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.