Rods in Progress Abound Around Albany
By David Marin
The wonderful thing about publishing a magazine like CruZin’ is the folks you meet along the way. Being a gearhead since forever, going to rod runs and car shows has always been a personal choice for entertainment. You view the cars, you meet the folks, and, most everyone has a common bond… the love of old iron. The icing on the cake is that every once in awhile you meet an individual (or couple) that becomes more than an acquaintance, more than a face at a rod run, a true friend. Such is the case with Bob Symons.

We first crossed paths with Bob, predictably enough, as we eyeballed his gorgeous 1956 Pontiac Safari Wagon, powered by ground pounding NASCAR mill (one of 200 such engines built by Pontiac specifically for NASCAR and drag racing). An award -winning car at virtually every show Bob attended, yet a car that was driven and enjoyed.

In any event, after talking cars and hearing how many shows (25-30 each season) Bob attended, we armed him with a CruZin’ Photo Note Sheet and sent him forth as a CruZin’ Correspondent, a fancy title which basically translates to “Volunteer. That was a dozen (give or take a year) years ago. During that time, “Photos & Story by Bob Symons” has appeared with dozens of “Featured Events” throughout the Northwest.

Yes, what we have here is a genuine, dyed-in-the-wool gearhead. Born in San Mateo, California, Bob’s was a military family. Earl, his dad was in the Navy so during his early years Bob, his Mom and two siblings were stationed all over the country. The family eventually landed in Brownsville, Oregon where Bob attended and graduated from Central Linn High School.

But let’s back up a bit. Bob is 12 years old, sitting on a rooftop helping his Dad do some repairs.

“Dad pointed out a 1964 Plymouth Barracuda that was passing by and started just talking about cars,” Bob recalls. “I was hooked right then and there and a week later Dad and I took my savings of about $65 in change and bought my first car, actually a 1952 Dodge Pickup.”

A few years later Bob’s high school driver was a ’56 Pontiac Safari Wagon, which, after high school, was repowered with a tri-powered 389 cubic inch, 4-speed out of a 1966 GTO.

Bob attended and graduated from the University of Oregon, supplementing his college (and automotive) expenses by turning wrenches at a truck shop in Albany.

“After graduating from high school I went to work in city government and went right out and bought a brand new 1976 Trans Am Special Edition,” he continues. “I’d owned lots of other cars, Corvettes to pickups, but that was my first new car and it’s a car I still have today.”

From city government Bob moved on to self-employment as a dealer in new and used cars and, owner of Best Bet Auto Rental. A decade later he went into law enforcement and in 2000 he went into the insurance business.

“The idea just came to me, combining my hobby and business would give me the best of both worlds,” he says. “I go to car shows and rod runs, meet all sorts of great people and if they like, I’m happy to be able to help them sort out their insurance needs.”

So Bob Symons goes to car shows, cruising his ’76 Trans Am or the ’70-1/2 Camaro RS396 that he co-owns with Greg Roach, or maybe even his 400-horse, 4-speed 2006 GTO. He takes care of business, and does a fine job of gathering coverage for CruZin’. Additionally, as a pet project, Bob and his cohort Greg Roach produce the Salem Roadster Show, an indoor event for which Bob and Greg handpick over 100 of the coolest rides you’ll find anywhere.

“We feel that the show is a way of giving back to the hobby,” he says. “The future of this hobby is really in the hands of the youth. We invite youngsters under 18 to be our guests and check out the gearhead scene free of charge.”

Other than the Salem Roadster Show, Bob lists his favorite shows as the Flashback Cruz at Bend, the Sunshine Cruise in Oregon City, Cool April Nights in Redding, California, and the GTO Club’s Tiger Run at Bend.

Obviously, when it came to putting together a Rods in Progress feature around the Albany area, Bob was our “go-to-guy” for Tour Guide duty… thus we have Albany Wheel & Exhaust, Inc., /B&B Speed Shop as our first stop.

There’s something of a storied history to Albany Wheel & Exhaust, but we’ll suffice to say that the evolution as been from general repairs and tune-up work to a comprehensive street rod, hot rod, race car shop where most anything that can be done, will be done.

Head honcho Mike Brenneman is on hand to greet us and give us a shop tour. Mike grew up in the business; his dad Mel ran a gas station in downtown where Mike learned fundamentals. After graduating from high school in 1973, he went to work for Phil and Ray Zerr where he turned wrenches and did most everything else before purchasing the business in 1988.

Now Mike and his sons Adam and Justin, do most everything you can imagine hot-rod-wise.

“Both boys are part of the business, both do a lot of the fabrication work,” Mike says. “Adam is the paint and body guy and Justin specializes in high performance engines, all blueprinted and custom built.”

Meanwhile, Mike specializes in headers, doing all the exhaust work, much of it quite exotic, for the machines they build. At any given time there are four projects underway with several waiting.

“We do everything except interiors,” Mike says. “I don’t have a sewing machine or we’d probably do upholstery too.”

The first of the B&B Speed Shop projects we’re looking at is 1967 Plymouth Barracuda, a bare metal, in progress, pro street car that underscores the superb craftsmanship customers find at B&B; impressive fabrication, sheet metal work, welding and fitment. The ’Cuda, owned by Roger and Connie Wikel of Albany, sports a 540 cubic inch, F2 Pro Charger powered wedge engine backed by a Justin Brenneman custom built (race ready) 727 transmission. The stock to ground pounder transformation is just about ready for black paint with subtle gold trim inside and out, then, perhaps, a blast through the traps at Woodburn Dragstrip.

“Mark Privratsky at Marx Hot Rods will be doing the body work and paint,” says Roger. “Mark does fantastic work, he did the paint work on my ’70 Roadrunner and he’s an artist.”

Next we’re eyeballing an extreme 1963 Ford Falcon, a straight-axle-gasser-style ride powered by a blown Mopar 440 cubic inch mill backed by a B&B Speed Shop built 727 that sends the horses to a Dana 60 rear end.

“We’re building the Falcon for Ron Bursell,” says Mike Brenneman. “We’re done with the mock up so we’ll be disassembling the car, painting it and putting it back together.”

We’re running behind schedule (as usual), but have to take a few minutes to check out a couple B&B Speed Shop vehicles… their shop truck for one, a 1940 Plymouth, and, a 1940 Dodge “tail dragger” pickup that’s powered by a turbocharged flathead six-banger.

Tour guide Bob Symons hustles us into his Caddy and we cruise to our next stop, the home of Dick and Janet Duerksen in nearby Jefferson.

Dick was born in Canyonville, Oregon and raised in a Boise Cascade lumber camp in Valsetz, Oregon where he lived till his junior year in high school. His family then moved to Salem where Dick attended and graduated in 1967 from North Salem High School. Dick’s history with cool rides began with his senior year high school driver, a 1957 Chev Bel Air hardtop with a 327 and 4-speed out of a ’60 Chev. The ’57 lasted a few years, and then became a ’66 Corvette. Numerous other collectable cars followed, most notably a 1957 Chev Nomad station wagon.

“I found the Nomad through word of mouth and bought it for $9,500,” Dick says. “It needed everything and that’s what it got.

The gorgeous wagon features a ’93 Corvette LT-1 engine with all the goodies, 9-inch Ford power disc brakes all around and power everything.

The cool car scene is constantly changing around the Duerksen shop. When we made our visit Dick showed us his ’67 Corvette, a ’57 Corvette, a red ’69 Camaro RS/SS and his “frontline project”, a silver 1969 Motion Camaro, a genuine L88 car that is “kind of” his dream car. Now, a couple of months later, the red Camaro and the ’57 Corvette are gone, traded for 19.3 acres of land.

If, after reading the preceding, you’ve come to the conclusion that Dick Duerksen is something of a “wheeler-dealer”, you’ve come to the correct conclusion. He doesn’t go to many car shows, but does go to the Barrett-Jackson auction and the Salem Roadster Show, and though he and Janet stay plenty busy running their very popular Burger Basket restaurant, he’s always on the lookout for a cool addition to his automotive collection.

Back in Bob Symons’ Caddy, we tool to a meeting with Dale Hillyer, owner of Hillyer’s Tire & Wheel Center in Salem, and, a die-hard gearhead.

Dale bought his first car, a 1955 Chev Bel Air hardtop, when he was 15 years old and he recalls, “I bought the car from my older brother. I repowered the car with a 283 engine that I fitted with a dual quad set up off of a Corvette.”

The ’55 became Dale’s driver through 1967 when he graduated from North Salem High School in 1967 when he moved on to a 1966 Nova, a L79 (327 cubic inch/350 horse) four speed powered ride that put Dale on the road to a string of classy iron.

“I had a 1957 Nomad, a ’55 Chev Delray, and a ’55 Chev D/Gas car and a 1967 Chevy Concours wagon,” he continues. “I’ve had numerous cars since then and have always had something in the works. My current project is restoring the 1967 Chevy Concours wagon that we bought in 1968.”

Dale’s wagon is going together just as it was years ago; a rare factory 327/4-speed wagon that will wear maroon paint and a black interior.

“I found the wagon on a used car lot in Salem and it had just 12,000 miles on it” he says. “I knew the car had a racing history because there were a handful of Woodburn Drag Strip time slips in the glove box.

Another car that Dale and his wife Karen enjoy cruising is a clone of the 1966 L79/4-speed Nova that he had back in high school, and, there’s also a 1957 Corvette that’s in the shop awaiting attention.

Dale and Karen go to “quite a few” shows and especially enjoy both the Portland and Salem Roadster shows.

Well, we’ve managed to burn up most of the day checking out cool rides and visiting with equally cool gearheads. We’ve got another name… Ashcroft… on our list, but that’s a story for another issue. After a leisurely meal with tour guide Bob Symons, we extend him a sincere thank-you and we’re down the road.