Dodge man still drives 1930 Model A his mother bought new

Gus Crump, 93, still goes cruisin' around Dodge City in his 1930 Model A Ford Tudor, which he remembers driving new.  
    At the age of 15, Crump drove the new Model A his mother purchased for $610.
    "Where she came up with the money, I'll never know, but she bought it," Crump said.
    His mom didn't know how to drive it, so Crump spent a few months teaching her.
    Crump was raised on a ranch in southern Colorado, moving to Dodge City in 1959, where he was the first manager of the Silver Spur Motel for five years, and an office manager at the Dodge City Veterinarian Clinic until retirement.
    Crump's family had a Model T Roadster when he was young, but Crump's mother decided to buy a new car that could make the 50-mile trip to Pueblo for his grandmother's doctor visits.
    It took a couple hours to make the trip, with top speeds of about 40 miles per hour, Crump said. He has fond memories of driving the Model A around, and said he remembers when he could fill the 10-gallon tank with $2.
    Crump's mother drove the Model A until her eyesight became poor and she was worried about getting in an accident. Sometime in the 50s she called Crump and asked him to pick up the car if he wanted it.
    "I was there the next morning," he said.
    He went to work restoring the car by having the engine rebuilt, the upholstery redone and getting a new paint job to closely match the original color.
    After 78 years, Crump's Model A is still in good shape with only 30,000 miles, 24,000 put on by his mother and another 6,000 by him. Crump still takes the Model A out for drives around town and occasionally to Garden City or other nearby towns. 
    "They're just not perfect, but they're a lot of fun," he said. "On a dirt road they ride pretty rough and you can feel all the bumps. Our air conditioner is a model 32 — 30 miles an hour with two windows down."

Completing the pair
    After working on the Ford Tudor, Crump discovered a Model A frame and decided to build a 1930 Model A pickup.
    "I found the old frame in a junkyard in Garden City," Crump said. "There was a tree growing right up the middle."
    Crump spent the next nine years restoring the vehicle and tracking down the necessary parts for it. He went to auctions and searched antique car shops until he collected enough Model A and even a few Model T parts to finish the vehicle.
    Crump said the pickup bed was nearly impossible to find, but eventually he was able to buy it from a man's yard in Liberal for only $100.
    After a while, Crump stopped keeping track of the money he put into his cars, especially the pickup.
    "You don't keep track of the money when you're working on cars, you don't pay attention to that," he said.  
    Since finishing the pickup, Crump has put about 4,000 miles on it by driving it occasionally over the years.
    With his pair of 30s complete, Crump finds it impossible to choose a favorite.
    "I have my memories in that one (Model A Tudor) and my money in this (Model A Pickup)," he said.

Reach Cherise Forno at (620) 408-9931 or e-mail her at cherise.forno@dodgeglobe.com.