seniors

(This article was originally published in the Lincoln Journal on July 20, 2012.)

By Alice Waugh

Strolling the landscaped grounds of the Codman Estate on Sunday, visitors could take in dozens of antique cars ranging from a Ford Model T to a 1960s Dodge Dart.

The annual antique car show was sponsored at Codman for the 28th year by Historic New England as a fundraiser and a way to attract people to the estate who might not otherwise visit. Some of the cars and owners, including John Bartley of Watertown, have been coming to the show since it began 28 years ago.

Bartley’s car, a 1937 Ford Touring Deluxe, is unusual because it’s only had two owners—Bartley and his late mother. Because of rationing during World War II, she was unable to get a new tire to replace one that was damaged, so she sold the car to her son for $2 in 1943, and he’s owned it ever since. In the glove compartment, Bartley still keeps the notebook in which he jotted down the expenses incurred on a road trip to Canada on his honeymoon in 1951 ($8 for a hotel room, $3.85 for supper, $2.02 for 8.1 gallons of gas).

Bartley’s car is also unusual in that it’s had very little work done on it, since he’s taken good care of it over the years.

“I’m not into restoration. I like ’em clean,” he said.

Another car at the show that’s stayed in the family for a while was the 1975 baby-blue Volkswagen Beetle owned by Laurence and Nancy Zuelke of Lincoln. Because the odometer wasn’t working for a while, they’re not sure exactly how many miles they’ve put on it, though Nancy estimates it at “two-hundred-something thousand.”

Next to the Zuelkes’ car was another 1957 Beetle, this one in metallic gold. Some have asked owner John Henry of Dunstable, if that’s really the original color. He explained that VW offered gold Bugs for two years in honor of the one-millionth Beetle that rolled off the assembly line in Wolfsburg, Germany in 1955. For the show, Henry added a period touch with some musty old suitcases tied to a 1950s VW roof rack with twine (though he used more reliable modern bungee cords for the drive down to Lincoln).

Perhaps the most unusual customization on view was the paint job on a black 1962 Cadillac convertible. Owner John Dunton of Waltham did the painting himself, with advice from an artist friend. Radiating along the sides are subtle red “ghost flames”; because of the technique he used, the flames sparkle in bright sun but almost completely disappear in low light. Dunton even removed the door handles and other appendages from the sides of his 18-foot-long car to enhance the sleek effect.

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