| nthfinity |
11-16-2006 08:37 PM |
Remembering my great grandfather's best friend
Quote:
POLLARD: The city lost a great Detroiter and a chance at a car museum
Pollard in 1969 photoDETROIT has lost one of its more interesting people with the death of Bernard J. Pollard. It has also blown an opportunity that may never come again.
B.J., or Barney, as he was variously known, may well have been the world's most knowing and successful collector of old automobiles, as well as of anything else from days of old that was cheap and transportable.
He started gathering them in during 1938, at a time when old cars were a nuisance to a lot of people. Many in his collection were given to him for the taking away, and he had a top limit of $300. He quit buying and taking when old cars became a fad and the prices shot up.
But for years he held on to his collection, refusing offers for his prizes. He never knew exactly how many he had. The best guess was 600. He had so many at his place just off Grand River that he stacked them vertically, to save space.
Tragedy. A spark from a passing locomotive set fire to a couple of hundred of them several years ago. 'The bodies were ruined, but the engines and drive trains were a gold mine of parts.
Two years ago, when he was almost 80 years old, he finally began parting with his treasures, some dating back to 1898. And he made the city an offer that he was sure it could not refuse.
If Detroit would provide a suitable museum, he said, he would donate a batch of restored cars that would reflect the history of the automobile industry. It was a generous offer. Several sites were considered, but, the project never came off.
Too bad. It would have been great for Detroit, and a fitting memorial to a lively fellow who loved his city and brightened many lives.
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his collection makes the primier automotive museum the world around... looks like its time to contact his son/family to find out more about him, and my great grandfather :)
http://www.expat-online.com/about/bjpollard/index.cfm
more accounts of his insane collection
cheapest car? 25$
most expensive? 300$ :shock: |
