and are parts. oliver runs the salvage yard successfully for seven years, but then in 1953 he gets into a nasty argument with a town of enid over zoning and regulation. two words he detests. he cuts himself off from most of his family and rarely lets another soul inside the salvage yards. pretty much everybody in this town would drive by grandpa s property and see all these old cars sitting right there. some people they thought they were an eyesore. you know? he recalls venturing over to the old man s place. sfli walked across the street, from mr. jordan, i m looking for a starter for a continental six
and that was the open door. it took until his 90s really. because of who he was. he didn t want to need anybody. stewart hop on a plane to oklahoma be not knowing what to expect. new here i nook on the door. he is 6 4 , and even at 94, he has quite a commanding presence. he is covered from head to toe in feathers. he and ruby had a couple of dogs. one of the dogs had torn up the featherbed. there was something about him that still just commanded respect. even covered in feathers. being oliver in such a terrible state, stewart decides to stay in oklahoma for a while and take care of his grandfather. i was getting to know my grandfather through these cars. he experiencing his life s work and his pride and joy. the stewarts become immediately clear. first oliver knows he doesn t have much time left. second, he is worried about the fate of those cars.
there s about 220 of them. they re mostly american cars. they re prewar which is pre-1942. very rare cars because of the start of world war ii, they started limiting production, and you could only get one from a ration coupon. stewart and yvette make plans for a one-day auction right here on the salvage lot. word begins to spread about oliver jordan s old treasures. stewart soon learns that not altogether, a good thing. we arrived on the property, and then had a hole in the side of this building the size of a human body, and they sold over 215 antique radiators. tons of chrome parts. a lot of niece stuff. the antique radiators are worth $40,000, but the biggest loss for stewart is the theft of oliver s beloved 1904 harley davidson. possibly worth several hundred
oliver jordan dies at the age of 95. leaving his enormous automobile collection to stewart and his siblings. the original windows that they would stick in the sides stewart tells me that 1924 roland touring car is one of his personal favorites. the model was popular among bootleggers during prohibition. it was toggle switches on the dashboard where they would turn off the taillights if they were being followed by somebody. to hide the booze. that s right. but these cars represent just a snip et of oliver s vast collection. i have never seen anything like this, stewart. there are so many cars. it s quite a strange thing to inherit. before he dies oliver gives stewart some business advice. stewart realizes it would take the rest of his life to sell
kill derening wrin, have you one? well, after a long pause he bachxly said well, it s going to be $50. came back about a month later with my $50. he said nope, $75. a little bit of horse trading at that point in time. as a boy, stewart never gets to know grandpa oliver. stewart s mom, oliver s daughter, dies when stewart is only 6. a tragedy that separates him further from his grandfather. we would come to town to visit my grandfather, and he had all these cars in front of his property. it s like a little boy s wonderland, and he had them protected with a fence and with big mean dogs. we couldn t get past the dogs. do you ever wish that he spent more time with you? were you curious about him? yeah. says i would be here for the opportunity to get to know him.