As I mentioned in my post about getting my truck’s transmission fixed, Gary Grimes gave me a tour of his premises when I dropped off the truck. We’ll start with this very fine 1948 Chrysler.
These Chryslers have such superb dash boards, and the radio is to die for.
The rear seat is superlative too; so tall and easy to get into. This is a very low mileage original car, down to the upholstery. Not the seat belts, obviously.
Here’s a car Jason Shafer will resonate with. Unlike his, this has the 289 V8 and automatic.
These are customer cars out here, and this one is wild: an old Chrysler wagon on a later 4×4 chassis.
This is where Gary’s collection is housed. Nice 914, and the first of several more Tigers.
This 1961 Pontiac Bonneville hardtop coupe really caught my eye. I really fell for these as a newly arrived kid in the US in the fall of 1960. My favorite of the ’61 GM bubbletops.
That goes for the interior too. Splendid.
Another Tiger.
An exceptionally fine ’57 Chevy convertible. Yes, they’re icons, but that doesn’t mean they can still be appreciated for what it is.
I’ve always had a soft spot for the ’36 Ford, and a sweet coupe at that.
I forgot the specifics of this ’68 Olds Cutlass coupe. It’s not a 442, but it looks like it’s spent a bit of time at the drag strip.
A blurry shot, but this is Gary’s first Tiger. He ended up selling it twice, and buying it back twice!
The early version had the 260 Ford V8, the later ones the 289. Some of his are stock, and some have been warmed up a bit.
A customer’s ’69 Mustang Mach 1.
A Metro awaiting a future build out.
Gary with another one of his Tigers. He’s the Tiger King!
Out back there’s some more cars. I don’t know if they’re all Gary’s, but I suspect maybe so.
The ’54 Studebaker coupe with the triple carbs intrigued me. A Caddilac V8? That was a popular swap, and there was even a factory Cadillac tri-power setup.
It’s a Buick nailhead V8. That was a popular engine swap choice back then, as the Buick was by far the lightest of the first generation V8s, until the Chevy sbc came along in ’55.
Nice Dart. Got me wondering whether it was stock under the hood or not.
Stock it is, the 225 slant six.
Is this one of the rather rare ones with the optional four speed? If so, it would be the first I’ve ever seen.
I didn’t get a chance to find out just which V6 was lurking under the hood of this Jeep Station Wagon.
And alongside Gary’s house is this splendid restore Ford F5 truck, from about 1950 or so.
Lacking any V8 emblems, it’s a six apparently.
And quite stock, presumably, from the looks of the interior.
When you have that many, how do you keep them all maintained and exercised regularly? Employees?
Wowww! What a collection. Yup, that ’64 Dart has the stock-type Hurst 4-speed shifter, though the factory might or might not have put it there; the black engine bay, blue engine, cloth upholstery, 2-tone paint configuration, and other details hint that the 4-speed might’ve been a swap. It was a popular one when A-bodies were plentiful in wrecking yards and in hobbyists’ driveways.
The Tiger count is Mk.1=2, Mk.1A=2, Mk.2=2. There were 633 Mk.2s built. At least that’s what my old eyes can discern.
What a nice variety – there is something there for almost everyone.
That 48 Chrysler is singing my tune. The Studebaker is cool, but I am less enamored of the mods. This is an other example that has had a later pre-62 non-supercharged Hawk dash swapped into it.
The only early Jeep wagon I ever spent any time in at all was on a 1965 family trip to visit relatives in California. One of my mother’s cousins had one of these and some other kids and I were put into the back for a ride somewhere. That Jeep wagon was exactly this color. All I remember was how noisy it was and much it rattled. 🙂
I’m not usually into 1940s cars but Chryslers have long been an exception. Maybe it’s the grille that looks more 1976 than 1948. But also just the quiet elegance of the design and good engineering.
If I had only that photo of the Starliner behind the Dart to go by, I’d have to conclude car design didn’t evolve all that much between 1953 and 1963. Certainly wouldn’t have guessed things like ’58 Oldsmobiles, ’59 Chevys, or ’61 Plymouths ever happened.
A fun virtual tour!
Every line on the ‘36 Ford is perfect. What a letdown the ‘37s are.
Trying to guess what the little additional gauge/warning light is on the Chrysler Windsor’s dash, to the left of the steering wheel. It doesn’t look stock, anyway.
My, the Ford V-8 was a tight fit in the Tiger. How on earth do you change the rear sparkplugs?
Looks like an accessory 4-way hazard flasher switch. Above the red pilot light is the word “EMERGENCY”, and above that is a toggle switch labelled “OFF” at the left and “ON” at the right.
Thanks.
Wow, so many cool vehicles and a nice clean shop to work in too……
I’d love to get a ride in that 1948 Chrysler .
Sad to see a Metropolitan D.H.C sitting uncovered in tall grass, two year like that will damage it beyond B.E.R. .
-Nate
What a fantastic collection!
Very nice collection! The one that GRABBED my beedy lil ol eyeballs was the 1968 Hurst/Olds (NOT a Cutlass, started as a 400 ci 442); only @ 514 or so were built, IIRC. The price$ on the 68-69 HO’s are finally going way up. I wa$ closer to affording one new than I am now… 🙁
A friend had one; it was a very impressive muscle car, but was badly let down by lousy bias ply wide ovals as built. A slight push on the gas pedal and the tires would turn to smoke while the H/O went no place!! That did impress my wife tho… 🙂 Certainly different from my then new ’69 Nova 6/pwr glide. The only thing the 2 cars sort of shared was their all black interiors; altho my Nova’s was ALL plastic.
Aaahh…back in the daze of .29-.33/ga. gas out in L.A.!!! Plus all the SMOG you could inhale!! DFO
Wow, that ’48 Chrysler had those 5mph bumpers long before they were fashionable.
I know it’s a Classic Car Cliché, but that ’57 Chevy speaks to me. So does the other ubiquitous classic, the ’69 Mustang.
And although cream colored cars aren’t my favorite, the Jason Shafer Special is fantastic. So is that Mark VIII. My ex and I had the cheaper version of that car, a ’94 T-Bird in Pearl Opalescent. IIRC, the similar Lincoln color was a little darker than the ‘Bird or Cougar, and it was called something else. JPC or XR7Matt would probably know….
Another four-door Galaxie! There are times when I do wish mine was an automatic like the one you found.
That ’48 Chrysler is amazing.
Scrolling through this delightful collection, Jason, I saw the photo before Paul’s comment–and immediately thought of you. This is just like the one my family had then—four door, “Corinthian White,” etc. It had some experimental-casting-code Ford parts under the hood (perhaps related to 260-to-289 transition) that confounded more than one mechanic. If that car was ever for sale, I’d be tempted, even though Oregon is a long ways away…
George, I will offer a preview of sorts…I have crossed paths with four Galaxies today, only one of which was mine. 🙂
Quite the awesome collection. They’re all great, but my favourite of the bunch has to be that ‘48 Chrysler, followed by the ‘61 Pontiac bubble top. I trust that they get taken out for some exercise on a sunny day. By the way, the Chrysler wagon is actually a De Soto.
It is crystal clear to me that if one was in the market to purchase one of Gary’s cars you just struck gold. Will you pay a premium? Yes and no. Quality is never cheap. However when every car you see looks and likely runs better than when it rolled off the production line it doesn’t get better than this. Bravo to Gary for his mastery of restoration.
I love the 57 Chevy for one main reason… the gorgeous colorful interior. I’m am so done with today’s boring interior colors as much as with the boring exterior colors.
Gee – no comments on the Buick Reatta. No love letters. No hate mail. I guess that says it all. No one cared – if they even noticed.
Poor Buick. From an aspirational car to the ultimate “meh” car in a generation.
Funny, but I’m not a GM guy, and I never would have bought one new, but somehow they appeal to me—–there’s gotta be an original owner somewhere looking for a younger guy to hand theirs off to as I write…..
Most of the sixties’ Mopars (and maybe Fords and GM products, too) had a piece welded onto the transmission tunnel so the shift boot could be bolted in horizontally as opposed to following the countour of the tunnel. It was also an easy way to tell if a car came from the factory with a floor shift.
It doesn’t look like the Dart has that tunnel boot mount, so I’d guess it’s not stock.
This Dart’s shifter—all of it—is in the stock location and configuration, on the extended transmission tunnel plateau you describe. On factory 4-speed cars this was an integral part of the floorpan stamping—the part that gets cut out and welded into another car as part of a 4-speed retrofit. Without being able to see under the carpet of this car, we can’t tell.