American Dreamers

This group of collectors-ranging from a store clerk to a multimillionaire business owner-calls itself the Cool Cruisers. It is one of a growing number of clubs in the region dedicated to celebrating vintage cars. Cool Cruisers president Joe Silva estimates that there are about 2,000 active car collectors-meaning people who belong to car clubs or attend car shows - in Southwest Florida.

The growth of car collecting in Southwest Florida reflects a nationwide trend. Eric Lawrence, editor of CPI Value Guide, a national magazine that tracks the collectible car market, says car collecting has been on a roll for about five years. The largest segment of the market is American cars from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s-in particular, high-powered muscle cars such as the Pontiac GTO, Plymouth Barracuda and Dodge Challenger. The market for muscle cars has gone up about 40 percent in the past four years, says Lawrence.

"Many people are mining their past," says Lawrence. "The age fits. People buying muscle cars today were in high school when they first came out. These were the cars they grew up wanting, but they couldn't afford them. Now they can."

Vintage-model American cars are also an increasingly good investment, according to Lawrence. After becoming over-saturated and crashing in 1990, the collectible car market has come roaring back during the past several years.

Johnny Nocera, who sells collectible cars at his Supreme Auto dealership in Naples, says his business has been up 20 to 25 percent in the past year, which he attributes, in part, to the uncertain economy. "Some of it's a reaction to the stock market. People don't feel good about putting their money in stocks anymore, so they're investing in cars, which is a solid market, and they're having fun doing it," says Nocera.

Silva recently spent $1,500 for a 1966 Mustang, one of his favorite cars. After he paid $13,000 to restore it-new fenders, upholstery, tires, and the like-the car looked like new. Silva drove it for 10 months, until a collector saw the Mustang and offered him $20,000. Silva turned around and bought a '65 Mustang for $11,500, which he restored and sold for $18,000.

Many car aficionados are less interested in the collectible car market than in the cars themselves-and what they stand for. Truly Nolen, who has been collecting old cars since 1955 and currently has more than 100, believes the vintage car speaks to the imagination in a language that is mostly lost. "I buy a car for aesthetics," he says. "It has to say something to me. The modern cars don't. They are look-alikes. They have no personality."

Judd and Evelyn Thoman, members of the Cool Cruisers, bought their red Mustang brand-new in 1966 for $3,200. Parked in the Carillon shopping center on a recent Saturday evening, the car still looked brand-new. "We don't believe you have to trade in all the time the way people do. We hold on to things. We take care of them," says Evelyn.

When a caravan of car collectors goes on a cruise, they'll turn heads, although chances are they're only on their way to breakfast at Mel's Diner or dinner at the Victory Lane Café. Most local car clubs and collectors regularly work with charities; last year's annual Cool Cruisers car show, for example, raised $18,000 for local children's groups.

"I'll tell you something about us: We don't drink, we don't do drugs, we drive cars," says Gerry Lockhart, who has several dozen classic cars. Each winter, Lockhart, a landscaper, brings several of his cars from Chicago down to Naples, where he lives with his wife, Sandy, five months of the year.

Some say car collectors are reacting to a culture in which the romance of the automobile is dying. "There was a time when young people would spend their time working on their cars, taking them apart, when you'd fix a carburetor with old wires, and that was the fun of it. Those days are gone," says Lee McCasky, a member of the local chapter of the Antique Automobile Club of America.

Naples can boast the Collier collection, which includes automobiles from 1898 to1971 and is considered among the finest assemblages of collectible cars in the world. Scott George, director of the private collection of about 100 cars owned by Naples businessman Miles Collier, also worries about the future of the hobby. "With so many other things to occupy their attention, will young people still care about an old car?" he wonders.

Still, any gathering of car buffs seems to draw at least a few participants younger than any of the cars on display. Cliff Cook, a former scoutmaster who helped organize Naples' annual Classic Car and Truck Show, benefiting Boy Scout Troop 274, maintains the classic designs still resonate with teen-agers. "If you bring back some of the old models just as they were then, with today's fuel mileage and safety features, young people would want to drive them. So would older people," he says.

The popularity of the retro-style PT Cruiser and the announced return of the old GTO and Mustang designs suggest that car companies are thinking along the same lines.

Even among non-collectors, vintage American cars seem to possess a mysterious allure. Truly Nolen recalls driving his current favorite-a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible-to the grocery store recently. "When I came out, there must have been 30 people gathered around it. I was there a half-hour before I could get away and drive back home with my groceries."