I'm not sure what my aunt finally did with the car. She was having a difficult time getting rid of it. I live 1,200 miles from her home, so it wasn't convenient for me to try to do anything with. #1, as a whole car, it was too far gone. The floor was rusted out due to water coming in the broken windshield. Infestation by rodentia. Water damage and rodentia had destroyed all the wiring (old cloth-wrapped stuff). Upholstery was completely shot. Rust in many places on the body lower areas. Wheel lug nuts rusted onto studs. Brake shoes rusted onto drum surfaces. Wheel cylinders seized. As to other mechanicals, like the fuel tank and lines, engine seized, who knows how the auto. trans. fared but must've had some rust on machined surfaces that hadn't turned in over 30 years. In short, it would've taken tens of thousands of dollars to bring this car back and you would've been way, way deeper into it than it was worth.
As to good parts, all the chrome die cast stuff was pitted badly. The front bumper looks kinda good in the picture but the chrome plating was thin and frosty-looking, not really shiny like chrome is supposed to look. The stainless grille main section looks good in the 2010 picture, not bent; it might've been worth something.
The car was offered to me with the hope that I'd completely restore it and keep it in the family, as it were. I've already commented on the hopelessness of that scene. However, with the idea of restoration in mind, I don't know if my uncle's family would've welcomed the idea of my taking the car over just to part it out and junk it. At least not early in their attempts to find a new home for it. Later, maybe, but again the issue of 1,200 miles comes up.
The one thing I could've taken advantage of if I'd been quick on my feet the last time I looked at it (when I took the pics) concerns the license plates. Those weren't in the best of condition, but prob. worth at least $100 in California. A few years ago, the state legislature there passed a law permitting the re-use of vintage plate sets. So, somebody with a 1963 through 1969 anything (last year the series was issued) might've bought them. You see, those black plates with gold lettering came out in 1963 and wouldn't have been original to the '54 Ford. I don't know if those plates were from 1963; prob. not with an ORU prefix. However, I'm sure smart car collectors can figure out what year ORU was first issued and they would be most appropriate on a car of that year.
I had three sets of old CA plates in my possession dating back to when they weren't worth anything. I had one set of series 1956 (gold/black) and two sets of series 1963 (black/gold). They were all in pretty nice shape and I got about $200 plus per set on eBay after the law in CA was changed and they became valuable.
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