Page 47 - midland

ust utter the words “classic cars” to Jim Huckabee and his wife Billie, and broad smiles immediately light up their faces. The Midland couple has spent years collecting and restoring vintage automobiles, some of which they proudly display in a custom-made, 3,900 square foot addition to their home. Inside the “museum”, as Jim calls it, is displayed an immaculate l957 Aztec copper Corvette (one of only 304 ever made in this color), a 1955 modifed Chevy with a chrome engine, and a bright red 1969 Chevelle. Their show room also contains a l957 Cushman Eagle motorcycle, a completely restored child’s pedal car, a 1911 restored barber’s chair, a 1975 Honda Trail 70, and numerous gasoline pumps. Metal signs from various oil companies hang on the walls, complementing the larger collectibles. What you don’t see are hundreds of smaller pieces of “automobilia” and miscellaneous auto parts which Jim uses to restore the treasures he has found as he travels around the United States. These are stored until they’re needed or ready to display.

“I’ve been interested in cars—or anything that ran and made a noise—since I was three years old,” says Jim, who is now seventy-three. His frst set of wheels was a tricycle from the Sears and Roebuck Company, and he soon grew to “like everything that raced—race cars, dirt track racing, drag racing. I drove a tractor when I was ten years old!” His father gave him his frst car, a l952 Chevy, when Jim was sixteen, and he’s been a Chevy man ever since. However, when he frst met his wife Billie in Andrews, Texas, she was driving a l955 Ford and she remembers Jim making fun of it. Despite her taste in cars, Jim married her in l960 and they left on their honeymoon, not in a Chevy, but in a 1959 Ford.

Billie soon became as enthusiastic about classic cars and other nostalgic collectibles as Jim. The two of them have shared their passion for classic cars with their daughter and two granddaughters. According to Billie, the rest of the family knows as much about the rare cars as she and Jim do.

On one of their frequent road trips. the couple parked their l962 Chevy Nova in front of the Oasis Filling Station (on the highway between Ft. Davis and Valentine, TX). This gas station was used in the movie, “Dancer, Texas.” The Hucka-bees have parted with this l949 Chevy convertible, but they keep a photo to remind themselves of how much they enjoyed it. This l962 Corvair Spyder has a turbo-charged motor. The classic Corvette that was named “Best in Show”! The Huckabees collect minature cars as well as life-size ones!