John Simonson was never one of those guys who needed a lot of old cars to be happy. One collector car at a time was enough — hopefully with each one being a little nicer and maybe a little more valuable than the previous one.
“I’d have one, give it a few years, then sell it, trying to work my way up and maybe have a more high-dollar car some day,” says Simonson, a resident of Marshfield, Wis.
That long-range goal of eventually graduating up to a big ticket machine might have stalled a bit recently, however. After Simonson got his hands on his beautifully restored 1969 Buick GS400, he’s not sure he’ll ever need or want anything else. The car is gorgeous, runs like a champ, is in near-perfect condition and — perhaps best of all for Simonson — it’s a Buick, which is near and dear to his heart.
At work and at play, Simonson is a die-hard Buick fan. He works as a service manager at Gross Buick in Marshfield, and he’s owned plenty of examples of his favorite brand over the years.
“My dad drove Studebakers, then later he went to Buicks, and when he did that, I gravitated to Buicks, too,” Simonson said. “He got me started in the collector car game. I’m 50 years old, and I got my first collector car when I was 23.
“My motto in life has always kind of been, ‘dare to be different.’ You see so many Chevelles and Camaros and GTOs. You don’t see as many Buicks, and that’s one of the reasons I like them… I like to drive ‘em and promote the old car hobby and Buick in general. People have kind of gotten to know me around here as Mr. Buick.”
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The one I'd love to still have today is the 67 GS400 4 speed car. That was a special car.