My Favorite Ride: The buying of Ole Nance, a rare 1936 Chrysler Airstream

Pat Conder's 1936 Chrysler Airstream Deluxe, from the front, parked at his farm in Owen County
Pat Conder's 1936 Chrysler Airstream Deluxe, from the front, parked at his farm in Owen County

GOSPORT − Six years ago, a friend of Pat Conder's was looking to buy a car. Scrolling online through the inventory at Tony's Pre-Owned Auto Sales in Kokomo, a vehicle caught Conder's eye.

It was a 1936 burgundy and silver Chrysler Airstream Deluxe Sedan with suicide doors, wide swooping fenders and a plain-yet-stately chrome grille that defined the car.

The grille nameplate on Pat Conder's 1936 Chrysler
The grille nameplate on Pat Conder's 1936 Chrysler

A description beneath the classic car said Tony's was showing the car for the owner, and would pass along serious inquiries.

Conder called the used car lot right away and said he wanted to come see the car. He heard back the next day while he was at work in Brazil. "Tony called at 11 o'clock and asked if I could be there by 2."

He had just enough time. "I came back home to get my checkbook and left from here."

His wife, Cathy, had given her blessing to the purchase, saying, "Pat, if you want it, go get it."

A fair price for the right future owner of treasured Chrysler

He was ready to pay the $20,000 asking price, but after meeting and talking, car owner Nancy Coomer she said she would take $18,000. A religious woman, she said God had sent Conder to buy her late husband's treasured Chrysler.

Pat Conder's 1936 Chrysler parked at his Owen County farm
Pat Conder's 1936 Chrysler parked at his Owen County farm

When he learned the car lot owner wasn't making a commission, that he was truly selling the car as a favor, Conder gave him $900, 5% of the purchase price.

He said the car was well worth the full $20,000, so he was happy to return home with $1,100 and the car. He and Coomer bonded over the sale and have become good friends who meet for a meal in Kokomo when Conder is up that way.

He named the Chrysler "Ole Nance" in her honor.

Not many Chrysler Airstreams remain

This Chrysler Airstream was manufactured for just two years, 1935 and 1936, which explains why the vehicle is so rare. Conder 's never seen another one, not even at car shows. And this is the first one I've encountered in all these years of reporting on old cars.

The Airstream saved the day back in the mid 1930s, becoming popular on the heels of an automotive disaster: a car called the Chrysler Airflow, described back than as "unconventional" and "unusual" in appearance.

Sales lagged until the automaker reintroduced its Chrysler Six Series in a refreshed version of the Airflow called the Airstream.

Last week's My Favorite Ride: Step back in time, and into the back room, at Gosport Auto Supply

The conversion worked. In 1936, Airstreams outsold Airflows nine to one. The new version featured a different body style, hydraulic brakes, automatic overdrive and automatic choke. Under the hood was a straight eight, 273-cubic-inch, 105-horsepower engine.

The Deluxe model, like Conder's, sold for about $1,000 new. That's about $22,000 in 2023 dollars, not far from the initial price tag in 2017.

A Sharpsville preacher's car

Nancy Coomer decided to sell the car after her husband of 44 years died in 2016. He was a founding pastor of Beulah Land Church in Sharpsville.

He led the congregation there for more than three decades.

He loved classic cars.

How about a Model A?

Over breakfast at Cracker Barrel one morning, the widow told Conder she had another old car she might be selling down the road, a 1929 Ford Model A that had belonged to her husband's late brother. In 2018, Conder bought that car as a gift for his wife, Cathy.

Pat Conder's 1929 Ford Model A
Pat Conder's 1929 Ford Model A

"When I bought it, I told Nancy I would keep the cars together, that I wouldn't separate them."

The two cars, a 1929 Ford Model A and a 1936 Chrysler, that Owen County's Pat Conder bought from Nancy Coomer of Kokomo.
The two cars, a 1929 Ford Model A and a 1936 Chrysler, that Owen County's Pat Conder bought from Nancy Coomer of Kokomo.

He hasn't. They are parked side-by-side in his pole barn garage. With two 1930s-era Oldsmobiles. Really. You never know what I might stumble across out there.

Have a story to tell about a car or truck? Contact My Favorite Ride reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: How Gosport man came to own both 1936 Chrysler Airstream, 1929 Model A