Hidden Content
Farm vehicles live rough lives. They work hard and go without washes or covered storage, rusting in the rain and breaking under the strain. But even for a tractor, this Model A has had a rough life.
First, it was co-opted into service it wasn't built for. During World War 2, it became nearly impossible to get a new tractor for your farm. Machine builders were all working on the war effort, trusting farmers to figure out another way to keep their current tractors running or replace them with something else. This lead to the massive popularity of the "Doodlebug," a truck—often a Model A or Model T—converted into a usable tractor with off-the-shelf parts and common tools. The result is what you see in this video, a Model A with a chopped body, towing attachments, tractor seat, and often some sort of dumper or load-carrying platform.

This one served well for years, but was eventually left in the woods to rot. There it spent the better part of a decade, battered by a wicked combination of rain, snow, creature infestations, and almost a century's worth of dirt eating away at it. The idea that it could ever move again sounded ridiculous.But its owner Ted isn't one for waste, with a barn full of spare parts and tools to handle every situation. He and legendary detailer Larry Kosilla went out to cut it free of the trees that have grown around and through it to see if it's salvageable. Despite a frozen transmission and corrosion everywhere, he got it moving and handed it to Kosilla for a wash.

Kosilla, best known for his excruciatingly thorough details, can't really save this one. It's more rust than it is metal at this point, with the paint long past the point of no return. Still, he's able to sand off the worst corrosion, remove the living organisms that are growing all over the car, and add some shine to the dilapidated old thing. Most importantly, he treats it with a rust-resistant spray that should significantly slow down further corrosion.