C. Falls launches used-rig auction

You say you're looking for a one-ton 1969 Chevy truck with a lot of character?

The city of Columbia Falls has a deal for you.

A group of 10 well-used vehicles - some in passable condition, others in pretty rough shape - has been declared surplus property.

So the city wants to sell them to you.

Actually, they must offer them for sale before disposing of them. Anything with a value of $100 or more must be offered at public auction before being sent to the crusher.

But it would be a shame to send that character-laden '69 Chevy off to be destroyed.

Or how about its younger cousin, a 1986 Chevy S-10 pickup, a little blue job that the swimming pool crew has been using for a while?

By comparison with the '69, there are a couple of nearly new rigs: A 1988 Ford F250 with a utility body, and a 1983 F150 pickup. Word has it they both "run good."

The police department is a little harder on its cars.

Both the 1998 Ford Crown Victoria and the 1992 Chevrolet Caprice have blown engines.

Could be a mechanic's dream, though.

There's a couple of 1972 Ford vans the city got as surplus from Malmstrom Air Force Base. Police Chief Dave Perry said his department used one for general travel and a little undercover surveillance. The fire department, he said, put the other one to use.

The street department cleaned a couple of gems out of its back yard.

A 2 1/2-ton 1971 International truck was used to oil streets, Perry thinks. But a collector with an eye for the truly unique would seize on the chance to have his very own 1978 Pelican American street sweeper. Last Perry could remember, it cleared the pine needles out of Pinewood Park.

Interested?

Submit a sealed bid to City Clerk Sybil Noss by 1:30 p.m. Sept. 29; mark the envelope "obsolete vehicles."

Bids will be opened at 2 p.m. in City Hall council chambers, 130 Sixth St. W., Columbia Falls. Terms are cash at time of sale, all sales final and vehicles sold as is. Be ready to remove them within a week.

Not sure yet?

View the rigs by calling Columbia Falls police, 892-3234. And there's a detailed list posted at City Hall.

But hurry. These vehicles aren't getting any younger.