I have always wanted a car hauler.  I have trucks that tow and I have trailers that follow but I always wanted a Hodges Car Hauler.  The Hodges company has been around forever in Kentucky building what started out as a truck to haul your Sat. night special to the local dirt track.
If your only going to the local track, a standard cab one ton with a 16' bed is just the ticket.  But, because we sometimes drive a 1,000 miles or more and occasionally haul a truck, trailer or both I needed a one ton crew cab, diesel with at least a 17' bed.
Well, when the opportunity presented itself in Nov. to buy a one ton, diesel, crew cab with a 8'x19' Hodges ramp bed, I had to take it. 
I had a guy in Ft Worth, Texas that races an old 426 Dodge and owns a diesel shop that reworks diesel heads for diesel competitions who was interested in owning my Dodge Diesel dually with no rust and a ton of mods primarily for towing.
The deal was struck with him to trade my Quad Cab Dodge for enough cash to buy the Hodges car hauler and a car that he acquired from his partners father.  One owner, 97 Cutlass Supreme SL, black w/blk leather, no rust, been in Texas all it's life.
The problem was, I was on the road coming back from the Muscle Car & Corvette Nationals in Chicago on my way to deliver a car from the show to up state NY in some less than perfect weather.  There was no way I could tell my wife, after 18 days of driving, car showing, visiting relatives, simply being away from home, that I just bought a truck 700 miles behind us.  So, the saga began with my silence on the purchase.  Then came plans for a trip to Indy to trade the Dodge to the Texas diesel jockey.  It was about that time I posted the Hodges Car Hauler on the Internet as a vehicle I needed driven to me in Michigan because I could not handle another road trip, this one 1500 miles.  Well, the wife saw an email about the Hodges Hauler and that was no longer a secret.  I struck a deal with a broker in Florida to have the Hodges Hauler driven from NY to me in MI.  We  went back to Indy to spend Xmas with the family.  About Dec. 28, we come back from Indy, the Dodge dually had been traded on the previous trip, the new Cutlass was home and in the garage. 
The broker in Florida contacts me and says his driver that was headed to NY for my truck is nowhere to be found.  "I POST THIS AS A WARNING TO ALL OUT OF STATE BUYERS, BEWARE"  I paid a deposit to the web site for the haul, I paid 50% up front to the driver and I guess he got homesick just before Xmas and said to heck with continuing on in the snow and the cold.  So, now he is not answering his cell phone.  The broker says the last he heard the guy was struck in a snow bank up north and needed $300 to be towed out.
You are now up to date on my long awaited purchase of a Hodges Car Hauler.  Over a period of the last 4-5 weeks, I have purchased insurance, received the title, paid my taxes and transferred it into a MI title in my name.  Then I sent the plate and all pertinent paperwork to a FedEx office in NY, to be picked up by the contract driver.
Tomorrow, I will load up my wife's Vibe, drive it from here in MI to the NY area.  I will get a motel room for the night.  Come Monday morning, I will go to the FedEx office to retrieve my plate, registration and insurance certificate.  Then I drive to the truck on Long Island, NY, attach the plate, load the Vibe on the back of the hauler and start the trip back home.  That will probably require another motel night because 550 or so in about my limit anymore and I have a rule about driving unknown vehicles into the night on the Interstate.  With a little bit of luck, moderate weather, no mechanical curve balls and a couple 5 hour energy drinks I will have my favorite auto purchase of 2009, it just will be about 5 days into 2010.

cdnpont wrote:

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My best for 09?  It would obviously have to be this catch...can't wait till spring!

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 Clean, classy and large.  One of my favorites, especially in that colour!