southern Alberta. In 2002 we moved back to Falkland and in
2003 I rescued the ’39 from 20 years of exposure to the climate of Burdeg where it had been on a friend’s
farm. Between ’04 and ’07 the ‘someday’ became a reality. A complete frame up restora5on including sand
blas5ng, minor body repair, and primer. I planned to paint it the same original bagle ship grey, but Chris my
ar5s5c wife challenged me to think outside the box. A professional paint job requires a professional with
proper facili5es. A friend in the trade offered to paint it in exchange for me wiring his new house, a mutually
beneficial arrangement I’ve never regreged. I went to a few show and shine events in Vernon but enjoyed just
driving it a lot more.
In 2016 Chris and I moved to a house on the golf course in Coaldale. A sharp eyed golfer by the name of Vic
Rogalsky spoged my Dodge and promptly invited me to join the club. It has been a privilege to be part of car
and social events over the past years.
On reflec5on I ask myself several ques5ons regarding what appealed to me about the Dodge: did someone’s
descrip5on of 1930 era cars as ‘Rolling Sculpture’ appeal to me? Definitely. I fully agree that curves are
important, especially in the right places.
Did my memory of Dad’s 1939 Pon5ac influence my choice of the Dodge with similar body style? Again yes.
But also the narrow front seat with the narrow split windshield reminds me of a bush plane that ignites the
imagina5on to explora5on and adventure. Boyish dreams even at my age.
Looking at the car conjures up another ques5on: can an inanimate object possess charm, grace, character? Or
beger yet: since a number of cars have come and gone, and temp5ng poten5al projects have been passed by,
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