Driving through Grass Valley, California last March, my eye was drawn (it usually is) to a row of apparently derelict cars parked at the edge of a lot on a busy street. Turning the corner, I realized I had found a bonanza of rust and dreams.
Cars that appear to have overstayed their time are a draw for many of us; one of the all-time most-read and searched blogs on TravelGumbo is the 2013 Field of (Rusted) Dreams, highlighting a mother lode in Cortez, Colorado. Sadly, that trove is now gone.
I’m not sure if the lure is seeing cars I’ve seen or driven and the times we lived in, or whether there is just something to remind us of mortality in a way that is easier to handle than an actual graveyard.
But, it turns out, the Grass Valley cars, while they may appear to be on their last legs and ‘not going anywhere’ are actually the raw material of intended restoration, either by an adventurous purchaser or by their current owner, Lou Schiavone, who retired to Grass Valley twenty years ago and bought the former gas station as a home for his collecting and restoring hobby.
He told a local newspaper a couple of years ago that what we see is only a fraction of his stock: “I own about 50. I try not to count — it makes me feel guilty.” He told the reporter he doesn’t expect to make much from the operation, even though he sells both restored and unrestored cars. “Hopefully, I will sell them. That allows me to buy more. You get so many, you feel guilty. So if you sell some, it feels more like a business. How many hobbies make you money? I could be doing worse things.”
The cars themselves have interesting back-stories, according to Schiavone. Ex-race cars, unusual models, one-of-a-kind modifications—even a kiddie-car or two, and a bus with a psychedelic paint job.
Enjoy, smile, and if you want a mere shell of a great car, you know where to go!
And because there are never enough or too many wonderful old cars, here are a few more…
