"I just like to bring old things back," is the way Al "Bunt" Reining describes his hobby of restoring almost anything he can get his hands on, such as antique furniture, tractors, buggies and cars. Although his interests cover almost every kind of antique, Reining is best known for his restored automobiles and early day trucks.

A visit to the Reining farm a few miles north of Benkelman is a tour through the history of a 100 years of American transportation. From buggies and wagons to bobsleds and trucks, it's all there. When Bunt slides open the doors of his largest storage building it's with the comment, "A lot of younger people may not have ever seen some of these." He's right. Anyone under 50 may not have seen anything like some of his collection. Acting as tour guide, Bunt pauses before each vehicle with comments about the way things were built before most of us were born.

On the left just inside the door and past the 1930 John Deere tractor is a '23 Model T Coupe. Someone was no doubt very proud the day they took the delivery of the black beauty.

On down the line and there is a truck that falls into the category of something a lot of young people have never seen. It's a 1929 Republic. Next to the Republic is a step another 15 years backward—a gleaming 1914 International half ton. "This is kind of unusual," Bunt says, raising the hood on the International. What is unusual is that the engine is mounted backwards. Even the fan is at the rear of the engine compartment. Around on the left side Bunt points to a box with a lever attached to the outside of the cab, behind the door. Push down the handle and you discover it's a handy mechanical horn. All the driver had to do was reach outside and behind him to warn horses and pedestrians a vehicle was coming.

"It's interesting to see how things progresses in 10 years," Bunt comments, moving on the next parking spot. Here is a 1924 International truck. It is indeed interesting to note the differences wrought through the decade which spanned the years of the Great War to end all Wars. By 1924 the engine was mounted facing forward and the old gas light headlights had been replaced. We forgot to check the horn.

The year 1924 is again represented at the next spot in line, this time by a Model T truck. The Model T cab is almost as large as the bed, roomier than the inside of many 1980 compact cars designed to hold four adults. "This one had the 'fat man's steering wheel' option," Bunt explained. It was built so a large person had plenty of room to get in and out, a fore runner of the modern tilt-wheel idea. Next stop is a 1929 Chevrolet truck, nearly hidden in the corner behind a stack of antique engines of all sorts. Then, at the rear of the building, Bunt removes a plastic covering to reveal a machine rich folks of 40 years ago would own. It's a 1940 Chrysler straight eight New Yorker. "Climb in and just sit in the seat for a minute," Bunt suggests. The 40-year-old seat design is far more comfortable than anything Detroit has turned out in at least two and a half decades.

Around the corner past a 1920 Case and there is Bunt's first automobile restoration, a '17 Model T touring car. "I saw it on a hillside over by Wray, Colorado, back in 1953," Bunt says. "It was sitting there with the side curtains flopping in the wind when I drove past. I decided it would be fun to see if I could get it up in shape again." The immaculate workmanship and gleaming paint on the old touring car proves that Bunt was able to "get it up in shape again."

Past the 1917 Ford there are famous names no longer part of the American automotive scene. Side by side are a '29 Studebaker and a car whose name is legend—a 1927 Reo Flying Cloud. "Push down on that Reo fender," Bunt says. "Feel it? That thing was made to ride over any kind of road there was."

Back near the door are a pair of '29's, a Chevrolet and a Model A coupe.

Going through this one bilding is not a complete tour of the Reining collection. In other buildings there are a total of 14 antique tractors, half of them restored and seven others waiting for the day Bunt has time to start on them.

In a shed are a pair of 1929 trucks which are on the list for future work. A 29 Dodge Brothers pickup is equipped with a noticeable heat gauge. The forefather of today's 'idiot light' is a large thermometer built directly into the radiator cap where the driver can not help but see it. "That was a sure fire method of keeping track of how the engine was heating," according to Bunt. "When it started to get hot nobody thought it might be a faulty gauge."

The other '29 in this shed is an International truck, a six-speed special. Again Bunt has a comment, "A six-speed transmission was really something special in those days. It wasn't too fast on the road but talk about something that could lug down with a load ."

There is yet another International pickup in another building. It, too, is due for restoration to the way it looked when it came out of the showroom in 1939. "Caught that one just before a group of kids got it," Bunt says with a smile. "They were going to strip it down and make a hot rod out of it. Wouldn't that have been a crime?"

Sharing building space with the '39 International is the current auto Bunt is working on—a 1937 Nash. "The Nash only has 38,000 miles on it but there Is a lot of work to be done. I spent all morning making a taillight." With a thump of his fist against a rear fender Bunt continues talking about the Nash. "Feel that fender. Try to shake the whole car. They put some metal in cars In those days. You'll never find anything that solid for sale in a new car showroom now days."

Two questions Bunt is usually asked about his restoring is where he finds antiques and how much he makes off them. To answer the second question first, Bunt points out that restoring is a hobby, not a business. He seldom sells anything. "Once it's finished I want to keep it and enjoy having it. I especially like showing antiques to young people. This may be the only time people will ever have a chance to see some of these things."

As to where he finds items to restore, Bunt, like most antiquers, isn't going to give away his secrets. His answer is simply "Here and there around the country."

Devotes more time to hobby.

Since his business is farming Bunt works only in his spare time on antiques, although meeting his goal of restoring one auto, one tractor and one piece of furniture a year might be considered a full time job by many people. Time spent farming is, in a way, time devoted to his hobby, though. "I do all my planning and thinking about what to do next while I'm out on the tractor," explains Bunt. "Now that I've slowed down on farming I have more time to restore but less time to think about it."

Is there anything Bunt would like to add to his collection that he doesn't have? Yes, a gas pump. He is on the lookout for a gas pump with the visible glass top and a hand pump lever—the kind which was so familiar to motorists of 40 and 50 years ago.

In the meantime Bunt plans to continue working on projects he has available, planning to show a different car or tractor or truck in the Dundy County Fair Parade as he has for years, with one exception. One year he sat out the parade simply because by always being in it he had never seen it. "I just wanted the chance to see It once," he explained. What causes a man to spend 30 years of his spare time working on trucks, tractors, furniture, wagons and cars that most people long ago wrote off as junk? Bunt Reining has a simple and honest answer to that question.—"I LIKE IT."

Printed in the Benkelman, NE Post, February 14, 1980

Submitted by Bill Hardwick