Collecting Boomer Cars

By Glen Gardner

I'm sitting in the hill country of Wisconsin this afternoon waiting with baited breath for spring to arrive. Looking out the window I'm watching it snow sideways in the middle of April. It must be that global warming I'm hearing so much about, which brings me to the topic at hand. This is usually the time of year I break my old cars out of storage and start burning more fossil fuel in these carbureted, no-pollution control cars. It may melt the polar ice cap, but I can't let go of those cars that we grew up with.

Many of us boomers grew up in the age of gas shortages, alternate day gas purchase plans, red and green gas station flags and the introduction of smaller, fuel efficient cars. The cars that I have decided to collect aren't the ones that you will see on the Speed Channel at that fancy auction down in Arizona. My garage is filled with cars that would bring a smile to many a boomer face.

I have decided to collect what many would call "disposable" cars built in the early 70's. These cars were cheap, light, fuel efficient, pretty good looking in some cases but built for economy not longevity. Many of these cars fell apart, rusted out or simply went to the crusher at the bone yard because no one ever thought they would be collectable. For those very reasons, many of these cars are sought after because boomers have a soft spot in their hearts for these econo-boxes. If these cars can be found in good shape, you can still pick them up for a song compared to the prices being fetched by their more muscular kin.

So what kind of cars am I talking about here? Let's start by taking a look in my garage. The first econo-box I restored is a 1973 VW Squareback. I purchased the car in Fairfield, Iowa from a guy who brought it there from California (where salt-induced rust isn't a factor) the year before. He was in Iowa to study at that meditation university in Fairfield and was using the car as a daily driver. I can't think of a better place to find the kind of car I'm talking about. I handed him a check for about three grand and drove that baby 350 miles back to Madison.

I ended up having the pancake engine (sits underneath the rear deck at 18 inches high) rebuilt, replaced the headliner, rehabbed the seats, replaced the carpets and put a new dashboard in, slapped some new rims and Dunlop's on and painted it the original Clementine orange. After all was said and done, I probably spent about six thousand on this "disposable" car. When I finished, this car looked like it just rolled off the showroom floor. Because most of these went to the crusher, it's a real head-turner when I take it out. It's a magnet for fellow boomers to tell me some great stories about their experiences with the car.

Occupying the space next to the Squareback is a 1973 German-built Capri. I owned one of these "back in the day" and decided if I could ever find one in decent shape, I'd restore it as a sequel to the VW. Again it was the state of Iowa that was home to what would be my next project. The car was part of an estate many years before and was stored in a barn for more than 15 years. In this case we struck the deal, but this one arrived on the back of a flatbed. Again, I paid around three grand for this orphan.

The Capri was a bit more of a challenge to restore because parts were not easy to find. I located a guy in Ohio that used to race them and had many of them junked in his backyard. Thanks to my Ohio Capri source, I rebuilt the engine, replaced the interior, put on new tires and rims and had it painted in its original fire engine red. This car is great looking, fast and always gets boomers talking. I have never seen another one at any car show I've taken it to. People just love to talk about this car. For a time in the early 70's it was the best selling import in the U-S. It was sold by Mercury in the U-S and Ford in Europe. The Mercury nameplate appears no where on the car. You may remember it was billed as "The Sexy European."

The third bay in the boomer garage at our abode is occupied by an 84 VW Rabbit Cabrio. That is the convertible version of the Rabbit (many a boomer's first car). This one was easy to find as we bought it nearly new and never got rid of it. It's been garaged and babied most of its life and still looks and runs great. There's nothing like having a ragtop on those great Wisconsin summer nights. There were a ton of these cars produced and they are easy to find in most parts of the country at a very good price. These cars are a blast to drive and parts are easy because there are many still on the road.

These boomer econo-boxes are becoming more popular at the car shows that I have been to over the past couple of years. Some other great examples I have seen restored are AMC Pacers, Ford Mavericks, Chevy Vegas, Ford Pintos, AMC Gremlins, Bugs, VW buses, Rabbits and Comets just to name a few. Most of these disposables can be picked up for a few thousand dollars in pretty good shape.

So, as I wait for the snow to melt, I am looking forward to getting those boomer-mobiles out of the garage and on the street. Their muscle-bound cousins bring in the big bucks, but these disposables that were spared the bone yard get the big looks!

See you on the radio,
Glen

Glen Gardner is a talk show host at Madison 1670 WTDY in Wisconsin. You can stream his show at www.wtdy.com each weekday morning from 6-9am central. You can also check out Glen's blog at www.myspace.com/glengardner.