DAVE’S IN HIS OWN AUTO WORLD

Dave Zeasman is a full-time used car dealer, but he dabbles in collector cars and always has a few sitting in his small showroom in Baraboo, Wis. Most are 1960s two-door models priced in the “under $20,000” range.

Dave started as a hobbyist and grew into being a dealer. He started fixing and re-selling old cars as a hobby when he was in high school in 1972. “Back then, I bought what I liked for myself and when I saw something better, I sold the first car to get the second one,” he recalled.

His current dealership – where he’s been for three years- sells classic, specialty cars and late-model vehicles. Parked in the showroom were a blue 1969 Olds Cutlass priced at $18,500, a 1971 Buick Skylark 455 for $17,500, a 1964 Ford for $12,550 and a 1965 Chevy for $12,500. The cars were all in “cruise night” condition. “I like to sell the type of cars where you can look anyone in the eye and tell them they won’t lose anything buying the cars,” said Zeasman. “They can drive these cars anywhere they feel like driving them, but they can also get a door ding without losing sleep.”

Dave doesn’t want any cars that need body work, because he said, “body work is expensive.” He put a headliner into the 1971 Buick and the 1964 Ford had some minor updates. “I don’t buy any car that isn’t basically done,” said the dealer. “But I will add things like four-barrel carburetors and dual exhausts,

Dave sells a few good collector cars a year, for affordable prices.He enjoys helping people get into the hobby he loves so they can have fun without spending their life savings. He finds, too, that having old cars in the showroom brings buyers into his dealership. Baraboo is a tourist area in the warm months and Dave’s Auto World (www.daves-autoworld.com) is the area's closest thing to a car museum.