Lake County >> Pontiac convertibles of 1937 vintage are a rare breed. General Motors produced only 450. Any car enthusiast would probably be pretty excited to open a set of barn doors and find the 80-year-old car covered in dust, just waiting for to be buffed into a high shine. And if a ‘37 Pontiac convertible is a hidden treasure chest, a ‘37 Pontiac convertible with both a trunk and a rumble seat is a precious gemstone inside the chest. Because GM manufactured even fewer of those. Only 45 came off the lot.
Jim Mallard is one of the lucky few who managed to get his hands on one. Four months ago, after negotiating the price down to a figure he could afford, he bought a 1937 Pontiac convertible with a trunk and rumble seat off an engineer from Otis Elevator Company, who built the vehicle.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t the car’s rarity that drew Mallard in. It was the color. The maroon paint job caught his eye first, a muted red that isn’t as ostentatious as a fire engine, but no less striking. Also Mallard didn’t yet own a convertible, and he only had room for one more car in his crowded garage. The Pontiac was everything he was looking for to round out his classic car collection.
Not all of Mallard’s classic cars were acquired for aesthetic reasons. He also owns a 1949 Ford Mercury, which is an homage of sorts to his youth. When he was in high school, he would buy 1949-1951 Mercuries, tear them apart, then put them back together as best he could with his limited funds.
“I call them customs but they weren’t what people would call customs,” he admitted with a chuckle. They were just old cars that he put a little shine on. But even so, these adventures in customization sparked a lifelong love of classic cars.
When Mallard left his teen years behind, he carried his enthusiasm for cars with him. For almost 40 years he worked in the auto wrecking business. Before moving to Lake County three decades ago, he ran a wrecking yard in Hayward, CA. Mallard has quite literally been surrounded by engines and grills, transmissions and wheels, for the majority of his life.
And as he’s grown older, he’s been able to put more money into his cars. The Mercuries he attempted to customize in his youth were nothing compared to the cars he has owned in adulthood. Over the past 50 years, Mallard estimated that 50 cars have come into his possession at one point or another.
Though the 1937 Pontiac convertible was finished when he bought it, Mallard isn’t opposed to getting his hands dirty. He doesn’t take his cars to the shop when they need an oil change or a tune up. He does all the work himself.
But he’d much rather be sitting inside the car than fussing around under it.
“I prefer driving them,” he said. “Working on them is hard. That’s work.”
And drive them he does. Mallard takes his cars out on the road every weekend in the summer. The only time they stay in the garage is when it’s raining.
He brought three of his current classic vehicles to Austin Park on Saturday July 1, lining them up in a neat row on the grass, each paint job as pristine as the next. The 1937 Pontiac convertible sat at one end, and the 1949 Ford Mercury sat at the other. The vehicles drew a fair amount of attention from passersby out for Fourth of July celebrations. From the late morning and well into the early afternoon, he shared conversation with car enthusiasts and casual observers alike.
When asked to pick his favorite thing about owning a classic car, Mallard’s response came without hesitation: “Just the people that you meet.”
And he isn’t alone in his opinion. Many agree that car shows and runs are the highlight of owning a classic vehicle. When people come together to share their passion, that’s what it’s all about. Car enthusiasts love their cars, they love to get behind the wheel and reclaim a little bit of history, some love the mechanics of it all, but the people are what matter most.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
