Crosley Page

Philip Kelley's

Page

When we lived in Kentucky in the late 50's and early 60's, I purchased a 1948 Crosley 2 door sedan. We drove it until we moved back to Arkansas in the early 60's. Because we did not have enough room to bring the whole car back, we brought only the running gear with us leaving the body in Kentucky. In Arkansas, I shortened the frame and made a little "dune buggy" for my kids to drive in the mid-60's around the camp where we lived. When we moved from that camp, we took the "buggy" with us. It sat for many years waiting for some attention. Then I got the idea to fix it up when the pickup I purchased (see below) was going to take longer than I anticipated. So, I rebuilt an engine that I had, put some seats on it, made some fenders for it, got some tires for it and we were ready to roll. I had it running with the grandkids and "big" kids got here for Thanksgiving in 2003. Here are some pictures of it that weekend.

Over the years I have collected parts for Crosleys. Always hopping that someday I would be able to purchase a car to fix up. I have collected 4 engines in various stages of repair and another running gear. This second running gear was made into two trailers. The rearend is made into a trailer to pull behind my riding lawnmower. The front end was made into a trailer for my son in 1980. He is still using it today. Until recently he ran Crosley wheels and hubcaps on it.

One year for Christmas, my son gave me a membership to the Crosley Automobile Club for Christmas. It puts out a quarterly magazine with articles and stories about Crosley cars and trucks.

In 2003 my dream finally came true. I was able to purchase a Crosley pickup to rebuild. Here are some pictures of it as it currently sits. I hope to get it running one of these days and be able to drive it around the place. Perhaps we will even take it to some shows when it gets done.

I purchased a 1949 Crosley Station Wagon for the extra parts that it might have for the truck project

I discovered that the frame of the wagon was cracked beyond repair, so I determined to use the frame from the pickup.

Here is the frame and running gear. Some has been painted. The front axle is waiting it's turn.

Here is the engine being rebuilt.

Here is the transmission before it was cleaned up and painted.

Here are some spare parts, but this is just a very small portion of what I have.

Here is the frame and running gear ready for the body. The engine has been installed, new brake lines run, brakes rebuilt, and new tires installed.

Here the steering wheel has been refurbished.

I decided that the pickup was too far gone to repair and I decided to use the body of the wagon to make a pickup. So over Christmas break in 2006, my son helped me cut the pickup in half so that I could use the back wall of the cab.

Here are some pictures that my son took in March of 2007. The back of the cab is in place in the old wagon body and I'm working on the body work. I have put some fiberglass on the floor boards to be able to use them.

Here are some pictures that my daughter took in April of 2007. I have the first coat of primer on the little truck.

Here are some pictures that my grandson took took during a visit in July of 2007. I have the first coat of primer on the little truck.

Here are some pictures that my son took in August of 2007. This first group was of the truck as it appeared in the garage when he arrived.

Then we hung the doors and rolled it out of the garage. the hood was set in place and then these pictures were taken. We think is looking pretty good.