WARREN – Chester Jones’ 1929 REO Speed Wagon has been featured in Cruisin’ Times magazine, has won 75 awards, and was requested by the band REO Speedwagon to be present at a show in 2014, so it’s hard to believe he salvaged it after it was underwater for decades.

Jones of Southington brought his well-known REO Speed Wagon to Warren’s 3rd Annual Car, Truck and Bike Show at Packard Park on Saturday.

Jones, owner of Chet’s Auto Wrecking in Warren, said he didn’t think the vehicle would have any value when he found it on a Leavittsburg river bank in 2000. He decided to restore it after he owned it for 10 years, not realizing how big of an attraction it would become. He had to replace just about everything, including the floor, which was non-existent when he got it because of the water damage. It took him about three years to get it into driving shape.

When Jones goes to a classic car show, people are attracted to the Speed Wagon because he hasn’t changed the style, preserving the look it had in the early 20th century. He makes the car more interesting by setting it up with gangster trappings, with an Al Capone coffin on top of the trailer he brings. The trailer carries things like awards, pictures of his car at other classic car shows, and accessories. He also dresses up as a gangster for full effect.

“I had no idea it would ever get this big,” he said. “I would have bet a million bucks five years ago that there’s no way (it would be this big). The first show I took it to (4th Annual Hillbilly Rod and Custom Nationals), it won. It attracts people of all ages.”

The REO Motor Company was founded by Ransom E. Olds, a native of Geneva, in 1905.

Johnny Ringo, 60, of Cortland was one of the many car owners who showed up to the car show. He left his Cadillac at home and brought his 1971 Triumph TR6 convertible, which he bought in 1999. He taught himself how to repair cars at a young age, and said he has never owned a new car because he came to enjoy tinkering with his vehicles, and because it’s easier and cheaper to fix his own cars.

“I worked in a factory and as I worked longer, I could afford newer cars and motorcycles but I chose not to,” he said. “I’ve always had old cars. The best way to get an old car is to buy the nicest one you can afford and go from there and make it a little nicer, because if you build an old car from scratch, you spend all the money and when you sell it you take the bite on that. It’s a labor of love.”

Since Ringo retired from his factory job, and in exchange for car parts, he spends time doing work at an auto-recycling shop that ships parts internationally. Every year, he makes maintenance repairs and enhancements. In just the last couple years, he rebuilt the engine from the ground up, fixed the suspension, and got a hard top, among other things.

Ringo drives the car everyday when the weather permits it. He said most people keep their cars in the garage to keep the miles low and avoid maintenance, but he doesn’t have that mentality.

Ringo said he has noticed that the average classic car owner is usually older, and he thinks it’s because kids aren’t interested and can’t afford to work on old cars.

“You don’t see young people at car shows anymore,” he said. “Nowadays, if a kid wants a car he’s going to look for a new car to lease or something a few years old. I don’t know why it’s like that, it’s a dying craft,” he said. “When everyone shows up, the average age is 50.”

Ringo said he always wanted a Triumph in high school.

“There’s a saying ‘everyone wants the collector car they should have driven to prom but couldn’t afford’,” he said.

The Triumph cars were made from a British car company of the same name. He said when he was growing up in the 60s, British car companies like Triumph and MG exported many of their cars to America, so it was common to see other people driving British sports cars. He said the interest in those cars grew because they were good looking sports cars that were affordable compared to American made cars like Corvettes.

John Santangelo of Niles, got his first car, a 1969 Chevelle, at age 21. Since then, that car has been sold, and now he has a SS Camaro, which he brought to the show. He also has a 2001 Cadillac and a Buick back at his garage. He said he began working on cars when he was 9, and learned about car parts from his uncle, who owned a towing company.

He said fixing up old cars can cost thousands of dollars, so although he enjoys working on cars, it’s better for most people to just buy a car that doesn’t need much work.

“If you start restoring and working on it yourself, you never find the time, you never have enough money, it will just sit there and rust away. Buy one that is complete. If you have got the money, pay it, boom, and go,” he said.

The car show was sponsored by the Preserving Lives Youth Development Organization, Richie Rich Entertainment and Noel’s Car Toys.

sphillips@tribtoday.com