Lyle Rosburg has a car with 43,000 miles on it, that had about 39,000 miles when he bought it as a present for his graduation from Wentzville High School - in 1987, when the 1951 Chevrolet Styleline Deluxe already was 36 years old.
"It was owned by some relatives of my mother's," Rosburg, now 47, recalled this week. "They bought it new in (June) 1951, and they were still driving it.
"And they had decided they were going to sell the farm and go to a retirement home."
Rosburg said he always had liked that car, as well as old cars in general.
"When it became available, I talked to them before it went on the auction," he recalled - and they agreed to sell it to him for $1,000.
With his parents paying half, Rosburg bought the car and held on to it.
However, after he and Lori married 11 years ago - and the garage became their son's bedroom - the 1951 Chevrolet wound up in storage.
This year, Rosburg and Billy Bonnot - a fellow Lions Club and Old Car Club member - rebuilt that now 65-year-old car.
And it will be one of two vehicles Rosburg will display during Saturday's 47th annual Old Car Round-Up and Car Show at the corner of West Dunklin and Broadway streets, as part of the Old Munichberg Oktoberfest event.
"There's a 1965 Corvair that's in the garage right now, that's (also) ready to go for the Car Show," he said.
Also, Lori Rosburg plans to display an "orphan" car - that is, a vehicle whose manufacturer no longer is in business.
She wants people to look at her 1999 Isuzu Vehi-Cross, one of the older crossover, sports utility vehicles.
"The process for me has been to watch Lyle really learn about the car and how it works," she said.
"That's been a really neat thing, for me to watch him learn and figure out how to fix something."
As one example, Lori said, "I'd come home one day, and there would be a carburetor all taken apart on the kitchen table."
Rosburg and Wes Scott, a charter member of the Mid-Mo Old Car Club, said the club is for people who like cars and like talking about them and the work required to keep them going.
As for people who attend Saturday's show, Scott said, "Maybe I would want to teach you a little something about the history of old cars.
"And, maybe, I would like you to see what I've accomplished by getting this thing back on the road."
Rosburg has enjoyed the learning experience, especially as he and Bonnot worked together and Bonnot recalled steps he had to take while working on a similar, 1953 Chevrolet.
Rosburg and Scott agreed finding parts sometimes can be a headache.
"I'm working on a 1932 Auburn," Scott said, "and that's really hard to find parts for.
"I was talking to a guy (this week), who was claiming parts for a '60s model Chrysler were hard to come by."
And it's easier to find parts now - at least, after-market parts made for the older cars - than it was 20 and 30 years ago, they said.
"If you're working on a Ford or a Chevrolet, there are tons of after-market parts," Scott said. "But if you're working on something like an Auburn or a Franklin - you have to make a lot of things."
Rosburg said he had some problems with parts makers sending the wrong part.
"There would be a different pulley on it, instead of the one I had (and) then I would have to send it back to get the right part," he said. "It wasn't that frustrating, but it did delay our project" a little.
Scott also has driven a Model A Ford for 50 years.
"You can buy anything you want for a Model A Ford," he said, "and they're not expensive."
Saturday's car show has 17 different classes of vehicles that could draw entries, with registration from 8-11 a.m., and judging starting at 11:30 - rain or shine.
The show is free to the public.
"We've had it uptown," Scott said. "We've had it at the Capitol.
"(Old Munichberg) is really a pretty good place, because it gives the family something else to do - if they're tired of looking at old cars, they can go eat some German food or something like that."
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