‘Like a Rock’… The Schildberg Chevrolet Collection
VanDerBrink Auctions, LLC will sell the Schildberg Collection on June 13th, 2024, at 10AM, LIVE with online bidding at the museum.
We are all familiar with the Bob Seager Song,” Like a Rock,” featured in the iconic Chevrolet commercials of the past. For the Schildberg Family, those commercials were more fitting than most. In the 1930’s the United States was in the midst of the Great Depression. Many Families were just trying to make ends meet. E.F. Schildberg and his brother were busy delivering fruit to Chicago and lucky to own a truck. The government had developed the WPA program and was building roads and hundreds of projects to trigger the economy and keep people working through programs to initiate jobs. The Schildberg brothers, seeing an opportunity, put a dump box on their truck. They bought a small rock crusher and all day, as Grampa Schildberg would say, “Breaking big rocks into little rocks.” When the brothers had their dump box full of crushed rock, the Schildbergs would sell it for the road projects. Seeing an opportunity, in 1937, they bought their first limestone quarry. What started with one truck, is now a 3-generation company with 18 quarries and over 200 Employees.
As the company grew, the Schildbergs added a Skelly gas station, and a Chevrolet dealership in Greenfield, IA. For Dennis Schildbrerg, now 2nd generation, a Chevrolet Dealership was fitting, as there was no other brand that mattered to him but Chevrolet, and as the saying went, they were built “Like a Rock”. Schildberg Chevrolet sold many cars to residents of Greenfield, Iowa and, well, for Dennis, it supplied trucks for the business and Chevrolet cars for his collection and family.
Dennis loved Chevrolets and was especially partial to Corvettes. There are several Corvettes in the collection, including his 1-owner 1985 Corvette from the Schildberg Chevrolet dealership with less than 7000 miles on teh odometer. Dennis searched for everything from early Chevrolets, Corvettes, and well mostly any vehicle that he liked. That would explain a 1942 Lincoln Continental and even a 1918 Detroit Electric in his collection. Dennis was often seen with his cars in area parades and the occasional tour. It was a family affair; the kids worked at the quarry and enjoyed the hobby, and of course, Chevrolets. The collection has a 1990 Lumina APV van, 1 owner, this family truckster was used by Deborah as a new mom. Dennis passed away, but his wife Marlene kept adding to the collection. Marlene bought the 1953,'54, and 1955 Corvettes from a welder that had them tucked away in the attic of his shop! Marlene bought an old Ford dealership and filled it with Chevrolets and put the collection together for display.
Marlene Schildberg passed away, subsequently passing on to the daughter, Deborah. Deborah would often show the cars at the museum for Chevrolet lovers.
In May of 2024, the collection was almost lost to a historic, devastating EF4 tornado. The week of May 21st, 2024, there were many reports of tornados and severe thunderstorms throughout the Midwest. But something was different on May 21st, 2024. The Weather Bureau was watching systems converging and issued early warnings for Adair and Guthrie counties, in Iowa, that large tornadoes and severe storms were not just possible, but imminent. The morning started like many others, but there seemed to be heaviness in the air. The Greenfield school let the kids out early and storm chasers and spotters started to converge on the area. It was about 2:00-2:30 in the afternoon and a huge tornado was just SW of Greenfield. This Huge Black Mass was a Monster and took a trajectory right and headed straight for Greenfield, IA. Mark Schildberg was at the company offices and took the Employees and headed to the basement for shelter. The roaring tornado sounded like a freight train barreling down on them, and within minutes, it was over. They emerged from the basement with help to see their offices and much of the town of Greenfield, IA destroyed. Greenfield, IA took a direct hit. Hundreds of houses, buildings, and businesses were hit. The Schildberg Construction offices were destroyed. Deborah hurried to Greenfield to check on her brother and family members and friends. Luckily, their family escaped injury, but the tornado did claim five residents of Greenfield.
Deborah made her way to the museum, to find branches and debris, but the museum and the collection was intact. It still was a remaining beauty amongst a disaster. This massive EF4 tornado missed the collection by only 2 blocks. The Greenfield tornado will go down in history as having the highest recorded wind speed on earth, at one point reaching over 300mph and passing through town in just minutes. This devastating EF4 tornado destroyed many farm places and much of Greenfield, Iowa. It is going on record as one of the most dangerous tornadoes on record.
The community is rebuilding and pulled together to help one another. The Schildberg Construction building is ready for the fourth generation to continue the business. With all the changes, Deborah made the decision to sell the Schildberg Collection.
VanDerBrink Auctions, LLC will sell the Schildberg Collection on June 13th, 2024, at 10AM, LIVE with online bidding at the museum. This fabulous collection has everything from beautiful, restored cars to projects that never got restored. The Schildberg Collection features a RARE 1953 Chevrolet Corvette that is #139 out of only 300 built. The collection also has a RARE 1954 and 1955 Chevrolet Corvettes. The Schildberg Collection also includes a 1963 Split Window Coupe. There are 1985 and 2000 Corvettes both with under 7000 miles on the clock! The Schildberg Collection has early Chevrolets from 1916 to a beautiful 1937 Cabriolet. Schildberg Collection also consists of a 1902 Curved Dash Oldsmobileas well as a 1948 Harley Davidson motorcycle. The collection has a host of projects from a 1931 Chevrolet Roadster to even a 1950’s boat.
The Schildberg Family invites you to the auction and your chance to bid on these beautiful Chevrolets and more wonderful cars. Be on time, you will not want to miss this opportunity for rare Corvettes, early Chevrolets, and more classics. So, plan to be in Greenfield, Iowa on June 13th, 2026, at 10AM for this LIVE ONSITE event with online bidding. There is a preview on June 12th, 2026, to view the collection and visit with family. For more information, catalogs, and more auctions. www.vanderbrinkauctions.com
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