Antique & Classic Cars Blog

They say the more things change, the more they stay the same. I have no idea what they mean by that.

But a change all Minneapolis classics fans will note—and rue—is the closing of Yesterday’s Auto on Lyndale. No, it hasn’t gone bankrupt. Owner Al Hagen has simply decided to move on, leasing the building he owns to other business interests.

I got lucky dropping by today. Al was around when I pulled up to leave the characteristic side-of-pinky-and-palm and tip-of-nose print on the big glass gawkin’ windows one last time.

He invited me in and I listened as he talked about the biz, the cars, the future. How strange to see that showroom, crammed with classics for as long as I’ve lived in this wondrous wintry state, now mostly empty.

He showed me the top floor, which he has businesses I can’t mention tentatively lined up to occupy. Once it was filled with storage-clients’ cars. It’s a coooool space, big and old with huge windows looking out on Lyndale and the surrounding neighborhood. To the northeast, the skyline is visible 3 miles away. Al paid for those windows, double insulated and made to look old, and they’re staying, retaining views future tenants will enjoy.

We ventured to the basement too, long a storage area for local vehicles from mint classics to roll-cage equipped Carrera Panamericana race cars.

The Mustang below got rolled on a shorter race, the Chihuahua Express. Yes, it might make more sense to get another body shell than rebuild a rolled one (though ‘66 coupes are hard to come by), but this car has sentimental value. Besides, anything’s fixable and the memories are more important to the owner than the money.

Only a few cars remain in a space that once held close to 100 on all three floors. Among them is this curious Corvette, a reproduction of a Greenwood IMSA racer, with genuine panels. Not my style–more David Hasselhoff’s, I’d say–but you can bet this thing sticks to the ground like a warm wad of gum.

Also on hand are a couple of Hagen’s own cars, including a Nash Metropolitan he bought for his wife, and the ‘62 Vette he’s owned since he was 20 years old.

There’s a bit of the vintage automobilia that jazzed up the shop still on hand too. I loved these three radios, two by Crosley–yeah, that Crosley, and the third a bakelite Montgomery Wards set with FM band from the late ’40s. One of the Crosleys is an old clock radio with a curious feature–a clock-controlled outlet you could plug your coffee maker into to kick on the old java machine at the early hour of your choosing.

Lot of great car memories still hang in the air, if not on the walls. Funny thing is, now that he’s getting out of the car business, Al finally has time to enjoy cars. He’s going to redo that Metropolitan, as well as his Vette. And he’s hoping to have a little fun on the Carrera Panamericana himself.

Best of luck to you, Al, and thanks for supporting the classic car hobby for so many great years.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 at 6:49 pm and is filed under Car stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.