Find a little car collectible of your own at W.D. Pickers Antique Mall in Platte City

If you’re like me, you can turn any experience into a car experience. Going to the grocery store? Hey, there’s Jeff Gordon’s car on the Corn Flakes. Going to the doctor’s office? I haven’t read this issue of Motor Trend yet.

Naturally, the old car radar doesn’t shut down at someplace like an antique mall. There could be a stack of Picassos, but if they had an old toy poking out from behind one of them, I wouldn’t see the paintings at all. When it comes to antiquing, I have perfect automotive tunnel vision.

That singularly-focused intensity came into play recently when we visited W.D. Pickers Antique Mall in Platte City. It’s actually a nice place, with 10,000 sq-ft or space, and plenty of nice, glass display cabinets. I’m pretty sure my wife and son mentioned things like books and old coins while we were going through there.

Of course, all I saw was the car stuff. Like most antique malls, there were a lot of old steel trucks. Those old things from Tonka, Buddy L, Marx, Wyandotte, Structo, and Smith-Miller were built tough, so many still exist. Plus, they still tend to bring good money, especially the more unusual examples in good condition. They’ll always be a favorite of antique dealers.

If you hit a big enough mall, there are bound to be a few dealer promotional models, and W.D. Pickers is no exception. I’m about as interested in these as anyone could be interested in anything, so they cause a very bright blip on my radar screen. There was a nice ’66 T-Bird in a box, the requisite red ’57 T-Bird, and a guy who had the market cornered on ’56 DeSoto promos, among others. Most of these models were overpriced for my sensibilities. There was a ’54 Cadillac Fleetwood pot metal bank stamped with Leavenworth Bank information that was tempting at under $40.00, but somehow I resisted.

Model cars and toy trucks aren’t the only car memorabilia you’re likely to find at an antique mall like this. There were some interesting ash trays, like a ’57 Oldsmobile promotional piece, and several of those old mini-tire ash trays. Someone had a large selection of vintage automotive advertising. A few of the vendors had old license plates and similar kitsch. And if you went off on a slight tangent, there were plenty of neat old tractor toys.

Of course, I had my camera there to capture some of these essential automotive collectables, and as usual, I am including those pictures in the slideshow below. Plus, since I was taking many of these through glass cases, you have the exciting opportunity to see my reflection in some of the pictures. You normally don’t get that kind of depth and art with these slideshows, so you’re in for a real treat.

If you’d like to learn more about W.D. Pickers, take a look at their website located at http://www.wdpickers.com/.