To All The Cars I've Loved Before: Your First Car Tells The Story

What a 1928 Model A Ford and McPherson College's Restoration Program Taught Students About Classic Car Culture

• Doug & Christian - Your Guides to Classic Cars & First Car Stories • Season 6 • Episode 10

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Ever daily drive a car from 1928? Cash does. And his golden retriever rides in the rumble seat.

Doug and Christian sit down with Cash and Chris from McPherson College's automotive restoration program, and what starts as a conversation about classic car education becomes something much deeper. There's a reason Cash bought his 1928 Model A sport coupe right after high school and made it his everyday driver. There's a reason everyone fights over who gets to sit in the rumble seat on 500-mile road trips. And there's definitely a reason Chris has seen hundreds of incredible cars but still stops dead in his tracks when he sees a Duesenberg.

Want to know what "car camp" really means? Curious why the rumble seat is actually the best seat in a Model A? Wondering what it's like to restore vintage cars while learning the craft at one of America's most prestigious automotive restoration schools?

This episode takes you inside McPherson College's renowned restoration program through the eyes of a student and instructor who live and breathe vintage car culture every single day. Cash and Chris share what makes McPherson's summer restoration institute special, why students travel from across the country to attend, and what it really takes to become a restoration expert.

Want to Learn more about McPherson College's Automotive Restoration program? Listen to our episode with McPherson alum, Mason Ball - https://www.buzzsprout.com/2316026/episodes/17426714-record-speed-model-t-build-to-wayne-carini-mcpherson-grad-s-path

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SPEAKER_04:

Welcome back to All the Cars I've Loved For, your authoritative podcast on Automotive Nostalgia, where our guests are unique. Each auto has an era, and every car tells a story. So you know it's time to plug in a little grease under the nails. Clip on the favorite car theme, car themed t-shirt, hat or jacket. Speaking of, let's bring in my co-host with the almost. He's got all the options. Hey, it's on most cylinders some of the time, which I think is can be true of many of us. Our man with the half-make plan, Doug. How are you, buddy? Welcome. Doing great? Doing good. What's the weather up there? How you how you how you doing?

SPEAKER_02:

Uh doing well. Weather uh over the weekend it got to the 80s, but 80s.

SPEAKER_04:

80s heat weather. Today, like high 60s. Well, let me ask, over the weekend, was the weather good weather for test driving an old car? Not an old, old car. That's for our guest today, but an older car.

SPEAKER_02:

It was reasonable. I would say walking up to that area in DC to visit it reminded me of our walk in uh our walks in San Francisco where my God, it was just up crazy hills, but it's the Trinidad neighborhood in DC, which I've never been to near Gallaudet University. Lovely, lovely place, Gallaudet. Indeed, indeed. So since you brought it up, I did test drive the second one I've driven, but this one was a 1992 Suzuki cappuccino.

SPEAKER_03:

Mmm.

SPEAKER_02:

And uh wasn't as nice as in the pictures, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_04:

But well just like online dating, finding cars, the pictures are seldom representational. Yeah. So you've you've driven how many of these? Two. Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

And uh I don't think I'll be driving any more for a while. I think I'm gonna change my focus back to my uh 90, 300zx and get that painted. Hopefully, uh our our friend Matt is gonna paint it.

SPEAKER_04:

And how many cars have you bought this week? Zero. Is it still at zero? Okay, is it gonna be a struggle to keep it there, you think? Nah. Yeah. Um okay, so so uh so on the cappuccinos. The first one was nice, second not so nice. They were prized about the same. And tell let's get into tell the audience just a minute or two about these about these JDM.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, so uh it falls into uh what the Japanese call a K class, KEI, which was a car limited in size, weight um horsepower, limited to about 63 horsepower, 64, and uh engine displacement about uh 660cc, so under one liter. Under smaller than and uh I think they're all three cylinders, smaller than your Geo Metro that you had, which was a whole one liter. But um this muscle car. Suzuki had a turbo. Yes. Yeah, Suzuki had a turbo. This they all do, Suzuki cappuccinos. This one had a aftermarket turbo, it was noticeably more powerful than the other one.

SPEAKER_04:

Oh, yeah, you drove uh a non-turbo.

SPEAKER_02:

No, they're they're all turbos, but just stock versus aftermarket turbo. Oh you know, the car weighs nothing. And uh they're itty bitty. Just to add, it's uh yeah, it's a it's a coupe, it's a convertible, it's a T top, it's uh Targetop. It does all those different things. So it's a really neat, it's a really neat car. It's like a mini Miata.

SPEAKER_04:

Okay, but we're just gonna go with, we're gonna let those let those pass to the next person out there.

SPEAKER_02:

So hey, if you're interested, uh they are, I'm sure they are available. There's a huge thing with the Japanese K car culture in this country or any JDM cars, they say Japanese domestic market cars.

SPEAKER_04:

So this is Ukikara, uh the Autosom, all of these with the very sharp-looking little cars. Oh, yeah, that was another one. That was another. There's one for sale at the at the interesting lot down the road from me. They cannot get rid of it. So I don't know. I think he's asking a little much, but yeah. Fun cars, small cars. Well, thank you for the update. You're welcome. And before we go ahead, did you want to say something else? No. I said welcome. Before thank you, before we pivot to our guest today, a little bit of a call to action here. Carslove.com. Please visit. Uh we've always done uh or we just did some work to the website. Let us know. Visit reviews, pictures. You can stream shows there, I believe. And that's actually, I I was surprised that we're heard around the world. So I think a lot of people, that's how they listen to us, okay? Just go to the website, check it out. All the episodes are archived there. Uh you want to give them the link tree real quick? Sure. L-I-N-K-T-R dot E slash Cars Loved. Absolutely. So if you like what you hear, tell a family member, a coworker, a friend, because you know what we do. We bring bring people together from all over the world, cities here in the United States, countries, all over the globe. We know because we have the data. All right. And so as we uh march on here closer and closer to our guests who are gonna tell us about some old, old automobiles. Today's theme, by way of a prologue, uh, is what is the future of history? What is the future of history? Is there a future in history? As our guests will show today, there absolutely is. So I'm gonna toss it over to Doug. And how did today's guests find their way into your virtual garage?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. So um, you know, I I've been I watch a lot of YouTube, and uh we have talked to some other um college colleges. We've had uh a couple uh instructor student duos before, and um McPherson College in McPherson, Kansas had been on my list. Uh I was able luckily able to reach out to uh Tina and she connected me with these two gentlemen. But more more background, uh, they have an automotive restoration program. I saw a great piece on CBS Sunday morning, and uh I think you watched the same piece, and it was incredible.

SPEAKER_04:

Fantastic viewing, yeah. For our if you found the podcast, the show notes will have links to both their uh the the information on the McPherson website, as well as probably a link straight to the CBS Sunday morning piece. And it it it is lovely, it is so well done. So we would like to welcome in uh Chris and Cash. Chris is a teacher at McPherson and Cash is a student. Good afternoon. How are you gentlemen doing? Good, good, very good, glad to be here. We're thrilled to have you. Thank you for making the time today. So, can you tell us a little bit? Uh, let's ask Chris first. Tell us a little bit about the program, how you found your way to it, and then we'll bring Cash into the discussion and say what attracted him to what y'all are doing there.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh sure. So uh the McPherson College Automotive Restoration Program, uh, this is our 49th year. We are getting ready to celebrate our 50th anniversary next year. It was started in the mid-70s uh by a local entrepreneur who collected cars. Um, and uh surprisingly, maybe a little ahead of his time, he was complaining he couldn't find anybody to help him with his old cars that was that was not already old. He said, We gotta get young people, you know, and that's something we hear now, but he saw it 50 years ago. So uh he got together with McPherson College, which was started in 1887, and said, If I give you cars and and some money, what would you do with it? And here we are 49 years later. Um, it's a full four-year bachelor's degree program. So students come uh for four years and and join the rest of campus. We're just one program on on the campus. Uh we've got other other majors, um, so we're we're kind of fully integrated. Um and students go through, uh, take a little bit of everything uh as far as uh car projects. We we only work on vintage cars, uh beginning of time, um, so to speak. Right. Really the the mid-1970s uh is about as new as we'll work on.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, that's so interesting that you mentioned that. Now, if you really want to put a smile on your face, go to okay, I'm saying McPherson is the preferred pronunciation McPherson.

SPEAKER_00:

It is McPherson.

SPEAKER_04:

Perfect. Thank you. Now I know. Hey, if you go to the go to the website, if you go to catalog catalog.mcpherson.edu, you can see all the courses that they offer here. And under the this is the automotive restoration. Is it okay to call it a major? Yeah, yeah. Okay, lovely. And it it's it's so fascinating because there are core courses, just like any college, and then there are emphases that you can step into. So the some of the core courses, I'm not gonna read them all out, but just the more interesting ones. Okay, engine rebuilding, drive tech train restoration, sheet metal restoration, fundamentals of woodworking. Hmm. That is curious. So so why would I need to know about woodworking when when restoring a vintage car? Why would that be important?

SPEAKER_00:

Uh believe it or not, most uh cars built before the mid-1930s were what we call composite construction uh in the bodies, kind of a wood framework or wood skeleton with either sheet metal, uh steel or aluminum on the outside. Some were vinyl, some were leather, but uh many before the mid-1930s were uh had had wood in the bodies, if not constructed completely of wood.

SPEAKER_04:

That is so amazing to think about. So let's let's uh pivot to cash. Cash, how did you first learn about this program and and what attracted you to it?

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, so similar with Doug, um, I went down the YouTube rabbit hole and found it that way, and the same thing. Yeah, so I remember the night it happened. Um, so I grew up on a ranch in northeast Colorado, farming family, ranching family, you know, cattle alfalfa, all of it. And so I was in a dinner one night going down YouTube and I found Tom Carter's barn fight hunter video where he donated a car to the college. And I remember looking at my mom, and I was like, Well, scratch that. I think I'm gonna go to college to restore cars. And she looked at me and goes, You're crazy. We're not doing that. So I convinced her my senior year of high school to come down here with me. We toured the college, absolutely fell in love when I met everyone here, saw the place. I knew that there was no other place for me. Um, and like I said, I grew up fixing old vehicles on the farm. Like we had a 53 Ford, that was our water truck. So that's how I kind of knew about this old stuff. And um, like I said, mom and I toured it, loved it. I was only seven hours away from home, and then I here I am today, junior in the program. Junior.

SPEAKER_04:

Fantastic. And before we toss it over to Doug here so that he can uh step us back into the past and walk through them, I was gonna ask, where do you find these cars? And in in and before you answer, this is why we say the theme of this show is what is the future of history? Because as we move forward in time, m first off, more and more cars are going to become older. We do a better job at taking care of things, but you're going to take this just really unique knowledge and be able to go out and and do this kind of unique niche thing in the field. But where do these cars come from originally? Where do you find these? And I'll just offer this to to either of our guests.

SPEAKER_00:

So I I at the college here, uh, all of the projects we work on have been donated to us. I see. We're in a really fortunate position that the college owns the vehicles. So if it doesn't get done this semester, that's okay. It will finish next semester. You know, there's no customer waiting for their car back. Um, which is, and and as the program's gotten to be better known, uh, we've been really fortunate to get some great donations uh to have students work on. Um and having said that, uh, you know, it it it also sort of limits us. I mean, we have certain cars that we'll be out looking for, but um, yeah, we we've gotten some some great projects and and great cars donated to us that that we work on. So they they just come in from here and there.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, it could take years to finish a car, right? So once it comes to you, if it's been weathered or rodents have been in it, and you really have to pull it apart, I I would think that that happens with a lot of these. You're talking upholstery. It has to be pulled apart. Uh any any springs in the upholstery, uh, the the the chassis, the wood, all that kind of stuff. So you really have to start from the oh, you mentioned donations. So could I ask uh uh uh are are there any celebrities, let's say, any former talk show celebrities that have had anything to do with your story?

SPEAKER_00:

Uh yeah, um certainly uh Jay Leno um is probably the the most notable. Um he's been a supporter for a long, long time. Um, and and we're certainly grateful for his support over the years.

SPEAKER_04:

Lovely, lovely. And as was mentioned in the CBS Sunday morning uh piece, as I kind of ramp down here, uh let's talk about a 1953 Mercedes and how that really uh helped the program just over the past two years gain national visibility and prominence.

SPEAKER_00:

Um yeah, I I I can speak to that a little bit. So um it was about 12 years ago now that uh we set out on a new strategic plan. Uh and that was to compete to win at Pebble Beach, which um some people scoffed at. How are you gonna, you know, how is this little school in Kansas gonna do that with a bunch of quote kids? And um we went out and we found this 1953 Mercedes 300S Cabriolet, um, which was a looked like a pretty good solid old car. Um, and we took it down and had students restore every single piece of it with the goal in mind, which I think is just a huge part of um where some people have trouble with their project. They don't know what they want it to be. We knew from the beginning we wanted to make it as perfect as we possibly could. Um and so just spent seven years uh doing a total having working with students, but having them do the total restoration.

SPEAKER_04:

And so you have that that car is still on campus again, it's still owned, owned by the university.

SPEAKER_00:

Yep, yep, it's uh uh shown at Pebble Beach and it's been shown at at several other events since then, and it is owned by the college, and I presume or or hope will be continue to be owned by the college for years, so we can continue to display what uh what some some students have done. Got it, got it, lovely.

SPEAKER_04:

Now, is there I didn't see this on the website, but is there a kind of a museum on the school grounds where you can see these or I don't know, do you want to um there's not a museum associated with the school.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh we do have a town museum um that they do. One of our teachers here, Luke Channel, he's on the board and he'll do rotating automotive displays. And like my freshman year, I worked at the museum here in town, so I helped set up some of those automotive displays. And um, the one currently going is German automobiles. Um, but most of the cars the college owned are stored in a storage facility where all the same students store their cars too. So, but there's showrooms in the Templeton that we display them and all and tasteful, look really good, impress everyone. Nice, nice way of doing it.

SPEAKER_04:

Fantastic. And do you have cars? I don't know how to say it, but cars from all over the world. You have uh is it all domestics? Do you take an imports too? Will you take anything you can get your hands on?

SPEAKER_00:

Um so uh we we do not take anything we can get our hands on. We we do say we say no to quite a few projects, whether they have a and and that sounds almost counterintuitive. Somebody wants to give you something, but but we um we've we've got quite a few cars. We're certainly glad to talk to anyone that that has something in mind that you know that they'd like to potentially donate to us. Um we do try to have a little bit of everything. Uh we've got mostly US and European, actually entirely US and European cars, um, but but quite a spread from Europe, um uh Mercedes. Got it. Um I don't know, uh Triumph, yeah, Austin Healys. Um so we've got, and then of course, all a lot of US stuff also. Lovely, got it, thank you.

SPEAKER_04:

All right. Well, here's the time. I I just uh here's the time of the program where I sort of toss it over to Doug, who likes to go 88 miles an hour and flame back to the future, so to speak. So let's go back in time, Doug. Yeah, and let's chat with these gentlemen about what they have, what got them started, so to speak.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, so um, you know, it's it's interesting to hear uh hear Cash talk about working on growing up on a farm. We've had we've had several people grew up on the farm and people I've known personally, and they you have to fix everything, right?

SPEAKER_04:

And their first cars were tractors, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep, though that was one of our guests, yeah. Yep. So it just comes natural, right? And it's a necessity, right? There's nobody else to go fix it. You gotta go do it. So so cash, your first car was a 1970 Volkswagen Beetle. Bright yellow, bright yellow, bright yellow.

SPEAKER_04:

They're always yellow. Why are they yellow?

SPEAKER_01:

Everyone knows where you go. I think it was a thing so that way if I got in trouble, they could spot me in the small town that I grew up in, like that dang kid. We're giving cash a car, but it's gonna be the loudest car in the village.

SPEAKER_04:

It was cool, man.

SPEAKER_01:

It was the loudest and the brightest, yeah, slowest, but how how'd you get that car, Cash? So this one is kind of an interest interesting story. Um, my mom, when I was about ready to turn 16, like I said, grew up on a farm. So we we had a bunch of farm vehicles. Um, but my mom had a 2011 Hyundai Elantra, just one of her like random cars, and she goes, Cash, here's something reliable you can have for high school. Um, I'll sign it over to you. That way, you know, you never break down. And I said, Thank you, but I'm gonna trade that instantly. And so as soon as I got it in my name, I went and traded it for that Volkswagen Beatle, and she liked it. You know, she drove a manual. Um, my grandfather, one of his first cars was a Volkswagen. So it was a good adoption to the family. And then about two months after I got it, um, I decided to be pretty cool and drive it on the hottest day of the year and blew the engine out of it. So, real quickly, learned how to rebuild one. Um, and then after that, my car snowballed and changed, and now I'm in a pre-war and all that.

SPEAKER_02:

Nice. Yeah, and I I could tell when you were uh for those who are watching when they get to see it, I could tell you were started smiling thinking about it, and what a you know, you went from uh here's a reliable 2000 series car to uh hey, let's get this 1970 Beatle.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, I never hear the end of it from my mom. If she was here today, you guys would hear it all too.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. So well, and you might not be with us if you hadn't made that bold choice, right? Exactly, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Like I said, it put me on a completely different track and one that I'm happy for. Yeah, especially driving, uh driving on the hottest day of the year, right? Exactly. I've had my fair share of tractors too, so luckily now I've got the cars that go a little faster.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And every everybody seems to have a Volkswagen story.

SPEAKER_02:

I I can't even think of how many people we've had on talking about Volkswagens. It never ends. With good reason. Yeah, great cars. I mean, love mine to death. Yep, icon iconic. So we're gonna ask Chris about his first car, which is a little bit older than yours.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, well, so it's kind of a I guess a tricky question. My first daily driver was a 1976 MGB. Um blue, so it wasn't the bright yellow of a Volkswagen, but it was still slow. And when people saw me around town, you know, you couldn't get away with anything. It was the only thing in town. Um, but the same time I got that to be my quote, practical daily driver, uh, I started restoring a 1914 Model T. Um, both about 15 years old. Uh the Model T took me a couple of years to restore. And uh a lot of fun and still have it, still drive it. Um I'm glad the car, I'm glad cars can't talk because the story that poor old car would have um would would uh fill a segment.

SPEAKER_02:

But well, and that's and that's part of our podcast. We think every car tells a story. So even the even just what you can tell us.

SPEAKER_00:

Um so that that model too, that's I guess sort of a sort, not sort of, it is an unusual choice for a yeah. I I didn't grow up on a farm. I I was really lucky to grow up around early collector cars. Um, I'm the third generation of my family to be interested in pre-1916 or brass era cars. Uh it was always a hobby for us. Um my father got his first Model T when he was 12 or 13 years old. And so our growing up, even I think starting at five years old, our family vacation was a horseless carriage or a brass era car tour somewhere with a group of friends that we only got to see once a year because they lived in other parts of the country or even Canada, and and we got together once a year and toured for a week in some area. And so um actually, the the I was I can remember, I was told, been told that the first tour we went on, I was five years old. I've got a younger brother. Um, he's three and a half years younger. We couldn't go the year before because he was still in diapers, and my parents decided they did not want to be changing diapers while driving around in a Model T. So we waited until he was two and I was five, and and then off we went. So when I got to be 15, um, I had been driving uh my my father's cars and my parents' cars, Model T's and and other early stuff for for years, and so I'd like to get one of my own, and having no money um that kind of made it easy. My father said, Well, we have some pieces and we're active in in the local car clubs. I bet other people, you know, when they hear a 15-year-old wants to put a Model T together, they'll uh they'll give some pieces. And so here we are. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

And fast forward many years later. And not that many.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, yeah, it's been yeah, it's been many years.

SPEAKER_02:

A few a few, a few decades. And uh, yeah, and so how far did your family drop travel in the Model T to go to these on these vacations? Just curious. I was yeah, I was so curious about that.

SPEAKER_00:

So usually uh we would we would trailer them. We you'd pick up a trailer, and okay. Um I grew up in New Jersey, uh just outside New York City, but we had uh a group that toured in in Ontario, Canada, and every two or three years we'd go up there. Um now uh being in Kansas sort of makes it easier to travel to well, easier but more difficult to travel to both both coasts. So um we've we've toured all different areas. But when I was 17 or 18, had the Model T finished, and that year our group was gonna tour Rhode Island. Uh, New York to Rhode Island is only three or four hours by car, but by Model T, it's a lot longer. Being 17, I didn't have a pickup truck or a trailer. My parents were using theirs. So a couple of us got together and said, well, let's just drive, you know. So we jumped in the Model T's and and left a day earlier than everyone else, but drove up there, did a five-day tour in and around Rhode Island, and and then drove home and spent nine days driving the Model T.

SPEAKER_04:

Dumb, dumb question. What how fast would you go in it? I'm not asking top speed, but what what what's a reasonable speed if you're gonna go, you know, for a few hours in one of those cars?

SPEAKER_00:

Um, usually in a Model T, I usually say 35 or 40 miles an hour. Wow, okay. If you're driving a stock Model T, I mean, if you there's all sorts of period performance modifications, but if you're driving a stock one and you drive 35 or 40 miles an hour, you're not hurting it, it will just go forever. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Interesting. And would you do anything to the suspension to handle potholes of the modern era? Because you can be going very flat road and out of nowhere, especially up there where you would get um, you know, the freeze thaw cycle would just tear up the roads and you get a pothole out of nowhere. Did would you modify the suspension? No, you just kind of deal with it and pay extra attention to the road.

SPEAKER_00:

Some people do modify them. I have not, I um I feel like driving a car like that, and I think Cash will agree, makes you a better driver. You just learn to anticipate everything and watch for potholes. And really, if you think about how bad the roads were 100 years ago or 110 years ago.

SPEAKER_04:

If there were roads, if there were roads at all.

SPEAKER_00:

If there were roads, so even the occasional pothole today is better than anything they had back most of anything they had 100 or 110 years ago. Good point. You know, they they were made for it.

SPEAKER_04:

Fantastic. Okay, Doug, I'm done interrupting. That's just too interesting. I'll be quiet.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, here's a little fact, and it's um, I've seen it a few times. It's in the uh Smithsonian uh American History Museum in DC, not far from me. So the first car to travel, you got me thinking, uh, Chris, the first car to travel across the US was a 1903 Winton, Vermont. And it was driven by a doctor, and I had never heard of Winton, and uh he brought his dog with him, and it was the first car in 1903. So not only was it a 1903, but in 1903 he made it happen.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, um, if if it's a fascinating story, it is uh yeah, 1903. So Winton's, not to don't have an old one.

SPEAKER_02:

Figured you might have one lying around somewhere at the in the shop or in the sheds.

SPEAKER_00:

No, but uh Winton's, they were they were built in Cleveland, Ohio, um from the late 1800s into the 1920s, so in business um about 25 years, and in 1903, really a pretty high-end US-built car. And I believe it was a bar bet of all things in San Francisco. And uh the the doctor, uh Horatio Jackson, he said, Yeah, I'll take that bet and drive from San Francisco to the East Coast and eventually to his home in Vermont. Yeah, and uh he the trip cost him, I believe, thousands of dollars, but he won that$50 bet. Yeah, he did. You know, in the process gets uh credit for first cross transcontinental uh drive.

SPEAKER_04:

So so there were dozens of car companies 110, 15, 20 years ago. There were did the and now we've got what half a half a dozen, depending upon how you count. So did the depression really do them in? Was there I I know that they were just kind of bought up by rival companies. Is that largely what because I know you can get uh a small plug here. You can get one of the it lines of emphasis in this major is is auto restoration history, where you can learn about all this stuff, teach it, talk about it, write about it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So that's I feel like I can come in because that is my emphasis.

SPEAKER_04:

Um, I was gonna ask you per earlier.

SPEAKER_01:

You talked about um history is a future. Well, so um back in high school, I was gonna either become ag sales or a history teacher. So when I found out about McPherson and their emphasis, well, they had a history one. So I was like, all right, perfect. Um, so I came here, we for our history department, um, it's so interesting now that I'm actually minoring in it too. But we have uh classes such as history of the automobile, um history of automotive design, things like that. So you learn all of it. And like I said, when I came to college, I was mainly interested in 50s cars, something like that. Um but then I came over I had a couple pre-war automobiles, but now and talking about how you said about the Great Depression, my whole life emphasis and what I'm going my career is going to be into is orphan cars, cars that are no longer in business, they're companies. Um so now I own two of them, Marman and a Franklin, who are lost to the depression. And so you learn all of it. And that's being at this program really shifted me something into liking history, like I said, enough to make it a minor and like these old cars. And I mean, I spend my weekends. There's some college kids who spend their spring breaks, you know, going to beaches and partying. I spend mine in the library and watching documentaries on my couch about Horatio's Drive, um the Lincoln Highway, stuff like that.

SPEAKER_04:

So, yeah, so so to be clear here, as we were talking about before. Sorry, I said I wouldn't interrupt, but I can't interrupt these guys. Great question. Great questions, great answer. Now he now, uh, Cash, you still have to take the core courses, 40 to 41 hours, introduction to restoration, engine rebuilding, all this good stuff. I mean, you've got to jump start, as we said, fundamentals of woodworking, automotive electrical systems, what else? Chassis restoration, right? Paint. Yeah, exactly. And the core core, the history core courses are uh introductory methods for historical analysis, social history of the automobile, technology and society, colloquium of historiography, and then your thesis. But then the electives are all sorts of interesting things here, too. American history since 1877. Automobile had a ton to do with how that changed. Modern Europe, social history, political history. So have you taken any of those courses yet? You mentioned you were junior.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh I've taken every single one you've mentioned. So um the one dropped. Yeah. The one thing I love about McPherson College, I'll give a little shout out there, is so I come from a small school. My graduating class was 18. So when I came to McPherson, which people say is also small, I fell in love with it because not only is the AR program amazing, the general education program is amazing. So I've taken, I was a fortunate freshman. I probably took three or four um automotive classes in my freshman year, engines, uh, paint, I think chassis. I took a lot of them, intro to restoration that Chris teaches. Um, and then after going into that, like I said, I wanted to do the history emphasis. So I took all the history courses our college has to offer. Um, and now I've done advanced paint, because we have several advanced courses as well, too. Um so as a junior, I've luckily been able to take a lot more than the core and just dive into anything. So that is fantastic.

SPEAKER_04:

All right, Doug, I'm done interrupting. I promise. Over to you. Until we end the show, I'm gonna keep it.

SPEAKER_02:

No, no, no, no, you're fine, you're fine. So um what's great about um your guys, well, actually, I'll ask you about your what happened to your first cars. I think you both well, at least Chris still owns his, but uh I'll I'll let uh Cash tell us about what happened to his first car and then we'll get into the second cars.

SPEAKER_01:

Um my first car is still sitting at home in our shop. So mom reminds me of it every time she goes out there because it's collecting dust. Oh, it's still there. Drive it. Yeah, and all of them running, but now I probably filled that car with about five more or set shop with about five more cars, and I still get those calls from mom saying, You gotta do something. So they're there.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. And uh Chris, I think you mentioned you still have the Model T. Yep.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I still have uh, you know, and at this point, uh I I can't get rid of it. Um and and maybe the good part is it it runs great, uh usually. Um, but it but it's it's uh I've got so many memories and it's led a pretty hard life. It's it wouldn't at this point, I guess I'm lucky, wouldn't be worth selling. It's worth more to me than it would be to anybody else. Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_04:

I love the way you just put that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I uh I I have two daughters, one uh in high school and one in college now. And you know, I told them because I mean they kind of grew up the same way I did, antique car tour somewhere in the country, you know, and I think they figured out they've they've ridden in or driven a Model T or another early car, I think in about 30 or 32 different states at this point that they've seen growing up, and um told them both when they can reach the pedals, they can dry. So we're lucky in Kansas here, there's lots of dirt roads. Um, and we'll just go out on a dirt road at when they were eight or ten years old, and here you go. They can, you know. So my first car was also the the first Model T they've driven. And um, my my oldest daughter's now uh in college, but she restored her own Model T when she was in high school before. And so that that Model T that uh that I saw, yeah, my first car, but we're we're still using it, and everybody gets to drive it.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, yeah, that's that's that's awesome. So yeah, you guys both still have it. Oh, the MG.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh it it because it was my daily driver, I drove it for a few years high school and the beginning of college, and then uh it needed to go. I needed something a little bit more practical.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep, yep, got it, got it, especially in the northeast rust and all that stuff. Yeah, and uh you both um maybe a coincidence, but your second cars were both Ford Mustangs. Purely coincidence, yeah. Yep, yep. So so Cash, tell us about your about your Mustang, what led to it. Obviously, you didn't sell the uh first car.

unknown:

No.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh so I kind of acquired two cars about the same time, but the Mustang was about a day before the other one, so I put it. Um the it was a 95, so an SN95. It was red five speed with convertible top. So just what a high schooler needed, you know, to get in trouble. And I got that car. It was actually my aunt's, and she had it, she was the second owner, put it in a storage shed for about 13 years. Um, she came back home one day and she's like, Have you heard about my Mustang? And I was like, No, I I don't think I have, and told me about it. Of course, as a high school kid, I was like, Okay, well, I think I want to know what speed is. So I went and bought that car from her. We dug it out of the storage shed and I put a new top on it. It only had 40 to 50,000 miles on it. Um, and it performed really well for me. I had it for several years, and then um the actually way I acquired it is a funny story, and I tell people all the time. Growing up on a ranch, I grew up doing team roping, showing horses at the county fair. And so to buy that car, I actually sold a horse. So I tell people I sold a Mustang to buy a Mustang. Nice, I love that. That's my catchphrase. That is that is a first, and that's a terrible.

SPEAKER_04:

Christian, that needs that will be the title of his autobiography. It must must be.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. Yeah. No, Christian, uh, your middle son has a 94 Mustang. That's his first car convertible. Um 04. No, 04. 40th anniversary. Yeah, I'm close.

SPEAKER_04:

It's it he thinks he is way cooler than I ever was. Fact.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. Yeah. And so Chris, your first car, or your second car, pardon me, or or third, depending on how you look at it, was uh was also a Mustang. Tell us about it.

SPEAKER_00:

It was uh kind of I guess nondescript. It was a 1984 Mustang uh with the five-liter engine, a lot of fun. Uh similar to cash, not I I was in college when I got it, not what a college student needed. Um glad I didn't get into any more trouble with it than I did. Had it for a couple of years, it was just my daily driver. And uh actually, when I came out here to Kansas as a student, I needed something a little more practical. And so the the Mustang went, and that that was the end of the Mustang. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. And um just looping back to uh looping back to cash, what was the big difference that you remember besides convertible between the Volkswagen and the Mustang?

SPEAKER_01:

Um, well, comfort was a little bit. I had those nice leather seats um in the Mustang. And like I said, I could the Volkswagen to 1600 dual port, but I feel like in the Mustang I could really hit highway speeds, um, get in a little more trouble. But I was always well with them. Um they're both in really good shape. So, but the Mustang to me was kind of my first jump towards independence and stuff like that, and be like, okay, this is my first, my first car that I purchased. Yep. Um, and you know, typical other things, like I always had to change the thermostat on my Mustang and never had to do that on the Volkswagen. So yeah, because I was like, well, now I've got to deal with this funny little water thing.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. Oh one of the one of the things for me, uh I'm sorry, if I can jump in. No, no, please, please do. This is your show. Because I had such a difference between my collector car and my daily driver, I I enjoyed working on the Model T or early cars. I didn't like working on my modern car. I still don't. I mean, I'll do maintenance, but you know, I I guess it sort of gave me that mindset. If I only have a certain number of hours to work on something, I want it to be something old and maybe something I understand more. So you know, I'll do basic maintenance, but you know, to me, like the the even the MG, but the certainly the Mustang and everything after, it's been a daily driver, you know, and and so I never beat on them real bad because I didn't want to have to fix it. I didn't want to have to spend the time fixing it. So I kind of always tried to take care of stuff and and uh work on old stuff if that's what I got time for.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, yeah. Well, you made your hobby your career, right? And that's pretty awesome. So I'm I'm gonna jump around a little bit, but I I god, I just want to get to um both of your uh current cars or most recent cars. Um both cars, um definitely Cash's car I had not heard about, but tell us about it, Cash.

SPEAKER_01:

Um my 1917 Franklin that most recent purchased. So uh it all began when I was a freshman here. Um and there's this club called the Franklin Club. They're amazing. If you haven't heard about them, look into them. Um they're like I said, automobiles from I believe 02 to 1934, air-cooled. Um and they competed higher end um with upwear by Marmons, maybe Pierce's, stuff like that. Um, and so in I went to the back to freshman year. I went to this Franklin Trek because I got a scholarship to go to it. It's a week-long event in upstate New York, and you just have fun. You know, it's kind of like daycare for all these scholarship kids. We just get to drive these old cars around. And they it's a great club because if there's kids who really like these cars, they'll always find the right car for the right kid. So since kids have gone there for several years, um, a lot of them acquired Franklin's, and then I being the next victim. Back in October, I had a pe a couple people reach out to me saying, Hey, I think I know this one Franklin for sale. And the owners were like, Yeah, we might sell it. And finally we became really good friends. Um, and I purchased it. It's a 1917 Franklin Clover Leaf Coop. Um, it's got a really special history behind behind it. Um, it was a California car its whole life, has a California top on it. They say it's probably one of maybe two left with this top. Um wow. Really good special features. Currently not running. Um, I've had it like when I got it, it was probably in about 40 unlabeled boxes. I got a few. I've been putting it together. Um, and like I said, it's aluminum-bodied, air-cooled, wooden frame. It's really a buggy. So I sold my horse, now I'm going to horseless carriages.

SPEAKER_04:

So um aluminum in 1970 would have made it a very high-end, desirable automobile, correct? We think of it as nothing now, but yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And I it's every time I look at it and work on it, I have it sitting next to my Marman. But you look at this Franklin from years, 11 years earlier, and it was a high-end car. It's comfort, it's got everything. I mean, it's got 25 horsepower, so I'm not bragging about that, but that's why I'm bragging about all the other features it's got. Um, you know, and speed now, speed's not my thing. So these cars are amazing vehicles to be around. I'm honored to be its next caretaker.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Do you do you uh I meant to ask this uh a few minutes ago about the Model T's and Model A's, but um how far back history? Um, Chris, you kind of brought it up, but how many owners can you trace back on some of these cars? Oh wow. Have you been able to do that, or has it been this car has had 12 owners, like provenance of the car, like beans of art almost?

SPEAKER_01:

Hmm. So, yeah, that's my favorite thing about it. So that's why I chose the history of it. History. Yeah. And we do classes here that Chris teaches, and he shows us kind of how to research your cars, you know, going through newspapers, stuff like this. And um my Franklin, it's always had a neat history. Like I said, the first owner um was a rich alfalfa farmer from California. He actually ran away during 1917, lied about his age, bought this car, and then went and fought in World War I. And then after that, I went to a school teacher in Los Angeles, and then another couple in Los Angeles, and then to me. But like some of my other cars of different stories, I've got a 26 Model T that was sold brand new from my family's Ford dealership. And I actually wrote letters to all the previous owners and bought that car back. So it just depends on what the car is. And right, so sometimes it's hard, I will say it's very hard. But Chris is kind of a professional now, so I can hand it to him. He knows.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, uh for me, so that first model T I have there, there is no history. I um I started with an engine block uh that I know where it came from, but it was just a block, and you know, it was just uh when I gathered pieces and and put it together. Um actually I shouldn't say that. The it's a pickup truck, and the pickup bed uh came off of my father's 1910 Model T touring car, wow, um, which he still owns. Uh and we know that his car was sold new in New York State, and my father has all the original paper registrations. It was a touring car until 1917 when it was a 10-year-old car. And then on the registrations, it was a uh they owned a farm, so then it was converted to a pickup truck.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

He got the car about 1980, it was still a pickup truck. So we took that bed off and and he built the touring car, but anyway, that's kind of where that one came from. Um, I have another model too, 1910 touring car, similar to my father's. That um Ford still has the original build sheets on some early cars, so I know it was sold new to Maine. I know what dealership it went through, and it then appears. I've got a uh photo, actually a magazine article from 1937, that this 1910 Ford was being used in an anti-car event in 1937, so it was already a collector antique car uh in the 1930s, and I know what's what's happened since then.

SPEAKER_02:

And then uh yeah, uh it kind of goes on and on, but yeah, no, that's that's amazing. And and you mentioned one of your daughters has a Model T as well, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yep, and uh it similarly like to mine, it was just pieces. Um don't don't know where any of them came from, right?

SPEAKER_02:

And the history, correct me if I'm wrong, about pickup trucks and why they're called pickups is uh they didn't come as pickups. You company sold the bed for it, and you would go to the train station, I think, the rail yard, and pick up the bed for the vehicle, and that's where the term pickup truck came from.

SPEAKER_00:

Am I right? Um yeah, and and like the the pickup bed that's on my car, um it it was that it was older, it was an aftermarket.

SPEAKER_02:

It's newer, sorry. Yes, yep, yep, exactly. So I bet you didn't know that, Christian. Did not. Great question. Yeah, yeah. So um so we want to hear about the Auburn as well, Chris. So we're competing here. We've got a 1917 Franklin and we've got a 1910 Auburn. I I am curious if you guys would race who would win, but tell us about well, his doesn't run right now, so I'm gonna say I would win.

SPEAKER_04:

I can't push that beat. We could push it and it would win. Yeah I'm gonna tell.

SPEAKER_00:

I'll I'll say this week I win, no doubt. Um so the the Auburn, um, it came uh into our lives. I'll I'll say our lives, it's a family car. Um, we bought it about five or six years ago. Um, always had model T's and Buicks and other early cars, and then decided we wanted something a little bit bigger, um, but also early. And this was a car we had seen years and years ago, it was uh somewhat local near Wichita, about an hour away from us, and kind of tracked it down, found out it was still there, um, and uh were able to buy it. Um it had been uh actually, it's another car. We know the the history back to new. Um, got it, and then I did a quick uh search on uh newspapers online and found an article in 1953 on that car um when it was being restored. And it mentioned the original owner's name and who owned it then, and uh we we know the history since then, but uh it was restored in the in the 50s or 60s, um kind of uh pretty well done, but had been sitting since then. It hadn't run in 40 years until we got it, so we decided we were gonna re-restore it. Uh and that's what we did.

SPEAKER_02:

Nice, nice, beautiful, beautiful. So how many uh I'm um jumping ahead in my mind, but I just can't stop. Who has more cars and what's the uh what's the number for each of you?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh probably cash. Uh I don't like to count this because um I think currently I counted the other day because I just got one the other day. Um I'm at double digits now, so we hit 10. Oh boy. Okay. So congrats. Thank you. You could imagine how my family feels.

SPEAKER_02:

So yeah, I was gonna say if you don't want to count, your mom would probably volunteer that number. So tell me about it. It reminds you.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh for me, it's it's a lot less. Um I've got two Model T's, I have a 1913 Buick, and then the the Auburn is a family car. My father and I are are kind of 50-50 partners in that. Um, did the restoration together. Um, so that only counts as half. So that that makes me feel better. Um, and then we've got uh a couple other cars also, but nowhere near double digits.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, that guy cash has a problem. Cash has a has a good problem, but it's an addiction. Yeah, and um, I know uh Chris, you love all your cars. You really don't have uh have one that you've hated, but I I find uh or dislike, I find the car uh cash mentioned, which is so out of character for him. What was the car that you disliked the most that you told us about at least?

SPEAKER_01:

The one I dislike the most is one that I own because I have to work on it. Uh is a 1994 Saab 900, uh Turbo Cabriolet. And when you look at my collection, um, that's the one my friends make the most fun of because it doesn't fit in. Uh bright red, and like I said, I dislike it the most. It's got a good history as my grandmother's. I bought it from her. Um, low mileage, great condition, grandmother car to the max, um, if you can imagine one. But working on it sucks. It's those funny little foreign cars, and I just I can't wrap my head around it.

SPEAKER_02:

So yeah, I remember like that the Saab convertibles. I think like in the 90s, 80s, that was like if you were a lawyer, that was like the car you had to get, along with the BMW probably, but more so the sobs.

SPEAKER_01:

They're great cars. I look, I mean, I've had the window sticker and all that from mine when it was sold brand new. It was a in 1994 a$42,000 car. Yeah. Leathered seats, heated seats. It's got all the bells and whistles, and it's still a great vehicle from for me, but it's just if I have to work on it, I'll turn it away for a couple days and be like, all right, we're gonna we're gonna think about this.

SPEAKER_02:

Wow. Yeah, so so there's uh you of all the cars you've owned, you've gotten rid of very few of them, it sounds like.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep, yeah, yes, it depends on the car.

SPEAKER_03:

Yep, yep.

SPEAKER_02:

And uh, I want to ask you both. I I think you guys have some dream cars already, but what would be your dream car?

SPEAKER_00:

Uh for me, uh I don't know. There probably gonna be some listeners that are gonna have to go look this one up and completing. Um so for me, my my dream car would have to be something early, uh, just because that's what I'm into, but probably a circa 1910 Simplex automobile. Um, because I grew up close to New York City, uh, these were built in New York City and just a really, really high-end car in that 1910 era. Um the the uh I'll say the mid-sized model was a four-cylinder, uh, six roughly 600 cubic inch engine. Um today, top speeds of 60, 70, 80 miles an hour. Um for me that that'd be the the dream car. I'll I'll uh settle for with settle with the Alburn for now, which is uh no comparison at all, but um we're we're good with that.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And cash? Uh for mine, I'd love I like to shoot really high and what takes up the most amount of garage space. Um, I'm really interested in the early vehicles pre-World War II, so and higher end stuff, orphan cars, of course. So I would love to just settle for a Duesenberg Model J. Um, probably a Phaeton. I like the Model A's, you know, because they're really impressive. Um they're not cars, they're pieces of engineering. That's just beautiful. Um the Duesenberg line has always been amazing. Um, and so that's the one car that if I'm at I've been to a lot of shows and I see them there. If I just see one driving down a street or collections I've worked in, a Duesenberg will always draw my attention to it and blow me away. They're striking looking. Yeah. Yeah. They just and you can't stop looking at them. All 10 miles of them.

SPEAKER_04:

So good deal. Well, uh, thank you guys for spending some time with us. I think you have uh I think you have an interested student here. Is would you take Doug? I know uh talking about your summer programs. He wanted to can he just kind of sit audit a class or just sit in on? Does it still have to be admitted? Do you allow that sort of thing?

SPEAKER_00:

So uh to to come into the program as a student throughout the year, uh, you would have to be admitted. Um I bet I could pull some strings and uh see what see what I can do for you, Doug. Um but yeah, so uh and and we do have a process to come as a traditional student. Um but then yeah, we do we offer summer classes in June, which are uh one week, um several one week sessions. Uh you pick a subject, you come hang out with us. A lot of our participants call it car camp. Um we do evening activities, it's it's only uh these uh what we call uh restoration institute classes. It's the only thing going on that week. So we all go to the the dining hall together. Um wow. You know, a lot of a lot of the participants stay in in the dorms. We clean out uh you know the our newest dorms and put put uh people in there, and they're just hobbyists from around the country that uh come and and spend a week or two or three with us.

SPEAKER_04:

Doug is just coming out of his skin with happiness. I can just feel it radiating from you.

SPEAKER_02:

I can see more cars in my future if I go to one of these.

SPEAKER_04:

Oh boy, yeah. Start start stacking up the cash. Well, gentlemen, this has really been wonderful. Thank you for making it up. I got one last question for you on the way out. And really, it's just more of a statement of mine. Uh I find the concept of a rumble seat fascinating. It's a bucket list of mine to fit in a rumble seat in a car. One that's even redone would be even more fantastic. So, what is a rumble seat? Why does it exist? Was it ever used? Was it sort of a vanity thing back there? Do you see them come through on any of your cars? Have you restored any and do they work?

SPEAKER_00:

A lot of questions.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. So um, yeah, I'll jump in because I have a 1928 Model A SportCube. Okay. Um and it does feature a rumble seat. No well. So it was restored in 1994 through 1997. Um I purchased it in about 20, right after I graduated high school, 2022, because it was a place I worked in high school. They had a bunch of cars and um bought it from them, and it is one of the best seats in the house. You know, it's I drive that car, it's pretty much my daily drivers at Model A. But um, the Rumble seat is the most comfortable place to sit. There's more leg room back there. You can actually, you know, get a little bit of a couple of things the opposite.

SPEAKER_04:

I would have thought the opposite. Oh no. You're saying there's there's more space to sit. So oh, maybe up front it's a little more crowded with uh with not as much leg room. Okay, okay. You actually have to drive your car if you sit up front.

SPEAKER_03:

See now, if I sit in the rumble seat, very good point. Um, very good point.

SPEAKER_01:

And there's there's one time, my freshman year of college, where we drove my Model A and Model T from Colorado to here 500 miles, and every hour or so we switched out someone in the rumble seat because everyone argued to sit there. Absolutely. It's the like I said, the best seat in the house. I love mine. Um, how is it in the rain? I've also been in it in the rain. It's for a car that's going 40 miles an hour, you're gonna get a little wet. So enjoy the ride. Um, leather seats, so you just wipe it off when you're done. I actually, my dog, I've got a golden retriever. When we take the Model A out, he sits in the rumble seat and everyone loves seeing him back there. He stays back there and he just it's amazing.

SPEAKER_04:

No, who is cooler than this kid cash? Nobody is cooler than this guy. I gotta tell you what. Well, thank you for that explainer. And I tell you what, pal, if I ever make my way out to where you are, I will buy you a tank of gasoline if you take me around the block in a rumble seat. Do we have a deal? You've got to spot my car anytime. Fantastic, fantastic. Again, thank you, gentlemen, both for making some time in your schedule. This was an extreme pleasure for us. Appreciate it. Thank you. You guys, and thank you. All right. Well, you have just heard the high revenue, low mileage, late model, maybe early model of early models, heard around the world authoritative podcast on automotive nostalgia. He's Doug. Reach him at Doug at CarsLove.com. I am Christian. Reach me at Christian at Carslove.com. They were Cash and Chris. This was so much fun. If you like what you've heard, please follow and tell a friend, leave a review. Try out carslove.com where you can do so in our link tree, which is at L-I-N-K-T-R dot E slash Cars Love.

SPEAKER_02:

That's why we keep him around. If if anybody wants to be a guest, wants to recommend a guest, wants to send us some automotive trivia, ask a question. You can do that all on our website. Send us an email.

SPEAKER_04:

We're very approachable, and Doug has had most of these shots. Yes. I am sure we will see you at the next local car show, showroom, race trip, or concur. We appreciate your listening and we will see you next time.

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Christian

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Doug

Co-host

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