Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Beautiful cars, finished and unfinished, at Wagner's Classic Cars

It’s really just a matter of weeks, maybe days now when we’ll find ourselves right in the middle of car show season.  That means the time for visiting the local indoor car collections is upon us now.  And there is usually no better place to check out than Wagner’s Classic Cars in Bonner Springs, Kan.

This weekend was no exception.  The showroom wasn’t necessarily cram-packed with cars, but the ones that were there were very nice.  There were also some interesting projects parked around the body shop area that were worth some attention.

I really liked this ’79 Camaro Z28.  These aren’t usually this nice, and with an exceptional restoration on a 50,000-mile car, this was as good as they come.  The engine had been replaced with a “fresh 350,” but considering that these aren’t the most impressive performing Camaros ever made, I don’t think they hurt much.  At $23,900, you can have this one for a fraction of the cost of a new Camaro SS, and you’ll have something much more unique.

For the MOPAR fans in the audience, here’s a ’71 Plymouth GTX.  These are kind of in the “so ugly they’re cool” category, with a decidedly un-ladylike Sherwood Green paintjob over some chintzy tweed upholstery.  Under the hood was a bright orange, numbers-matching 440-c.i. V8 matched up to an impressive looking “Air Grabber” hood.  It was also one of only 32 of these cars that came with the optional factory sunroof.  At $55,000, it wasn’t cheap, but you’d be really popular at the next MOPAR meet.

If muscle cars aren’t your thing, how about this ’50 Chevy pickup?  This was just as nice as could be, with a flawless black paint job and pleated grey seat.  Heck, it was actually too nice to use like a truck—but I digress.  It was loaded with cool period accessories, including a Wayne finned aluminum valve cover and the all-important Fenton split manifold.  Curiously, the exhaust was connected back up right after the manifold and sent out a single tailpipe.  If I bought this truck, I’d need to split that exhaust back out before I got it to my garage.  At any rate, this was an unbelievably nice truck.

In the back of the building and away from the showroom was this very interesting ’60 Corvette.  For me, this is like a dream car.  I think it maybe had been repainted and reupholstered decades ago, but for the most part it could be considered an original barn find.  It isn’t so perfect that you couldn’t have fun with it, but it isn’t so crappy that you’d be embarrassed by it.  I sort of envision cleaning it up and doing a few mild, early ‘60s custom touches.  But not everyone thinks like I do, and unfortunately I don’t have any money. The owner is having Wagner’s strip this car down and mate the body to a modern chassis.   It makes me a little sad, because all of this car’s charm will be scrubbed away.  But I also know that based on other cars they’ve done here, it will be incredibly nice.

I took pictures of everything I could find around there Saturday—even the parts cars hanging around the back lot.  I always enjoy looking around this place, and I hope you like looking at the pics in the slideshow belowOr click on this link for a nicer version of the slideshow.

5 comments:

  1. Interesting post and some great photos - a few very nice rides for sure.

    Q: What's funnier than a hot-rodded Pinto?
    A: Not much. Maybe a stock YUGO with a flame paint job...

    The hazy photo (I assume through a weathered and dirty old window) of the Persian Mouser GT is a nice break in the photos of the boneyard.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice cars... nice prices too... That "442" built on the Cutlass Supreme looks way cool - always thought Olds should have used the formal roof cars, or at least offered it as an option, myself.

    'Persian Mouser GT'... hee hee hee. Took me a minute to 'get' that. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. C,
    Just down the street .. stop in often
    on way to DQ !!

    So, you know why YUGO's have rear window defrosters ?

    You won't freeze your hands when you are pushing them !

    Don
    Basehor,Ks

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello therе! I coulԁ hаve swоrn I've visited this blog before but after browsing through some of the posts I realized it's new to
    mе. Anyhow, I'm certainly happy I found it and I'll be book-markіng
    it and checκіng bacκ frequently!


    Feel free tо viѕit my webѕitе; auto insurance

    ReplyDelete