Bruce Meyer's "Used Cars"...

Seems like a real great guy

 

What's the rest of the story Larry? I always wondered what happened to your old car. Love that car.



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It's kinda a long story...

In 2008 I put an ad in Hemmings. I got a call from a guy in northern california who was a representative for a potential buyer, but wouldn't devulge the buyers name. We talked back and forth for a week. He said he wanted to fly out to look at the car....but no mention of money. In the meantime Bruce Meyer called me and said he had been collecting every picture of the car from several magazines and loved the car, and after 30 minutes on the phone with me, was ready to make an offer.

I told him about the other guy and he asked if he had made an offer...I said no...so he made an offer, I accepted, and 3 hours later the money was in my bank account....Bruce doesn't mess around when he wants something. The car was picked up and delivered to David Crouse's shop in Colorado.

I called the representative back and said the car had been sold to Bruce...he wasn't happy. Come to find out, the mystery buyer was a friend of Bruce's named David Kelly. Kelly owns a marketing firm called IDEO. He calls Bruce, Bruce feels bad about buying the car out from under his friend and offers to ship the car to Turlock for Kelly to inspect.

When it arrives, Kelly loves the car, so he buys it from Bruce. Bruce never even got to see the car in person. Kelly is a cancer survivor and is in remission, so Bruce tells Kelly if anything ever happens to him, the car returns to Bruce....and that's the rest of the story.

 

I always wondered what the deal was, thanks for the rest of the story Larry.^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

I like the fact that he restores these cars to their original beauty, not just some clapped out "survivors" with patina. The barn find keeping it in as found condition is getting so old. This guy has it right. I enjoyed that interview. Thanks

 

Outstanding tour, thanks Jay.

The '61 250 Ferrari . . . V12 with 3 big four barrels . . . Italian hot rod for sure!

 

Then why did Bruce leave the Frank Mack Roadster the way he found it?

 

Gee, was there somethog wrong with it? Like I (and others) have said Bruce restores cars "to their former glory". In my opinion the Frank Maxim Roadster is STILL in all its glory.

Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app

 

That's TOTALLY Bruce.

 

Not sure who Adam is (Canadian guy here), but he sure seems impressed with himself. Common interview techniques suggest that the interview-ee do the talking and the interview-er take a back seat. Did enjoy the clip, though - awesome collection.

 

3Larry, thanks for all the details. Nice to know where she went.

What Bruce did there speaks volumes about his character.

 

cool interview.

 

So was his Dad Oscar but he was shorter

 

Well, I don't know every car that he has or the exact condition. I just know that a lot of them have been properly returned to their original glory. Jeez. I doubt the Frank Mack T is clapped out. It is probably very acceptable in condition. I have seen a lot of these "survivor" cars that should be restored. Either the guys that own them don't have the funds to do it properly or their egos are stroked enough by the attention they get by others who want the car and envy them for having something of value. I just don't buy the argument that it will only be original once. If the car was nice once, why can't it be nice again? And useable. Just my warped opinion I'm sure. Maybe I'm not alone. Who knows?

 

Adam Carolla; he's an actor/talk show host/comedian/writer.....he's a HUGE car guy, hosted The Car Show on the SpeedTV network.

 

The Frank Mack car was still in very acceptable show worthy condition... Sure there were stone chips and some small spots where the paint got thin. But all in all the car was still in the original finish that Frank put on it back in 1951.

There was a rip in the seat bottom of the drivers side that Bruce had replaced, making sure the color and even the grain of the hide matched perfectly. It was so rare to find an original Hot Rod in the original finish that was this presentable,..... Frank drove the crap out of this car but always kept it presentable..... I for one am grateful he didn't restore it, With the exception of the interior and covering the top,... Frank did EVERYTHING on this car... So the paint (That Frank sprayed himself) is just as much a part of the car as the car itself.

Besides,... it looks pretty good to me....


Frank always felt the Roadster looked better with the top on. Here is Franks unrestored Roadster next to the restored Tommy Foster Roadster when taking pictures for the ISCA "Show World" program.

 

OK, thanks: guess I need another tier of cable.....

 

Great thread, thanks Jay and to all who contributed. Very interesting and entertaining.

 

I sat down and watched the whole video over the weekend. Great video and Bruce comes across as a great guy, I saw Bruce mingle at PB in 2010 and saw the same approachable bloke. I am regretting not talking to him, I didn't want to intrude and I was in awe of the cars and the whole Pebble Beach event had me in sensory overload.

FWIW The So-Cal lakester Bruce owns is and isn't the 1st So-Cal lakester. In 1951 Alex used the 1st lakester's body panels on a completely new rolling chassis fabricated from folded C section. The crashed So-Cal streamliner was constructed on the 1st lakester's chassis & it of coarse was scraped for $4. So it is one of those half-full/half-empty arguments, do you define a car by its chassis or body both are correct and accepted.

 

Very cool. Met Bruce at the Concours at Amelia Island (Florida) in 2011 and he was super nice. Also got to hear him speak at a 'Hot Rod' forum they held with Tommy Ivo, Don Prudhomme and Dean Jeffries. I'm hoping he brings back some of his cars for the 2013 show.

 

Dennis, it was Frank's car that got me interested in hot rods. I lived by the Northwestern Drive-in Restaurant and would sometimes see his car there. Great that it is in Bruce's care.

 

x2..

 

Nice collection

 

wow !!! very very good video, really cool cars, would'nt it be great to be so rich, huh? think of just the cost of the building alone in beverlyhills let alone the cars,wow!

 

I agree that that video could have used a lot more Bruce Meyer and a lot less Adam Corolla. But I'm glad that Adam made it and posted it. I wish it would have included discussions about all of the cars in the room. Bruce is an amazing and blessed guy, to be sure.

 

Very nice that he has the resources and desire to put them back to the way they were. He is a true asset to our sport. He drives the cars to many of our local events and always has time to talk to you.

 

When Bruce had Frank's car at Cobo the first year he owned it I talked to him for about a half hour about the car. I caught him at a good time when the crowd was kinda thin and he didn't seem to have anything pressing going on so I went up to him to tell him how grateful I was for what he was doing with the cars he had in his collection.
The conversation turned to the Mack car and Bruce took off like a kid on Christmas morning. He said that he had every intention of going through the car and doing a complete restoration. After just a couple of things were disassembled they could not believe the condition that EVERYTHING was in. Nothing was worn, just nicely seated and functioning perfectly. After a short time it was decided to just disassemble, throughly clean and reassemble it just as it was when Frank owned it. With the exception of a couple of things mentioned by Harm's Way that's how the car was "reconditioned". Talking to Bruce it was apparent that I was in the presence of someone that had no need to promote himself in any way. Instead, letting his passion for his interest/hobby speak for itself. I came away convinced that the cars he is the custodian of couldn't be in better hands......................all significant cars should experience a similar fate.

Frank

 

......now what are the chances of meeting the man,and you've three of his cars on your chest ?

..met him in Goodwood,and saw him in Amelia Island.......he always talks to you like a long lost friend....great guy...