A Relic from the Past
Ever wondered what the last carbureted car sold in America was? Well, there are several answers, but the definitive final model sold with the classic fuel delivery system was the Isuzu Pickup from 1994 or the base Subaru Justy from the same year. But the very last car to have a brand-new carb was the Lada 2107 in Egypt, which wrapped up production in 2014.
Either way, carburetors are a relic from the past. While you can still buy new ones to keep vintage cars running, knowledge of how to maintain them is becoming harder and harder to come by. That’s totally understandable given the pace of automotive technology, especially now. Unfortunately for one vintage car museum in Ohio, the shrinking pool of mechanics with carburetor know-how has forced it to shut down.
Snook’s Dream Cars/Facebook
Forced to Close
Snook’s Dream Cars is a vintage car museum in Bowling Green, Ohio, and it’s described as a ‘living museum’ for cars. It has a wide array of cars from the ’30s to the ’70s, and all the cars featured there are in working order. The museum features Bill Snook’s collection and is run by his son, Jeff.
Terry Stetler is an important member of the team, as he’s the mechanic who keeps the fleet running. However, Stetler is retiring, and Snook couldn’t find a successor for the longtime mechanic. As such, Jeff Snook is also retiring from the car museum business, as there was no one around who could continue what Stetler had started. It can’t be a living museum if everything was, well, static.
Snook’s Dream Cars/Facebook
All Must Go
The Drive picked up the story from the Toledo Blade. The latter spoke to Jeff Snook, mentioning something along the lines of younger mechanics fresh from trade school not being taught how older cars worked. “Kids that come out of auto trade school, they don’t know about carburetors and old car stuff. There’s just a lack of knowledge out there because I think it’s harder and harder to keep old cars on the road without qualified, skilled, professional mechanics,” said Snook.
We don’t have the stats, but we’re pretty sure there are young mechanics out there who are more than willing to learn the old ways. Old souls with an itch to tinker with old engines would be a start, but other gigs likely pay better than an independently run vintage car museum, like, say, an automaker-run museum. Either way, carburetor and classic-car know-how isn’t as abundant as it once was. Yes, these cars were simpler, but that doesn’t always mean it’s easier to work with
With the museum closing soon, the 15 cars have been put up for sale through Hagerty. Some cars being auctioned off include pre-war American iron, ’40s and ’50s icons and rarities, European roadsters from the ’60s, and more. Mind you, those 15 cars aren’t the only ones in the museum, and you can check them out via a virtual tour.
Hagerty
Hagerty
