My friend Norris Edmonds called me this morning and asked me if I could get him some exposure in selling his truck. Teaser: It is a highly desirable 1/2-ton five-speed overdrive truck. This is what it looked like a couple years ago (more explanation below)-
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Unfortunately I don't have any later pictures in its current state.Background: This is the truck that Norris drove on our Potomac Chapter 6,000-mile Route
66 trip in 2003 . The truck performed flawlessly on the trip. Norris and his brother Tom bought this truck in Oklahoma and drove it back to Virginia a few years ago. Norris completely rebuilt the 289 engine (now has 15,000 miles)and fixed up a number of other things. Since the Route 66 trip Norris partially disassembled the truck to move the body and drivetrain to a mint chassis that is completely detailed. The original '57 chassis was pretty beat up (frame cracks, etc.). He has all new glass, new floor pans (some rust in the existing ones, but not that bad), MANY new mechanical parts, two sets of wide white tires (one with under 1,000 miles) and on and on. I know about a bunch of the new parts because I placed the order for him (he has trouble talking on the phone). The reason he was re-doing the truck was to make our Chapter Lincoln Highway trip this year (trip fell though in the last month). Norris had Parkinson's disease when he made the Route 66 Trip, but he hung in there. However, it is now significantly advanced and, while he has fought it very valiantly, he has finally come to the realization that he can't finish the truck. He is to the point that he can't walk at all, but must use a battery-powered wheelchair. As an aside, the Parkinson's came after he beat what had been diagnosed as terminal leukemia. To illustrate his pluck, last weekend he drove the 600-mile roundtrip (in his '01 Dodge truck) to attend our Chapter picnic in Maryland. To compound his continuing bad luck, last December his house burned to the ground. The insurance settlement paid off his mortgage and that was about it, so he is living in his garage. He lost his computer in the fire and hasn't replaced it so he doesn't have email anymore. One clever thing he did to help him drive the truck was to install a Sagninaw power steering setup from an Oldsmobile. He also removed some leaves from the rear springs to improve the ride. Other than that, the truck is basically stock. Norris wants $7,500 for everything. It would take two trailers and a LOT of boxes to carry it all. He can be reached by phone, landline or cell. Please email me off-group for the numbers. He is difficult to understand some times so, if you call, think about his difficulty. He lives in Zuni, VA, a very small town about 20 miles west of Suffolk, VA (Norfolk area). Paul Johnson