Don Nichols looks forward to celebrating his 70th birthday with a leisurely drive with friends.
He’ll savor the trek all the more because he’ll be driving a 1935 Chevrolet, the first of what has become an impressive collection of antique and classic cars.
“We’ll go to Neosho Falls and Piqua,” Nichols said of the July 11 excursion where he and his friends will be on the road in cars that will likely turn heads.
They won’t find Ollie’s tavern in Piqua, where he remembers “you could get your hair cut while drinking a beer,” but he looks forward to the camaraderie that has formed over the years with fellow car enthusiasts.
“I bought the ’35 Chevy from Lowell James (an Iola implement dealer) toward the end of high school and drove it quite bit,” he said.
Nichols keeps his cars stored in the old Ellis Motors shop at 214 N. Washington Ave.
A 1959 graduate of Iola High School, Nichols now resides in Maui, Hawaii, a far cry from the family dairy farm on which he grew up a mile and a half south of Iola. Several years ago he bought the farm and restored the house and milk barn, giving him a place to stay when he returns this way usually a couple of times a year.
After high school Nichols earned a degree in education with emphasis on human resources at Westmar College in Le Mars, Iowa. He also was on the debate team.
Nichols taught human resources and coached debate for 20 years at the college level in Florida and Texas before starting a legal consulting firm for patent litigation. He now is semi-retired.
HIS LIKING for cars unfolded into a passion as he grew older. Today he plans to store more than 30 autos in the old Ellis shop.
Nichols said he was delighted to find the building available after Merchants Supply, the previous occupant, closed its doors several years back.
He also likes the fact that the building is close to the Iola Police Department. Classic and antique cars don’t come cheap.
His oldest is a 1922 Model T, the only one in the building that isn’t completed restored.
Monday afternoon Nichols’ good friend Harold Vail from Dixon, Ill., was in town to help with work on the Model T as well as renew a longstanding friendship.
“We own a few cars together and Harold can work on anything,” Nichols said.
He recalled how once the two of them each drove a vintage car down one side the Mississippi River and back up the other.
Walking through the shop is akin to visiting a museum, the cars are that rare and of high quality.
Among Nichols’ favorites is a 1959 Corvette convertible, “just like the one I always wanted in high school.”
Further into the bowels of the building are a 1929 Model A, a 1956 Ford Thunderbird and a 1938 Cadillac LaSalle with the same engine that powered U.S. tanks.
Down the line is a V-12 Jaguar.
“I had new spark plugs put in it and it cost me $600,” Nichols said, noting that the Jaguar’s engine, so snug under the hood, had to be removed to change out the plugs.
He has the fifth Oldsmobile Toronado to roll off the assembly line in 1956 and a 1961 Plymouth Fury.
“The Fury has a factory-installed 45 rpm record player under the dash and a square steering wheel,” Nichols pointed out.
His 1966 Chrysler Imperial convertible has the distinction of being the longest convertible ever made.
“I like convertibles,” Nichols said, explaining why so few of his cars have hard tops.
He also has a bright yellow Whizzer motorcycle, of showroom quality, and a Cushman scooter.
He has sold only two cars, a 1968 1/2 Cobra and a 1961 Thunderbird that once belonged to Liberace, the famed pianist.
BESIDES RESTORING cars, Ellis has his sights on the building, as well.
Years ago metal sheeting was attached to the front of the building, covering its brick exterior and a sign designating it was home to Ellis Motor Co.
“I’m going to pull the metal off and redo the exterior like it was in the 1950s, complete with the Ellis sign,” he said.
