Convening for the classics: Bozeman Area Auto Club connects antique car enthusiasts at Kountry Korner

John Earls inspected his spotless 1958 turquoise Chrysler 300D from the parking lot of the Kountry Korner Cafe.

“I’ve been married and divorced in this car,” he said.

Earls walked around the car, showing off the features — the button on the floor that changes the radio station, the cushy leather seats, the engine. He even shook the car to show how strong the suspension is.

“I’ve had it since I was 19,” he said.

Earls is a member of the Bozeman Area Auto Club (BAAC). He and almost 50 other mostly retired people living in Gallatin County have breakfast every Tuesday at the Kountry Korner Cafe in Four Corners.

They sit at several long tables in their own room at the cafe, drinking coffee, eating breakfast and sharing their love of antique cars.

“There’s just all walks of life,” club member Stu Coleman said.

Coleman lives just south of Livingston and is a former National Park Service ranger, a job that took him all over the country, from the Everglades to the Blue Ridge Parkway to Alaska. He spent his last 13 years before retirement working in Yellowstone.

Coleman drove a red 1955 Chevrolet short-bed truck to the cafe that morning. One of his 16 cars. It’s been a lifelong collection of his.

“I should have started collecting stamps. It would’ve been a lot cheaper,” he said.

His Ford truck sparkles in the sunny parking lot. Coleman has spent thousands of hours refurbishing it and bringing it back to its former glory.

A few cars down is another Ford, a 1940 station wagon. It’s is green with wooden doors and has three rows of tightly packed seats. Club member Ren Ferguson has had it from almost four years; he bought it from a man in Arizona who had it restored to mint condition.

“You can’t go anywhere and buy a part for this. You have to mail order it or find it on eBay,” Ferguson said. “Even if you have the part, you got to have people like this who’ve been around forever that know how to work on it.

“It’s a challenge.”

The BAAC started as a Ford Model T racing club in the 1950s before it converted to a club for classic cars. The group got its charter in 1969 and became an official chapter of the Montana Pioneer and Classic Auto Club.

Karin Ludeman has been part of the BAAC since 1975. She’s the club’s current president, for the fourth time. She was brown in Lewistown and has lived in Bozeman since 1962.

She sold several antique cars after her husband passed away but still owns a 1948 Buick Roadmaster.

Ludeman helps with organizing the cub’s monthly “official” meetings and outings. This Saturday, they’re going to Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park to meet up with people from other chapters around the state.

“Our club welcomes anyone that has an interest in older cars,” she said.

Back in the parking lot, BAAC Vice President Jeff King shows off his 1949 Ford F1.

He’s been looking for that car for years. His grandfather had the same one. He finally found one on a farm in Great Falls that had been worn out and thrown off a coulee.

It took him five years to restore it and now he and his wife routinely drive it on backroads all over the state with their camping gear.

King had to add some items to make it safer to drive on modern roads, including stronger seat belts, disc brakes and new transmissions. It shifts faster now and stops better.

He asked all his friends what color to paint it, and they all agreed on the quintessential bright red Ford color.

“In our trips around Montana, we show up somewhere in this old truck, and it doesn’t matter your politics, or your religion, everybody wants to talk about the truck,” King said. “So, it’s a good way to start conversations and get involved with people.”