A New Love Of Old Cars In Waverly
Connor Strange
Co-Editor-in-Chief
A love of cars is pretty common for WHS students. Any aspect involving cars can turn into a lifetime hobby at Waverly, whether it’s building an intricate, ear-shattering system of subwoofers or making a car faster than your friends’.
Recently, an increasing number of students have developed an interest in especially old cars; some guys are setting their eyes on antiques and rustbuckets alike.
Sophomore Austin Gray’s interest stems from his father, a mechanic. For years he’s worked on refurbishing cars, and even has one of his own.
“It’s amazing,” Gray said. “I get to work with the people that I love on the thing that I love. It’s nice to take an old piece of history and make it like new again.”
Not all the excitement over old cars is hereditary. Some enthusiasts were made pretty recently by circumstance, like a decrepit El Camino up for sale.
“The 1980 El Camino, purchased about a month ago, was just sitting in Eagle by the park,” junior Andy Miesbach said. “I noticed it for a while and knocked on the guy’s door, asking if he wanted to sell it. He gave us [the price of] $1600, and slam-O, I bought it.”
Miesbach didn’t find the car in perfect condition, but he intends to finish it that way.
“I’m in the process of finding a new dash. I’m going to start doing the interior,” Miesbach said. “When I get that done, the body is pretty good and once I paint it, you’ve got a perfect car right there.”
This isn’t Miesbach’s field of expertise, and he doesn’t completely know what he’s gotten himself into. However, he’s determined to trial-and-error his way through the experience.
“It’s all pretty much guess-and-check. I’m not really sure what I’m doing half the time, but I just go with the flow and things come together pretty well,” Miesbach said.
The tale of the El Camino was inspiring to junior Owen Gubbels, who enlisted Andy’s help to find an old beater of his own: a rare 1973 MG MGB.
“Andy bought his El Camino and showed me this car on the internet,” Gubbels said. “I figured I’d try to fix it up and sell it.”
It’s Gubbels’ first car he’s purchased, so it has a special meaning to him. But that doesn’t mean he can’t have a little bit of fun with it.
“I was bleeding the clutch out the other day, and Andy was underneath the car,” Gubbels said. “He released the knob to let the fluid out, so I sprayed it on purpose and hit Andy in the face. It was really funny.”
Another enthusiast, junior Seth Janssen, is working on his very own car. His beast is a 1981 Cadillac Coupe deVille, for which he has an interesting label.
“It’s a pimp car - literally. I have a soft spot in my heart for Cadillacs, so that’s what makes it special to me,” Janssen said.
Though the car he’s working on isn’t a muscle car, that type of vehicle is what introduced Janssen to his love for ancient automobiles.
“Ever since I found out muscle cars, I’ve always been interested in old vehicles,” Janssen said. “Just the style, the character, the love.”
That love shows with his sentiment about the car. He’s not looking for anything especially fancy as long as he knows it’s his.
“Though it is not the prettiest thing, or worth that much money, it’s still near and dear to my heart because it’s mine,” Janssen said.
For junior Dakota Minchow, these old cars aren’t just a hobby; they’re somewhat of a lifestyle.
“I love it; I get it better than I get school. I’m not a book person, I’m more of a hands-on car guy. Working with the car shows who you are and what you’re about,” Minchow said.
Minchow enjoys drag racing as well as refurbishing vehicles. His hands-on approach to life translates to a lot of enjoyment from racing.
“I love going fast, crushing the other person and souping up my vehicle,” Minchow said.
From drag racing to the family business, old cars are quickly becoming a popular pastime in Waverly. Droves of drivers are picking up an interest in something just a little bit classical.
