“Is this your car?”
“No – I wish.”
I got that answer to my question numerous times throughout the day Saturday as classic car lovers virtually drooled over the lineup of vintage autos on display at the ACE Automobile Club of Echo High School car show.
Eventually I found a couple of car owners who, like dog lovers, had all the time in the world to talk about their pride and joy.
He said he had always wanted to buy a classic car. Deeds, who taught at Sunset Elementary School for 30 years, then spent another 12 years as a substitute teacher, said he owned a 1965 Mustang fastback after graduating from college. A few years later, he bought a 1972 Grand Torino, just like the one in Clint Eastwood’s 2008 film, Gran Torino.
But that was decades ago and Deeds was determined to buy back his youth – or at least a symbol of it, anyway.
“I looked all over for one,” he said. Then, one day, as he was driving through Central Oregon, he came across the 1970 Chevelle at a Midas Muffler shop in Bend. He found out the car was for sale and his mid-life crisis kicked into high gear.
“I told the guy ‘Don’t sell it,’ ” Deeds said. “I got on the phone to my Edward Jones guy and said ‘I need some money – fast.’ ”
Deeds didn’t say how much he paid for the car, but admitted he’s spent much more restoring it than the original purchase price, which is pretty much always the case. But, he said, it is money well spent.
“It takes you back to when you were a kid,” he said. “Good, classic cars are just something old guys like us like.”
One thing he wasn’t liking on Saturday was his cat. Just as he was talking the two covers off his Chevelle to take it to the show, his cat jumped up on the hood, leaving scratch marks on the paint.
“Oh, I could’ve killed that cat,” he said. Not too worry, said someone admiring his car. That can come right out with some buffing compound and wax, he was told.
Deeds said he takes the Chevelle out for drives around town fairly frequently.
“It gets people’s attention,” he said. “People will roll down their window and yell, “I love your car!’ ”
“I told my wife, ‘Some day I’m going to buy an old car,’” he said.
He eventually found 1964 Dodge Dart and bought it – and didn’t stop there. He also bought a 1955 Ford pick-up truck and a 1956 Ford Crown Victoria. He brought the Dart and ’55 Ford to the show on Saturday.
Mike Lusk of Milton-Freewater brought his 1964 Chevy Impala to the show. He bought it for $1,500 in 1985 from an elderly woman who just so happened to be the original owner.
“I’m just its second owner,” he said. “It’s hard to know a car’s history if you buy it from a dealer, so when you can find one with the original owner, you can’t do better than that.”
Lusk said there is a certain appeal to classic cars that is missing from today’s vehicles.
“They have much more character,” he said.
Saturday’s car show featured 141 classics and raised $2,781 dollars for the ACE Automobile Club of Echo High School. Check out the club’s Facebook page for more photos and a list of winners.
