Last Saturday, I attended the Hamburg Family Fun Fest Car Show. I signed up a few months ago, but all three of my vintage Datsuns were temporarily out of commission. Not wanting to miss the show, I pulled the 2005 MR2 Spyder (Bugs) out of storage, wiped the dust off the dash, and drove topless to the festival. Bugs is a blast to drive, but just doesn’t have the character of a vintage car. It looks great, but won’t win a prize at a car show, at least not for another 20 years.
The Fun Fest always brings out a wide variety of cars and most of the attendees are local. There are off roaders, rat rods, muscle cars, trucks, imports, vans, and sometimes a tractor. I find it more interesting to check out the cars and talk to owners than to sit next to my ride and wait for people to walk by.
Scouting about, I came upon a family camped out next to a beautiful, well preserved, 1930 Chevrolet sedan. In this photo are three generations of the family prepping the car after arriving on site. Ole, the owner, his son Eric, and grandson Eli are putting some elbow grease into that shine!
Olberg (Ole) Hagen, Jr. was happy to show me the car and describe how its been maintained by members of his family. The only thing handed down from my family are two silver dollars from Grandma. To be fair, she never owned a car in her life! So, its easy to see how this car has become part of the Hagen family history.
In 1930, Ole’s grandfather Carl purchased the maroon and black Chevrolet 4-door Special Sedan from a local dealer in Decorah, Iowa. It has a six-cylinder engine with 26.3 horsepower. It was the family car until Carl passed away and his daughter, Christine Hagen, inherited the car. She only drove the car “to the store on Wednesdays and to church on Sundays.”
In 1956, Ole received a letter from Aunt Christine asking him if he would like to have the car. He jumped at the chance, however, he had to wait until high school summer break to pick it up. And, his father insisted he pay for the car rather than accept it as a gift. So, when school let out, he traveled from Detroit to Iowa with his sister Carol and younger brother Earl. They drove Carol’s 1954 Chevrolet 210 to Iowa without any incidents.
Before leaving town, he bought two new tires and tubes, just in case there were any problems driving the Chevy back from Iowa.
They found the car sitting on blocks for winter storage. It was in fine shape and had only 47,000 miles on the odometer. Ole’s aunt took him out for a ride to teach him how to drive the car, and the next day he was on his own.
A few days later, Ole, Carol and Earl headed back to Michigan in his new car. They had two flat tires and quite an adventure traveling on the two-lane highways. There were no freeways at that time, but they were able to avoid dirt roads all the way home. A stranger in Iowa even offered $600 to buy the Chevy but there was no way Ole would sell his new car!
They drove up through Wisconsin and then took the Ann Arbor Car Ferry to Frankfurt, Michigan, stopping at Higgins Lake, before arriving back home. Ole drove the Chevy throughout his senior year of high school, where both the car and Ole were quite popular. One of his friends drew a cartoon of Ole and the car for their church newsletter.
In October of 1957, Ole enlisted in the Navy. The car was stored in his father’s garage and was rarely driven until 1972, when Ole and Marie, now married, moved to a new home in northwest Detroit. Their first car show was a trip to Greenfield Village where it was suggested they join a car club to get better access to restoration resources. This led them to VCCA (Vintage Chevrolet Club of America). Ole performed a body-off restoration on the car, which was completed in 1976.
Some families have pets that become part of the family, but for the Hagens, the car has become part of the family. It was very cool to see three generations of their family enjoying the afternoon with their “pet” car at the festival.
One of their most treasured memories in the car was a return trip back to Iowa to see Aunt Christine. In 1980, Ole and Marie drove the Chevy back to Iowa with their son Eric, age 9, and daughter Lisa, age 5. At that point the car was only 50 years old.
Today, the car has about 74,000 miles on it. It has the original engine and interior. Ole, who worked in the Ford engineering department, still enjoys tinkering with the car to keep it road worthy. Their one wish? A a heater! Early spring and fall cruises in Michigan can be cold.
Ole and Marie certainly expect the car to stay in the family, and Eric and Lisa are on-board with that as well. It’s one of only a few remaining original 1930 Chevrolet Special Sedans in Michigan, and possibly anywhere.
I’m sure there’s a way to figure out what this car is worth, but to the Hagen family, its value is priceless. And I agree. How often will you see a car like this outside of a museum? Being driven by the owners? How about hardly ever!
The Fun Fest Car Show had trophies for winners in multiple categories. I predicted the 1930 Chevy would win the pre-1950 Original category. What car can compete with it? And sure enough, it did win, and one of the grandchildren ran to collect the trophy. It truly is a family affair!
Ole and Marie are Lifetime members of the VCCA and Brighton’s VMCCA chapter. They’re strong supporters and participate in VMCCA club activities, including GLR tours. The history of their beloved Chevy was originally published in the VMCCA Great Lakes Newsletter in May, 2024, and served as a reference for this blog.