Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums Showcase and Stories, Petroliana My (BOTY) buy of the year - Chevrolet parts room

Wanted to post this in the BOTW post but I have way too many photos to cram in one place. Enjoy

This has been a long journey to say the least. About 5 years ago I stopped by a local antique store in my home town to look through some old junk. I noticed a room off to the side behind locked doors that said no admittance. Curious as I am I peeked through the only window to see whats in there. To my surprise it was an old parts room that appeared to be untouched for a very long time. I asked the owner some of the history of the building since it has been in his family for many, many years. Apparently the building has been a number of things over the years (incl Texaco, Sinclair, Phillips 66), old wrecker/body shop, and even a Chevrolet dealership for a short time frame 1937 to 1941-ish). At the end of our conversation, without prompt he quickly said "and this room is not for sale and it never will be".
Fast forward 2 years later (I had been stopping buy every six months or so in between to look at his cool stuff and ask more about the history of the building and his experiences growing up). On one particular visit he actually let me into the room itself and let me look awhile as he talked about life in the garage (but still nothing was for sale). About a year goes by and I stopped in to say hey and he pulls me into the room and says he wants to start selling a few things because he said he's getting up there in years. We ended up making a deal on a few small Chevrolet items from the old dealership. A few months pass by and the next time I went in I was able to buy a few completely full chevrolet branded floor parts cabinets and a service counter/display case. At the time nothing else was for sale,but I told the man that I wanted to re-create an old chevy dealership or parts room in my garage if he was ever interested in selling more. So this past week I see an auction sign and that everything must be liquidated. The morning of the auction I show up and to my surprise the whole room was one big lot (see pics). Well I won...the adrenaline wore off quickly though as the auctioneer said it all must be gone within 24 hrs. I immediately thought "what did I just get myself into", the phone tree was set a blaze as I began to start lining up some muscle to help move all this stuff. The next morning we arrived with a big truck. It took 8hrs, 3 guys to box and wrap everything in the room and get it to my garage where it will eventually be reassembled. The 15ft box truck was so full at we could barely shut the door. Never seen a uhaul truck squat under a full load lol (seemed like everything in that room weighed a ton). Not sure when it will all be re-assembled, but it looks like I have a small project on my hands to go through everything piece by piece. Anyway, sorry to be long winded, but its all safe and sound packed tight in my garage. I know it will be a long time from now until its all set up the way I envision it, but I wanted to share the journey...Hope you all enjoy the pics.....To be cont'd.

Thanks,
-Paul

More pics

congratulations, cool story .. ...

Great Story; the desk looks as if someone just stepped away for a moment and now is frozen in time...

Thanks for sharing!

Paul--That is amazing! I have been to that very place! Imagine the thoughts that went thru my mind several years ago, when I first stumbled upon it! Of course, it wasn't for sale then either and I figured it probably never would be.
You are absolutely right with your description that it was a "time capsule"! I wasn't allowed the privilege of entry, although I did stand and stare for some time thru that window!
I thought about all the things that had happened there over the years, and the fact that such a large portion of it was preserved as such!
Its wonderful that you were able to obtain ownership and continue the preservation. I am definitely going to make it a priority to stop and see you on my next trip to Florida(hopefully next winter)! I think its been 3 or 4 years since I was last there, and that's way too long!
Congratulations!---KEVIN

Thank you


Kevin, it will probably take me that long to get everything organized and set up. You and the warden are welcome over anytime.

WOW.....that is so cool.

Thanks for sharing. That's the find of a lifetime right there.

That's gonna be fun unpacking those treasures.

Great story and find, thanks for sharing!!

Cool history and ending. I'm not sure if I would have a the guts to take on that size of project but I am glad you did. Good luck, stay strong and thanks for sharing.

Wow, great story and glad it worked out for you. Please share some pics as you get it setup.

What a story and opportunity. Congratulations. I'm sure you'll have a blast with it, especially since you know the people and the stories.

Cool time capsule Paul, glad you can preserve/re-assemble it.

Very cool

A real treasure trove!!



______________
Kurt

Very cool!