Out of the cars registered in the U.S., 16 percent are considered collector cars, including classics: that would be 43 million cars out of all 275 million cars registered–according to Hagerty. While some may not consider Nixa a motor city, there are cars that are full of history.
“The sound of [cars] and the looks make the culture surrounding them,” freshman William Snook said. “It’s just fun to experiment with them [to] see how much power you can get out of the engine before it just blows up.”
Snook has been interested in cars since the age of three, because of his dad. He has gotten to work and ride in each of the cars they own–a collection started by his great-grandfather.
Guy Mace, owner of Route 66 Car Museum in Springfield, Mo, started collecting classic cars in 1990.
“I had some extra money that I could save … or I could buy stocks with it, and that’s no fun,” Mace said. “You can’t have fun with stocks, and that’s when I started buying cars because I can drive the cars and enjoy them.”
Mace said he buys 90 percent of his cars from car auctions, and that around half of his collection was bought at The Branson Auction. It is held twice a year, one in April and the other in October.
As society has moved towards online markets, buying cars through social media platforms like Facebook and Craigslist has become more common.
Mace said that finding car parts can be difficult. On rare occasions, his mechanics have to make the parts themselves.
While there can be many reasons behind people owning classic cars, there are some difficulties, like buying parts.
“Our newest car is from 1992,” Snook said. “Finding parts for that can be difficult sometimes, and the prices are just absurd sometimes.”
For example, buying a set of four Cadillac Eldorado 1975-1985 Blue HaloTube Sealed Beam Headlight Conversion Low and High Beams could cost between $250 to $500. That’s compared to the 180 to buy LED lights for a 2006-2011 Cadillac.
From greaser movies to the rise of gearheads, a culture has been created around classic cars.
“Back in the ‘60s with the whole greasers thing and hot rodding… stuff like that has just formed what car culture is today… with modern cars,” Snook said. “The modern Mustangs have relied heavily on ones from the ‘80s and ‘60s.”
Junior Hailey Weeden said that they’ve impacted culture.
“It’s a means of transportation,” Weeden said. “So it’s necessary, and the aesthetics come along with that, and I think it can be a message. It conveys maybe your status to someone or what you’re interested in. It’s like an extension of oneself.”
Weeden had been into classic cars since she was little, being able to work on her dad’s car and going to car shows. But she started to really get into them when she got her car– a 1973 Dodge Dart Swinger– the summer before freshman year.
“It’s an antique,” Mace said. “It’s a part of history. These are very collectible. By that I mean, they have a history to them. I don’t think it impacts culture…it’s just another thing from history that you can enjoy and people collect.”
Here in the Ozarks, there’s no need to own a classic car to admire one. On Aug. 8 and 9, the Route 66 Festival takes place, with a car show from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. There is also an event from April to October, called 417 Coffee & Cars. It takes place on the second Saturday of every month, at Second Baptist Church.
