MID–MINNESOTA WHEEL S W E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 2 2
From field Antique truck goes from pasture relic to the road
to fancy
BY SARAH COLBURN STAFF WRITER
andy Turner and his cousins grew up playing in, around and on top of a 1939 Chevrolet panel truck sitting in his grandparents’ pasture. With broken out windows, shredded leather seats, interior fabric hanging from the roof, a dented exterior and a seized engine, Turner hauled it out of the pasture and into his furniture refinishing shop. “I jumped into this thing with both feet, and I didn’t know a thing about it,” Turner said. The truck sat on its running boards in the field. The wheels, shocks, axles and back end had been removed years before by a handful of young boys. Turner jacked up the front end, put planks under the body and winched it onto a trailer. “The dirt on the sides, from vegetation decomposing, was 4 or 5 inches higher than the running boards,” Turner said. “Surprisingly, … the body was solid and didn’t have too much rust.” Even so, Turner was faced with a project he had no experience with. “I decided I would see if it was worth doing anything with,” he said. “I have no idea why, it just happened.” Turner relied on the advice of his f r i e n d s
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PHOTOS SUBMITTED Randy Turner’s 1939 Chevrolet panel truck, Bugsy, is pictured at the Sinclair Lewis Park in Sauk Centre during the summer of 2021. Randy wanted to get some nice photos of Bugsy since putting some finishing touches to the exterior.
who were car fanatics and welders. When a friend came to help, Turner worked alongside, helping and learning every step of the way to complete each phase of the work from beginning to end. Turner knew he was not going to return the vehicle to its original condition and instead focused on keeping the outside as similar to the original as he could. The truck was as a six-cylinder straight stick meant for work and fashioned with a single seat meant solely for the driver. The half-ton truck was purchased in the late 1950s by Eu-
gene Joarnt, Turner’s stepfather. His dad used the truck to haul milk to the creamery in Gutches Grove in Todd County. Rumor has it Turner’s uncles used to take the truck out for night drives around the countryside. They would sit on milk stools in the back. One evening, the truck ended up in the ditch alongside a telephone pole, the right side of the truck caved in from the back door to the rear. After that, it was relegated to the pasture. Over time, sitting in the pasture with the doors splayed open, Turner said
the cattle would rub up against the truck. The elements and the animals were hard on the doors and the hinges. Though Turner pulled the truck
Bugsy page 2
Randy Turner’s 1939 Chevrolet panel truck, Bugsy, is pictured at the Sinclair Lewis Park in Sauk Centre during the summer of 2021. Some of Randy’s favorite touches to the exterior are the lettering on the side and the red detailing that can be seen on the front of the truck.
A Supplement to the The Star Post and Sauk Centre Herald