Fair warning: these are not your usual, daily driven Curbside Classics. However, they are driven, and many of the following cars aren’t vehicles you’re likely to see parked downtown or at the grocery store – even in the car-friendly climate of Eugene.
I had a brief – albeit interesting – career as a car salesman last year. I had zero experience, but I thought it was worth a try, considering my love of all things automotive. Dahl Ford was willing to give me a shot. And although it didn’t work out, I don’t regret trying. The general manager, KV Dahl, is possibly a bigger car nut than I am, and he and his dad have a great collection of classic iron. We have remained friendly even after my departure, and last week I finally got the tour of the Old Car Home. Rest assured, dear readers, this is just a brief overview. Thanks to KV’s generosity, there will be some full CCs on the coolest cars in the collection in the future.
One of their prettiest early V8 Fords is this ’40 convertible, in dark maroon with a red leather interior. Over 200,000 miles were put on it before KV and his dad bought and restored it. The maroon paint is not the original color, but it looks great!
This 1941 Chevrolet has had some mild cosmetic restoration, including a repaint, but the entire interior is original, right down to the door cards and woodgrained metal instrument panel.
This 1976 Coupe de Ville was my main focus for this visit, although I must admit that my attention lapsed, once I saw some of the other cars it was sharing space with. The dealership actually took this car in on trade, shortly before I started there. The filler panels, as on just about every 1974-76 GM B- and C-body, had to be replaced, and while an attempt was made to blend the new fillers in with the still very nice original paint, so much of the car had to be painted to make it look right that the whole car wound up being repainted. KV also replaced the standard wheel discs with NOS wire wheel covers, the first year they were available on Cadillacs.
I love the big 1971-76 Cadillacs, and this one is beautiful in optional Crystal Blue Firemist with a white Cabriolet top and white leather interior with blue trim.
Interestingly, the 1976 Cadillac brochure featured a nearly identical car. I bet the car’s original owner saw this picture in the catalog and decided to order that exact color combination, although with white leather instead of blue.
The white vinyl top was in very nice original condition and did not need to be replaced. And that crest is correct for the year; only Fleetwood Broughams and Fleetwood 75 limousines and eight-passenger sedans had the wreath and crest.
As you can see, the cars are pretty close together, but I did manage to get the whole car into this shot. Not easy, as this is a really big car! Right in front of it is a very sharp ’67 Mustang in lime gold; it was delivered new by Dahl Ford, and bought back by KV and his dad in 1989. It was traded in on a new Escort wagon, believe it or not.
Last, but certainly not least, is this extremely rare supercharged 1954 Kaiser. This was KV’s first car, at the age of 13. With his dad’s help, it was totally restored. It is an extremely rare first-series Special two-door sedan, one of 500 built in ’54 and one of 10 known to survive today.
1954 was the next-to-last year for Kaiser automobiles, at least in the United States. The Manhattan itself would be sold in Brazil as the top of the line Kaiser Carabella all the way up to 1962. Fear not, CCers, the ’54 will be getting a full CC writeup one of these days. Hope you enjoyed this brief tour!
There is (or was) an individual up in Franklin, OH that had a stable of classic iron. He allowed me to take a tour around 12 years ago. Very nice, indeed.
Wow and I thought it was nice that the local GMC Buick dealer had several generations of GMC truck sitting in the waiting area of the service building…
These are knock outs.
Although that tagline on the dealer add: “When you really need a car” sounds like it was cooked up buy the comedy writers at Saturday Night Live for a sketch making fun of car dealers. 😛
I thought that was an odd tag line too.
“When you really need a car”, its like….what, you tried everything else?
I love it when I come across anything 39 or 40 Ford. I think I like them even better then the old Studes and Hudsons. Good job Tom.
btw as ideal as a job as a car salesman sounds I think the hours would be a killer for anyone with a family or any other interest.
> btw as ideal as a job as a car salesman sounds I think the hours would be a killer for anyone with a family or any other interest.
As a person who might be looking into this as a part-time job / paying hobby, why, may I ask, would it be so?
I have no personal experience but the wife does. Met her when she was selling cars. She says the hours are killer. I have seen her willingness to work so I believe her. I also suggest that as a hobby, you might have first shot at a lot of tradeins and you can get a demo plan but you are expected to be there whether there are customers or not.
Also, I earned a living fixing air conditioners. At least here, they have a reputation for honesty on a par with each other. Problem is that there are skunks in both trades that make it tough for the rest of them.
I think many of us just don’t know the realities of the job.
The Kaiser Super was the breakout car among these. Old car homes with garage queens like these don’t really excite me, but still, finding a rare piece makes it somewhat worthwhile. I’m not really a Concours d’Elegance / full restoration type of guy, which is what initially attracted me to this site. It also helps that at least some of them are the owners’ cars, which indeed qualifies them as material for this site. Still, I’d very much rather like to read about what Mr. Dahl drives today, especially if its a Classic!
KV drives many of these cars on a regular basis. While I was there last year, he drove the Coupe de Ville, a ’71 Mach 1, and the ’70 Westfalia many times.
During the ’60’s & 70’s my dads oldest friend used to visit us at our beach house. He had his own used car lot specializing in imported & exotic cars. One time he might show up in a Sunbeam Tiger, the next time some sort of Jag. The best one was when he brought a Ferrari down. He drove it down to the moorage my dad had his boat at. Suddenly an old Italian guy appeared out of nowhere and started going nuts over the car talking in both Italian(which I knew a little because one of my best friends was Italian(his parents) and dinners of which I shared many with them were as portrayed in the Godfather) & English about what a great car it was. When he had gone the moorage cat Rhubarb(which was 30 lbs) came over and pissed on one of the wheels. So we got two different opinions on the Ferrari in one place in one day.
I am looking forward to a piece on the Kaisers. It seems that going back to the 1930s, every so many years someone is looking for added performance from an engine that is not otherwise easily modded. Auburn, Cord, Dusenberg and Graham used superchargers in the 1930s. Kaiser and Studebaker used them in the 1950s and into the early 60s.
The Turbos came on to GMs radar in the early 60s, then became relatively common by the 1980s.
Unfortunately, none of the supercharger/turbocharger engines seems to have provided a really satisfactory answer, but has always been a band-aid fix. I guess it’s true – there is no substitute for cubic inches.
I see the turbos coming on again, again in response to outside factors (fuel mileage regs).
> there is no substitute for cubic inches.
AKA, You can’t fake what you don’t have, or “There’s no Replacement for Displacement”. It may or may not have been coined by W.O.Bentley, but it is as true today as in his day. A good six today can still get good mileage if
foolsdrivers can get their feet off the accelerator pedal for some time in between full throttle bursts.I am of two minds about CarCounters comment. I agree with Jack Baruth that Cadillacs should have V8s just to to keep up their reputation for smooth power and the psychological impact of “V8 POWER”. However I have sampled GMs newest direct injected V6 at 3.6ltrs and 300hp. I found it to pull as strongly as a SBC and the engine was only turning 1800 rpm at 85mph, that left me impressed and shook my psychological dependance on V8s. I do desire to have a V8 for my next ride, only because I want to own one more before they disappear from automotive-dom.
The lag-free turbocharged engines of the modern era are pretty awesome. Having owned two cars with 2.3 liter turbo fours, the only reason I’d take a larger naturally aspirated engine – like a 3.0-3.5 liter inline 6 or V6 – is for the acoustic qualities. Not many four cylinder engines sound good. The VW/Audi 2.0T is one of the ones I could live with.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZWHXmQJf6M
But it can’t compare to the awesome sound of a BMW inline 6:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrGBl8f8VGQ&feature=related
Especially the big 3.5 liter M30:
For that matter, I’m very much satisfied with the NA 4cyl in my current econobox, but given a choice, I’ll gladly take a BMW NA six cylinder over the POS always-overheating turbo 4 (BMW engines, esp turbos, have a stellar reputation of unreliability here, except the NA sixes and carburetted fours). If modern turbo fours have the same power characteristics as an inline 6, and if modern 6s have the same fuel efficiency (driven lightly) as a four, my question is, Why Not 6? Lesser moving parts, more smoothness…
educatordan: I should’ve qualified my statement: “Given engines of similar or equivalent technology, There’s No Replacement For Displacement”, but that isn’t so catchy is it? Anyway, when the V6 is torquey and 300hp, imagine what the same generation V8 can do. I posit that where a larger Naturally Aspirated (NA) engine is not only smoother, more reliable in the long run, and equally expensive/cheap to run as a smaller turbo one, why not the larger version? I’m arguing for, eg., the NA V6 vs the turbo-4 Ecotec in the Cadillac ATS.
Cadillac and other luxury/aspirational brands are a different beast, governed more by *image* rather than anything else. Even MB only took off in USA after getting a V8, so an American luxury car really needs a V8. However, the type of discerning buyer that looks out for actual road-a-bility in a car will be quick to realise that actual specs matter rather than brand cachet. All BMW buyers are not snobs: some really *do* enjoy the experience of a small car with good power-to-weight ration and RWD. For a marque like Cadillac, it is vital to establish a reputation for *engineering*, as the brand is alive and well. Its not that yuppies are not buying Cadillacs anymore, its that yuppies never *did* buy Cadillacs in the first place. However, brand-name engines are vital for luxury flagship cars, and there a V12 is a must. The game has moved ahead of V8s. Cadillac has been planning one since 2007, but we’ll see what (if anything) comes out of it.
What a gorgeous eclectic collection, and not confined only to Ford’s. I perused the pictures earlier, but needed a little lie down after looking at the Caddy. Are these folks looking for an extra family member to adopt? I don’t eat that much, but am not convinced that my storage needs would be met unless you post more pictures. Lots of potential CC’s in that lot, and looking forward to seeing them in the future.
As to the arguement regarding V8’s and/or modern drivelines. Any vehicle seen on this site will run better, get better mileage, handle better, etc, etc, if it was updated with the latest modern drivelines, but then it wouldn’t be a really neat blue ’76 CDV, but would instead be a Hyundai Geneis with the hint of fins instead of a bangle butt. Apples and oranges, eh? I can get more out of driving my wheezing 6 cyl ’73 Chev P/U, even though I realize that a new one will run rings around it. Must have something to do with the appreciation of the moment or blind nostalgia.
I just got back from visiting the relatives in Blighty, and managed to finesse the latest VW Golf diesel from the kindly rental man. It averaged 65 mpg (Imp), and had all the latest toys, but had a hard plastic bin interior and provoked as much emotion as my fridge. In short, it was an appliance, but the latest tech made it a far better appliance than the equivalent ’75 Volks, despite looking like the ’75 Golf. I would still take any oldie for enjoyable driving over this offering.
In a small town in western Illinois, my best friend Roger was the son of the local Dodge dealer. The Dodge dealership was next door to my uncle’s tire shop. On long summer evenings we would work on our Bultaco dirt bikes. After some beers and maybe a little weed, we would begin looking at the used car lot behind the Dodge dealership for a candidate car. Roger’s father took in trades that weren’t worth anything at the local junkyard, and just let them rot on the used car lot. My uncle said that Roger’s dad was a tax genius and the worthless crap on the back lot actually made him money.
In any event, these were all “farm cars” as we called them. Fuzzy dull paint, floors with caked on mud/feces, and totally uninteresting. Perfect for our torture tests.
We probably would have trashed more cars were it not that our torture tests actually required coordination. Roger’s dad did not have a tow truck, but our buddy down at the Chrysler/John Deere dealer did. So we had to plan stuff.
One of our subjects was a ’48 or so Frazier, sister car to the Kaisers. Fuzzy gray four door with a Continental 6 and a three on the tree. Objective: drive to the Tri Cities (Rock Island, Moline, Davenport) in second gear with the loud pedal matted to the floor, and see just how long it took to blow up the bitch. Turns out that it was longer than we expected. Do you know how painful it is to listen to a Continental six maxed out in second for what seemes like an eternity?
So we made it back to the Dodge dealership. Bought some more beer to assuage our disappointment, and kind of wrote the whole project off.
A week or two later, a friend of Roger’s asked for a lift to the other side of town. Roger used the Frasier for the job. Gently accelerating out of a ninety-degree turn after a stop sign, the Frazier suffered a catastrophic failure of the oil pan after a one-two upshift. Turns out the pan couldn’t contain a busted connecting rod.
Mission accomplished!
Some car dealers have quite remarkable collections primarily sourced by hanging onto absolutely cherry trade-ins, it is a shame that relatively few of them seem to be publicly accessible. An elderly relative had her black Peugeot 203 (mid 1950’s) put on showroom display by the dealer when she traded it on a Renault 12 back in 1978. The Renault was in near-showroom condition 25 years later too.