Rudi Steiner, a 1961 Bluffton High School graduate, may well deserve a master’s degree in Bluffton automotive science 1945-1961. During this period he watched who drove what and sometimes, why. Here’s a summary of the Bluffton’s chrome and fin vehicle age from one who observed it first hand. This column is reprinted from "Bluffton, A Good Place to Miss."
By Rudi Steiner
Hudson’s, Packards, Studebakers, VW bugs, Kaisers, Edsels; I saw ‘em all. You know, all of these impressive Detroit creations once roamed Bluffton’s streets. I know. I watched them, counted them, and memorized them and, well, some kid’s collected baseball cards in the early 1950s. I collected car memorabilia.
Want to hear who drove what? Okay, here goes.
Ever see a Hudson? Beautiful cars. George Carmack had a red 1949 or maybe 1950. Check early 1950-era Bluffton High School yearbooks. They always showed an aerial view of Main Street.
Carmack’s Hudson will be parked in front of the Carma Theatre – Shannon Theatre today. Across the street from the theater was a Hudson dealership. There was one other Hudson I remember. Larry Core drove it.
When I think of convertibles, especial those rare one, here’s what comes to my mind: Ralp Steiner’s 1951 Chevy, Ralph Reichenbach, Jr.’s 1949 Dodge, Ron Hahn’s 1947 Hudson, Norm Lamb’s 1948 Chevy, Buck Schifke’s MG convertible and Jerry Kohli’s 1957 Ford.
Remember the Oldsmobile? I do. Dean Kittle, BHS shop teacher, always drove green 98. Dr. Travis always drove blue 98.
Cadillacs. Once upon a time, the most expensive car in Bluffton. Stan Basinger’s 1957 had the largest taillights you can imagine. His 1959 had enormous fins. John Murray drove green 1955. Dr. Wade Basinger, Stan’s brother, had a ’56 green convertible. He parked it in a small garage in what is now the Chappell residence on Lawn Avenue.
Dr. Evan Basinger and Jim West also drove Caddies as I remember. Charles Hilty drove a 1953 grey and white model that even had air conditioning. It was one of the first cars in Bluffton with air. Harold Klingler drove nothing but Cadillacs.
Packards always appealed to me. There’s nothing like one today. My grandpa, Fred Hahn, had a blue ’49. He bought it with silver dollars. Paid $100 for it, used. Paul Diller had a 1949 Packard hearse. Emerson Stultz drive a beautiful black ’49 or ’50. I understand it’s in a barn somewhere in storage in Michigan.
Seems as if Herman Hilty had a Packard, but I can’t recall the year. Some day I’ll tell you about Herman’s hay rake business.
He cut classic Auburns, Cords and Dusenbergs in half. Then made hay rakes from their bodies.
Perhaps the most common car I remember is the classic 1957 Chevrolet. There were lots of them in Bluffton. Rev. Oppermann’s was particularly interesting. It included a huge police interceptor engine, a shift on the floor, but not an inch of chrome. Here’s the best part: Cal Oppermann drove it before he had his license. Sure, everyone did that back then.
Let me tell you about Elmer Romey’s Chrysler Imperial. It was probably a late 1950s model with a wheel on the back of the trunk. The car was black and white. A.C. Burcky, who lived on one of the corners of Grove and Lawn, drove Imperials, but later change to Cadillacs. I never knew why.
Loren Steinman, who invented the tip-over TV tower – his building still stands on North Lawn Avenue, drove a black and white, or was it a maroon Imperial? I can’t remember.
Lincolns. Paul Diller always drove a black Lincoln. His 1961 model had suicide doors. Earl Jorg, my uncle, drove Lincolns. So did Ted Biery.
Two guys who always drove Buick Roadmasters were Forrest Steinman and Henry Huber. Like A.C. Burcky, Huber eventually switched to driving Cadillacs. I remember that Huber sold his last Roadmaster to Lysle Sutter. Norm Triplett had a 1949 Buick with an “I Like Ike” bumper sticker.
Kaiser-Frazier’s had a fan club in Bluffton in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s. Art Hitchcock, who had a dealership in Ottawa, sold my dad, Nelson Steiner, a 1947 Frazier, then a 1951 Kaiser and finally a two-tone ranger grey 1953 Kaiser. The ’53 had Manhattan lights on the inside. Either the ’51 of ’53 even had a rear wiper – way ahead of its time. Karl German drove a 1948 Kaiser.
Remember Bea Bumble? His real name was Ed Humphrey. He drove a two-door 1953 black Kaiser. It seems that one was pretty rare. Clair Reiter had a ’56 Kaiser and Harley Marquart had so many, well, he had a dealership didn’t he?
In the ‘50s it was really unusual to see a foreign-made car in Bluffton. But, we had some. The very first Volkswagen bug in Bluffton belonged to Jo Souder. Black. She may have sold it to Paul Stauffer on Kibler Street. Come to think of it, maybe Sam Diller had the first bug. It’s all a bit hazy to me now.
One of the craziest-looking cars I ever remember in Bluffton was Morgan Davies’ Fiat. It was an early 1960s model. Professor John Klassen also drove a Fiat. Sixth grade teacher Bob Stratton drove a Renault.
Then there’s a host of one-of-a-kind vehicles worth listing.
Some of these were really interesting. For example, Lester Hahn, my uncle, had a 1956 Chevrolet Nomad station wagon. John Luginbuhl had a 1956 Plymouth Fury. I.B. Beechy had a ’39 Ford Coupe. I think he sold it to Johnny Boehr.
Jim West’s dad had one of the first-year Mercury’s ever made. It was a sedan. Then there was a 1941 Pontiac custom torpedo four-door sedan owned by Jim Balmer. My neighbor, Bob Welch, drove a beautiful 1958 Desoto Firedome hard top.
Johnny Badertscher had a ’57 Plymouth Fury with a Hemi engine. Bluffton College had a fleet of Army and Navy surplus vehicles. I recall lots of eight-passenger Chrysler Windsors with 139-inch wheelbases. Those were really monsters.
Now it’s all coming to me. Did you remember Richard Minck’s 1957 Edsel convertible? It was either flamingo or green or a 1950s-era aqua color. Its automatic transmission was in the center of the steering wheel.
Morris Triplett had one of those 1959 Ford retractable hard tops. It was black. Bill Edwards, Roger’s dad, either drove a 1956 Packard Patrician or Caribbean. Monroe “Chev” Amstutz topped them all. He had a mid-1950s-era Mercedes Benz 300 Series Gull Wing. Amstutz, who owned the junkyard on Cherry Street at Vance, apparently bought it in 1955 from someone in Fremont. That’s according to Sam Diller.
Amstutz reportedly paid $15,00 for it. The interesting part about this car was that it was always talked about but hardly ever seen. Amstutz only drove it on Sundays. It was really the most amazing car I’ve ever seen in Bluffton. What would it be worth today? Who knows? You see, the doors were hinged at the top. That’s why it was called a “gull wing.” Dick Boehr said that he was privileged to ride in it once on a trip to Ada.
Apparently Chev drove it like he was racing the Indianapolis 500. Dick said he was glad when the trip ended.
What’d I forget? Our neighbor, Francis DeVier, had a 1941 four-door Willys’ sedan. Today it would be a fantastic body for a classic hot rod. Dr. F.D. Rodabaugh owned a 1950 Ford Crestline soft-top two-door. It featured a padded leather top, which gave it the look of a convertible. It was a two-tone trim like I’ve never seen. Blanche Mumma eventually bought it from him. Doc eventually graduated for a time to Ford Thunderbirds.
Here’s another gem. A 1953 two-tone gray and white Studebaker Champion Starliner. The guy who owned it was Harry Gratz. He lived across the front door of the old entrance to the high school on College Avenue.
I almost forget the 1938 Series ’40 Buick with side mounts. That was Bert Swank’s car. Black, huge with enormous running boards. Typical gangster car.
Personally I was a Kaiser-Fraser fan. Harley Marquart had a 1949 Kaiser Traveler or Caravan. That car was Kaiser’s version of a station wagon. The rear window actually folded up and the trunk door folded down.
Another guy who drove a Frazer was Ron and Gary Lora’s dad, Milo. I believe he had a 1949 Manhattan. But, if I could have my pick it would probably be my dad’s 1946 or 1947 Fraser. It had a Graham-Paige nameplate. Real unique vehicle.
Sure, there are many other cars, but with so many cars to chose from where do you stop? Anyway, for car watchers like myself, the late ‘40s and 1950s were unlike any other. It was a dreamtime for watchers of some great American-made cars.
