No one can ever accuse Jim Reinish of doing things the easy way. When he acquired Betsy, the 1953 Ford panel truck of his dreams, she was in Ludington, Mich. The Norman businessman drove her home alone.

"My wife thought I was crazy when I could have paid a few hundred dollars to have it hauled back," he said. On the shores of Lake Michigan, Ludington is over 1,000 miles from here.

"She wasn't in very good shape when I bought her," Reinish said. "There were problems with the original 6-volt electrical system."

Fortunately the old workhorse didn't break down on the three-day open road trip. "I drove along between 45 and 50 mph," he said. "Some of it was in rain and the vacuum-powered windshield wipers just don't work well at all."

Big tractor and trailer rigs would roar by at 80 mph and blow the flimsy blades right back off his windshield. "I finally just turned them off," he said.

After making it through the traffic Hades called Chicago, Reinish and sweet Betsy got back to Oklahoma just fine.

"The man I bought her from had driven Betsy just a few hundred miles a year and mainly in town parades for the past 18 years," he said. Originally the truck had been owned and driven in New Jersey. Amazingly Betsy's body is terminal cancer (body rust) free. For a time Reinish had signs on the truck advertising his Response Link Medical Alarm service.

"I took those off because I like the 'Nick's Radio' lettering with the Michigan address and old style telephone number," he said. The only problem is people are constantly asking him if he's from the Wolverine State or if he repairs radios.

Unlike today, panel trucks in that era were used almost exclusively for business deliveries. The Chevrolet HHR and Chrysler PT Cruiser are modern styling tribute to a class of vehicle that once carried bread, meat, milk, flowers and candy.

"They didn't even come from the factory with a passenger's seat, there's only a door lock on that side," Reinish said. "Most of them had shelving in the rear and a wood floor with drainage if block ice was being carried." Not farm trucks, they were a common sight in cities and small towns bringing all sorts of goods to restaurants, shops and homes.

"Betsy has her original six-cylinder overhead valve engine," he said. "It's 235 cubic inches and generates around 80 horsepower. They have riding lawnmowers today that are not too far from that."

Henry Ford was never a fan of six bangers and serious engineering resources weren't devoted to them until years after his death. The transmission is a three-speed standard with shift lever on the steering column.

"I've knocked teeth off the gears a couple of different times and had to have the transmission worked on," he said. "Some of those parts were a little hard to get."

The engine and drive train were designed strictly for stop and go driving in city conditions rather than long haul trips.

"Sticker price in 1953 was around $700 and, probably because of the nature of its use, not many survive as collector's vehicles," Reinish said. "But you can still buy parts, even sheet metal such as grills and doors." Her 2009 value is around $20,000. Betsy has all new glass and rubber moldings all the way around.

Starting the car involves choking the fuel system, turning the ignition key and pushing a starter button on the dash. Swiping Betsy would be a heist for a senior citizen or someone familiar with vintage rides. The only other dash controls are for windshield wipers, headlamps and indispensable at the time, a coffin nail lighter. There's no radio.

"If you want to use the heater, you have to get under the hood and open the petcock valve to let the hot radiator water flow into the heater coils," Reinish said. Betsy's only option is dealer-installed turn signal indicators atop the front fenders.

The Detroit cast iron engine fed by a one-barrel carburetor has never had a major overhaul.

"I burn unleaded gasoline in it and add a bottle of STP fuel treatment every now and then," he said. "She starts and runs just fine with no engine knock." The morning I heard Betsy's little in-line Six, it was purring like a kitten.

"Master Tech Automotive Service (209 24th Ave. NW) has rebuilt Betsy electrically and mechanically," Reinish said. "The owners belong to the Canadian River Cruisers club that I'm in, and a lot of us go there for work."

The club (www.canadianrivercruisers.com) founded by motoring enthusiast extraordinaire David Saunders has grown to include dozens of members with activities planned almost every week. Many of their casual meetings are Saturday mornings at the Midway Market, 601 W. Eufaula.

"It's an interesting cross section of people," Reinish said. "Nice folks and a wide variety of professions are represented."

He observed that the interest in old cars seems to be primarily a passion of the older generation. "I don't know why that is, but it would be fun to fast forward 50 years and see if people are restoring 2010 Nissan Altimas in the future."

Reinish likes the club's strict no-hassle policy with its lack of dues, membership requirements or elected officers. "We like to drink coffee and talk about cars," he said. Owning a vintage vehicle isn't even necessary but most members have interesting rides that they drive to the meetings.

"There's everything from beat-up Mustangs to a Pebble Beach (Concours d' Elegance) winning Pierce Arrow that you might see," he said.

A 1960 graduate of Norman High, Reinish has driven other singular buggies around town in his years here.

"My first car was a 1960 model 1600 MGA twin-cam roadster," he said. That's a sexy little British sports car, but Reinish insisted it wasn't unusual for an Oklahoma college town back then.

"Norman was full of foreign and expensive cars starting in the 1950s," he said. "With the university here you could see Mercedes-Benz gull wings ('55-57 300 SL), Isetta, that little car that opens in the front and Pontiac Star Chief convertibles."

Reinish reckons that there's an element of nostalgia to the widespread fascination with vintage automobiles.

"They remind people of times when things were simpler," he said. "Nobody had 401(k)s to worry about. Retirement didn't mean seeing the world but just fixing up the house and maybe going fishing."

Although driving modern cars may be easier, Betsy's low top speed and lack of amenities recall a time when life was less complicated.

Have you seen a cool car around Norman? Writer Doug Hill's always on the lookout for future Dig My Ride columns. E-mail him at Hillreviews@hotmail.com.