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Story from yesterday's Bluefield (WV) Telegraph...
Local enthusiasts uncover hidden, almost lost, automotive treasures
By CHARLY MARKWART
Princeton Times
PRINCETON — It’s every car collector’s dream: the barn find, the classic gem hidden way back in some old barn or garage, not driven in years but still in great condition underneath the thick layer of dust and cobwebs that’s covered it for decades.
The only problem is that most collectors never see that dream come true.
But, Terry Rose and Dave Ruble are exceptions to that rule. For the two Princeton friends, the dream of the barn find came true this month, and it came true in a major way.
“When you’re into collecting, you hear about stuff like that all the time, but you never think it could really happen,” said Ruble, who owns and operates a local garage. “Well, it happened to me. You just never think you’ll walk up and find it, but I did. I had a friend tell me there was a lady who owned all these cars and she had made a decision to sell them. I went to check it out, and there they all were.”
As simple as that, there they all were — classic Plymouths, Cadillacs, Buicks, Studebakers and more, hidden under hay and debris in barns, tucked between bicycles and old tools in garages and displayed in driveways and yards in several different locations. More than 30 classic cars in all, collected and maintained for several years by a retiree who was finally ready to sell them off.
“They were in probably four or five different locations, but all owned by the same person, and they had been in those barns and garages for years,” said Ruble, a member of both the Yesterday’s Rides and A & R Productions car clubs. “She and a member of her family had collected for years, and she had just decided that the cars weren’t used enough anymore to keep, so she wanted to sell them. I went to look at them first, then I took Terry, and, to our surprise, all of the rumors about finding old barn cars and collectible cars sitting for years and years really did come true. Some of them, we had to tear the side of the barns off to get at, and one car, the front of the garage had fallen in on it. But, even the ones we couldn’t get at at first, I knew they were there, because I strained to see them through the cracks in the barn walls.”
Car collectors and friends for years, Rose and Ruble were immediately interested in the exceptionally rare find. Still, even though the cars were right there in front of their eyes, years of collecting had taught them both to be leery of anything that seemed too good to be true. And clearly, this find fit directly into that category.
“It was just disbelief, seeing these cars just lined up in this big circle driveway, and then the ones we had to get out of the barns,” said Rose. “In 25 years of collecting, I’d never seen anything like that. Of course I was interested right away, but I really didn’t see how we could put a deal together that big, because that’s a lot of cars, and a lot of money.”
As unbelievable as it seemed to both Rose and Ruble, though, the cars were real, and they were truly for sale. For these passionate classic car enthusiasts, that fact alone was almost enough to make the sale.
“We decided to buy them, after a couple of long discussions, and we made the deal,” said Ruble. “We’d been good friends forever, but this was the first deal we’d ever done together. I needed his brains to get it done. We brought home between 25 and 30 of those cars.”
For collectors with such classics as a 1914 Model-T, a 1975 Corvette, a 1948 Hudson and a 1957 Thunderbird already in their own respective collections, such a significant and quality addition would have been difficult to pass up, under any circumstances. It was one special car, though, that Ruble says became the deciding factor in the pair’s decision to ink the large deal.
“There was a 1925 REO, and there are only three like it known in existence,” he said. “That one was just a mystery to Terry and I; still, we can’t find any kind of book value as to what it’s actually worth. We’re waiting for that information back from the REO Car Club of America. The more we looked at that one though, and what it could be worth, I think that became the weighing factor that made us go ahead and get the cars.”
Now, with all of those cars in their possession, the men are up to the next step: the task of figuring out what to do with them.
“At this point, we’re undecided about what cars we’re going to sell and what ones we’re going to keep,” said Ruble. “Of course, we’d like to just keep all of them.”
That would be the ideal end to the fairy tale-like reality that brought a special collection highlighted by a 1929 Plymouth, a 1931 Cadillac, a 1933 Buick, two 1929 Ford Roadsters, and a 1916 Oakland into Ruble and Rose’s garages recently. After all, it is the joy of collecting, not the buying and reselling that has kept the local business owners involved with classic cars for so long.
“It’s like they say about Harleys; ‘if you haven’t ridden one, you wouldn’t understand,’” said Rose. “You either have it or you don’t. For me, it’s like that old Lincoln; you just don’t see cars like that anymore, with real metal and chrome. Today, it’s just so much plastic and they’re all cookie-cutter like, but these old cars, they have personalities. And, I think it has a lot to do with our age; it’s the nostalgia of thinking back to the ‘50s and ‘60s.”
“Both of us ride our cars, too,” added Ruble. “We’ve got a little saying that says, ‘If you see it on a trailer, call the police, because somebody stole it.’ We take them to shows, and on vacations. It’s just that enjoyment of looking at it, and getting in and riding. It’s a good clean hobby that we can enjoy with our families, and you make a lot of great friends along the way, too.”
As much enjoyment as they get out of collecting, though, the friends know they probably won’t be holding onto all of the cars in their most recent acquirement. Currently, they are in the process of cleaning the vehicles, making minor mechanical repairs, and restoring them in an effort to get the uncommon pieces in condition for the public to see.
“If we can ever get them all home and cleaned up, we are going to put them all on display for people to see,” said Ruble.
For those classic car lovers too anxious to wait, though, some of the cars are already on display in the parking lot of Rose’s business, Hometown Rentals, located at 1004 Stafford Drive.
And, while they might not be sure of what is going to happen to all of the cars in their cherished new collection, both Rose and Ruble are certain of one thing: they will never forget that day when they finally came upon that elusive barn find.
“I’ve been collecting a lot of years, and I’ve never come close to being this lucky,” said Rose.
Neither has Ruble, but that won’t stop him from continuing to search for another pot of gold at the end of the classic car rainbow.
“I haven’t seen anything like this in my lifetime,” he said. “But, we’re looking.”
For more information on Rose and Ruble’s classic cars, call Hometown Rentals at (304) 425-5808, or visit www.ryronline.com.
— Contact CharLy Markwart at cmarkwart@ptonline.net.
Local enthusiasts uncover hidden, almost lost, automotive treasures
By CHARLY MARKWART
Princeton Times
PRINCETON — It’s every car collector’s dream: the barn find, the classic gem hidden way back in some old barn or garage, not driven in years but still in great condition underneath the thick layer of dust and cobwebs that’s covered it for decades.
The only problem is that most collectors never see that dream come true.
But, Terry Rose and Dave Ruble are exceptions to that rule. For the two Princeton friends, the dream of the barn find came true this month, and it came true in a major way.
“When you’re into collecting, you hear about stuff like that all the time, but you never think it could really happen,” said Ruble, who owns and operates a local garage. “Well, it happened to me. You just never think you’ll walk up and find it, but I did. I had a friend tell me there was a lady who owned all these cars and she had made a decision to sell them. I went to check it out, and there they all were.”
As simple as that, there they all were — classic Plymouths, Cadillacs, Buicks, Studebakers and more, hidden under hay and debris in barns, tucked between bicycles and old tools in garages and displayed in driveways and yards in several different locations. More than 30 classic cars in all, collected and maintained for several years by a retiree who was finally ready to sell them off.
“They were in probably four or five different locations, but all owned by the same person, and they had been in those barns and garages for years,” said Ruble, a member of both the Yesterday’s Rides and A & R Productions car clubs. “She and a member of her family had collected for years, and she had just decided that the cars weren’t used enough anymore to keep, so she wanted to sell them. I went to look at them first, then I took Terry, and, to our surprise, all of the rumors about finding old barn cars and collectible cars sitting for years and years really did come true. Some of them, we had to tear the side of the barns off to get at, and one car, the front of the garage had fallen in on it. But, even the ones we couldn’t get at at first, I knew they were there, because I strained to see them through the cracks in the barn walls.”
Car collectors and friends for years, Rose and Ruble were immediately interested in the exceptionally rare find. Still, even though the cars were right there in front of their eyes, years of collecting had taught them both to be leery of anything that seemed too good to be true. And clearly, this find fit directly into that category.
“It was just disbelief, seeing these cars just lined up in this big circle driveway, and then the ones we had to get out of the barns,” said Rose. “In 25 years of collecting, I’d never seen anything like that. Of course I was interested right away, but I really didn’t see how we could put a deal together that big, because that’s a lot of cars, and a lot of money.”
As unbelievable as it seemed to both Rose and Ruble, though, the cars were real, and they were truly for sale. For these passionate classic car enthusiasts, that fact alone was almost enough to make the sale.
“We decided to buy them, after a couple of long discussions, and we made the deal,” said Ruble. “We’d been good friends forever, but this was the first deal we’d ever done together. I needed his brains to get it done. We brought home between 25 and 30 of those cars.”
For collectors with such classics as a 1914 Model-T, a 1975 Corvette, a 1948 Hudson and a 1957 Thunderbird already in their own respective collections, such a significant and quality addition would have been difficult to pass up, under any circumstances. It was one special car, though, that Ruble says became the deciding factor in the pair’s decision to ink the large deal.
“There was a 1925 REO, and there are only three like it known in existence,” he said. “That one was just a mystery to Terry and I; still, we can’t find any kind of book value as to what it’s actually worth. We’re waiting for that information back from the REO Car Club of America. The more we looked at that one though, and what it could be worth, I think that became the weighing factor that made us go ahead and get the cars.”
Now, with all of those cars in their possession, the men are up to the next step: the task of figuring out what to do with them.
“At this point, we’re undecided about what cars we’re going to sell and what ones we’re going to keep,” said Ruble. “Of course, we’d like to just keep all of them.”
That would be the ideal end to the fairy tale-like reality that brought a special collection highlighted by a 1929 Plymouth, a 1931 Cadillac, a 1933 Buick, two 1929 Ford Roadsters, and a 1916 Oakland into Ruble and Rose’s garages recently. After all, it is the joy of collecting, not the buying and reselling that has kept the local business owners involved with classic cars for so long.
“It’s like they say about Harleys; ‘if you haven’t ridden one, you wouldn’t understand,’” said Rose. “You either have it or you don’t. For me, it’s like that old Lincoln; you just don’t see cars like that anymore, with real metal and chrome. Today, it’s just so much plastic and they’re all cookie-cutter like, but these old cars, they have personalities. And, I think it has a lot to do with our age; it’s the nostalgia of thinking back to the ‘50s and ‘60s.”
“Both of us ride our cars, too,” added Ruble. “We’ve got a little saying that says, ‘If you see it on a trailer, call the police, because somebody stole it.’ We take them to shows, and on vacations. It’s just that enjoyment of looking at it, and getting in and riding. It’s a good clean hobby that we can enjoy with our families, and you make a lot of great friends along the way, too.”
As much enjoyment as they get out of collecting, though, the friends know they probably won’t be holding onto all of the cars in their most recent acquirement. Currently, they are in the process of cleaning the vehicles, making minor mechanical repairs, and restoring them in an effort to get the uncommon pieces in condition for the public to see.
“If we can ever get them all home and cleaned up, we are going to put them all on display for people to see,” said Ruble.
For those classic car lovers too anxious to wait, though, some of the cars are already on display in the parking lot of Rose’s business, Hometown Rentals, located at 1004 Stafford Drive.
And, while they might not be sure of what is going to happen to all of the cars in their cherished new collection, both Rose and Ruble are certain of one thing: they will never forget that day when they finally came upon that elusive barn find.
“I’ve been collecting a lot of years, and I’ve never come close to being this lucky,” said Rose.
Neither has Ruble, but that won’t stop him from continuing to search for another pot of gold at the end of the classic car rainbow.
“I haven’t seen anything like this in my lifetime,” he said. “But, we’re looking.”
For more information on Rose and Ruble’s classic cars, call Hometown Rentals at (304) 425-5808, or visit www.ryronline.com.
— Contact CharLy Markwart at cmarkwart@ptonline.net.