[western music]
[phone rings]
Mike: Dani D, what's up?
Danielle: Morning, guys. How are the backroads treating you?
Mike: Treating us well. What you got?
Danielle: I'm sending you guys to a grocery store
that was started in 1929.
Mike: Really? Rob: Really? Damn.
Mike: So, what do they got? Like, old mercantile stuff?
Danielle: It's one of those great family businesses
that's just been around forever.
I've been talking to Michele and she's amazing.
And her grandfather is actually the one
who started that business.
Just for context, Michele's father is the one
who actually started the five-and-dime.
Rob: So, he has everything in the - in the town?
Mike: Her family's been in business
since the '20s on this street, in these buildings?
Danielle: Wild, isn't it? Mike: Wow!
Danielle: The five-and-dime closed, like,
a couple years ago,
but the grocery store closed, like, twenty years ago.
Mike: They got a lot to be proud of.
They've had their business in that town that long.
Danielle: I think they're just really hopeful
to have one of these buildings used again.
Mike: Alright! Send us the address.
Danielle: Alright, bye.
Rob: Alright. What's the address?
Mike: What? Rob: The place.
Mike: It's up here on the right-hand side.
Right here, right here. Pull up here. Right-
Rob: I am. Mike: Where are you going?
Rob: Hey, is this Michele?
Michele (phone): Yes, this is she.
Rob: Hey, um, this is Mike and Rob Wolfe.
We're out front of your store.
Danielle, uh, talked to you about, uh,
coming down and seeing some stuff?
Michele (phone): Yes, she did...
Rob: Okay. Alright. This way.
Mike: Okay. Rob: Okay. Alright.
Michele!
Michele: Hey! Rob: How are you?
Michele: How are y'all? Mike: Hey!
Michele: Surprised?
Rob: Rob Wolfe. Nice to see you.
Mike: Hey, I'm Mike.
Michele: My name is Michele Hiers,
and I am from the small town of Ehrhardt, South Carolina.
Jason: Jason. Mike: Sup, man.
Rob: Good to see you.
Michele: Jason, he is my stepson.
He's worked on the houses around that we have.
He's worked on the store.
He's a jack of all trades, so he does a little bit of everything.
Jason: You all have fun, I'm gonna stay here
and keep on cleaning up.
Mike: Thanks, buddy.
Michele: Alright, we're gonna head to the grocery store.
Mike: You're finally getting into, like,
just kind of removing some stuff?
Michele: Trying to figure out what we're gonna do, yep.
Michele: The past two or three years
I just became involved more with the business.
Um, my dad has dementia.
He couldn't keep up with everything.
Michele: When I was a kid, the streets were busy,
especially on Saturdays.
That's when everybody came to town.
Mike: Yeah.
Michele: Right here was the drugstore,
and this was a tack shop.
Beautiful brick buildings.
Michele: Back in '80s, '90s, the bigger stores,
they started coming in.
That did hurt.
Mike: When the big box stores started
coming in on the highway, that's how the game changed.
And the consumer was the same.
Their wants and needs were the same.
But the game had changed.
Unfortunately, that's what happened
pretty much to every small town across America.
Mike: So, when did these go away?
Michele: These went away probably about...
...15 years ago? Mike: Okay.
Mike: When a business closes,
and you can't rent that building,
the building starts to deteriorate.
That's what happened.
There was no tenant to fill that space,
there was no use for that building anymore on Main Street.
Michele: And then right across the street,
we've got Granddaddy's grocery store.
Michele: Daddy will tell you, well,
there's nothing left on Main Street,
'cause, I mean, he remembered when it was booming.
Michele: He opened the store in 1929.
Mike: You have to respect Michele and her family
for holding on as long as they did
when so many buildings and businesses
were vanishing around them.
Michele: Alright, in 2000, my Granddad passed.
When he passed, Daddy just pretty much closed the door
and left everything as is, and he went to the dime store.
Mike: The level of respect
that this family has for each other,
a lot of people maybe wouldn't understand.
It's like, why would someone want to close that place
with all that money sitting inside?
Because inventory is money.
Mike: This is cool.
Mike: But to Michele and her family,
it was done out of respect and love.
They left it exactly the way it was
because it was a reminder of how things used to be.
Just locking in time so many memories.
Mike: Oh wow, you guys got a butcher shop!
Michele: Oh yeah, Uncle Brighton, he butchered meats.
Oh gosh, ham, bologna, and liver pudding.
Mike: Liver pudding?
Rob: Liver pudding? Michele: Liver pudding.
Rob: They still serve it down here?
Michele: Mhm.
You can still get it. I'm gonna get y'all some.
Before y'all leave! Mike: [laughs]
Rob: This is the epitome
of a real southern grocery store.
This place was the hustle and bustle
back in the '30s, '40s, '50s, '60s.
These places are gone, man.
Just to be in there, you can feel the presence
of all the people that used to come here.
Mike: There's a Coke thermometer right there.
It's inside the counter.
There you go.
That one's in decent shape. That's in really nice shape.
Rob: It's made by the Donaldson company.
Mike: In the U.S.A. Rob: Yeah.
1960s. $40.
Michele: 60.
Michele: I got to bickering.
I get that from Daddy, I mean, going back and forth.
Rob: 45.
Michele: 55.
Mike: [laughs]
Michele: [laughs]
Mike: I love this piece right here.
Rob: It's cool.
Mike: So, my brother and I used to work in Chicago as butchers.
All day long, I would cut porkchops.
That's what I would do all day long.
Rob: I did cracklings. Mike: Yeah.
Rob: You know what those are.
Mike: Yeah, and we would do that and you know,
we started on the kill floor.
Rob: My brother and I used to work
at a meat house called T & J Meat Packing.
It was in Chicago Heights, Illinois.
Mike: I moved up to management,
I was more the face of the business.
I was on the counter, had the white coat,
the paper hat.
They stuck Robbie at the crackling counter
where he rendered, fried, and roasted pig skin.
Rob: It was cracklings, you know.
I would stir the cracklings up.
Mike: And that's where he stayed.
Rob: I like that.
Michele: Oh, yeah, 'cause they had the paper
and they had the little tag machinery.
Mike: Here you go, ma'am! Rob: Here's your bologna!
Mike: Here you go.
Rob: There it is. Mike: That's 5 bucks.
Mike: Standing behind the counter
makes me a little bit nostalgic.
I mean, I can remember going, "Okay, number 14!"
You know, you were calling numbers
and as fast as you could fill an order, you know,
you were moving onto the next.
Pieces like this made you stay efficient, okay?
It's right there at the counter, you can pull it out,
you can chop stuff right there, it's wood,
it's got a cast iron base.
The beauty of it is you can clamp this to anything.
Mike: 75 bucks.
Michele: 100.
Mike: Alright. 100.
Alright, I appreciate it.
Mike: You're right, he didn't throw anything away.
Michele: No.
When Daddy closed the doors,
he would just come in here to check on things.
Mike: Being in a space like this that's that large
with this much history and this much inventory,
you really have to take time to go through everything.
Michele: And of course, it's still like canned goods.
Mike: There's still gum in here. Michele: Don't y'all want some?
Mike: Oh my gosh, for sure.
Mike: Underneath stuff, in boxes,
under the counters, in the cooler.
Rob: There we go.
Mike: There we go.
Michele: You can tell that's been in there.
Rob: Coca-Cola.
Michele: The round Coca-Cola thermometer.
When I'd go in there to get stuff, it'd be so cold,
I'd be looking at the thermometer.
Michele: What are you thinking? Rob: 150.
Michele: You know you can go to 2.
Rob: 165.
Michele: 180.
Mike: [laughs]
Mike: You know, it's like you never know
where you're going to find something
because they were stashing stuff everywhere.
Mike: Okay, what about the mirror here?
This is really cool.
Michele: That has been there forever.
Mike: I can tell it's been there forever. Look at that.
It's for bread, it's sliced bread.
Michele: Claussen's. Mike: 90 bucks.
Michele: 125. Got a star, wow.
Mike: 100 bucks.
Michele: 115.
Mike: I got - I got to have a little bit of a margin.
Michele: Alright, 110.
Mike: Michelle must have been on the wholesale side of things.
She's got her negotiation game down.
Michele: 105.
Mike: Alright. Rob: 102.
Michele: 105...
Mike: God, you're getting me every time!
[all laughing]
Rob: Hey, Michele. Michele: Yep?
Rob: The old Lance Peanuts jars.
Rob: Lance is one of those companies that had
a variety of products.
Peanut brittle, crackers, peanuts themselves.
They date anywhere from 1929 all the way up to 1960s.
Rob: Yeah, these are the older ones.
The ones that have the arrows on them.
These have no arrows on them.
But they're all the same lids.
250.
Michele: 3? Rob: 275.
Michele: 290.
Rob: Let me ask you this. How about-
Michele: You got something
going through your mind right now?
Rob: Well, I actually fell in love with that fan
when I came in.
Rob: It looks like it's a 1940s-type fan.
If you can hang this up in a shop now,
it would move air with style.
Rob: 4 and a quarter for the pair.
Michele: 450.
Rob: I'm gonna do what you did to me earlier to me today.
435.
Michele: 440.
Rob: [laughs]
I'm doing it. Michele: Okay.
Mike: Every once in a while,
we are finding a small piece of advertising hanging on the wall.
Mike: Here's one in rough shape. Michele: Yeah, I know that.
Mike: Right here, look at this one.
This one here is not in the best shape either, but...
Rob: What's that one say, Mike?
Mike: It's Royal Crown, but it's all peeling but it's still cool.
And then you got this one but there's no advertising on it.
Mike: Whether it's advertising on a mirror or a thermometer,
there's like little pieces that are left.
Mike: So, you've got these three.
Michele: Three. Ok.
Mike: I think - am I missing anything else here?
This was - was this the office?
Michele: Yes. That was the desk, yep.
Rob: This was the desk?
Mike: I love the filing system.
Michele: They knew where everything was though.
They knew where everything was.
Mike: These three. 50 bucks.
Rob: Condition is everything.
Michele: I'll go about on that because they are in bad shape.
I'd rather go 60- Mike: Wow.
Rob: Man, I was- Mike: Wow.
Rob: I was waiting for her to-
Michele: No, they're in bad shape.
Mike: I can't believe that just happened!
Michele: We have talked a lot about what to do
with the buildings.
We've talked about a beauty salon,
kind of a thrift store,
and just open it up so people can come in
and enjoy what they remember.
Michele: Well, Jason...
Mike: Oh yeah, we met earlier. Michele: Yeah.
Mike: Okay. Michele: Right, right. Yeah.
So, he's interested. He even talked-
Mike: So, he's interested in doing a store in here?
Michele: A store, he's even talking about butchering.
You know...
Mike: Really? Michele: Just getting that back.
Mike: It sounds like they have a plan
and I love that it's generational.
Main Street will never be what it was,
but the history is the foundation
of what it could be in the future.
A lot of these small towns are finding their feet again.
They're embracing their roots
and they're telling their stories.
[gentle music]
Mike: Here's a clock right here.
That's in nice shape.
What do you got to have for that?
Michele: 250.
Mike: [laughs]
Michele: I'm gonna start high!
Mike: Alright, well, okay. You're ready to start high.
130.
Michele: Huh.
Mike: Well, you're going one way, I gotta go the other way.
Michele: Alright, we'll play. We'll play. Alright.
Mike: [laughs]
Michele: 225.
Mike: 140.
Michele: 220.
Mike: I think the retail on this clock is 200 bucks. [laughs]
Michele: Alright, 2.
Mike: That's what I'll get!
Michele: That Coca-Cola clock, I mean, that's special.
Because that's been there always.
Mike: Let me leave that there, we'll think about it.
Michele: I couldn't give it less. I couldn't.
Mike: Alright, what about this right here?
Michele: The counter?
Mike: That's the table, counter table.
What's interesting about it is that everything is open.
Which is great, you know, I mean for retail,
because you can approach it from either side.
Michele: What are you thinking?
What do you have in mind? Mike: I don't know!
Michele: You got something on your mind.
I know you got something! Mike: Of course, I do.
Of course, I do. But you got something brewing in there too.
I mean, I'm so scared to say a number
because you're gonna double it.
Michele: Not necessarily.
Mike: Well, I mean... Michele: Not necessarily,
but you know I'm gonna shoot for higher.
Mike: Well, I know. So, okay, 250 bucks.
Michele: 3.
Mike: Alright. See, because I wanted it for 3 anyway.
[laughs]
Mike: Obviously, there is a lot of history here,
there's a lot of memories.
But it doesn't have to be sad.
You know, when we're cutting up with each other
and bartering back and forth,
you know, we're having a good time.
It's a celebration of like what her family was able to achieve.
Michele: See, we got another scale over here!
There's a scale over here we can use.
Mike: Oh, that's the meat scale?
Michele: No, that's not the meat scale.
Mike: Okay.
Michele: That was like the produce.
Mike: Okay, that's the produce? Cheese.
Rob: Cheese, vegetables, things like that.
Mike: Whoever's going to buy this isn't gonna -
you know, they're not gonna reuse it as a scale.
It's gonna be just, like, a piece of décor.
I mean, it's a great display piece.
50 bucks.
Michele: Sold.
Mike: Oh... Michele: Yeah.
Mike: Who are you? What's going on right now?
Michele: You just wait. Mike: What's happening?
What's happening right now?
Mike: So, whose station was this?
Michele: This was Uncle Hebert's.
Mike: Uncle Hebert.
To me, what a lot of this stuff looks like
is somebody made this, you guys made this.
This isn't like a piece you would order out of a catalogue.
Alright, so I paid 300 for the big one.
Michele: Right.
Mike: And now you got that little dinky one and this one.
What are you thinking on these?
Michele: "Little dinky one..." [laughs]
Mike: It's dinky compared to the other one!
Michele: Alright, I'm gonna start with 150.
Mike: [laughs] Michele: You know I had to.
I mean, I'm putting two together, like the big one.
Mike: I know, I know!
I appreciate it. I appreciate it. Alright.
Michele: Let's go in the back.
Now, this is the back of the grocery store.
Rob: Yeah?
Michele: So, this is where a lot of them would sit.
After they'd get their lunch, meat, and the cheese...
Mike: Brother, there's signs right there.
Right here.
Are these the signs? What does that say?
Rob: It says, uh, the grocery... DAN...
Mike: This one is growing into the tree.
Rob: Jim Dandy? Michele: Jim Dandy. Dog food.
Rob: Oh, it's Jim Dandy dog food.
Let's tip this up. Right there.
These are all the compressors, Mike.
That's what it was, a cover. That one's toasted.
Michele: Yeah.
Rob: Like, the sign like this where you can barely read it.
There's a product called Prep & Etch,
they use it for, uh, etching concrete.
You can actually get the sign to come back.
Michele: Can you really? Rob: Yeah.
Mike: 10 or 15 years ago, I wouldn't buy signs like this.
But advertising has gone crazy
and they are making products now
that will bring back some of this color.
Mike: So, you got what, you got one, two - what's this one?
Rob: Homelite Chainsaws. Mike: Chainsaws.
Michele: Homelite, is that like - I mean...
Rob: Yeah, it's Homelite Chainsaw.
Michele: Chainsaw, yeah.
Mike: How about all three, uh...
all three, 400 bucks.
Rob: I think my brother's taking a chance on these.
But if they clean up just enough,
they would look pretty damn cool on a barn.
Michele: 450.
Mike: 425.
Michele: [laughs]
Rob: She's got that grin on her face.
Mike: I know! When she hits you with the grin, man.
Forget about it. Rob: She's like, forget it.
Mike: Which way we going?
Michele: Alright, we got the barn right over here.
Rob: Yeah.
Michele: And Jason. You got those bolt cutters.
Jason: I'm back.
Rob: He's back with the bolt cutters.
So, was this like the meat house?
Jason: This is just an old storage barn.
Rob: There you go.
Mike: Shopping carts. Rob: Holy [bleep].
Alright, here Mike.
Pepsi sign right off the bat.
There.
Mike: Might be one underneath it.
Michele: What in the world could these be? I mean, I was curious.
I was like, okay, what is in here?
Rob: There we go.
Up all the way. And I'll take that end out.
Right there, I got it. I got it, right here.
Let me see.
[grunting]
There.
Rob: It has original wax paper on them,
like they were never even put out.
Mike: There's another one.
Rob: Yeah, this one's got a little rust on it right there.
The fact that they were stacked,
that was the top one and that was the one
that got most of the moisture on it.
Rob: It's typical of any sign that you find
that's been in a barn or a building like this,
the bottom edge was laying in some type of moisture.
Mike: That's not gonna come back.
Rob: The first one had the most on it,
but then the second one didn't have that much.
Then the third one actually looked cleaner.
Mike: Are they dated?
Rob: It says 162, it's out of St. Louis.
It's not dated though. Self-framed-
Mike: Yeah, it is. Right there.
Rob: '66. Mike: '66. Yeah.
Michele: The color on the Pepsi-Cola signs, it was unreal.
Especially on the two of them
that were inside and had that paper over them.
Rob: So, in varying conditions right here,
you got about $2000 in retail.
Michele: Okay. Rob: I'm saying 1400 bucks.
Mike: I was gonna say 1300. Rob: Yeah.
Well, I already knew - here's how that works, Michele.
I knew that he was gonna say 1300.
I knew I better come in at 14 because you're gonna say 1450.
Mike: No. Rob: Or you're gonna say 1500.
Mike: No, that's now how you deal, little brother.
If you would've said the 13, she would've hit you at 1450.
Rob: Right, so that's why I'm already at 14.
Michele: 16.
Mike: Now she's gonna say that. Rob: 16...
Mike: 1500 bucks.
Michele: 1550. Mike: 1520.
Michele: 1530. Rob: 15.
Mike: 1525. Rob: 15. 15!
Michele: 1530.
Mike: $1525.
Michele: No. 1530.
[laughs]
Mike: Ah!
Mike: Alright, what else do we got in here?
Jason: Yeah, I'm curious to see what y'all can find.
Michele: I know! We don't know what's in there.
Mike: That's a crate of them.
Rob: Pepsi-Cola, Rock Hill, South Carolina.
For that kind of money, Michele...
Michele: What do you want thrown in?
Rob: You got to have the crate.
Michele: Alright, we're gonna give you the crate, okay?
Rob: You're gonna give me the crate.
Michele: Right. Because you're such a bad negotiator.
Mike: [laughs] Rob: Wow!
Rob: Anything up there? Michele: How y'all doing?
Rob: Those are pop racks right there, Mike.
Mike: We're doing good.
You want me to look up in this rafter?
Rob: That's what I'm doing right now.
Trying to, at least.
I can't really see anything up there.
Mike: There's a thing up here that says Brooms on it
that looks really cool.
Rob: Ugh. Michele: Can you get to it?
Oh, you alright back there? Rob: I'm fine.
Michele: The excitement,
you can tell in their voice the excitement was like,
wait a minute, there's something more back here.
It's like... oh my goodness. What else are they gonna find?
Mike: Wait until you see this, Robbie,
that you [bleep]ed up on.
Alright?
Rob: Typical of my brother to throw it in my face.
Like, I was up there looking at something and I couldn't see it.
Mike: Should I show up my bro, or what?
He looked in the same spot.
Rob: Well, he had the different angle!
Rob: Blue-Kat-Brooms.
It's a store display. It went like this.
Rob: Then he came over to my side and pulled it out.
That's what happened.
Mike: Here, hand me that.
Mike: This is very early, might've been a sidewalk piece
or probably just floated on the floor of the store.
Mike: I'll make this easy for you. 300.
Mike: Advertising is hands-on American history. It's art.
And it can be very clever. It can be utilitarian.
This cat - it's brilliant.
Michele: 325.
Mike: 320. 320. Michele: 325. 325, 325!
325! 325! 325!
Rob: She's been there all day.
Mike: What did I pay?
Michele: 325. Mike: Alright.
Alright, I'm tapping out. I'm tapping out.
Michele: Okay. Mike: Okay.
Mike: Sometimes, when you do something for so long,
for decades, it really becomes a part of who you are.
Mike: Alright, here we go.
Mike: Now, imagine connecting that to your community.
Mike: You got the brooms? Michele: Of course!
Rob: You guys found the brooms? Mike: [laughs]
Mike: Michele's family continued to be there
for the community even when so much of it
was disappearing around them.
Physically disappearing, buildings gone,
and businesses gone, her family has stuck it out.
Mike: Thank you so much. Michele: That's very nice.
Mike: You're awesome. Thank you.
Michele: Thank you. Mike: Had a great time.
Michele: The stores,
I know they need to be restored or done away with.
They've been neglected to a point.
Jason: Have a good one!
Michele: Safe trip. Mike: See you guys.
Michele: It was hard, but it's - we'll always have the memories.
[honk, honk]
Mike: See you guys! Jason: See you!
Michele: Take care!
[western music]
[phone rings]
Mike: Dani D, what's up?
Danielle: Hey! Everything's good.
Hey, this morning, I'm sending you guys to meet Sammy.
Sammy's been collecting vintage cars his entire life.
Mike: Really?
Danielle: Yeah, he even owned a hotrod shop back in the day.
Mike: Nice! Alright, send us the coordinates.
Danielle: Just don't bring home anything that I wouldn't drive.
Rob: We got you, Dani.
Danielle: Bring me sexy. I want sexy cars.
Rob: Sexy.
Danielle: Alright, bye boys. Have a good day.
Mike: Alright, bye. Rob: See you.
Rob: Man... Mike: Sexy.
I think - what does she drive now?
Like, Toyota... '85...?
Rob: I think she drives a - she drives a 4-door Caprice.
Mike: No, it's a Taurus! Rob: It's a Ford Taurus?
Mike: It's a Taurus.
Rob: That's not even sexy at all!
Mike: What's she talking about, 'sexy?'
[rock music]
Mike: Look at that building.
Wild façade on the front of it.
Rob: Brick.
Mike: It's a big building though.
There you go, look at that, Jeep Wagoneer right there.
Rob: That's a Belvedere right there, man,
with the big fins on the back.
A Plymouth. Holy cow.
Mike: Oh yeah, look at that.
There you go, I think that's-
Rob: There's a truck.
There's another truck.
Mike: Oh, look at that Impala, man.
Rob: 4-door.
Mike: Oh yeah.
Rob: 4-door. 240Z! Mike: Oh yeah!
Rob: 240Z!
Mike: Oh my God, that brings back some memories, dude.
Look at that, a 4-door Taurus!
Rob: Yeah, that's why Dani sent us here.
Mike: [laughs]
Rob: Alright.
Mike: Hey, you Sammy?
Sammy: Yes, sir.
Mike: What's going on, my friend?
Rob: How you doing?
Mike: I like your yard here. Rob: Yeah.
Sammy: Thank you. Thank you.
Mike: How long did this take to get together here?
Sammy: Well, uh, been here since 1984.
Mike: No kidding?
Sammy: My name's Sammy Campbell, and I've always been a car nut.
You can't buy happiness, but you can buy another car
and it's almost the same thing.
Mike: What are you doing now? What do you got going on?
Sammy: Got a '53 Studebaker.
Sammy: When I was 13, my parents bought a 1950 Studebaker.
Mike: This has always been one of my favorite
body styles that they did.
Sammy: Mine too.
I wanted one ever since I was in junior high school.
Mike: No way.
Sammy: There was one morning that - one Saturday morning,
got up, and I asked my dad to take me up to the church
because I was carrying the bulletins.
And he said,
"Here, here's the keys. You can go."
That was my first experience at driving
and it developed from there
with the love affair with the Studebaker.
Mike: Dani said you used to own a hotrod shop?
Sammy: I tried to make a living at this for a while
and failed miserably.
Mike: Was your shop in this building?
Sammy: Yeah.
Mike: How long did you go at it? Sammy: About 12 years.
Mike: Yeah, you gave it a go. Sammy: Yeah, yeah.
Mike: Did you ever make any money?
Sammy: No. I'm a dreamer.
Mike: That's right. Hey, you got to be.
Sammy: I've accumulated this stuff to preserve it.
Most of the time, I can look at something
and see a finished product in my mind, color and everything.
Sammy: I'm a dreamer.
I've never bought anything
that I was thinking of the tail end of,
thinking I'm gonna flip this and make lots of money on it.
I bought it because I love the car.
Mike: Anything good?
Rob: Sammy, you want to sell these?
Sammy: No, but I would.
Rob: [laughs] Mike: [laughs]
Sammy: Those are real old.
Rob: Hartsville, South Carolina. Hartsville Motor Company.
They were what kind of dealer?
Sammy: Ford dealership. Rob: Ford dealership.
$50 for the pair. 25 bucks apiece.
Sammy: Okay.
Rob: Appreciate it. Thanks Sammy.
Mike: So, what's going on with this car right here?
Sammy: '37 Ford. Rob: Oh wow.
Sammy: That was my wife's every day transportation
for 3 years, about 20 years ago.
Mike: Okay.
Rob: It looks like it's in damn good shape!
Sammy: It is absolutely the most perfect body I have ever seen.
Mike: Is this original paint? Is that the original...
Sammy: No, it's not the original paint.
But it's, uh, it looks like a mirror.
Rob: Yeah.
Sammy: It's cleaned up. Mike: What's going on with this?
What do you value this at?
If somebody - you have the whole car, I take it?
Sammy: Yeah.
I've been thinking in terms of about 35 grand.
Mike: Okay. Like this?
Sammy: Yeah. Mike: Yeah.
Rob: You know, by the time you find everything to the car,
gather it, ship it,
and then have me put it all back together,
it's probably worth 30, 35,000.
But there's a lot of work to go into it.
[rock music]
Mike: So, what'd you call us for?
Sammy: Well, we're aging out, of course.
And we don't have anybody that's interested in it behind us.
Rob: Yeah. Mike: Really?
Sammy: There's nobody really interested in this stuff
that I've done all these years.
My son and daughter could care less about any car in here.
Mike: We're all gonna be there.
Sammy: Uh-huh. That's right.
Mike: As collectors, we want someone from your family
to love this stuff as much as you do.
But if that doesn't happen, then you start looking for the people
that understand it and want to take it across the finish line.
Mike: Can we look around a little bit?
'Cause you got so much stuff to see in here.
Sammy: Yeah.
Mike: You want to sell that sign for your hotrod shop?
Sammy: I don't want to sell it. Mike: I don't blame you.
Sammy: Handmade. Mike: It's cool.
Sammy: If I had many, many, many, many, many more years
and unlimited finances, I don't think I'd sell anything.
Rob: Five years ago, I was just like Sammy.
But I learned from these old guys,
you got to let some of these projects go.
You've got to get them out to the masses.
If I don't touch it in a year, it's going down the road.
Sammy: This is a '55 Ford convertible.
I've had this since June of '63.
Rob: [laughs] Mike: Hey, how about this?
Rob: What do you got, Mike? Hartsville, South Carolina.
We have a Johnson Oil Company up in Iowa, too.
Mike: That's not it. That's just somebody's...
Sammy: Yep.
Mike: Uh, 30 bucks.
Sammy: It's yours. Mike: Alright, cool.
Thanks, man. Hey. Thank you.
Rob: Did you hear what he said about this car?
Mike: What?
Rob: He's had this car since 1963.
Sammy: Even the rusted-out hulks that I've got,
I can see those cars in my mind
as a finished car with a certain color on it.
Rob: Sammy, you've got to finish this thing.
Sammy: I kept thinking that I'm gonna buy this car
and I'm gonna fix it one day.
Rob: How many cars have you finished?
Have you finished in this building?
Because at one time, you were in business.
Sammy: In the building, none.
For customers, I finished a good many.
Mike: Sammy took his passion, his knowledge,
and his love for old cars,
and he plugged all of that energy
into other people's projects, into other people's dreams.
And he finished a lot of cars.
Sammy: I need to live to be about 160 to finish them all.
[laughs]
Rob: You and me both.
Mike: And now he's got all of these projects
laying around that he still loves,
that he still wants to finish because he started them.
Rob: I think as you get older, your body,
your mentality is like,
"I am gonna get to that."
Something in the back of your brain is telling you you are,
but you're not.
It's gonna happen to all of us. Time catches up with us.
Rob: What are these two?
Sammy: '55, '56, '57 Fords.
Rob: I mean, they're the longest skirts I've ever seen.
Sammy: Yeah. This is cruiser skirts.
Rob: These skirts were basically aftermarket skirts.
They were called cruiser skirts.
They would've basically -
they're the thing that's going to add the flair to your car.
Rob: I've never seen one this long before.
You saying this goes on the outside?
Usually, they're - you're saying this goes on here?
Sammy: Yeah.
Sammy: We held it up to the car to get a visual
on what it was and what it did.
Rob: Holy cow. Wow.
Sammy: Well, you've been missing out on half your life.
Rob: Ah, I don't know about that, come on!
Rob: These cruiser skirts would've made your car
look like it was gliding on air.
Rob: There's two sets. Sammy: Two sets.
Rob: Two sets and an extra. Sammy: One spare. Yep.
Rob: You got two with trim and two without trim.
Sammy: Right.
Rob: Sammy, I want to be at 500 on them.
Just because of what it's gonna take to put them back together.
And when you put them back on the car,
they got to be that color paint.
Sammy: Yeah. I'll do that. Rob: Alright.
I appreciate you, buddy.
Mike: Alright, so here's the '33.
Sammy: Yeah. 5-window coupe. Mike: Whoa. Is that on wheels?
Can we roll it out? Sammy: Yeah.
Rob: '33 was a very rare year for a Ford and a 5-window.
It's not a 3-window, it's a 5-window, but still,
this is good stuff.
Mike: I got it. This thing looks solid!
Sammy: It is. It is some kind of solid.
Sammy: When we got the '33,
it was pretty much what I wanted as far as the way it looks.
We drove it home
and I drove it every day of the week for the next 8 years.
8 years...
Mike: Ah!
It's got the right hood size on it, it's got the right hood.
Sammy: With the car being every day transportation,
we really developed lots of memories.
Mike: For Sammy, it might as well have been 1933
because he was putting it through the paces
like somebody in '33 would have.
He drove it like it was a Toyota, man.
He drove it every single day. It was his lifestyle.
Mike: You know how hard it is to find a nice hood?
Sammy: Yeah.
Mike: And you know what,
even just that small touch from '33 to '34
with that swoop and then the one pole on the center
versus the two.
So, the Firewall was like that when you got it?
Sammy: Nope.
Rob: I was gonna say, that's- Mike: You did that?
Sammy: I did that.
Mike: So, look, there's some paint here.
Did you strip this? Was this original paint?
Sammy: It had- Rob: It had blue on it, Mike.
Sammy: That was probably... Rob: Like the interior, look.
Here, look at that blue.
Mike: So, what engine was in this when you bought it?
Sammy: A 327. Mike: Okay.
Sammy: Chevrolet with a Chevy 400.
Rob: Dang! Mike: Nice.
What about the front fenders? You got those?
Sammy: Yeah. Mike: Where are those at?
Sammy: Right there. Rob: Oh, right here.
Mike: This is an important car to Sammy.
He's had it for a very long time.
Rob: Are both fenders over there, Mike?
Mike: Yeah. Here's a headlight bucket.
Mike: Out of all the cars that are in parts
and pieces in this building,
you're damn right he knows where the '33 Ford stuff is.
Mike: The running boards are here, too.
Rob: Do you have the original frame to that?
Sammy: No.
Rob: So, what was the frame - what was the frame at?
Sammy: Well, I sold the frame
and bought a progressive automotive chassis.
Rob: Oh, that's what's underneath there.
Sammy: That's what's underneath that one.
Sammy: The car was nice.
It got a lot of attention and we loved it.
But then I ended up with dreams of it being more than it was
and so I got to thinking about the suspension
especially, and I decided that -
that I was gonna buy a new frame to go under the car,
which I did.
Rob: I mean, how long ago
did you buy this progressive chassis?
Sammy: Probably 20. Rob: 20 years...
Sammy: We went to Ohio to get it.
Rob: Yeah?
Sammy: My plan was that we were just gonna redo the car
and make the best we could from front to back.
Rob: Back in the day what was the cost on it?
Sammy: Uh... about 5 grand.
Rob: Sammy was one of those guys
that he took this thing apart,
he wanted to modernize it for today's world.
He wanted to drive this thing 100 mile an hour,
and away you go.
He had the modern frame, he just didn't get back to the project.
Mike: Here's the biggie.
You got the grill to that?
Sammy: Oh yeah. Mike: You do?
Sammy: Yeah. Mike: It's a '33?
Sammy: Yeah. Mike: Wow. Where's that at?
Hey, do you got the '33 radiator?
Sammy: Yeah.
Mike: Because you know that's different too.
Sammy: Yeah. Mike: Yeah.
Well, let's see that. Let's see that stuff.
Mike: [laughs] Rob: Oh, right here.
Mike: Alright.
Rob: '33 Ford, he marked it. There's so much stuff here.
Mike: Hell yeah. Where's the grill at?
Sammy: Tucked away upstairs. Mike: Oh, it's upstairs?
Sammy: In hiding, yeah. Mike: You get the grill.
We're just gonna chat about the car.
Sammy: Okay.
Rob: It's all there. Mike: I mean, dude.
Rob: Well, that's a hard piece to find, period.
Mike: Incredibly hard.
Rob: So, that progressive frame that he put underneath this,
that's what you would've done anyhow.
Mike: Why?
Rob: My brother's mindset on this is just the body.
This is a '33. They're not laying around everywhere.
My brother is looking at this
as what you'd call a barebones project.
You know, yeah, you got to find a frame for it.
He doesn't care about that modern frame.
He's not that modern type of guy.
Rob: I mean, the body is in incredible shape. Look at that.
Mike: I love it. I love it.
What do you think the value of it like this is?
Rob: I would say...
You can't - you couldn't pay
more than 15 grand for this thing.
Mike: I was gonna say 14.
Rob: I don't know if he'll do it.
Mike: Yeah.
Mike: Any car guy would love to be
in the position that we are in right now.
The fact that he's allowing us to pull the body out
and look around it, crawl inside of it,
look at all the parts,
that means there's a little bit of light
at the end of the tunnel.
Mike: Dude, you know as well as I do, '33's the car.
I mean, if this was a 3-window, that would be the Holy Grail.
Mike: The Model A ended in 1931 and then the '32 Ford came out.
More stylish, a V8 engine.
But in 1933, they took it to the next level.
Longer wheel base, different grill, different hood.
I mean it was more streamlined, it was more refined,
it was more elegant.
Mike: If you think about the production numbers
from '33 to '34...
Rob: Oh yeah. Mike: You know.
I think in '33 they made like 11,000 cars
and in '34 they were like 24, 27,000 cars,
you know what I mean?
Mike: The reason the '33 is more sought after
is because it was the first year of all of these changes,
and there were less cars made in 1933 than there was in 1934.
Mike: Oh yeah, there you go.
[whistles]
Rob: Look at that.
Mike: This is the one that was on it?
Sammy: That's the one that was on it.
Mike: It's the real deal, man. Rob: Yeah.
Mike: Real deal '33.
Oh yeah, there we go.
[whistles]
Sammy: I'll take a '33 over a '34.
Mike: Well, that's what I was telling him.
'33 is so much rarer than a '34.
Mike: What would it take to buy this?
Sammy: Uh... about 35 grand.
Mike: Yeah.
I think 35 on it is really high, to be honest with you.
Sammy: See, I'm not up on prices these days.
Mike: Yeah. I mean, I think the retail number on it
is like 20 to be honest with you.
Sammy: Really?
Rob: It's not unusual for Sammy -
or anybody that's got this many projects here -
to get out of the realm of knowing
where the numbers should be on these.
Sammy even said it, it's been 15, 20 years
since he's paid attention to the numbers.
Mike: What's your bottom on this thing?
The way it is?
Sammy: I honestly don't know. I mean, I-
Mike: You want to think about it?
Let's look around outside.
I mean, we just drove through it.
We didn't get a chance to kind of take it all in.
[rock music]
Mike: I see you got a bunch of little shoebox Fords.
Sammy: Yeah, I love those things.
Mike: So, what do you do out here?
I mean, what I can see so far is you like to take stuff apart.
Sammy: [laughs] I'm too good at taking it apart.
[all laughing]
Mike: Have you ever had a shoebox Ford
that you could drive?
Sammy: Uh... no.
Mike: No? Sammy: No.
Mike: He obviously loves this car.
At any point in time in his life,
he could've restored one of these, but he didn't.
Mike: And you owned, what, ten? Sammy: Probably.
Probably ten or twelve.
Mike: He's a visual guy.
You know, he's content with seeing all of them out there.
Sammy: That is a 1961 DeSoto.
Rob: DeSoto, yeah.
Sammy: They only made, uh, 930-something.
Sammy: I'll get a look at a car and it's an emotional thing.
Mike: The fin starts at the front door.
Sammy: The front door, yeah.
Sammy: I do appreciate the lines and the workmanship.
Mike: Look at that.
Sammy: I wish they could talk
and you know they had lots of stories.
Mike: This is kind of like, you know,
most people had like um, pet cemeteries?
Sammy: Yeah.
Mike: You got car cemeteries. Look at that, man.
That thing... overhead...
Rob: Overhead valve,
freaking get in it and this thing
was a screamer back in the day.
Sammy: It was.
Rob: He's got a young heart right there.
And what keeps him young is coming out every single day,
working on these projects.
Rob: Look at the trim on this. Sammy: I love it.
Mike: I mean, they almost get to this point
where they're so far gone that they just become works of art.
Rob: I don't care if he ever finishes another one of these,
but if he's here when he's 99 or 100 years old, so be it.
That's what got him up in the morning,
that's what got him to that point.
Mike: Well, let's go look at something else
that you took apart.
Sammy: You all may be interested in old mantles.
Mike: That's the kind of stuff that's on the list.
Sammy: These came out of our house.
Mike: So, what did you guys do? Did you remove the fireplace?
Sammy: Yeah, in two rooms we did.
Mike: When they're like this they tell a story.
Mike: The person that's restoring an older home,
this is what they're looking for.
The wood itself from the same time period
that their house was built.
They want that authenticity.
Mike: The perfect example is to just bolt it on the wall,
you're like boom, there it is.
But to find that person
that's such like a needle in a haystack, so...
Mike: A big challenge with using an old fireplace mantle
is finding the right one
that's a time period of your house,
but also has to fit your firebox.
Mike: A lot of times what they'll do too, is,
they'll actually take these, they'll take them apart,
and - but then they'll just make them smaller.
Which I think is - I think is great too.
You know, I'm just happy that somebody wants to use them,
period.
Mike: Um, I'd do uh... 2 and a quarter apiece.
Sammy: 250 each? Mike: Hm...
How about 250 for one and 225 for the other?
Sammy: Alright. Alright! [laughs]
[all laughing]
Sammy: Okay. Mike: Let's do it.
Sammy: I've stored them for years hoping that some day
somebody would be interested in them.
Mike: I saw some parts up here. Can I ask you about them?
You got a '37 Ford grill over there.
Sammy: Yeah, most of the '37 parts are upstairs.
Mike: What about this piece right here?
Sammy: No. Mike: No?
Sammy: No, that's going on the Studebaker.
Sammy: Mike was looking at an intake manifold
that's set up for three carburetors, and I told him,
no, that's going to hopefully go in the Studebaker.
Mike: Alright, what about this steering wheel?
Sammy: Nope. Mike: No?
Banjo wheel.
Sammy: He was looking at a banjo wheel steering wheel
and I told him no.
Mike: What about the Cadillac hubcaps?
Sammy: I'd have to look and see how many I've got.
If I got two sets, I'd sell a set.
Mike: Oh, you got only one set. One, two, three, four.
Sammy: Four, yeah. I only got one set of those.
Mike: Okay, so, you're keeping those. Alright.
Mike: So, have you given any more thought on the '33?
Sammy: Yeah, I have.
Have you thought about what you'd be willing on
if I kept the motor and the frame?
Mike: Even the smallest of deals has structure to it.
This one is starting to have that.
He's saying, "Hey, I want to keep the frame,
"I want to keep the engine."
Sammy: To replace the frame,
I'm looking at probably 10 grand now.
Mike: Really? Sammy: Yeah.
Mike: Once Sammy starts putting together
the building blocks of what the deal would look like to him,
that's when I'm like,
"Okay, this could be a possibility."
Mike: Alright.
So, what were you thinking on it?
You said you gave it some thought.
What are you thinking on the car then without -
without the frame that you were running on it?
Rob: ...and the engine?
Mike: And the 350 that you were talking about.
Rob: So, it would just be the seats, the fenders,
the hood, the grill, and the bumpers.
Mike: Running boards, radiator. Rob: Yeah.
So, you'd have to find a frame.
Sammy: Yep.
Um...
Somewhere in the neighborhood of 20.
Mike: I think you can get that.
But I'm not the guy to give you that because I got to buy it,
I got to buy it right, then I got to ship it.
Sammy: I know.
Mike: The highest I could go...
Is like... 14.
Sammy: It's really impossible to explain
the attachment that I get to these old cars.
As weird as it probably is to a lot of people,
I enjoy walking up to that '33 Ford
and rubbing my hand over the fender.
It's just something deep down that I appreciate.
Sammy: I understand completely. Mike: I know.
Sammy: But uh...
No.
Mike: Both parties have to feel good about the deal
to make it happen.
You know, sometimes when there's a lot of negotiation
going back and forth and there's a lot of emotion involved
when you're right there at a piece,
it's what I call deal fatigue.
Mike: It's a - it's a hot - it's a hot car.
I appreciate you letting me look at it, you know,
and kind of indulging us
as far as scraping the parts together and stuff, you know.
Mike: Even after all of that talk, you know,
we just couldn't get it done.
Mike: Hail Mary, Hail Mary. Sammy: Uh-huh.
Mike: 15 grand for the project. 15 grand for the project.
Sammy: [laughs] And I keep the frame and the motor?
Mike: You keep the frame and the motor. 15k.
Mike: You know something's got to happen with it.
Something's got to be done to it.
Mike: I'm a collector.
I'm passionate about a lot of the things that I have.
If you don't collect things, you might not understand that.
Sammy: Well... it uh... it's a hard decision.
It really is a hard decision
because it's more than just - it's more than just sheet metal.
Rob: Yeah. Mike: It's more than metal.
Mike: I've got motorcycles next to my bed.
I want it to be the first thing I see in the morning
and the last thing I see at night.
These things become a piece of who we are.
Mike: If you're gonna get the car done, I would keep it.
I would do it. Do it.
But if you're not gonna do it,
we'll get it into the hands of somebody that will.
Sammy: Mhm. And you're saying 15?
Mike: I'm saying 15 grand.
Sammy: Down deep, I really wanted to hold out.
But trying my best to be reasonable and logical...
I'm not gonna get to all the cars
I want to do something with.
Sammy: Um...
Sammy: My brain still thinks I'm 18,
but my body won't cooperate.
Sammy: Alright.
Mike: Alright.
Rob: You did it! Sammy: Yep.
Mike: Sammy has had decades with this car.
He was able to keep it through all the ups and downs.
And, you know, he loved it,
truly loved the car enough to let it live a new life.
Mike: Alright. Alright, friend. Hey...
Sammy: Um, I'll get all the rest of the parts together.
Sammy: While it's a...
traumatic experience to let it go...
there's a certain amount of relief
that it will be back on the road...
Rob: Sweet picking, Sammy! Thank you!
Sammy: Thank you!
Sammy: ...and it will be beautiful again.