Local Chevy dealership sparks love of Woodie wagons
In grade school, young Biff Behr was always busy. Besides learning the usual reading and arithmetic, even at that early age he was studying up on how to work with his hands. That practical education was happening at his dad's dealership, Behr Chevrolet in Warrenville.
Frank Behr opened the dealership in 1922 and ran it through 1976. Over the years, Frank sold many a motoring machine wearing the bow tie emblem. As a young pupil, Biff spent his after-school free time back in the repair bays.
“I'd wipe down and clean tools and then put them away,” Biff says. “Dad paid me $1.25 an hour for my work.”
As Biff got older, he became more confident to put those mechanical skills to the test. Six months before he got his license in 1965, he traded up from the bicycle he'd been riding to purchase a worn and weathered 1948 Chevy Woodie wagon. He found it in Berwyn.
The following summer the industrious lad set to work overhauling his new purchase. “With dad's help, I tore the car down to the frame and fully restored it,” Biff recalls, adding it helped to have access to the dealership's space and technical assistance.
Once the Chevy was roadworthy, he drove the wagon the rest of his years attending Wheaton Central High School. Drive time, though, wasn't all between home and school; Biff hit the sand, too.
“I'd fill up the three rows of seats with pals, cruising down to the Michigan Dunes,” Biff says. “We'd goof off for the whole day and then come back late.”
In college, Biff opted to change the car's color, painting beige over the blue he was used to. There wasn't plans to part with it but in 1971, Biff sold his Fleetmaster. “Someone wanted it more than me and offered me a good price.”
Decades went by when Biff, full of sappy motoring memories from days gone by, couldn't help but pine for another wooden wagon. He and his wife Lynne came across another 1948 Fleetmaster in 2007 at an auction in Indiana. Despite their best efforts, they lost out.
The couple kept up their search and when the same Fleetmaster came up for sale again in 2010, they were ready and closed the deal. “It's such a fun car to play with,” said Biff, who loves logging miles behind the wheel of the rough ride.
Both of his Fleetmasters have been “back to basic” models focused on hauling - lacking speed and creature comforts such as power steering or even a stereo. “I keep wondering how I, as young kid, put up with that first one so long.”
Biff and Lynn displayed their Chevy at Wednesday's Daily Herald Cruise Night at Stratford Square Mall in Bloomingdale. After hearing his tale, I awarded it the Matt Avery's Pick trophy.
If you have a vehicle connected to special memories, come join us for season finale on Sept. 19 at Stratford Square.
Matt Avery's first book, “COPO Camaro, Chevelle & Nova: Chevrolet's Ultimate Muscle Cars,” can now be preordered at Amazon.com. Contact him at auto@dailyherald.com.