Dennis Schellin doesn’t like to miss an opportunity to show people a real classic car.
“I feel a rather custodial relationship with these old cars,” said Schellin as he stood surrounded by rows of vintage vehicles on a steamy summer day. The Long Grove resident, who owns 1927 and 1932 Packards, was participating in his town’s annual strawberry festival.
Schellin is certain that his vehicles are genuine classics because the Des Plaines-based Classic Car Club of America said so. And when it comes to classifying a car as a classic, what the group says goes.
“There is a specific list of vehicles that are considered classic automobiles,” said Schellin, who serves as director of the Greater Illinois Region of the Classic Car Club of America, which oversees 26 regional clubs across the country.
Even to be considered for that list, a car must have been built between 1925 and 1948. And it has to be a well-made luxury car. “They were not built by accountants,” Schellin said. “They were built by engineers.”
Classics must have been top-of-the-line cars, according to Katie Robbins of Dearborn, Mich., who has served as executive administrator of the organization for 10 years.
“It was not a production automobile,” she said. “It was more or less made to order.”
Or, as Mitch Kruse of Kruse International, a car auction company in Auburn, Ind., said: “These were cars that were built for the classes, not the masses. It represents a period of automobile production we’ll probably never see again.”
Kruse noted that when a car is declared a classic by the Classic Car Club of America, its value can increase from 20 to 100 percent. “They have an excellent reputation of selecting the best cars ever built from the era of 1925 to 1948,” Kruse said.
Individuals can seek to have their cars declared classics, or car buffs can seek to have whole series put on the list.
The determining factor for declaring a car a classic, according to Jeff Broderick of Lancaster County, Pa., who chairs the club’s classification committee, is “whether it was a car that people who, during the classic era, could afford anything would have considered buying.” The lengthy list of approved cars begins with all the A.C. cars produced from 1925 through 1948 and runs down the alphabet through the 1929 Series L Hudson, concluding with several series of Willys-Knight, for which an application is currently under consideration.
More than 70 makes of car are classified as classics. In some cases, all models produced between 1925 and 1948 are included in that category (Duesenbergs, for example); for others, only specific models meet the organization’s standards (such as the Hudson 1929 Series L). Standards for classification include high quality engineering, chassis and engine, and distinctive styling.
The Classic Car Club of America has 5,500 members in the United States, Canada and Mexico. There are no membership requirements, and ownership of a vehicle is not required. Members pay national dues of $40 (for U.S. residents) and regional dues, which vary.
Before becoming executive administrator of the organization a decade ago, Robbins served on the board for a dozen years. She never planned to be a classic car fan, though. “My husband liked these old cars,” Robbins said. “I realized early in our marriage, I wasn’t going to change him. So I joined him.” She has no regrets. “I’ve met a great group of people in this club, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it,” Robbins said.
For Schellin, belonging to the Classic Car Club is a way to pursue one of his interests. “Many of us like history,” he said.
According to Schellin, the Classic Car Club of America was started because “there wasn’t anybody to care for that segment of history. There were so many of these wonderful big cars from the ’30s that were languishing in the backs of used car lots.”
The club was started in 1953 from a nucleus of 10 or 12 New York-area people. There were 212 charter members.
The headquarters was moved to Des Plaines in 1989 because the Chicago area was more centrally located.
Robbins noted that when the organization began 45 years ago, there weren’t any clubs specifically for owners of these low-production, high-quality cars. The major problem these days, though, is making sure that only cars that meet the club’s criteria get the stamp of approval.
“They call everything today a classic,” Robbins said. ” `Classic’ is a generic term, and we could not copyright that. So, just within the last year, we have copyrighted `full classic.’ “
People in the know, however, tend to use the Classic Car Club of America as a resource. They contact either the national office or the regional branches of the club when they are considering purchasing a car from the classic period. The club also has a Web site: www.classiccarclub.org
“Our cars are such prestigious cars, they will call us when they’re looking at a car to see if the car they’re looking at is really a classic,” Robbins said.
“We recognize the fact that the classic era was a specific period of time, and during that time, the car-building art reached its zenith,” Broderick added.
“If a person wants to participate in a classic car show or CARavan (a large group of classic cars traveling together), they need a classic car,” auctioneer Kruse said. He noted that for such a person, having an authentic classic is the most important thing and “price is secondary.”
What a classic car can sell for today has no bearing on Classic Car Club of America decisions, though.
“We try not to get into the current value of the car at all because that really has nothing to do with whether it’s a classic,” Broderick explained.
He admitted, however, that the club’s stamp of approval affects the bottom line. “It does dramatically increase the value of the car,” he said, “because then it is one of those cars that anyone who knows the club knows is top-notch.”
Responding to petitions for classic status for an individual car or entire series is an important part of the business when the national board meets eight times yearly at the Des Plaines headquarters. The next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 2-3.
Also high on the agenda at board meetings is planning activities so that members can have the pleasure of driving and displaying their cars. “We’ve got an excellent venue for people who own these cars to show them and also to drive them at various events,” said George Holman of Wilbraham, Mass., president of the national organization’s 15-member board.
These include one to three CARavans each year, during which members travel together in their classic cars. “This year, we’re going to be starting in Seattle and doing a tour up into the northwest Canadian provinces,” Holman said.
The largest CARavan run by the club attracted 115 cars; the smallest, about 65. When a parade of classic cars drives through a town, “a lot of people show up,” Holman said. “And we try to be as hospitable as we can to let them see the cars.”
Regions also schedule many shows throughout the year, during which members can put their cars on display.
Each region of the Classic Car Club of America has its own organizational structure. “We regions tend to be a bit on the competitive side,” said Schellin, who was elected director of the Greater Illinois Region by its 12-member board in 1996. “We like to try to provide as much interest and as many activities and events as we can for our people.” The Greater Illinois Region’s 1998 calendar includes 16 events. Each region also produces its own publication.
The annual meeting is held in a different city each year, generally at the beginning of January. (In 1999, club members will gather in Cleveland.) Although each of the club’s 26 regions has its own directors and plans its own activities, all look to the 15-member national board for guidance. Robbins noted that regions refer problems to the national board.
The club’s board members take their jobs seriously.
Holman said: “We have had a very stellar board of directors all the way from the early days who have established some good standards and criteria for these automobiles.”
WHAT CONSTITUTES A CLASSIC?
So you think your car’s a classic. Well, join the club.
You have to be a member of the Classic Car Club of America to obtain the required application form for having a car declared a classic.
According to Jeff Broderick, who chairs the club’s classification committee, you must fully photograph the vehicle and present various documentation if you want it considered for this prestigious status. The committee requires detailed information on the engine, transmission, weight, tire size, horsepower, price when new and production figures.
“We need photographs of a lot of the components of the car,” Broderick said. “If it’s custom bodied, we need documentation that it is actually built by a recognized custom body builder.”
The committee, which currently consists of 13 members (the number varies), studies the documentation, does additional research and then decides if the car meets the preset standards for that particular series.
If, on the other hand, you’re hoping to get an entire series elevated to full classic status, an additional step is involved. The committee publishes the information and allows the membership to give its recommendation.
“But the ultimate decision is (made by) the classification committee,” Broderick said. “And they recommend to the board that it either be approved or disapproved for classic status.”
COLLECTORS’ DREAMS
Here are the 10 most popular classic car makes as registered with the Classic Car Club of America, based in Des Plaines:
1. Packard
2. Cadillac
3. Rolls-Royce
4. Lincoln
5. Duesenberg
6. Mercedes-Benz
7. Auburn
8. Chrysler
9. Cord
10. Lincoln Continental
START YOUR ENGINES
The Classic Car Club of America sponsors several events each year, as does the Greater Illinois Region. Some of the upcoming events on the club’s calendar:
Sept. 9-18: Mountains to the Sea CARavan starting in Denver; a national event.
Sept. 13: Car Show at Cuneo Museum Concourse in Vernon Hills.
Sept. 24-27: Fall tour of Door County, Wis.
Sept. 27-28: Poker run in Lake Geneva, Wis.
Oct. 6-10: Fall meeting of the national organization in Hershey, Pa.
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For more information on the Classic Car Club of America, call 847-390-0443.
