FEBRUARY 2024: 1956 DODGE CRUSADER—THE PLODGE CAME HOME AGAIN

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The best car stories are the ‘reunited with previous owner’ stories because every car guy ever born lives with the hope that a beloved old car or truck comes home.

MyStar did a story in April 2021 about a 1956 Dodge Crusader (Canadian Dodge—Plodge) and since then it’s been bought and sold back so that’s the happy ending.

There was a clear explanation about why it was for sale as Gabe recalled:“He absolutely didn’t touch the car for almost a decade, drove it 2 summers and it stopped running for whatever reason”.

Gabe diagnosed the problem:“Fuel tank issue I believe, so I went down to southern Alberta, and picked it up, I now live in the Vancouver area”.

The old Dodge was still reliable when Gabe picked it up: “It’s been quite the adventure in time to track it down again and get a second chance to rework the old gal, it literally started right up with a fresh battery and fuel down the carburetor”.

The trip to get the car was more difficult than starting it: “It was a bit of an ordeal to get it back, lost phone numbers, tracking down old contacts, and driving the 1200 kms one way to get it, driving through a pretty big thunder storm the afternoon I got to Fort McCloud, AB”.

Gabe is definitely bringing his ’56 Dodge back to life:”… slowly been getting it better than before, now up to 41K miles on it, had a little more than 38K miles when I first found it.

He’s also dug into the history of the Crusader: “I even found the original owner, and where he was buried in the main cemetery in Medicine Hat, AB–the original owner of the car’s brother was a well-known preacher in Calgary”.

Gabe added: “When you or whomever originally interviewed me, I neglected to mention that lots of personal information and letters of the previous owner were found in the seats of the old Dodge when I found it initially”.

That’s a lot of information on the Dodge’s past, but Gabe also wanted to outline  the car’s future.

By: Jerry Sutherland

Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post,  Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.

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