Truck Ends Up Back In Family's Possession After 18 Years
Posted
Daniel Riordan-driordan@timesuniononline.com
By all accounts, Gilbert Baumle was a meticulous man.
An engineeer, Baumle came up with unique work-arounds for things and kept perfect records.
That is evident in a truck that has been sitting in Steve Petro's hangar at the Warsaw Municipal Airport.
Baumle, who died in 2001, was a loyal customer at Petro's former Chrysler/Dodge dealership in Warsaw.
In 1992, Baumle came into Petro's showroom to purchase what he believed would be his last vehicle.
"He took such good care of his vehicles," said Petro. "He came in then because he wanted cash for a trade-in on a minivan."
Baumle said he'd trade in the 1955 Dodge truck he'd had for years on one condition.
"He told me he'd give it to me as long as I promised not to sell it," said Petro. "He said 'If you keep it, I'll trade it.'"
Petro was interested in the truck because of both the condition it was in and the year it was made.
"It's a 1955, I was born in 1955 plus it only had 40,000 original miles on it," said Petro.
When Baumle traded it in he also gave Petro a box of original parts that he had kept over the years.
At first, the truck sat inside the dealership. Then a couple of years ago when Petro sold his dealership, he moved the truck to his hangar.
There it sat until recently when Baumle's daughter, Martha Saull called Petro.
Saull lives with her family in southern Indiana. Her son, Mark, recently restored another vehicle.
There was talk among the family of calling Petro to see what it would take to get Baumle's old truck.
Saull said she was hesitant to call until a neighbor told her it was OK to ask.
Keeping the promise he made Baumle, Petro still had the truck.
When she asked about perhaps buying the truck back, Saull said her son planned to restore it.
Petro decided that by selling it back, at a discounted price, to his daughter, he would avoid breaking the promise he made to her father.
When Saull saw the truck Saturday, memories began to flood back.
"It's just how I remember it," said Saull.
She saw the bed of the truck where her father had modified it to haul a camper.
She saw the green paint job that came after her father did it using a vacuum cleaner.
Petro also had fond memories of the truck as he used to take his daughter out on rides in it.
"She always loved it cause it didn't have any seatbelts in it," said Petro.
The truck, which was featured in an advertisement in the Times-Union in 1995, will stay with Petro until October when Saull's brother-in-law comes up from southern Indiana to pick it up.
At that point, Saull's son will get to work on it.
Petro said he was glad to help keep what has become a family heirloom in the family.
