We’ve talked before about digital collections & how they are both practical, saving the collector money and space, and an act of posterity, keeping information & items safe yet ‘alive’ and accessible. While some of us collect audio files for listening pleasure and others scans of old papers for posterity, the folks at Internet Movie Cars Database combine a love of automobiles (and other vehicles) with film (and other moving picture media), creating a resource for the rest of us schlubs who wouldn’t know that Chevy Chase drove a 1983 Alfa Romeo 2000 Spider Veloce in Fletch in 1985.

These guys & gals not only watch the films and shows for vehicles but take screen shots and identify them. Cars & trucks, motorcycles & farm equipment, golf carts & street sweepers — virtually any vehicle, worldwide. It doesn’t matter how obscure or seemingly insignificant that vehicle is — a blur out the window of a car chase, a truck parked at the side of the road in an establishing shot, the 1981 BMW 320i E21 following Chevy in Fletch — they find it, capture it, and identify it (even if that means a little friendly debating) — and document it online.

A real labor of love; some insanity required.

And you gotta love ‘em for it. You don’t have to be a research nut like me to have fun digging ’round the IMCDb; it’s just too cool.

Thanks to these guys & gals at the Internet Movie Cars Database, I bring you this quiz:

Can you guess the vehicle’s make, model, year — and the film/TV show/video it appeared in — from these 13 images?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

The Answers:

1 Elgin Pelican in Pretty in Pink, Movie, 1986

2 1975 Chevrolet Camero in Wonder Woman, TV Series

3 1956 Chevrolet Two-Ten Handyman in The Wasp Woman, Movie, 1959

4 1998 Chevrolet Metro in Drawn Together, Animation Series, 2004-2008

5 1966 Shelby GT 350 H in Guns N’ Roses: Don’t Cry, Music Video, 1991

6 1960 Buick LeSabre in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Movie, 1982

7 AEC Regent in They Met in the Dark, Movie, 1943

8 1970 AMC Javelin in The Junkman, Movie, 1982

9 1982 Nissan Stanza [T11] in Police Academy, Movie, 1984

10 1950 Allis-Chalmers Model CA in Flags of Our Fathers, Movie, 2006

11 1916 Packard Twin Six [135] in The Penalty, Movie, 1920

12 Harley-Davidson Servi-Car in Carnival of Souls, Movie, 1962

13 1958 Edsel Pacer in Peggy Sue Got Married, Movie, 1986

How well did you do?

If you did really well, at least with the vehicles, maybe you should help identify these unknown vehicles — 179 pages and counting need your help!

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Classic or Modified Hot Rods are a popular collectible, bringing bragging rights for the work involved, in finding, researching, restoring, showing and constantly tinkering to get each last detail to perfection. This we learned on our visit to the Holtz Motors 26^th Annual Classic Car Show, located near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Fouth of July gave us perfect weather for a great turnout of cars and spectators. Several owners we talked with worked extensively on their own vehicles, only requiring expert help on specialty projects like painting or upholstery.

Ford T-birds from the 1950s have long been our favorites and when we came across this powder-blue baby, we had to stop. We read over the description and were amazed to learn that this was still owned by the car’s original buyer! We were fortunate enough to have Bob nearby and he was eager to share information on this fine old car. He was the original owner, used it to drive back and forth to work, took it on vacations, and used it as his ‘driving car’ for a lot of years. He had it stored in his garage from 1971 – 1995, 24 years. He then made the decision to rebuild it and started his lengthy process.

He showed us original paperwork on the car, an invoice with the original price of $3,295 from McGuire Ford in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It showed it was used as a demo for about a year, then he bought it. He put a lot of blood, sweat, tears and money into it, probably close to $48,000. It was ‘appraised’ in 2005 at $60,000. It was a labor of love, not done for profit. The process of rebuilding took 3 years and 10 months, so even at a minimal wage rate, you can see that it would not be an ‘easy way’ to make money! Bob told us that he used Casco of Ohio for many of the parts. What he liked about them was the fact that they have a technician available who was a great help in the process.

Bob was proud of a letter he got from the President of Ford Motor Co. It seems his wife, Jeannie, had sent a letter to Ford, telling him of his accomplishment in restoring this T-bird and being the original owner. To his delight, Bill Ford’s secretary called him a short while after the letter was sent. They spent 40 minutes on the phone, and she took down a lot of information on Bob and the car itself. She promised that a letter from Mr. Ford was forthcoming and he received it just prior to the magical 50 year mark, October 19, 2007. He was so glad that Jeannie, who had been a teacher, had taken the time to put a nice letter together and very pleasantly surprised at the response.

He also shared with us the fact that when the car was ‘officially done’ in June of 1999, he and a man who had helped him with the restoration stood back, were all set to fire her up. But nothing happened. They tried again, checked the battery, gas lines, etc. No luck. Then they decided to disconnect the hose on the fuel line. And there they found the problem! A bug! It had somehow lodged into the hose, made a nest and fouled up the flow of gas. Once removed, they stood back, held their breaths and it started right up. An emotional time, we’d bet!

Bob belongs to the T-Bird Club, has been a member since 1994 and is currently the Vice President of the Club. He tells us he gets a lot of help from the group. It was a pleasure talking with him and we appreciated his sharing his experiences and his enthusiasm.

How could any vintage car show be complete without an Edsel being represented?

We also liked this 1957 Mercury with the ‘greased lightening’ motif.

Check out “Corvette Row” quite a gathering!

The Excaliber from SS Motors of Wisconsin was a Brooks Steven design.

We spoke with two people at the Registration Desk and learned that per Mr. Holz, there is no charge to enter the show. He also gives the first 400 car drivers to enter free food. The numbers were not totally in but they were expecting between 750-800 cars.

We were also fortunate enough to meet the graphic artist behind this year’s T-shirt which commemorates the 26^th year of this show, Joe Jozwowski. Joe is a web-designer and told us that he had been creating the show’s T-shirt designs for 10 years. This one was special. It has a 1958 Chevy in front of a drive-in that was once a favorite in Hales Corners, called Petroff’s. The car hop is ready to put the tray of food on the window. Unfortunately, the drive-in is long-gone, but this commemorative shirt lets it live on for all who have dined there.

This 1948 Indy Race car was a special treat at the show, # 91 was driven by Lee Wallard.

As you pass by a local Classic Car Show, take a few minutes to converse with the owners, and watch their eyes light up as they reveal their total love and devotion for the collectible car they own.

Some collections cost very little, take up a small space and are easy to display. Classic cars won’t fit into that category. But you may not need the budget or space Jay Leno has with his garage, to satisfy your desire.

Some weeks back while driving in Western Wisconsin I saw lots of classic and hot rod cars driving on the highways leading toward Minnesota. Bright and beautiful, chrome gleaming in the sunlight one could see the attraction to these old pieces of metal and glass. When filling my empty tank at a service station located off the freeway, I just had to inquire were the gathering was located. Turns out they were headed to a show at the Minnesota State Fair.

Each week there seems to be another gathering of classic and hot rod cars at several of the fast food chains in the area, and when passing I always just peek at the lineup, but have never stopped to jaw with the show people. But with my renewed interest in collections of all kinds, I thought we should go to one of the bigger gatherings in the Milwaukee area. It was my intention to find out what car collecting was all about.

The Fourth Of July Classic Car Show is held at a nearby Chevy dealer, Holtz Motors, with the annual show in its twenty-sixth year.

First one we admired was a 1956 Studebaker Powerhawk.

Another custom job was the 1937 Chevy.

Then a 1956 Chevy Bel Air.

A real custom piece was this peach-colored Ford

The blue car (?) had a sale price tag of $68,000.

We stopped by this 1933 Chevy. Bright red. Seated by the car was Edie whose husband Jerry was the one who found this car 8 years ago in Michigan. In very poor state of repairs and Jerry worked for over 7 years in rebuilding it. One of the special features of this model she shared with us was that this was the only year they had a roll-down back window, making it pretty unique.

She also showed us the inside of the door which had the number “33” impressed into the cloth. She called the coloring “liquid red” which was a trial and error process to get as close to the red of its time. Most of the car was steel, other than the running boards. To have these made in steel would have been approx. $10,000, so they opted for them to be made of fibre glass. These would have originally been wooden. She told us that Jerry was a perfectionist and put his heart and soul into this car. They had a young man of 26 paint the car at a cost of about $10,000 but she proudly showed us that there was no ripples or bumps – no bondo either.

She told us that in the case of painters of these collector cars that you either have “it” or you don’t and this man had it! What a wonderful job! Jerry had the steering wheel custom-made. We asked if she drove it and she said that this was “his baby” and while she could drive it if she wished, she preferred to be a passenger, giving Jerry the sense of pride he deserved for a job well done. They do a few other car shows a year and told us they were involved with the Johnny Z’s Show that donates to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Edie was very pleasant and knowledgeable and proud of the job her husband had done and the way the Chevy turned out.

We came across a 1956 Mercury with absolutely incredible amounts of chrome.

This purple 1957 Chevy was an eye-catcher too.

And check out the open/glass hood on this 1957 Olds. Called a Rocking 88.

The owner of this 1957 Chevy had a great sense of humor. The car-hop’s tray remains in the window from the old drive-in!

The show was so large that I want to continue in my Friday article with an interview of the original owner of a 1957 Thunderbird that was restored.

While these collectors have a good deal invested in their collections, the enthusium they have for there obsession is incredible. I’ll show a few more views on Corvette Row, a vintage race car and other classics.