CARS

From Page 10

He said at just about every car show he meets someone who connects with a car they used to have or wished to have.

“I’ve got a 1978 Corvette Pace Car that’s as close to the original as possible,” he said. “I took it out recently and a guy pulled up and asked to take a picture. He said he remembered seeing that car on a dealership floor as a kid and loving it.”

Hagaard said Run to the Rapids is also a great place to learn more about cars.

“The best part of having cars for me is sharing them with other people,” he said. “If a young kid comes by and looks at my car, I will tell him to not touch it, but I will let him sit inside to take his picture and that makes him so happy.”

For the love of cars

Haggard’s interest in cars started when he was a boy.

“When I was a kid, my dad and my uncle were hot rodders and drag racers down in the Cities,” he said. “My dad used to buy cars and fix them up to sell them. I think he did it because he needed the money to feed his kids.”

When he was growing up, Haggard learned about caring for cars from the neighbor across the street.

“His name was Rod Thompson and he took such great care of his cars,” he said. “He taught me how to wash and detail them. So I caught the car bug at an early age. When I got my license I bought cars, street raced them, fixed them and made them faster. Then I’d sell them. I’d always go for some type of performance model. Then I started drag racing at Brainerd for fun to see what kind of performance I could get out of them. I like cars that are fast in a straight line but can also handle corners.

Haggard says his rule is to only buy cars he likes. “That way, if I can’t sell it down the road, I can still enjoy it,” he said.

One of his best purchases is a oneowner 1976 Firebird Formula 4-speed

▶ Dave Haggard said one of his best purchases was this original 1976 Firebird Formula. It will be featured in an upcoming issue of “Hemmings Muscle Machines.”

▼ Haggard’s passion is collecting fast cars in great condition. This 1978 Corvette Pace Car is as close to the original as possible.

(Photos contributed by Dave Haggard) that was original from front to back.

“A magazine called ‘Hemmings Muscle Machines’ heard I had that car and said it was absolutely the nicest 1976 Firebird they had ever seen,” he said.

They came to do a photo shoot of the Firebird and another car that will be published in the next year or so.

“As a young kid I used to read magazines about cars and look for those that were from places I knew like Duluth or Fargo,” he said. “Now one of my cars is going to be in a magazine.”

He said restoring cars using original parts can be expensive. For example, the Corvette headlight with the right date code cost $65.

“I bought an assembly manual that had every single number of every part in that car,” he said.

These days, his focus is on collecting survivor cars he finds at auctions or online.

“A survivor car is a car that hasn’t had any work done to it,” he said. “I don’t do as many restorations any more,” he said.

“A friend of mine who lives over by Huntersville totally dismantles a car, refreshes it from front to back and puts it all together again.

Car collecting can be an expensive hobby.

“Most of the cars I buy are in the $25,000 to $40,000 range,” he said. “A friend of mine just sold a Trans Am at one of the auctions for over $100,000.

Haggard keeps his cars in the garage with covers on them.

“I take them out and drive them in fair weather,” he said. “If you get caught in the rain it takes hours to go through and detail that car to make it nice again.”

Thrilling chases and making friends

Haggard said he has had a lot of fun finding and buying cars for 35 years.

“You find a car and then you’ve got to pursue the car and find out if it’s in the condition you want it to be in,” he said. “If it is, then you start negotiating with the owner. If you’re lucky enough to make the deal, you have to figure out how to get the car and bring it home, whether that means flying somewhere and driving it home cross country or bringing it home in a trailer. That’s called the chase, and the chase can be as much fun as the ownership of the car.”

Haggard’s pursuit of cars has also led to lasting friendships. One of those is from Duluth.

“Back in 1991 Mark had a car for sale,” he said. “I saw it in a newspaper and drove to look at his car. We didn’t make a deal, but I told him about the Z28 Camaro I was getting. He said he wanted me to come back and show it to him, so I did. He and I became friends that day. Since then we’ve bought and sold a number of cars together and went on car search trips. Mark was at my wedding and he was there when both of my daughters were born. I have other friends I’ve met through car deals, car shows or car auctions. The people you meet at car club events can create a lifelong bond.”

Road trip memories

Haggard said one of his most memorable car adventures took place when he flew to pick up a car in Phoenix in 2009.

“My youngest daughter, Jamie, who was 16 at the time, flew with me,” he said. “We picked up the Corvette and drove it home. She said to me the other day that trip was the funnest thing she ever did in her life. What could be more American than driving a Corvette across the country. We drove part of Route 66. We stopped to take pictures along the way. She likes the collecting part and working with me on detailing cars.”

Going through the Badlands, they got caught in a snowstorm.

“Corvettes aren’t the greatest car to drive in the snow,” he said. “We were on a bad road and I had to keep my eyes on the road the whole time so I didn’t go off a cliff. I wasn’t expecting that kind of weather in April.”

His older daughter, Cassidy, also developed an interest in cars. “She drag raced one of my cars and won an event at Brainerd more than 10 years ago,” he said.

Lorie Skarpness can be reached at lskarpness@parkrapidsenterprise.com