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Doug Swanson Selling 2,000 Pieces of Ford Memorabilia

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Doug Swanson

The Swanson Ford dealership, circa 1930
Photo: Old Cars Weekly

If you pride yourself as a Ford aficionado, you probably still have light years to go before you’re anywhere near the level of Doug Swanson of Ceresco, Nebraska. The 67-year-old says he’s been collecting Ford memorabilia since he was but a wee boy, keeping everything Blue Oval-branded that he could get his hands on.

If you’re looking to gain some ground and become a prolific collector, then you’re in luck. Swanson’s collection of more than 2,000 items—which features everything from shop manuals and dealership signs to genuine parts and a 1936 Ford fire truck—will be hitting the auction block October 24-25 at the Saunders County Fairgrounds in Wahoo, Nebraska.

From the Lincoln Journal Star:

A scant list of his Ford collection includes: original brochures, calendars, tools, 302 and 427 engine emblems, watches, carburetors, tire gauges, grilles, transmissions and racing engines, sheet metal parts and trim, porcelain and neon signs, stationary, posters and banners, receipts, red vinyl training records for salesmen, canceled dealership checks dating back to the early 1900s, parts books, display cases, toy promotion cars, and cans of Ford Special Valvoline Oil made for Model Ts.

Most everything Swanson owns has the Ford name or logo on it or is associated in some way with the family business, the former Swanson Ford dealership, where Swanson worked for more than 40 years.

Doug Swanson

The front of the Swanson Ford dealership with a few vintage Fords afoot
Photo: Old Cars Weekly

Swanson’s grandfather, Magus, opened the Swanson Ford dealership in Ceresco in 1909. It remained open for 105 and was the fifth oldest Ford dealership in the United States when Swanson sold it earlier this year. Now  he plans on unloading a number of irreplaceable pieces and odds and ends, including bills of sales for Ford cars that sold for less than $1,000 and receipts for full tanks of gas that cost less than what a gallon goes for today.

Doug Swanson says the pride of his collection is a winter leaf broad 1932 Model B Ford Deluxe Roadster that was built in Copenhagen. It has a mere 47,200 miles on the odometer and comes complete with a rumble seat.

Now, it and the rest of the Doug Swanson collection can be yours if the price is right…and if you can make the trip up to Ceresco.