Truck Owner Drove $75 Chevy to Work For 38 Years

Jan 06, 2015 04:00 PM EST | Matt Mercuro

Buying a car is a special event. It doesn't happen everyday (for most of us) and for some reliability is the most important factor. Normally automakers make people pay a lot for a car that will last around 10-12 years, but one man in Minnesota is still driving a truck he purchased 38 years ago for under $100.

Bob Sportel, from Prinsburg, Minn, purchased his 1957 Chevrolet pickup truck 38 years ago when he was in his 20s for $75. Since then he drove the same truck to and from work everyday at the local farm co-op before retiring this week, according to KARE TV.

Talk about being loyal to your car.

The truck wasn't running when Sportel purchased it, but he was able to fix it up and hoped to get a few years out of it.

"If I could get four years out of it, I thought I'd be really happy," said Sportel, according to Kare.

Some 300,000 miles later the truck is still going, though Sportel isn't sure what the exact mileage is since the odometer has always been busted.

Sportel said he's only spent a total of $1,000 on repairs and gets the oil changed four times a year. The truck still features its original paint job, along with Bondo to keep the front lights in place and tons of duct tape.

He has never installed a radio in the truck and locals know when he's nearby since Sportel decided not to repair the truck's muffler.

"Everybody knows Bob's around," said Phil Breems, a co-worker at the Farmer's Co-op, according to Kare. "We all get out of the way."

Even though Sportel recently retired he said he has no plans to get rid of the truck anytime soon.

"It just becomes a part of you," he said to KARE. "I don't know how to explain it."

So what's the longest amount of time you've kept a car? Let us know in the comments section below.

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