I actually worked at Win Stevens in the mid 90's for a while, and I bought my two post Rotary hoist from the sell out when then closed. Tim Hol, board member here and good friend of mine, worked there for many years, his Dad was the GM in the late 60's and early 70's. Lots of stories about Win, that is for sure. He liked to have a good time. Remember the "Rainbow of Colors" event every spring? They would special order cars in unique colors in the winter, and as soon as spring came, display them all under those outside canopies, which faced highway 100, a big north-south route in the suburbs. Although my folks were partial to Swanberg&Scheefe on University Ave.. I recall going there in the 70's when my dad would be getting dealer parts for our cars. Huge Dealership on Hennepin and University, that took up almost a whole city block. Multi-level showroom that had an elevator to lift cars with, really cool place for a kid to explore. Here is their used car lot, on Lake Street in So MPLS... that street was used car lot row.. there were dozens of small lots. and here is a pic of the emblem that was on the back of our 70 Stage 1 car.. it unfortunately got taken off in a repaint in the late 70's. JW
Rainbow of colors! I remember that when I was a kid! We had friends that lived over there and Win Stephens was the escape for the guys on Saturdays when we were close. My dad looked at "LeSabre Luxus" Convertibles in 1974(?) I remember them having a half a dozen or so in different colors all with the tops down--we looked because my dad was convinced it was the last of the big Buick convertibles made(he was right) My family was a Swanberg & Scheefe family as well. My dad bought all his cars from Phil Schaffer who worked there for years. Multi level showroom. 65 Wildcat, 69 Wildcat, Estate Wagon, etc. Phil would just send my dad home with a demo overnight and he would go in and write a check a couple days later. Somewhere there is a grainy picture with the white borders from 1969 showing us all crammed into a GS 400 Sport Coupe in GS Fireglow. My mother deemed it "just to darned small". After the wheel shuffle added the chrome rims to a hubcap wearing Wildcat coupe that became the choice of 1969. Positraction, dual exhaust, 2 doors and factory mags followed by an extra day to have a "performance tune"(whatever that was) My dad was cool. It went back to Swanberg and Scheefe for a full tune based on one test. There used to be an entrance ramp onto Interstate 94 from Xerxes Avenue by my house. If it didn't hit 110 by the bottom of the ramp, it was time to take it in. Ruined from birth pretty much and doomed to be a motorhead.
Wow! With those red brick apartment buildings in the background, that could be mistaken for the American gas station at Montclair and Oporto in Birmingham Alabama .
My 1964 4-speed Wildcat was sold new at Swanberg & Scheefe. I have paperwork from the sale (below) and a host of other items I've collected. I was fortunate to become acquainted with a man who grew up in Minneapolis/St. Paul area (starting 50's and still lives there today). This person helped me by providing me with some of the below history (photos and newspaper articles) and even sold me (quite reasonably) some items from the dealership (match books, pen, and even an NOS badge). The badge will go back on my car once the car is completed. Anyway those items are all shown here:
Nice! Im not sure you would want that white stuff on the ground. :laugh: My uncles Old station is now a Citco and the building across the street is still there but with white siding on it. Anyone in Central NY remember the Sweet Heart Market and the Big Boy resturant that was across the street?
Sorry for the picture of a picture quality....This is my Dad's 1972 Skylark drag car, "The Nitemare", from when I was a kid at Lewistown Raceway here in Montana. It ran 12.9 without the front bumper but a full mint interior so we could take it out and drive it every now and then as a family. I thought it was the fastest thing in the world, and was for the time. My Dad and this car are the whole reason I'm a gearhead, and probably the only reason I'm into Buicks
Nah, I you might be thinking of Hansord Pontiac, on Hennepin and Washington Ave.. Swanberg&Scheefe was across the river, about a mile or two away. Hansord had a similar operation to Swanberg.. same type of building and footprint. The Old Spaghetti Factory is on Washington between Chicago and Portland aves I believe, half a mile from Hansord.. (now a Jag dealer) The Swanberg&Scheefe dealership changed hands a couple times, finally closed and was demolished in the late 90's, JW
Way cool you and Jim have ties to that dealership... Thanks for sharing! Your car is amazing Matt. Love the picture of all the '68's! Thank you. This morning we're back to black:
This is me a the York US30 Dragstrip in 1973. The one pic is me and my girl(now my wife)in the pits and the other is coming back from a run. 3rd is a "friendly street race back in the day" and the next 2 are a rear end shot after my spoiler was installed. The last is my girlfriend(now wife) helping to lift up the front end so I could work on vehicle
Well that poor 59 Buick in post 130 explains why I can't find a 59 Buick. At least in the last post the one depicted there is actually driving and not crashed. Probably rusted to dust by now though. I didn't know that they had cobblestone streets in the US; - I would have thought any that were that way would have been paved over by the 30s-40s. Are there still some around? Would they be in New England exclusively? Love this thread!
The pic of Kinney Shoes looks like the location on 28th st. in the Grand Rapids MI area. Sexy scooter.
That 2nd picture looks like it was taken in the Palm Springs, California area. The desert looks a lot different today. Lots of buildings in that empty space. I would say that is I-10 and the Southern Pacific railroad tracks towards to bottom.
Drove through a town in Kansas a few years ago with cobblestone street. Seen several small towns in Oklahoma with brick streets.
That's a picture out of Pittsburgh's southside. There are many roads like that, some paved over, some not. Glad you're lovin it! Yes, that is a nice scooter blocking our Buick view.
That Kinney Shoe store was on Lake Street in Addison Ill, and the Monkey Wards is one of the stores that got trashed in the Blues Brothers movie in Harvey, Ill at 147th and Western, (Dixie square Mall). It closed in about 1977; the thefts outweighed the purchases! When they made the BB movie, they had to repair the whole mall to "as found" condition, then afterwards the place was demolished. A lot of times we/us have "flashbacks" (LOL) of things we took for granted as kids and BAMM. There it is! That's how that Addison Il. shoe store pic sunk in. My pals boss, Jack Lacey actually had a top and trim shop across the street from it. How about that chick on the scooter.. Looks kinda like , ahem, Jane Fonda from that flick in NYC where she stays with her brother for a weekend. GO BRIAN! ws https://jonrev.com/2015/02/10/construction-of-dixie-square-mall-1965/
If that IS Hanoi Jane, I'll take the Buick Skylark vert behind her....................and run her over with it. Those Kinney stores must have all looked the same. This is the Monkey Wards that used to be the anchor of Rogers Plaza here in Wyoming MI: http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5883/1181/1600/Rogers Plaza Wyoming MI c1962.jpg
