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Mt. Pleasant man’s love of classic cars runs deep
Hobe Dickey has a long history with Oldsmobiles
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
MT. PLEASANT - Hobart Dickey, or Hobe to his friends, lives and breathes classic cars. He owns two 1954 Chevrolets, a 1948 Chevrolet, and a prewar Buick. But his favorites are his Oldsmobiles.
“I have a thing with ‘50 Oldsmobiles,” says Hobe. “This is where my love affair with cars started.”
When he was young, his maternal grandparents brought home a 1950 Oldsmobile 98. It was the first car he ever rode in with a single-piece windshield and an automatic transmission. Before then, most cars had windshields divided in the center by a post. Developed in 1939, the Hydramatic was the first mass-produced automatic transmission, seeing use in everything from Oldsmobiles to the M24 Chaffee light tank.
It was his maternal grandparents’ car, a brand-new 1950 Oldsmobile 98, with the Rocket V-8- the first year of that modern, overhead valve engine. It was well-equipped for the time, with an AM radio and a clock on the dash. Hobe remembers sitting between his grandparents, looking down the hood at the rocket hood ornament.
“Sometimes, I still catch myself doing it.”
It would start a love affair that’s lasted his whole life.
Hobe’s first Olds came to him in 1989. Buying the car in Wyoming, he drove it for a decade before the need for valve job took it off the road. But before he could complete it, another machine caught his eye: a beautiful Olds 98, for sale in a suburb of Philadelphia, with its original dealer logo on the trunk. A running and driving example, with no need for serious maintenance. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
By now, Hobe has owned this car for 22 years.
“It’s not perfect,” Hobe says. “It’s a driver. I call it my 62,000-mile, 75-year-old used car.”
But the body work remains straight, without a hint of rust. The engine runs strong and the transmission shifts without fault. The exhaust is understated, only slightly louder than a modern car. The amount of love put into the car is palpable. With only 62,000 original miles, the car still sports its original engine and transmission.
“Just keep the oil changed, check the transmission fluid, and the radiator,” he says. “I drove it to Chicago 10 years ago. I put 700 miles on it in three days, and it didn’t use any oil. So, am I gonna rebuild this motor? No, there’s no need to!”
Hobe's love of classic cars is paramount; after all, he works on them every day. At Paine Street Rod Fabrication, he spends his days restoring classic cars to exacting specifications. Specializing, according to their Facebook, in the “Old, Odd, or Obsolete,” Mike Paine’s shop is full of classics: sixty-year-old Cadillacs, seventy-year-old Chevies, and even a 1960 Volkswagen Beetle, purchased in Germany by a US serviceman and shipped home.
Every car is unique, and this means flexibility is key. If the floor pan for a Cadillac cannot be found, Paine will source a period Chevrolet floor pan, and, with expert care, widen it to fit the customer’s car. Working alongside Darren Morin, main fabricator skilled in body work, rust repair, and painting; Mark Nelson, who handles drive train and heating systems; mechanical specialist Gene Christner; and new-hire fabricator Aaron Moler, Hobe does exhaust work. Together, they form a small, elite team, able to tackle everything imaginable, from frame-off full restorations, to engine swaps, and even the planning and building of elaborate hot rods and customs.
Call Marilyn Higgins at 319-368-8895 or email her at marilyn.higgins@southeastiowaunion.com
