Swapping cars, car parts and car stories – and some other old stuff as well

What happens when vendors from 32 states and buyers and traders from 20 states converge in the Kansas Pavilions north of Wichita, peddling – or passionate about – vintage car parts or related old stuff?

You get sort of a giant garage sale, estate sale and antique mall with every component of many of the vehicles built in the past 100 years, along with dusty fat-tire-metal-tank bicycles, advertising signs, license plates and 1950s hot rod magazines. Things that fit into what American culture calls a “man cave,” although there seemed to be plenty of women buying and selling. It was table after table of shiny automotive ornamentation and “neat stuff” to display, the kind of “rusty gold” featured on the television show “American Pickers.”

A sample: an original-paint dark green metal spare tire cover for a 1930 Ford Model A; a pedal-activated stainless steel General Electric drinking fountain, the story goes, that once quenched the thirst of Lyons schoolchildren; an olive- and emerald-green speckled dashboard from a 1949 Nash; a rust-covered 1930s child’s pedal car, missing its wheels but still glorious in its aerodynamic design.

It was all on display at the Kansas Sunflower Swap Meet for Charity on Saturday, the last day of the two-day show. Saturday’s event was the 41st annual swap meet. Next year’s is scheduled for Feb. 3 and 4 at the same place, the Kansas Pavilions at 85th Street North and I-135.

The swap meet drew 18,500 people on Friday and a little more than 14,000 on Saturday, said event owner John Saindon. “We would like for it to be bigger, but we’re pretty proud of that number,” Saindon said Saturday afternoon.

All of the proceeds go to the Arc of Sedgwick County, Saindon said. He and his wife, Lareina, bought the show from the Model A Ford club, which had put it on for decades. The Saindons own Ron’s Sign Co., and the swap meet is a way of giving back to the community, John Saindon said.

It’s one of the biggest swap meets around, he said. On the commercial side, vendors offer every service from rebuilding vehicle radios to re-chroming. Vendors sell every kind of reproduced or original part – tires, hubcaps, wheels, body panels, seats, valve covers, carburetors, engine blocks. On the individual side, it’s an opportunity to get out and socialize over a common interest, Saindon said.

At age 50, he still drives his first car – the 1964 Mercury Comet Cyclone he had in high school. “I’ve restored it three times.”

Many area car clubs had booths at the show. The Studebaker Drivers Club set up a Studebaker Trading Post that included handwritten notes about things Studebaker lovers are selling or seeking.

Manning the Studebaker booth and offering coffee and Studebaker magazines was Chris Pile, editor of the Midway Chapter of the Studebaker club. “It’s just as much a social thing for us as spreading the Studebaker gospel,” Pile said.

But it’s not just cars. Across from Pile sat a faded red and incomplete commercial soda dispenser that said “Drink Coca-Cola” on the side.

Larry Selby, 73, is a member of a club that focuses on collecting and appreciating Fords built from 1932 to 1953. He owns a 1951 Ford and three 1934 Fords, one of which he is still restoring. The 1934 models are especially valuable because relatively few were made and because so many were turned into hotrods by World War II veterans, he said. The 1934s also had beautiful, distinctive lines. One of his 1934s was a “barn find” discovered by friend who, while traveling through rural Kansas, kept an eye out for his car-collecting buddy.

Dennis Maggard of Marion had his own impressive display of stuff, including a weathered Brunswick Tires sign, circa 1940, for $185 and a tall red Firestone sign for $225.

Old signs “have just gone absolutely crazy” in value, Maggard said. The reason for the demand: “Everybody’s man cave.

“Rust is real popular.”

If it’s old and can be re-purposed, it sells. Maggard finds old farm stock tanks for buyers who use them as planters.

Maggard, 67, has been dealing in old things since the 1970s.

Where does he find his inventory?

“Mainly we just run the countryside and look for stuff, which is the fun part.”

This story was originally published February 6, 2016 at 5:47 PM with the headline "Swapping cars, car parts and car stories – and some other old stuff as well."