9:00 on Friday morning looking north from our spot in the west side of the South building. We are the only occupiers of our row on our side of the walkway. On the other side, against the wall, four vendors occupy spaces where there were 10 vendors as recently as two years ago. We’ve been coming to Chickasha for the annual Pre War Swap Meet for about 37 years, with no more than a half dozen missed in all that time. This year’s meet was good, but like last year it was not as good as it had been the year before.
A lot of factors are causing the swap meet to slowly fade away. Probably number one among reasons not to go to a swap meet as either a vendor or a buyer is the ability to sell – and buy – parts online. Another possible factor, there is reportedly a swap meet in Norman the same weekend, and another in Wichita the week prior. Whatever the reasons might be they are likely not anything that the organizers can control. What they can control would be to put the vendors in a more concentrated area. Perhaps one building would contain all the indoor vendors, and one outdoor would contain all the outdoor vendors. The weather was not terrible this year but it was very windy on Friday and cold on Saturday morning which probably kept a few people away.
Friday afternoon was the busiest time, still it was noticeably slower than last year.
There are two vendors on the rows behind us, but 50% of the South building is now vacant.
Nice ’26 roadster found a buyer. It is reportedly headed for Houston, TX.
Very presentable 1908 Model S Ford runabout was fairly priced at $39,000 or nearest best offer. It was not terribly authentic, yet it had sensible modifications that would make it reliable as a tour car. Fit and finish were outstanding. The styrofoam cup on the floor is catching coolant leaking from the water pump.
Chain driven Bosch Distributor and NH carburetor are common modifications on Model NRS Fords. The distributor uses about 40% more battery power than a stock Model S coil and timer setup, so while a distributor might be easier to work on it limits your range depending on how many and how large your batteries are.
Chickasha is still a great place to see old friends, and to make new ones.
This 1931 Pontiac was for sale in the South building. It looked to be a great car, and fairly priced. It did not find a buyer who needed it.
The Pontiac looked great from every angle. He drove it out for lunch on Friday, and it sounded fantastic.
This is a very rare car, albeit not very much left. It’s a ’31 Desoto roadster. It would take a lot of love and money to make it whole again.
Home made trailer based on a T axle and hubs was cleverly built to utilize a rowboat as the cover.
This TT truck had a lot of rust problems and the chassis was missing a lot. It remained unsold.
’29 Essex had a great paint job. The restoration was lacking nickel plating on the headlamps, radiator shell, bumpers, and many other things that would have added several thousand dollars worth of cost. IT was for sale at $11,000 and remained that way until Saturday afternoon when this photo was taken.
In years past there were 20 – 30 vendors selling brass lamps. This year the number was down to less than half a dozen. Interested buyers were equally scarce.
The gang from Kerrville had a great selection of T + A Ford stuff for sale, and priced fairly too.
You don’t see many ’26 Dodge Brothers coupes around, for sale or not. This one appeared to be a solid driver with a fresh paint job in a 1960’s Mopar muscle car color. It was not attracting buyers.
This rear half of a large late 1920’s touring was very fairly priced. It had to be an enormous car, perhaps a Pierce or a Packard. I hope it finds a buyer next year.