You bought what!?

Brenda Benter checked her text messages to see her son sent her photos of a firetruck.

“Look what I just bought,” he wrote.

“I hope you’re joking,” she replied.

But 19-year-old Conner Benter wasn’t joking.

Conner, a sophomore at Purdue University, bought a 1969 International Loadstar 1800 firetruck a few months ago for $2,500 from Portland firefighter Zach Hudson, who bought it from Gauntt Farms in 2016.

“He cut me a pretty good deal on it,” said Conner, a rural Bryant resident.

With only 20,000 miles on its speedometer, the approximately 23-foot-long vehicle holds about 600 gallons of water in its tank. Conner’s father, Scott, said the first thing his son did was attach an American flag to the back.

After he showed his mom the firetruck, Brenda gave Conner three conditions in order to store it at the house: he needs to be able to pay for gas, keep up with his aviation classes and maintain good grades.

“He just looked like a little kid at Christmas,” she said. “You know, so excited about this firetruck. And I said, ‘OK, but, I don’t want to come home and see it parked smack in the middle of the driveway.’”

Hudson recalled the firetruck’s origin story in which the Young America Volunteer Fire Department in Cass County decided to retire and sell it years ago. The owner before Hudson used it on his hog farm to clean trailers, he said.

Hudson worked on the firetruck for a few days after bringing it home and took it to parades and shows. Hudson — who has been cleaning airplanes and taking flying lessons at the Portland Municipal Airport — was talking with Conner while working on a plane when he agreed to sell him the firetruck.

“It was time to let it go… (time to) let somebody else play with it,” Hudson said.

He’d had some offers before, but he chose to sell his firetruck to Conner because Hudson believed he would keep it preserved well.

Conner studies aerospace engineering technology at Purdue. He is also taking classes for his pilot’s license.

“I would’ve expected an airplane before I expected a firetruck,” Brenda said.

Conner has been fascinated with aviation since high school and now he enjoys restoring old vehicles, she noted. He restored his great grandfather’s John Deere 50. He also has a 1942 Case SC tractor and a 1974 Massey Ferguson 175 in his parents’ barn. He’d like to add an old pickup truck to his collection at some point.

When asked if Conner had space for vehicles, he responded, “No, that’s why we need to build more barns.”

Scott and Conner have been building a shop and paint room for Conner to work in while he’s still living at home. Brenda mentioned her son might want to take some of his vehicles to the Tri-State Antique Gas Engine and Tractor Show in upcoming years, although his college schedule doesn’t align with the dates this year.

So far, he’s added some LED lights to the exterior of the firetruck. He’s also cleaned the carburetor, installed an air horn and added a siren.

He explained he’s allowed to have both the horn and siren for restricted use, such as for parades.

Conner said he likes collecting antique vehicles because they’re easy to work on.

“(It) just reminds me how it was back then, and they’re also made a lot better,” he said. “There’s metal there to work with to restore them. It’s nothing like it is today where it’ll fall apart in 20 years.”

Brenda noted when there was a dry spell a few weeks ago, Conner sucked water out of the pond with the firehose to water surrounding trees. He’s driven the vehicle to work and through town. She suggested he should book birthday parties or fill pools with it, although she knows he didn’t buy it to make money.

She said she’s still shocked he decided to buy an old firetruck.

“He just keeps life interesting — it’s what I always say about that kid,” Brenda said.