Gary Swan's Car Collection

This is in reply to my Decisions, Decisions blog previously posted.....



I have a bunch of cars in my collection.  I have been blessed to have had a very successful business career and a very understanding wife when it comes to my collection and building the garage to store them all.  

For me, the reason to make the initial purchase has varied.  Here's the abridged story for each car in my collection (minus our daily drivers) in order of acquisition.

I've had Corvettes since 1997, and been around Corvettes for much longer as my in-laws were very involved in the hobby.  The 2013 year was the last for the C6, and they came up with a limited production 427 Convertible (only 2,552 made).  Since I was turning 60 in 2013 as was the Corvette, I convinced my wife in December 2012 that I needed to have one of these special edition models.  As the plant was gearing up to begin production of the C7 beginning in 2014, once "we" made the decision, it was too late to submit a production order.  So, I began searching the internet for suitable candidates.  This one popped up on cars.com in Tulsa, OK, about a 4 hour drive from home.  I autocross this car once a month from March to October with the Lone Star Corvette Club and have won several club championships with the car.

In 2013, we sold our private equity backed business from one sponsor to another and I found myself with some "play money" to indulge my love for cars.  For my first classic, I had always like the lines of the '58-'60 Corvette, but not so much the '61-'62.  I think I found my '60 on cars.com in the summer of 2013.  It was a restomod with C4 suspension and powertrain, and I was smitten.  Twelve years later, and after an upgrade, I still love the car!

The "Corvette bug" probably started when I met my wife 42 years ago.  Her dad had 5 Corvettes when we met, including the first one he ever bought, a Riverside Gold '69 427/39 big block.  They had retired to Tennessee, and decided in 2014 to thin the herd a bit and offered my wife the '69.  This car is an all original 42,000 mile survivor, which Jack did a great job of sorting out.  I've had to replace the master cylinder, carpet and heater core - all age related repairs - but, in general, we just drive and enjoy this one.

I wanted to find a '66 Charger like the one I had as a Sr. in high school.  I found one in the same color combination in MO. in 2017 and brought it home.  One of the unique characteristics of the '66-'67 Chargers is the electroluminescent dash, which I remember fondly from 55 years ago.  I had the dash in this been fully rebuilt and re calibrated, but is waiting to go back into the car until I get a rewiring project done.  There are a bunch of ongoing projects with this one (it's currently getting all new front end components and bushings) and will probably be under construction for some time.  

I have always like the lines of the "mid year" ('63-'67) Corvettes, so I set out to find a convertible in 2018.  After a few fits and starts, I found a very nice restomod in Miami, FL through eBay Motors.  This one is really fun to drive, as the sound of the side pipes is unlike anything else!  

In 2019, Chevrolet was again nearing the end of production, this time for the C7 Corvette, and came out with a one-year only edition, the ZR1.  As Corvette was transitioning to "automatic only" for the C8, this would be the last manual transmission Corvette to be sold and with only 2,986 units produced and at 755 horsepower the most powerful production Corvette ever, was sure to be a collectors item.  Again, I was too late in the production run (May 2019) to submit an order, so again resorted to the internet to find a car.  Mine was at a Houston area dealership, having originally been ordered by a dealer in Bethlehem, PA.  I liked the way the car was outfitted, so I made a deal at MRSP minus my Corvette owners loyalty discount and brought it home.  Little did I know at the time how unique the spec was.  There were only 7 ceramic matrix grey metallic/spice red interior ZR1's produced, and only 2 of them were manual transmission cars.  The other one has the ZTK track package (mine does not), making my car a unicorn!!  We have driven this car a lot, having taken it on the 2019 National Corvette Museum tour of the AZ and UT national parks and also on the Museum's 2024 Tail of the Dragon/Biltmore tour.

Several of the cars I bought just "spoke to me" when I came upon them.  The first was a '51 Ford Woodie wagon that I found in a Hemmings auction in 2021.  I showed it to my wife, who said "you have to buy that"!  I love my wife!!  The Woodie had been upgraded with custom interior, a C4 LT4, 6-speed transmission, rack & pinion steering, etc.  It's a very comfortable cruiser.

When we were getting ready to go to Barrett-Jackson in 2022, one car on the docket kept grabbing me.  It's a '40 Chev business coupe that won Goodguys America's Most Beautiful Street Rod in 2012.  It's just a stunning car that continues to get compliments every time I drive it.

In 2022, Lori's dad died suddenly just a week before they were supposed to move from Nashville to Dallas to be closer to us and their grandkids.  Several year prior, he had bought a '65 GTO in the process of being restored.  It's a Nightwatch Blue, 4-speed, factory air, tri-power car with all the Pontiac Historical Society documentation to go with it.  I've had to replace the power steering box and alternator, but otherwise this one is just fun to drive as well.

The next one to speak to me was a '57 Chev Cameo pickup.  I have always loved the lines of the Cameo, and its rarity was another factor.  This one had been built on a custom chassis with Corvette suspension and modern LS drivetrain with a custom interior.  I found it on Bring A Trailer and ended up being the winning bidder.

We went to Barrett-Jackson again in 2025, and a '34 Ford Cabriolet reached out to me from the pages of the docket.  It's not overdone, but is a stunning build with a custom frame, LS1 power, etc.  When my wife and I saw it in person (it was due to cross the block just a short time after we arrived on site), we agreed this one needed to come home with us.

In 2023, my girls gave me a red 2023 Corvette HTC for my 70th birthday (I also LOVE my kids!!).  I enjoyed the car a lot, but had really wanted a C8 Z06, but they just weren't available when my girls were buying me the car.  Last summer I found a used '23 Z06 in the 70th anniversary livery while attending a Corvettes & Coffee event at a local dealer.  This was just what I was looking for, but I had to get over the guilt of trading in my birthday present.  My younger daughter had zero problem with it, it was my older daughter and me who had the problems.  When I explained it was the same year as the one they got me, and was wearing the one year only 70th anniversary livery, the elder daughter acquiesced and I was able to shed the guilt of trading their gift in on this one.  This is a super enjoyable car to drive!

The most recent purchase is another Bring A Trailer find that I was fortunate to be the winning bidder on.  It's a '49 Cadillac Sedanette that has been heavily customized.  It is a multiple national award winner, and I got it for a fraction of what the build cost.  This one is really unusual, and gets lots of thumbs up every time it leaves the garage.  It doesn't have any rattles, squeaks or wind noise and just drives effortlessly. 

Thanks for letting me reminisce about building my collection.  It is eclectic and I enjoy all of them, albeit for different reasons!!

Gary Swan 

BTW, the way I was introduced to your site was through your repost of the Street Rodder Feb. '13 article on the '40 Chev that won America's Most Beautiful Street Rod in 2012.  I now own that car.  Your repost caught the eye of a fella at Rod Shows and resulted in an invitation to display that car in the Fat Attack invitation only building at the 2026 GNRS!!

Thank you Gary for the submission of your awesome car collection! I cannot tell you how happy it made me to read that my post got you an invite to the Fat Attack Display at the GNRS! Congratulations on the invite and for sharing your collection with the site!

Want your car or collection featured on the blog like Gary's? All you have to do is reach out to me, send your photos(including build photos), any stories or experiences, the build process and anything you'd like to share about you and your car(s) and I'll get it featured! Please send it to me at: streetmachinecentral@gmail.com