Wes and Karen Crate of Tumwater believe classic cars, especially those with countless hours of work put into them, are meant to be driven — not coddled in driveways or showrooms.
Unlike some who are concerned about what day-to-day traffic could mean for their classic cars, the Crates are all for driving their 1957 Plymouth Suburban to car shows and on extended trips.
Why? “For the fun of driving,” Wes said. “Why spend all this money working on a car and making it all legal, and then turn around and put it on a trailer?”
The Crates put the finishing touches on their Plymouth in 2003 after nine months of work with a helping hand from a family friend.
“Both of us are retired, so we worked every day, 10 hours a day, and got it done,” Wes said.
The car’s maiden voyage was 2,200 miles to Alberta, Canada, for a car show. Aside from some smoking through town when traveling at lower speeds, the car performed spectacularly, the Crates said.
The Plymouth is different from what car enthusiasts might expect.
“I wanted to build a hot rod, but wanted to do something different when I stumbled upon this station wagon,” he said.
The car is not considered a restoration, but rather a custom job because of everything that has been changed.
“There’s not a thing stock on it. We changed everything on it,” he said. “I mean you name it, and it’s been changed on there. I’ve only got about 5 feet of the original frame.”
From the firewall forward, it’s made from a Dodge Dakota — frame, steering and motor. The rear was put together using a Nissan 300 Z. The Crates also added dual sun roofs to the vehicle.
“When you start a car — and I think this is with everybody — you keep all the records of what you want to do to it. And all of a sudden that file starts to get pretty thick and you realize that you’re probably over your limit, so you put everything away and kind of don’t add it up,” Wes said with a laugh.
Today, Wes said, the car is valued at around $40,000. He bought the car from its previous owner for only $750.
“I wanted certain things on the car, and the project just started to come together as we went along,” he said.
The Crates have driven their Plymouth to 11 states and multiple provinces of Canada for vacations and car shows. They entered it in last year’s Heat on the Street in Elma and won the award for Best Custom Truck.
“I don’t know if they had an award for best custom car, or if they classify it as a truck, but that’s the award I got,” Wes said.
The Crates will again this year show their Plymouth this weekend at the ninth annual Heat on the Street.
The event kicks off Friday night with a cruise-in with free music and food. Registration for the car show will continue throughout the night. The $15 registration fee gets participants a goodie bag filled with items from local businesses, Grays Harbor Raceway tickets, and a Heat on the Street shirt.
“It’s pretty cool everything you get for $15,” said Paula Jones, assistant director of the Elma Chamber of Commerce.
The Main Street show on Saturday runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with classic cars on display and numerous vendors selling their wares throughout the area. The Elma VFW will provide corn on the cob and baked potatoes. Semper Fi Concessions will have snowcones, hot dogs, and pickles on a stick. Grave Diggers BBQ from Spanaway will be selling pulled pork and Philly cheesesteaks.
The event also will include the Kids Carnival, where families can take their children to enjoy puppet shows, a dunk tank, a bouncy house and carnival games.
Both Wes and Karen said they enjoyed Heat on the Street last year, and recommended that people stop by and check out the classic cars.
“We felt it was very friendly,” Karen said. “You know, a lot of times you go (to an event) and you don’t feel real comfortable with the people around, but Elma people were so nice.”
