Rustbucket Rebels Car Club

Iveory Perkins / The Detroit News

WEST BLOOMFIELD -- Tom Roose vowed he would never part ways with his 1955 Chevy. After all, it's the beauty that started his classic car collection at age 14.

But after failing to find work in the past six months, the West Bloomfield electrical contractor has started selling off his classic car collection to make ends meet. The first to go was his beloved 1956 two-door Chevy, listed for $10,000.

"Between car insurance and maintenance costs and not working I had to get some money to make payment on bills," said Roose, 47, who has tried without luck for months to sell his 1955 Chevy pickup and 1962 Camaro.

"The automotive business runs everything and when it's doing bad, everything is doing bad."

High gas prices, layoffs, an over-saturation of car events and dwindling sponsorships have enthusiasts biting hard and doing the unthinkable in a region with a long love affair with autos: Selling their cars and canceling cruises and shows.

Last month, Flat Rock nixed its mega car show and festival after organizers couldn't find sponsors to host the $25,000 event. Same goes in nearby Belleville, where the Midnight Cruisers club turned over its three-day show to another group when aging members had trouble finding $10,000 in sponsorships.

Garages specializing in classics are singing the blues. Classifieds are full of sellers who sometimes wait a year or more to find buyers.

"We are all kind of biting the same bullet -- the economy," said Ben Penland, president of the Wheels of Time Classic Car Club in Flat Rock. His club and the city wanted to pump new life into RiverFest, which attracts a few thousand people every summer to Flat Rock. The economy and lack of sponsors killed those plans, and the group now will host a smaller show with no festival in August. In years past, as many as 300 classics entered the show. Now, it may attract 100, Penland said.

"The economy is threatening the Motor City -- back in the '40s and '50s everything was booming with the auto industry," he said. "Now they are trying to leave; car shows are about nostalgia and people reminiscing. It's possible that could go away, too."

Most local classic car cruises or shows serve as fundraisers for charities, but decreased advertising is hampering those efforts. They're sponsored by garages, mom-and-pop shops, dealerships and restaurants.

And they're hurting.

"The biggest issue is the sponsors are canceling; they sponsor cars and trophies," said Ken Savage, president of Fun Time Cruzers in Sterling Heights.

In Belleville, the Midnight Cruisers hosted an annual car show for 25 years, drawing hundreds of people and more than 200 classics. However, searching for sponsors and footing the bill for a car to give away in a drawing every year caused the club to pass the show onto another group, said Loretta Speaks, a member of the Midnight Cruisers.

The sad truth is the Motor City has a glut of events, said Ralph Haney, event coordinator of the United Street Machines Association that coordinates car shows and cruise nights statewide. Exact numbers aren't available, but there's 25 to 30 throughout the Tri-Counties on typical summer weekend nights -- and they're all chasing the same drying pool of sponsors, he said.

"There are people that contact us on a weekly basis who have lost their jobs and have to sell their toys," Haney said. "Everywhere, participation is down and I think the economy is hurting dollars and cents for people."

Like other segments of the economy, luxury classics seem better able to withstand Michigan's slowdown -- as evidenced this weekend at the Michigan International Spring Classic Car Auction in Novi.

The show auctions cars worth $10,000 to $300,000 and the pricier models are expected to move -- even if the buyers aren't from Michigan, said Jim Caputo, 64, of Birmingham.

"The lagging economy in this state will impact sales, and mid- and low-range cars will suffer," said Caputo, who is selling his white 1987 Avanti II.

"People are saving money to buy gasoline instead of buying a car."

Harry Kief has a front-row seat to the troubles at his shop, Dearborn Total Automotive, in Dearborn Heights. The business, which sells and repairs beauties such as a 1970 raspberry Chrysler 300 convertible and a beige 1967 Riveria, has seen sales drop 20 percent from $300,000 and 25 percent for repairs from $260,000 a year.

"It's come down to are you going to pay your mortgage or buy custom wheels for your hot rod?" said Kief, adding that his waiting list for paint jobs has dwindled from about 12 on average to two.

"The number of people wanting to sell their classic cars is going through the roof. I see somebody every day trying to sell their car here."

You can reach Iveory Perkins at (734) 462-2672 or iveory.perkins@detnews.com.