Man Pays it Forward by Selling Chevy Truck Back to Original Owners
After 44 years, 1957 Chevy truck went back home to the grandson of its original owner–for its original jaw-dropping price.
It was the best $75 bucks that Bob Sportal ever spent.
In 1976, Sportal was looking to find a reliable truck to drive to work. Some might have called it been fate when he came across a 1957 Chevy truck for sale. At first blush, it wasn’t anything to stop traffic. On the outside, the still-stock pickup had plenty of wear and tear. But beneath the weathered interior beat the heart, chrome, and steel of a Chevy Task Force.
Retired farmer John VanDerVeen had owned and used the truck for almost two decades. And even though the truck was still solid and running well, he was asking only $75 dollars. It was a deal.
Sportal had found his new (old) long-term daily driver. And for the next 38 years, it was that very same truck that Sportal drove to and from work. Even on his last day.
It was a part of the family, and his daughter even took it to prom. A request that Sportal met with, “Are you crazy?”
Not much was done to the truck over the years. It was known around his hometown of Prinsburg, MN for its rusty looks and clamorous roar. But it was irresistible.
“It’s not real pretty. It’s unique,” says Sportal’s wife Kathy.
However, over the years the family had acquired other vehicles, including a 2015 Silverado. And the rusty pickup with duct tape on the seats was taking up space.
“I usually hear it at least once a week, twice a week,” Sportal told KARE news. “’When are you going to get rid of it; we need the room in the garage.’”
It was time. But it wasn’t going to be easy to let go.
“It becomes a part of you, I don’t know how to explain it,” he explains.
Such a special truck should go to a special owner. So Sportal decided to take it back to its roots.
Last week, Sportal happily passed the reins on to a new owner: Tom Leenstra, grandson of the VenDerVeen–the farmer he originally bought it from.
The asking price? $75.00.
Certainly this classic pickup could fetch a very nice price on the market. But it was more important to Sportal that this gift that gave him so much go to the right owner. Just as it had come into his life 44 years ago.
“It’s what I paid for it, so that’s what I’m going to sell if for,” he says. “It’s going in the family, so that’s the most important thing.”
Over the years the two families had stayed in touch, and Leenstra wasn’t shy about dropping hints that he would love the Chevy. Now that he finally has the classic half-ton truck, he is understandably thrilled.
“It’s like riding with my Grandpa again,” says Leenstra.
Leenstra plans to do some work on it. But not too much; this truck will always carry the same spirit and character that made it such an important part of the Sportals lives.
There are those cars and trucks that become such a pivotal part of our lives, and we love that Sportal wanted to let the spirit of the truck live on. It isn’t the end of an era. It is the beginning of a new one.
Photo: Boyd Huppert/KARE
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