I would like to tell you a story about a friend of my friend, who happened to be a real car collector enthusiast. One day, my friend Murray said to me: “Hey you wanna make a detour to see a car collector friend of mine?”

 

Murray is the owner of a dog obedience business. He prefers working with German Shepherds, but he trains any breed of dogs for his customers, which range from regular dog admirers to some people of prominence looking for security. This is how I was introduced to Johnnie, one of his dog training customers.

 

Johnnie is a middle-aged business person, who resides somewhere in South Carolina. I made a conscious decision to keep his full name and location undisclosed for security purposes.

 

CarChatClub: So how did you get started with cars?

 

Johnnie: “Well, it is kind of like this”, said Johnnie in his lovely thick South Carolina accent, where he draws every word out, “it all starts when you’re fifteen of so, or going on twenty. You look around, and you say, hey that’s a nice ride. I wish I’d have a car like this! But as a young gun you don’t really have the means to buy it, but you wish you’d have. So eventually you grow up and your work turns to be rather profitable and so you think, I may just as well afford one of my dreams of the past. That’s how I got started and I have a collection of 29 cars as of today!”

 

CCC: So what was your first car? Do you remember?

 

Johnnie: Oh yes, I remember it very vividly. I turned 25 and I was really looking into possibilities to put some of my dream cars in my garage. Then came my first buy. It was a ’66 Chevelle. All painted in Ferrari red, which made its muscles stand out even more. From that point on I was hooked. The collection grew over the years, and was widened by various vehicles of different makes, but I guess my love was and is centered on muscle cars. That Chevelle is beautifully restored now, and is a reminder now, of my first steps into this car obsession.   

CCC: Does your wife share your passion?

Johnnie: Yeah, she does. Actually there is a story I will tell you a bit later on, but yes, we converse together on what to make our new project, and she likes them herself. Actually, the cars are also a good investment.

 

CCC: Seriously?

As serious as a heart attack and some folks say that’s pretty serious! I’m a baby boomer. And there are baby boomers that just like me, who want to have the cars they’ve always craved after. You buy a car for $20,000 and in five years it’s worth $40,000. Don’t get better than this!

 

But back to Chevelle. It had a few flaws and needed some restoration work, but was in overall original condition as far as parts were concerned. See, Chevelle was one of the cars in Chevrolet’s line of muscle cars, yet Chevy made it an everyday high performance muscle car. It was a good fit for the market, had both the style and the performance, all of which was available for a fairly modest price.

 

CCC: Now I see that your Chevelle has SS on the front radiator grill and 427 next to the emblem on the left fender?

 

Johnnie: Yeah, that’s right. It sure enough is a ’66 Chevrolet Chevelle Super Sport, and is equipped with a big block 427 cubic inch engine. Eats gas by the gallon, but has an outstanding torque. As with all the muscle cars the idea behind it was to provide as much horse power, with as little weight, and this SS 427 certainly delivers all that’s required and a little beyond that. Well consider FOR yourself:  427-cid V-8's large-valve heads, plus 11.0:1 compression, aluminum intake manifold – that altogether adds up to 390 hp. Engine coupled with a four speed gear box. That’s as good as it gets, but even a base SS, is still very much an authentic muscle car.

 

CCC: 29 cars in your collection! That’s impressive! Will there be a stopping point or do you plan to add more?

 

Johnnie: Well, I always keep sayin’ this is the last one, ok, that one will be the last one. But then I see something that makes my heart beat like a hammer. I just got to have it! There is something utterly intriguing about each one of them. Let’s say one time I come to see a ’55 Dodge pickup truck. I see this thing abandoned in the woods in pretty poor shape. Now maybe this wouldn’t be such a great find for a classic car enthusiast such as me, but this thing had five windows in it. I did my homework and checked with the plant where they produced them, and guess what, it turns out that this is the only five window Dodge pickup truck ever produced. Now you unnerstan’, I just had to get it.

 

CCC: The truck is beautifully restored now; one couldn’t tell it was sitting in the woods left to rust for such a long time.   

 

Johnnie: I have a team of highly qualified mechanics working on cars, doing both maintenance and restoration work. They are employed full time and always do a great job. We had to take it apart and sort out the details to see which were still usable and which had to be replaced. We did a new paintjob, replaced the gearbox, but left the old 259ci V-8. We also had to rewire the electronics, replace the shocks, and took out several leaf springs from the rear to make it less rough on the road. We also had a specialist invited, who came to recreate the interior to the original specs, and he did a great job too.

 

CCC: Can you say something about some other cars in your collection?

 

Johnnie: Yes! As you see, though I prefer American muscle cars, I have some other European makes in my collection, like ’80 Porsche 924 or ’81Jaguar XJS V12. I also use ’91 Corvette Stingray C4 for daily commuting.  Some of the cars in my collection that are right now undergoing restoration are: ’68 Chevy Camaro, ’60 Buick Le Sabre Convertible, ’54 Buick Roadmaster Convertible, ‘55 Chrysler C-300, ’59 Cadillac Series 62 Coupe A, and ‘67 Lincoln Continental Convertible. 

 

CCC: Now, do you drive your cars from time to time?

 

Johnnie: Oh, absolutely! All of them that are through with restoration are fully operable. I just can not look at them without losing my mind from a desire to open up on a freeway. They don’t stand in my hangar just for the looks. Regardless to say the feel you get from riding a classic, with all the challenges it puts before you, is simply incomparable to driving some modern boring car. And also it’s a great family experience, that’s something that a couple can do to spend time together.

 

CCC: Now, can you tell us which car is your favorite?

 

Johnnie: No, not really. I love’em all, otherwise I wouldn’t have had them. But I guess to answer your question; one that I really have a fancy for is ’57 Chevrolet Bel Air.

 

Actually I have a few of them, hardtops as well as convertibles. It’s a very nice car, very roomy, powerful, and not that bad on the gas either. Plus, it is fitted with all the chrome and comes with the famous tail fins. It is instantly recognizable; for me this is an American icon. The base model has a decent relatively fuel efficient engine, a real nice work done by Ed Cole. He took a small-block V-8 and managed to squeeze 162 horsepower out of it or 180 with a four-barrel carburetor. But it is the Bel Air that really makes things unravel. They enlarged the engine displacement to 283 cu and with the fuel injected package called "Super Turbo Fire V8" were able to achieve remarkable 283 horsepower! And we’re taking 50’s here! The first American production car to have one horsepower per cubic inch. The fuel injected Bel Airs are pretty hard to find, as most of the cars out there are carburetor equipped.

 

CCC: Well thank you so much Johnnie for sharing these things with us. You promised to tell us a story related to your wife towards the end of our interview.

 

Johnnie: Oh, most certainly. In fact I have hundreds of stories, but this is a really good one. Six years ago I was looking for a specific ’64 Corvette convertible. In 1964 they did some work on the shock absorbers and the springs, and added a fuel injected option for the trusted 327 V8. So with the looks, the new improved suspension, and 375 hp engine it is just such a nice car. I looked through all the magazines, websites, and finally found the one I wanted in Tennessee. Well, sure enough, my wife wanted one as well. She also wanted a ‘fuelie’ and also a convertible. Well, to find her the same kind of ’64 Corvette convertible wasn’t easy at all. Finally I found one in Alabama. It was in restoration for the next three and a half years. Once the work was finished we took a look at the titles, and they were back to back: one ended in 5 and the other in 6. So it’s pretty unique, that we got here a couple of cars, which some forty sumthin’ years ago came of the assembly line one after another. So the Corvettes are pretty special to us. And they appreciate well too; the two of them together would cost over a quarter million dollars.    

 

By Leonard Chornay

Leonard Chornay is a professional translator/interpreter, creative writer, minister, and a musician. He also happens to be an expert, when it comes to Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Due to his professional responsibilities he spends much time in travel, which allows him to meet interesting people with unforgettable stories to tell.

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