Photos courtesy Klein Realty and Auction.
Blame a 1965 Chevrolet for Terry Hodgen’s fascination with the Buick Riviera.
“As the story goes, he bought that Chevrolet new, and the transmission went after just a day, so he took it back and bought his first Riv,” Terry’s son, Mike, explained.
Over the next 50 years, that one sport luxury coupe led Hodgen to amass dozens more, along with plenty of parts and assorted Buick parts cars, and this weekend that collection will scatter to the four winds as Hodgen’s family auctions them all off.
A farm boy by birth, Hodgen moved to the town of Granville, Iowa, in his late 20s and found a former Buick service building from the Twenties to start an automotive repair shop in. A hot rodder by avocation, he had a strong do-it-yourself drive and thirst for speed, so as he spent more time with that first Riviera – driving it as far as Mexico and back on one occasion – he started to collect parts and parts cars to keep the Riviera in service.
Over the years, Mike said, his father began to gain a reputation as a Riviera parts specialist thanks to his growing collection of parts cars. “He liked to start a lot of projects, but finishing them he was not so great at.”
Nevertheless, he did restore a number of cars, both for himself and for customers, and in the last five to 10 years began to inventory his parts and winnow down the number of cars occupying his yard. Those projects came to a halt last August, however, when Hodgen died in a single-car crash.
Initially, the family was just going to auction off the tools and equipment in Hodgen’s garage and keep the Buicks separate for the time being, Mike said. “But after talking to a lot of people on the Buick forums, we came up with a game plan to sell off pretty much everything. I have no need for all this stuff, and I couldn’t in good conscience scrap all this stuff.”
That means around two dozen Rivieras in varying states of completion will go on the block, along with another dozen or so Buicks. Most of the collection dates to the Sixties, all of it pre-boattail. Among the cars, according to Mike, will be three running examples: an original 1969 Riviera GS, a 1965 Riviera, and a 1972 Skylark. Mike said the vast collection of NOS and used parts will likely warrant a separate auction down the road.
And Mike will keep for himself a handful of cars, including a restored 1970 Electra 225 and a 1956 Super that both he and his father admired.
The auction will take place Saturday at Terry’s shop in Granville. For more information, visit KleinRealEstate-Auction.com.
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