A story worth repeating by
RICK KRANZ
October 31, 2011 - 12:01 am ET
Pinky Randall, 84, is one of Chevrolet's biggest fans. But unlike most enthusiasts who limit their holdings to cars and a few bits of memorabilia, he has collected cars, trucks and everything cars and a few bits of memorabilia, he has collected cars, trucks and everything that says "Chevrolet."
"I tried to buy anything with 'Chevrolet' on it, whether it was a yardstick or a cap. And then people knew I had an interest in Chevrolet and started giving me things -- a cup, a pencil. We amassed a lot of stuff," Randall laughs.
His tidy, two-story house in Houghton Lake, Mich., is a shrine to the brand. A guest book records visitors, including former Chevrolet general mangers Jim Perkins and Kurt Ritter and other General Motors brass.
A large blue-and-white rug bearing the word "Chevrolet" is in the foyer, near the front door. A few steps away sits a large grandfather clock with the Chevrolet logo, as well as a table and chairs -- furniture created decades ago for Chevrolet dealers.
Every room in the house has Chevrolet items, with one exception: his wife's sewing room. That's off limits, he says.
A walk down Main Street
The house's huge basement is like a walk down Main Street. It contains a replica of a dealership showroom from the early days, complete with a 1914 Chevrolet Royal Mail Roadster.
Nearby are reconstructions of storefronts from the same era, plus memorabilia and die-cast Chevrolet model cars and trucks created by the company Randall owned from 1978 to 1996.
How did Randall get that antique Chevy into the basement? When the house was built in 1971, a garage door was positioned in a side wall.
Randall darts around the basement as he gives rapid-fire descriptions of his memorabilia. Neon signs, lapel pins, literature, hood ornaments, playing cards, posters, photos, flags, banners -- anything and everything pertaining to Chevrolet. And if it isn't there, it likely will be found in one of his two large garages a few miles away.
At one point the collection included Chevrolet sales and service literature going back to the beginning, 1911. Much of the collection was purchased by General Motors in 2004.
"He has been in every aspect of every part of the Chevrolet hobby, from car restoration to the parts business to trademark and licensing," says Greg Wallace, manager of the General Motors Heritage Center in Warren, Mich. "You can talk to almost anybody who has been in the Chevrolet clubs and almost everybody knows who he is."
Over the years, Randall says, he has owned about 165 Chevrolets. Today his collection includes a dozen vintage models, including a rare mint-condition 1914 Light Six.
PINKY RANDALL'S CHEVROLETS
1914 Light Six
1914 Royal Mail Roadster
1922 4-door sedan
1928 4-door touring
5 different 1932 models
Smitten at age 5
Randall's infatuation with Chevrolet started at age 5, when, on the way to school, a neighbor's 1932 Chevrolet caught his attention.
"That was the most beautiful car I had every seen," he says. The car was blue with yellow wheels and black fenders. Nineteen years later, after stints in World War II and the Korean War, Randall borrowed $30 and purchased the then well-worn car.
Randall has never worked for Chevrolet. For many years he owned an IGA grocery store and a strip shopping center in Houghton Lake, his hometown.
Randall started his Chevrolet collection in the early 1960s, when the prices of old cars, parts and memorabilia were far lower than they are now.
"We probably had the largest collection of older Chevrolet literature," Randall says.
"A lot of people got more of the more modern stuff, parts books and manuals. But I had the literature going back to Day One."
Randall remains passionate about the brand:
"Chevrolet has been my life. It really has since I was 5 years old, before I knew even what a Chevrolet was. I am as enthusiastic today as I was 80 years ago about Chevrolet."
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