They Don't Know What They're Looking At

            “Most people just walk on by. They don’t know what they’re looking at,” said Joe Duewel of the car he has owned for 25 years.

            Joe, who runs Duwel Automotive Service on Gleway Ave., was talking about his 1959 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight.

            Indeed, the car may not look like any other car you generally see at a classic car show, how he came to own it is a story as unique as his Olds.

            “A friend of mine got it back in 1961 for high school graduation,” Joe said. “He eventually gave it back to his mother who drove it for a while.” She stopped driving it, Joe said, because she was getting too old. And the car was in an accident.

            “It sat in a garage in that shape,” Joe added. At his old high school buddy’s recommendation, Joe bought the car and went about the long and somewhat arduous task of fixing it up.

            Along with the front end that had been creased by a tree, there was a good deal of rust.

            “It’s been in and out of a body shop for 18 years,” said Joe, adding with a chuckle, “I would never do it again.”

            While Joe is comfortable with dealing with the workings of just about any car, he admits that body work and especially painting are areas at which he isn’t exactly proficient. Still, he jumped in with another friend and did the work.

            “I learned more there than I didn’t want to know,” he said with a grin. “We all know what we know.”

            A good deal of his Ninety-Eight is original, including the paint color and the very unique steering wheel. There are a couple of things that make this car very unique, though. Since this model came in sections, when it came time to fix up the rear end the person doing the work added a little something extra, a spare tire deck.

            “He just kept going and added it on and said it was going to look great. Most people don’t even realize it’s there,” Joe said.

            Another unique feature most people miss is the six headlights, three on each side. “It’s different. It’s definitely different,” he added.

            With its long wheelbase Joe said that the car really rides well. Plus he added, with a 394 V-8 hitting 315 horse power, it will also fly.

            Because of the Job like task of getting the car in condition, this is really the first year Joe has been able to really take it out and drive it.

            “It’s a keeper for two reasons,” he said. “One, nobody’s going to want it. And second there’s my history with the car. The only person I’d ever think to sell it to is the guy I got it from. He’s the only other person who would appreciate it.”

            That may be but we can all appreciate looking at this unique classic.