COLLECTOR CLASSICS
Who says kids aren’t car crazy?
“I am 13 and need a 1951 Chrysler Windsor parts car,” reads an online ad in the classic car section of Kijiji-British Columbia.
Turns out 13-year-old Liam Lesley wasted no time putting the ad on the web after getting his “new” 1951 Chrysler Windsor sedan. After all, he had already waited nearly three months for the delivery of the car.
His family had to evacuate their cattle ranch at Meldrum Creek – 45 minutes west of Williams Lake in British Columbia’s Chilcotin region — because of forest fires surrounding their property. They stayed in Prince George for 47 days and then moved down to Williams Lake for several weeks while waiting for the fire danger to pass.
The family was allowed to return to their home in late August. But it was mid-October by the time Liam’s grandfather delivered the car by trailer. It was an exciting day at the Lesley farm.
“I became interested in old cars when I was six or seven years old,” the home-schooled 13-yearold says. “Since then, I have been searching Kijiji and Craigslist on a daily basis to find one that is just right for me — and that I had enough money for.”
Liam found his 1951 Chrysler Windsor four-door sedan advertised on Kijiji early last summer.
“I picked this 1951 Chrysler for five reasons: I was looking for a project; I felt that it was a great deal; it has a straight-six engine which I know is reliable and easy to work on; it has a slightly rounded rear window; and it is one of my favourite style of cars.”
He made the purchase with money he earned, noting: “I wouldn’t have been able to buy my car if it wasn’t for my awesome neighbours Don Urdea giving me money for fixing fences and doing other work.”
The car had been inherited by a man in Salmo near Nelson in B.C.’s southcentral area. His grandfather had owned the car, which had been mechanically restored, since the 1970s after buying it from a local farmer who used it to haul milk. The old Chrysler eventually found its way into a field where it had been abandoned for a number of years. After some haggling with the owner over the $500 asking price, Liam made the purchase for $300 of his hard-earned money. It was just what Liam wanted for a price he could afford.
“The cars that interest me the most are the ’50s Chrysler, Dodges et cetera. Even though they are kind of the same, they all have a little bit of different style,” he says. “On top of the ’50s cars, I love cars with big round windows such as AMC Pacers, which is what I was going to originally buy before I bought my 1951 Chrysler Windsor.”
His grandfather lives in Grand Forks and picked the car up with his trailer in Salmo, a little more than an hour away.
“My dad was not home for about the first five minutes of me getting the car. But my mom thought it was pretty cool,” Liam says. “My dad got home shortly after and was able to see my initial reaction of joy and he was pretty pumped about the car as well.”
Within a week, Liam and his heavy-duty mechanic father had installed a new ignition coil and some other parts and got the old Chrysler fired up. The engine that had been previously rebuilt ran well although it needed a tune-up and possibly a carburetor rebuild.
“My dad has taught me everything I know about mechanics and I practised working on old SkiDoos and dirt bikes, doing things like checking spark and cleaning carbs. I also recently found a video game that is pretty technical and I think I’ll learn from it.”
After assessing the car, Liam put the ad online.
“I need a parts car or parts. It would be good to have a parts car so, if anything breaks in the future, I have a source for replacements. I have had only a few responses. One person has doors and the other lives too far away.” Liam says.
Apart from some assorted parts, his big need is for quarter panels that are the rear fenders. His have had rust issues and contain a lot of body filler.
“My dad is definitely going to be huge help. With anything to do with the engine, he is there to guide me. However, as far as the interior goes, I plan on doing it mostly myself. I plan to slowly collect the parts to do this. There is never a shortage of things to fix. It’s going to take some time.”
He can be contacted at liam. lesley@hotmail.com