February 2020
Gus and Debbie
Do you know anyone who was a row crop farmer in California, served in Iraq, has seen the world, drives vintage cars, and can trace the ownership of a 1944 truck directly to his grandfather? Yes, you do. While the history lesson is interesting enough, owning a government approved family pass-down war era 1944 truck is amazing!
Gus Van De Verde was born in Oregon, because that’s where his father was going to college. But his high school years were near Anaheim, California in the mid 1960’s where the cool cars were and still are. What a great place to be in the 1960’s - listening to pop music and being surrounded by cool cars.
After high school Gus attended Cal-Poly in San Luis Obispo, California. For those who haven’t been there, San Luis Obispo is a beautiful place on the famous Highway 101 near the Pacific Ocean. I know there is a good college there if you are dedicated and can tear yourself from the beach enough to attend classes. Gus’s family had farms near Anaheim and in Tulare county (north of Bakersfield) California. He chose to go to the farm in Tulare - apparently liking the hot desert area.
After row crop farming in Tulare, Gus joined the Navy. The Navy had him tour the world including Thailand, Iraq, as well as the East and West Coasts of the US. After doing his service duty Gus went back to the family farm in Tulare. He also worked jobs outside of farming and is an excellent dc voltage Tig welder, working mainly with stainless steel.
Gus has always been a car guy and has a 912 Porsche and several vintage VW’s. He married his lovely wife Debbie in 2005 (“No Gus, 2004”, she calls from the other room, correcting him on his error).
When the family sold the family farm, Debbie and Gus needed to find a place to live so they took a road trip. They drove here and there and decided to settle here- that is Corrales, in 2016. While Gus has a collection of tractors, he longed to get his grandfather’s truck running. January of 2020 he attended a Tumbleweed V8 meeting and immediately joined. He credits a discussion of distributors by Joe Abbin as being the spark to get back to work on the truck. He went home and got the 1944 truck started for the first time in 16 years. He was having difficulty with the brakes but ran into Bob Agnew at the Super Nationals and got advice which helped him with the brake issues. He says the knowledge within the club and the willingness of people to help is “amazing”.
Gus’s truck has only 15,000 miles and the original Goodyear tires are in his garage! He noted his wife Debbie was dubious of touring the country in a vintage vehicle. But, she discovered that even when they have an issue there are always nice folks around who help them get going again. He and Debbie are interested in touring. Debbie is now a car buff also. Gus says he and Debbie also like the Tumbleweed Club because there are several women who attend meetings and breakfasts, in addition to the knowledge in the club. Welcome to our newest members, Gus and Debbie.
