Oh, Those Cars…If Butch Had Only Known!!!

By: John “Butch” Dale

In a recent column, I mentioned that my wife and I had purchased a new Toyota SUV a couple of years ago…the price $42,500. We normally buy a good, low mileage used car, but we decided to go ahead and get a new one as it is likely the last new car we will ever own…unless I win the lottery. At that time, the interest rates were fairly low, too.

Now I’m glad we purchased that Toyota. The prices of new and used cars have skyrocketed in the last two years, and interest rates have almost doubled! We stopped in at the Dog N’ Suds last Saturday to feast on their Coney dogs before they close for the season, and after leaving, I drove through the DeFouw dealership lot. There was a used Chevy SUV on sale…. $92,500…yes, that’s correct…it was USED! There were several vehicles priced over $50,000. I guess that 1951 Chevy I bought for $10 in 1978 was a pretty good deal!

This got me to thinking about all of the vehicles I have owned since I got married at age 18 in 1966. Now let’s get one thing straight to start with…I was a certified “car nut.” My folks had really crappy cars when I was growing up…a green 1948 Pontiac, then a 1955 pink and white Buick, and followed by a 1963 red and white Chevy station wagon (with no radio) …not exactly “chick magnets” for the dating scene. So now that I was on my own, attending Purdue, and earning my way through college by working at National Homes for “good money” ($2.00 an hour), I decided to buy a nice car…a 1965 Chevy Impala Super Sport…price $2450, with payments $63 a month.

After graduating from Purdue, I traded the Impala in on a new Chevy Nova 4-speed…price $3150. It was a good car, but I had always wanted a Corvette, so the next year I traded the Nova for a 1969 Corvette convertible with a 427 c.i. engine and 4-speed transmission…price $3200. I became a teacher at Darlington Middle School, and it was a delight just to drive that Vette to work each morning…just a tad tricky on snowy days! But then along came our first child in 1971. No room in a Corvette for a baby, so I reluctantly traded it for a Ford Gran Torino family car.

However, two years later, I had saved enough to buy a second car…yes, another Corvette…a 1967 convertible for $1700. Through the past 57 years, I have owned several “family” cars and a few “sporty” cars. Also, as a hobby, starting in the late 1970’s, I bought older cars and trucks that I fixed up and resold…usually making a profit, but occasionally losing money. For instance, I purchased a 1970 Chevy Chevelle in Colfax one afternoon for $1700, and then sold it three weeks later for $3200…a nice little profit that helped to feed…by then…our three kids.

I estimate that I have owned approximately 100 vehicles since 1966, two-thirds of those “buy and resell for profit.” In retrospect, I should have kept the seven Corvettes that I owned during that time, along with a 1969 Dodge Charger, a 1973 Camaro, a 1956 Ford pickup, a 1937 Plymouth, a 1995 Dodge Stealth, a 1948 International pickup, and yes, that ten dollar 1951 Chevy, along with a few others. Those 1965 and 1969 Vettes, for instance, now each sell for around $70,000 plus! It’s hard to find any bargains today.

When I was a deputy on the Sheriff’s Department back in the early 1980’s, I stopped at a house one evening in New Richmond to ask directions. No one answered the door, but I heard someone in the nearby garage. An old fellow came out, and we started talking. After giving me the directions, he told me to take a look at a car in his garage that was covered with a large blanket. I was astonished. It was a 1936 Cord convertible…one of the greatest luxury classic cars ever made…the car that the Hollywood stars drove back in those days. I asked him if it was for sale, but the old fellow told me that the car was his “retirement insurance.” It had to be worth a fortune.

I don’t know what ever happened to that great car. I couldn’t afford it, but out of curiosity would just like to know…Do any of you readers have any idea? If I live long enough to purchase another new car, I may have to take out a mortgage on our house…or just buy a horse.

– John “Butch” Dale is a retired teacher and County Sheriff. He has also been the librarian at Darlington the past 32 years, and is a well-known artist and author of local history.