Hot Rods Hidden For Decades! Automotive Archeology In Indiana - HOT ROD Unlimited Ep. 37 - video Dailymotion

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On this episode of HOT ROD Unlimited we discover a hidden collection of cool old hot rods

Transcript

00:00 We're in Evansville, Indiana, a medium-sized city on the border of Indiana and Kentucky,

00:04 known for their yearly Frog Follies rod run that has become the largest independent hot

00:08 rod event in the country, with 4,000 to 5,000 pre-1949 hot rods showing up at the end of

00:13 each August for three days of hot rod heaven.

00:16 Rick Bonenberger is one of the proponents of the Frog Follies, and we're going to take

00:19 a look at his stash of cars, parts, old gas station stuff, and automotive signs that he's

00:24 hidden in an old warehouse outside of town.

00:27 I told my wife I was going one time to do a soul searching, and so somebody called and

00:40 said, "Oh, he's out soul searching."

00:43 And they said, "What's wrong with him?

00:45 What's happening?"

00:46 She says, "There ain't nothing wrong with him.

00:48 He's out looking in the junkyard for parts."

00:50 Going into like a junkyard, especially a junkyard with older cars, and looking through, sitting

00:56 in the seat of it, and thinking, "Man, who drove this car, and where did it drive?"

01:01 You know, a hot rodder, yeah, that's what I am.

01:04 Rick, how you doing?

01:05 Hey, how you doing, Tom?

01:06 You got the '32 Phaeton there.

01:09 Yeah.

01:10 The difference between the American and Australian Phaetons is the American Phaetons have a

01:15 seam that goes right here, so it's a three-piece back, and the Australian ones don't.

01:22 So this is an Australian one.

01:23 It looks really solid.

01:25 And it's a hot rod.

01:26 It's got a Chevy in it, right?

01:27 Yep.

01:28 283 Chevy, '39 Ford Transmission, Model A rear end.

01:31 Model A?

01:32 Model A.

01:33 Really?

01:34 Mm-hmm.

01:35 It's definitely an old-style hot rod.

01:36 Well, Phaetons are really rare.

01:37 In America, they made 1,100, 1,200, something like that?

01:41 It's a small number, that's for sure.

01:42 Yeah, I mean, you can't believe that they tooled up.

01:44 I don't know how many Australian ones they made, but amazing.

01:48 From the beginning, I liked hot rods when I was a little kid.

01:50 And I used to read Henry Felsen's hot rod books.

01:54 I used to take them out of the library and put them in my book and read them in school.

01:58 So hey, it's one of those things.

02:00 Look at all the gas pumps.

02:01 I mean, this is just one little section of them.

02:04 You've got them all over.

02:06 That became a fascination for me.

02:08 I'd go out on weekends and hunt them, even through the countryside or farms or whatever.

02:13 I'd buy one for 50 bucks and haul it home.

02:16 Well, there's more, I know.

02:17 I know this is just...

02:18 Yeah, there's just a couple more.

02:19 Yeah, a couple more.

02:20 And this '51 Merc, this was one of your first cars?

02:23 Yeah.

02:24 I drove this in '72, '73, '74.

02:29 That was my everyday car.

02:31 And then I set it aside like that.

02:32 And I think I paid $325 for it.

02:36 And good car, good running car.

02:40 It's all stock.

02:41 Brookville?

02:42 Brookville, 32 Roadster body.

02:44 That's one of my projects.

02:46 I'm not sure what the priority line is, but you know...

02:51 This is a priority?

02:52 Yeah, it's up on the higher echelon of the list.

02:55 Is the priority over the Phaeton?

02:56 Oh, I think the Phaeton's gonna be pretty good.

02:59 But this one I think I can get done quicker and easier, because I just want to make it

03:03 just a good driver, just a '32 high boy, just have fun with it.

03:07 Because to me, driving them, that's where the fun is.

03:11 Living in a rural setting, Rick has a nose for scrounging great stuff laying around,

03:15 much like some of the shows you've seen on TV.

03:18 In Rick's case, it's all cars and petrolania, and he's amassed quite a nice collection of

03:22 restored gas pumps, signs, and more.

03:25 But what's more amazing is the stuff that he hasn't restored.

03:28 That's what we're looking at today.

03:33 Rick's got a lot of stuff.

03:34 He's been picking stuff up for a long time, and the cool thing is that he's been picking

03:37 it up since back in the day when it was cheap.

03:39 I would say as these types of collections go, he doesn't have a lot of money in it relative

03:43 to guys who are just getting into the deal recently.

03:47 There's a Corvette here, and then there's another one over here.

03:52 The first one here is a '56, and then the second one there is a '62.

03:58 Now was this originally a Fuele?

03:59 It wasn't a Fuele, but I have a Fuele unit for it.

04:02 Just to make you look real bad, how long have you had this one?

04:06 Somewhere around '72, '73.

04:10 Is when you bought it?

04:11 '72, '73?

04:12 I went up and went down to put a chain underneath of it and to pull it like it had a wasp nest

04:17 down there, and it just peppered me with the young wasp stings.

04:26 One of my faves, super rare Willys sedan delivery.

04:29 It's either '35 or '36, right?

04:32 Yeah, '35.

04:33 '35.

04:34 I think '35 had these.

04:35 I'm not sure about '36.

04:37 Super rare though.

04:38 Now how long have you had this?

04:41 It's probably about 40 years.

04:43 40 years?

04:44 Yeah, I think I paid $7.50 for it.

04:48 Are you kidding me?

04:49 We negotiated.

04:50 I think I wanted to do it for five, and I think he wanted to do it for 10, so I think

04:54 we made over $7.50.

04:57 This is a 1916 Baby Grand Chevrolet Touring car.

05:02 Why'd they call them a Baby Grand?

05:04 God if I know.

05:05 I thought you knew.

05:07 The truth is, we don't have time to look at Rick's entire collection.

05:11 That'd take hours to show.

05:13 What we're looking at is Rick's collection of leftovers.

05:15 It's an amazing collection of what if cars and parts mixed with some great Petrolania

05:20 and signs that even in their as-found condition can go for four and even five figures.

05:24 And then a slightly newer Chevy over here.

05:28 Yep, Chevy Nomad.

05:29 How long have you had that?

05:31 Oh, maybe 38 years.

05:34 38 years?

05:35 Yeah.

05:36 And you're sure you're going to do something with it?

05:37 Yeah, that's right.

05:41 Rick's been able to collect and keep everything he's found, and that's pretty unique.

05:45 Most of us have to sell one thing to get another.

05:48 With his successful business and knack for finding on the cheap, he's amassed a huge

05:52 automotive treasure trove and never looked back.

05:55 Yeah, that's a 33-stand delivery.

05:57 My brother and I drove from Newark, New Jersey to get it, basically the body.

06:02 We left on a Friday evening at 6 o'clock, and we came back on Sunday morning at 6 o'clock

06:09 and had it on the trailer.

06:11 Good car, 350 Chevy, 350 Turbo.

06:14 And then this is a more recent acquisition, right?

06:16 The four-door here?

06:17 Yeah, it's a '32 Ford four-door sedan.

06:20 Goose four-door, yep.

06:21 And for some reason, I don't know why, I've always liked a four-door sedan.

06:25 I think it needs a haircut.

06:27 Like an inch and a half out of the top.

06:31 Something subtle.

06:32 Something subtle.

06:33 An inch.

06:34 Rick Bonenberger falls into the category of hot rod fanatics that have managed to get

06:40 a few cars completed over the years.

06:42 If I could only keep one car, I think it'd be a toss-up between this 1933 Hotmobile Vicky

06:51 that I just basically got done with or this '32 Phaeton.

06:56 And the Hotmobile is a slick car, and this Phaeton is a slick car even with its primered

07:02 fenders on it.

07:03 It's a fun car, it's a driver.

07:05 When I go someplace, I slam the car door, don't look back, and just have a good time

07:10 with it.

07:11 Am I done collecting?

07:13 Nah.

07:14 You know, that's not going to happen.

07:18 But I mean, you know, I'm going to say I'm slowing down on it.

07:21 But there's some neat cars, neat gas pumps still out there.

07:24 Sometimes our appetites are bigger than our stomachs, and Rick knows that.

07:27 But he's an obsessed collector and can't stop.

07:29 His wife told us she's thought about pulling something from his pile of stuff and giving

07:33 it to him for his birthday or Christmas.

07:35 When I asked him if he'd know where it came from, he said yes.

07:39 So he somehow keeps track of all this stuff.

07:41 We didn't ask if he has an endgame to all this.

07:44 Let's just say we're glad he grabbed this stuff before the recycler and hope that if

07:47 Rick doesn't restore them, that these projects can find new owners that can bring them back

07:51 to their former glory for all to enjoy.

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Hot Rods Hidden For Decades! Automotive Archeology In Indiana - HOT ROD Unlimited Ep. 37

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