 | Bob Crager of Lewis Street Glass is a 26 year veteran in the glass business. Lewis Street Glass is a leading Wichita Glass company, serving the entire Wichita/Sedgwick County area since 1919. They do anything and everything having to do with glass, both residential and commercial. They also do Auto glass. They are located at 743 South Market, facing Kellogg on the South, and you can reach them by phone at (316) 263-8259. You can email Bob Crager at bcrager@lewisstreetglass.com |
Glass
2012-01-26 14:12:19
Glass for antique & classic cars
A: As a matter of fact, it could. There is more than one definition of what constitutes a “classic” car or truck, and these definitions can vary from state to state. For example, the Classic Car Club of America defines classic cars as cars that were built between 1925 and 1948, and are “fine or unusual motor cars & trucks. These are very special vehicles which are distinguished by their fine design, high engineering standards, and superior workmanship.”
However, not every car produced during this time frame is considered to be truly a “classic.” Some people use the term “classic” and “antique” interchangeably when referring to older cars and/or trucks. Since 1975, the Antique Automobile Club of America considers cars that are 25-years old and older to be eligible for classification. So, even though the definitions can be very varied, if you want to get a point of reference, there are a number of “classic” car shows that are held in most major cities several times a year, where you’ll see one heck of a lot of genuine classic and antique cars. Some of the restorations are nothing short of phenomenal. You might have gone to the Starbird/Devlin Classic Car Show last month at Century ll, here in Wichita. What a show, and even though Daryl Starbird is not running the shows personally like he did for about the last 55-years or so, the shows still have all the flavor of his influence all over them! The next close show they’ll be doing will be in February in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Worth the drive if you missed the show in Wichita and love classic cars!
Getting back to your question…You might not have known this, but there is a well known glass shop in Wichita that has been specializing in glass for old antique and classic vehicles for well over 80 years now. In fact, it’s a glass shop where most of the other glass shops in the area take similar vehicles for replacement of their classic vehicle glass. Most of them don’t fabricate glass themselves to solve these problems. In automotive glass, especially auto glass for those speciality vehicles that have been around the block a time or two, the general consensus is that you are going to need someone working on your glass solution that has also been around the block a time or two. Not just having the correct glass pieces, but the installation that must be done by technicians with the expertise to do it perfectly. This workmanship is critical to the end result. It is a rare specialist that can accomplish this to the satisfaction of the most critical judges that might critique the final product in a classic car show.
But let’s visit just a minute about the fact that a lot of those old flat window/windshield pieces are really hard to find…and most glass shops just do not have the expertise and experience to take care of that. Curved glass windows, and almost any other type of antique automotive glass replacement is an area that not too many glass shops do anymore, as you know if you’ve spent any time at all searching for specialty glass. Difficult installations and restorations on classic cars require specialized know how, and that has been rapidly disappearing in recent years. If you have an antique or classic car, you know what I’m talking about.
If you are going to undertake a restoration on that ’36 Ford truck, you can’t afford to make any big mistakes in your project, so you want to take it where you know they have done this kind of work for many decades. The fabrication of specialty glass for the automotive needs of people with the older cars is something that must be done to a high degree of care.
The question of where to go to get the answers you need is pretty easy for us…as the question comes up for us a lot, and we just tell them to take that vehicle around to the side door of our shop and we’ll tell them what they’ll need, estimate the cost and how long it might take to get it done. After over 80 years of automotive glass work, specializing in classic and antique glass, the answers are automatic to us.
And the automotive glass business includes more modern cars and trucks too, as well as Motor Homes and recreational vehicles. Full service means full service, so if questions about speciality glass or any other kind of glass becomes the subject of your conversation, take those questions to the Glass Doctors, and get the right answers, right away. More next month…
