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| photos by | Steven Hertzog |
Lawrence’s antique car and motorcycle enthusiasts enjoy bringing history back to life through their passion.
Antique car show in Lawrence
Unlike many of her peers in the Lawrence All British Car Club, Susan McKenzie didn’t foster a love of antique cars during her youth. For her, it occurred later in life, when she married James McKenzie and, in essence, also married into his love of antique cars. James had enjoyed owning many different British cars during the years and was a founding member of the Lawrence All British Car Club after he attended a British car gathering in Nashville. When they married, Susan decided to share in the experience and always was along for the ride.
That shared experience was tragically broken five years ago when James died following a battle with cancer. With her partner in life—and appreciating antique cars—no longer with her, it would have been easy for McKenzie to drop the hobby and go in a new direction. Instead, she says, her interest and participation in the Lawrence All British Car Club only intensified. Not only did she find it the perfect way to honor her late husband’s memory, there were practical forces at play.
“When he died, I had to learn how to drive the car,” McKenzie says of the 1963 Morris Mini Minor James purchased and restored just a couple years before his death. In fact, James first drove the Mini just 17 days before he died.
“Since then, I’ve just really gotten into it,” she says. “He always wanted me to learn to drive it, but I was hesitant because I didn’t want to wreck his car learning to drive it. Now, I only have myself to answer to; but the learning is over, so it’s just fun.”
Learning to drive the Mini was no simple task. Never mind that McKenzie had never before driven a stick shift (a car with a manual transmission). But being a British car, the Mini has its steering wheel on the right side, turning the whole concept of orientation and road perspective on its head.
“It was a real rust bucket when (James) got it,” she says. “He totally restored it. Now, it’s up to me to keep it in good shape.”
McKenzie is one of dozens of antique car enthusiasts that can be found driving their pet machines around Lawrence and throughout the Douglas County countryside. The Lawrence All British Car Club alone has at any given time between 30 and 40 members. There also is a local branch of the Antique Automobile Club of America—one of three region branches in Kansas—and, up until a few years ago, there was a Lawrence Corvette Club.
And it’s not only automobiles that draw interest from antique lovers. Lawrence Vintage Cycle, in North Lawrence, works almost solely on old Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
It’s not hard to spot McKenzie when she’s driving the Mini around town. In addition to it being bright red, the car has the Union Jack, the symbol on the British flag, on its roof, and stuck on a back window, there’s an image of Queen Elizabeth II, as though she’s sitting in the back seat waving to a crowd of onlookers.
“In a typical year, I’ve driven it to a lot of events,” she says. “I’ve gone to events in Tulsa, Kansas City and the Lake Garnett Grand Prix Revival every year. I’ve put a lot of money into keeping it up and driving it from place to place.”
Bill Fisher with his rebuilt Triump- The Brits’s Bits newsletter
Like-Minded Car Lovers
McKenzie serves as vice president of the Lawrence All British Car Club and has been a member for about 15 years.
The club itself has been around for more than 30 years, according to its Facebook page. Bill Fisher, who’s written and edited the organization’s newsletter the last several years, says the club currently has 36 members, hailing from Lawrence, Topeka and Kansas City. It welcomes (for a $20 annual membership fee) owners of all makes, models and years of British cars, regardless of condition, and has some members who don’t own a British car at all.
“In Kansas City in the 1950s and ’60s, after the war, we had a lot of British car shops because of Forbes Field,” Fisher says. “That’s the way it all started, a lot of soldiers experiencing little British cars and shipping them back home.”
Because of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 has been a quite year for antique car clubs throughout the U.S. In a typical year, Fisher explains, the Lawrence All British Car Club would attend and represent itself at car shows in Kansas City and the surrounding areas. There are regularly scheduled swap meets in Lawrence and Topeka.
“Because of COVID, there have been shipping problems from England for parts to work on cars,” he says. “There have been network disruptions, mostly on the supply side.”
One event that did take place in 2020 was the Lake Garnett Grand Prix Revival, held in early October. Classic car enthusiasts from around the area and local states gathered and toured the track around Lake Garnett.
“The Lake Garnett Grand Prix was a blast,” McKenzie says of the event, which, in its original formation, ran from 1959 to 1972.
Cars toured Lake Garnett entered in one of four categories: 60 mph and under, 80 and under, 100 and under and vintage race cars.
“The 100 and under … that gets pretty hairy out there,” Fisher says, adding that the British Car Club hosts an annual meeting at Johnny’s Tavern in North Lawrence and, during non-COVID times, also meets on the first Tuesday of every month at Conroy’s Pub on West Sixth Street.
“You don’t need a car to be a member,” he says. “You just need enthusiasm and a willingness to learn.”
The same can be said of the Antique Automobile Club of America. For a $45 annual fee, club members receive opportunities to exhibit their cars and/or compete in style competitions. The organization, founded in 1935, also maintains a vast research library and staff to help members learn and answer questions about all things antique cars.
Unfortunately, Lawrence no longer has a local Corvette club. Former member Doug Flessing says the Lawrence Corvette Club was founded when one owner of a vintage Corvette put an ad in the Journal-World asking for like-minded folks to contact him. It was viable for eight to 10 years before losing steam about four years ago. At its peak, he says the club had at least 30 couples and more than 70 members.
“Most people just moved on and got other hobbies,” says Flessing, who owned a ’58 Corvette C1. “As we all got older, it got more difficult to get down into the cars.”
The Lawrence Corvette Club was sponsored by Crown Chevrolet and met monthly at its facility. Often, those meetings were preceded by meeting for a meal at a local restaurant. Between meetings, the club would organize events for members to drive around Lawrence and the county.
“We always drove in the St. Patrick’s Day parade. The most we ever had was 17 cars,” Flessing says. “At the KU Homecoming Parade, we would carry the king and queen.”
Love for Two-Wheeled Antiques
While it might not be a club, per se, there is plenty of enthusiasm and expertise for lovers of antiques of the two-wheeled variety coming out of Lawrence Vintage Cycle, on Third Street in North Lawrence. That’s where owner Lucas Freeman runs his business buying, fixing and flipping vintage motorcycles, especially old Harley-Davidsons.
“I’ve done a little work on imports like Triumph, Norton and the Japanese bikes—Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki,” Freeman says. “But my expertise is in Harleys.”
That expertise comes from 24 years working in Harley repair, 17 as a master mechanic.
Freeman keeps his business close to the vest. All of his work is done through appointment only, and he says he has his entire list of around 100 long-term customers saved in his phone.
“Lawrence being a small town … everyone is pretty loyal,” he says. “I’m happy working for myself.”
A childhood friend’s father’s preoccupation with vintage motorcycle restoration formed the birthplace of Freeman’s obsession, he explains. Now, he prefers keeping that hobby/business at a manageable level. He says he recently sold a ’68 Harley Sportster to a Japanese customer and has a ’58 Harley on sale now.
“It’s one of those things that, if you don’t love it, you’re going to hate it,” he says, laughing.
Susan McKenzie stands beside her Mini
Bringing History Back to Life
There’s one day Susan McKenzie was driving her Mini that she’ll never forget.
She was heading over to the Kansas City Automotive Museum in Olathe one morning, hitting what she thought was about 70 mph on K-10, when her entire right-front wheel flew off. While her immediate reaction was to hit the brakes and pull off to the right side of the highway, she quickly realized that she had little braking available, and if she jerked the car too quickly to one side, she could lose control. So she simply allowed the car to coast until it reached a speed slow enough to safely steer it to the shoulder.
“The worst part is that I never found the wheel,” she says. “I walked back and looked and even asked the county to look for it when they were mowing, but it was never found.”
Not to worry. McKenzie says she’s had to fix the car’s speedometer and other instruments, and she purchased and replaced the lost wheel. So she can continue driving her beloved Mini around town alongside all the other like-minded antique car lovers who dot the landscape with their beautiful, vintage machines.
“You’d be amazed how many old British cars are driving around Lawrence,” says Fisher, who appropriately holds a degree in art sculpture. “It’s a great novelty, and there’s just great camaraderie among fellow car owners. If you break down on the road, you always have someone to call who will be more than glad to come help you out.”
In fact, Fisher says in some ways, he feels as though he’s part of a large, moving museum.
“It’s bringing history back to life,” he says. “The designers of these cars did amazing work. We’re bringing that amazing work back to life. How cool is that?” p
