Home improvement projects (do they ever end?) drew us down to a section of Tigard that is strewn with a business mix leaning heavily towards the building and trades industries. We were visiting a wholesale carpet and flooring place with the idea of replacing some worn carpeting. On the way out, past the structural and bridge steel fabrication factory but before the big hardware store, sits a 4000 square foot metal clad building that is the home of Bridgeport Classic Cars. Owned by a partnership of four guys, John Van Goor gave me the rundown on their year-old business.
Since his three partners are semi-retired, John is the guy who runs the showroom. Formerly a chef at Portland’s Grolla
restaurant, John moved to Oregon about 8 years ago from Tennessee. Like the other three, he is a car guy at heart. It
apparently runs in the blood; his father is in the restoration business back home.
Bridgeport Classic Cars usually runs about 15-20 cars in their inventory. They buy about 70% of their stock from different sources (individuals, wholesale, print ads, internet) and the other 30% is consignment. Their website shows some of the highlights of the current rotation including a 1957 Chevy and a Thunderbird of the same vintage. While John finished his lunch and was talking to some friends, I strolled around and looked at some of the other offerings. A deep blue 1967 Camaro was available for just under $18K. Although the paint was spectacular, the car was missing some badges and the Turbo shift kit looks a little crude in the cockpit. The 350 cubic inch motor has less than 1000 miles. No doubt about it though, the car is an eye catcher. Diana is due to get her “built” Camaro in time for the Historics. It will be interesting to see the contrast.
Against the back wall was a fine looking ’53 Ford F250 ¾ ton step side. This is a resto-rod custom. It has nice pin-striping and a finished wood bed. The motor is a 500 HP 460 cubic inch monster breathing though dual quad Holley carbs. Nifty ride.
Other cars range from the mundane (65 Belvedere, 61 Bel Air) to the more flashy (68 Impala SS convertible, 41 Chevy Deluxe Coupe street rod). John says that all the partners are “shade tree” mechanics and they typically do minor motor or body work on the cars and then “fluff and buff” to get them ready for sale. The shop moves 1-2 cars a week, sometimes more during the summer. I asked him which the best car he thought they sold was and he replied that they had a 1964 GTO (white over white with a white interior) with factory tri-power that went for $50K. Nice. Their shop tends to have more of a “rod” influence than the other stores in town such as Memory Lane or The Chevy Store. They will sell non-classics too; their site features a Dodge Ram pick-up right now, but they prefer muscle and collector cars.
In the nice weather John has his pick of the inventory to use as daily drivers. The rest of the time he commutes in his Forrester. His own list of cars owned includes a 1959 TR-3A, a 911, and a herd of Mustangs. I asked what he would drive if money were no object. His choices included a Bugatti Veyron and a Porsche 959. Oh yeah, and a place up in Canada where the cars would be legal to drive. He also has a passion for micro cars. I don’t mean the current batch of Smart cars (Benz) but micro’s like the Subaru microbus from 1969-70 with a ring-ding two stroke motor. That would be on the top of his current “to find and buy” list.
I wanted to know where he thought he’d be in five years. His answer was straightforward; right in the same location and doing lots of business. This brings us full circle to the Tigard business demography again. I could not help but wonder how it was the partners decided on this particular location, in the midst of such a collection of unrelated businesses. He said that the corner that they were located on, SW 72nd and Bonita, saw 35 thousand cars per day (although admitting that might be a tad inflated by the Chamber of Commerce). Nonetheless, there is no denying that this particular part of Washington County, only a mile from the wildly popular Bridgeport Mall, is a hot commercial property. He hinted that Target may be locating a store close by. As car people, we can only hope that they are successful beyond their wildest dreams. In any case, it is always nice to find a place to look at cool cars, especially if all you came for was carpeting.
