By John Gunnell
One of my favorite swap meets for old-car parts is the one put on by members of the Fondy Auto Club in the middle of March. It is not a super-large show, but it starts the year off for old-car hobbyists in Central Wisconsin. However, the main thing I associate with this event is that it usually happens on the first sunny, warm weekend of the year.
When I was traveling a lot to go to car shows for Old Cars Weekly, this swap meet always seemed to take place on the Sunday that I was returning from some other event. In fact, sometimes I went to one show on Friday, another on Saturday and caught the Fondy Auto Club Swap Meet on the way home. Usually, it was the best event of all.
Another thing I always associated with this swap meet was the lavender-colored late-1940s Hudson that was usually parked right in front of the expo building at the Fond du Lac County Fairgrounds, where the swap meet takes place. I always liked those cars and to see one in a light purple color when spring was just starting was uplifting. (Often, there was still snow on the ground, but you just knew that flowers would be growing soon).
Being an indoor swap meet, the swap meet offered mostly smaller items such as magazines, mechanical car parts and old magazines. One vendor always showed up with high-quality car memorabilia (some folks call it “automobilia”) such as antique radiator badges for Buicks and Durants, brass hubcaps for a Paige and dishes and cups that oil companies gave, years ago, away in their product promotions.
Once in a while, “big stuff” would show up at the Fondy Swap Meet, such as a complete car dealer service department décor kit that looked like it was from the Art Deco era with metal walls, chrome strips, red stripes and other “gas station goodies.”
Fondy also seems to draw some talented restorers like Mike Freund, of Classics Plus, Ltd. in North Fond du Lac, who makes old steering wheels look like jewels and Mark Seidler of New London-based Phoenix Machine LLC, who sculpts out gorgeous dashboard panels for hot rods and other unique parts.
This year’s Fondy Auto Club Swap Meet is March 20. Check the car show listings for further details and the folks to contact for additional information. Vendors can set up on Saturday 11 am to 4 pm, but the meet itself is Sunday only from 8 am to 2 pm.
