Red's Rods Will Be Part of New Auto Gallery
By noderel:
According to a report by ABC news in Green Bay, Wis., an old Cadillac dealership in the city’s downtown section is being transformed into a new kind of collector car facility and hot rods will play a major role in the transformation.
“The building’s new mission will be unlike anything else in the country,” reporter Jeff Alexander said. Denil Cadillac was Green Bay’s last downtown car dealership. It operated until 1997 and has been empty for almost two decades. William “Red” Lewis, the founder of PDQ Manufacturing and PDQ Carwash, bought the building two years ago. He is having it turned into what he describes as an automotive art gallery.
The non-profit facility will also serve as a state-of-the-art events center, with an executive conference room and catering and dining options. Lewis’ hot rods will be a part of the décor. Cars will be displayed in a modern setting with some perched on pedestals above the others.
Lewis’ hot rods include a flat black ’39 Chevy coupe and a jet-black ’56 Ford pickup. Several high-tech rods constructed by his son Jon and hot rod builder Jim Shackleford witll also be exhibited. A recent addition to the collection is a big-engined T-bucket. There is a bright red Dearborn Deuce coupe and an Indigo colored roadster with yellow flames.
“The last thing we want this to be is a museum in the true sense of the word, we want it to be active, we want people here,” Becky Lewis, told ABC. She said that the Automobile Gallery will open early in 2016 and will feature a continuous rotation of Lewis’ vast collection of restored cars.
Green Bay Mayor Mayor Jim Schmitt told Lewis “I’m grateful to you on behalf of the city of Green Bay and our community because, while this is going to be great for events and the downtown, this helps position our city as, it’s not an old city, it’s a historical city.”