Narrative: Cars, trucks,
for over a century, man has used the automobile
not only as a means of conveyance,
but as a reflection of personal style.
At Bennett Classics Museum,
they display their collection of cars and trucks,
as the works of art that they are.
You'll see everything from a Jack Roush Mustang,
that he personally owned himself,
to a 1917 Rio truck
that was at the bottom of a Lake for over 45 years.
[Old fashioned music plays on a Victrola]
Christie: Hey, Carl. How are you?
Hey, how are you? You must be Christie.
I'm Christie.
Oh, this is great.
I've heard so much about this place,
Can you give me a little bit of the history?
Christie: Well, Bennett Classic
started around seven years ago,
the owners are brothers,
Buddy and Joe Bennett.
They are from Burnsville, North Carolina.
So in the late sixties, they moved here
to Forest City,
They both started businesses
and they started collecting cars on the side.
So they would get something here and there,
put them up, forget about them,
and they just kept doing that.
Carl: Now this building here, what is this?
Christie: Well the house here was built in the 1890s
by a doctor in the Concord community,
about five minutes from here.
They tore this house down
and they built it up in here.
This is the house.
Carl: So, this, what I just walked through,
this is actually this house, reconstructed here?
Christie: Yes.
Wow.
Christie: They took all the wood, the windows,
the doors, the rooftop.
Took the staircase out of it,
put it in one of the offices.
Carl: So it's a part of history.
Yes.
Carl: Not just the cars.
Christie: Right.
Carl: But there are a lot of cars in there.
How many cars are in here altogether, Christie?
Christie: We keep around 70 in here most of the time.
Carl: So when you say most of the time,
then they rotate out?
Christie: They do.
They will sell something, buy something else,
bring it in,
and just kind of keep it changed up all the time.
So you never know what's going to be in here,
so that means you got to come back.
Okay, great!
Carl: Wow, a 1913 Model T Roadster.
Christie, is this original?
It is.
Is that the case with a lot of the cars here?
It is, a lot of them are un-restored originals
with very little mileage.
So that makes it a little bit of a better experience.
They got low mileage
and they look as good as this,
to be un-restored, that's an amazing looking car.
Well, this certainly is a car that looks familiar
And we call it the Barney Car,
and everybody loves it, of course.
Carl: Was it actually driven in the show?
Christie: We're not quite sure on that.
We don't have any documentation,
but we were told that it was.
Carl: Okay, alright. They say it was.
Narrative: The wide variety of cars on-hand
at Bennett Classics is really impressive,
but they're no slouches when it comes to trucks, either.
Awfully good to meet you.
Nice to meet you.
You're the truck man?
I'm the truck man, yes.
Is there a little bit of this
that takes you back to your childhood?
Very much. That's where it started.
Yeah?
How did it start?
We got us an [Old A] model or two
when we were boys, eight, ten, years old.
We messed with it around on the farm.
We enjoyed that and from that,
we got another one.
When you go to a big effort
to make sure you get things restored--
Exactly right. I do, very much.
This is a 1962 H model Mack.
They came to be in about in the late fifties.
Mack Trucks engineered that this truck could have a sleeper on it
Carl: So it made it a whole lot easier for a driver?
Buddy: Well, right.
They could get back there.
It's a very small sleeper.
They'd run double a whole lot in that time,
[indiscernible]
I guess one of the things that I'm seeing here
once again, is the examples,
the cars that are here.
Just in really good shape.
Christie: Yes.
Carl: So people are able to get a feel for some of our very early cars
and some of our classic cars.
Christie: Yes.
Carl: What are the ages it has to be for classic to vintage?
Do you know those ages?
I think it has to be 25 years or older.
Narrative: Buddy certainly knows his trucks,
but his brother, Joe, is just as knowledgeable
when it comes to the cars in their collection.
I was talking with your brother.
He was telling me that
he's the he's the truck guy and you love the cars.
He said he likes them too,
but he said you really like them.
Well, I do.
I started fooling with Model H
when I was eight or nine years old.
I got my first car,
which was a wrecked '47 Plymouth
when I was 12 years old.
Carl: Wow, so you got a history with cars.
Yup.
This was a car that was in the movie "Leatherhead."
Carl: So this taxi?
Joe: Yes.
We found it just the way it is
and we're going to leave it that way.
Carl: So, where'd you find this taxi at?
Here in the County.
Carl: Oh, really?
Yea, it was underneath the shed.
Wow.
I don't know how it got there--
But you found it.
I found it. [Laughter]
Christie: This is the Jack Roush Mustang.
It's on loan here from here from [indiscernible]
and it was one of his personal vehicles.
And it was really signed by Jack Roush.
Carl: His signature on a car means a lot, doesn't it?
Christie: It does, yes.
Everybody wants to see that signature.
It's not just a car,
but it's a history story.
Every car is. I've come to realize that.
What have you got over here?
Christie: The 1917 Rio truck
was found in the bottom of Lake Lure,
Mr. Ledbetter, he was an apple farmer.
And he hauled apples back and forth to Hendersonville.
Back then, Lake Lure was known as Buffalo, North Carolina.
One night they were coming back, the lights went out,
and they [indiscernible].
When he came back to get the truck
it had been raining for couple of days
and kind of flooded itself
and that's how it ended up under the lake.
And it stayed under there for 45 years.
Carl: Wow.
Christie: Yes. He had five sons
and they decided that they were going to get it out.
Buddy: They pulled it up with a man-made thing
with barrels and stuff.
They got it up and they restored the truck.
That's the original motor that was in it
and the whole thing,
take it around the [indiscernible]
Oh, so it still runs?
It runs.
Carl: You'd think it would have deteriorated completely
but it didn't.
It's not salt water. It came out real good.
Well that certainly is one of the more interesting pieces.
Yeah, and the one with Elvis.
Carl: Yeah, right, great.
That's what you did as boys,
and now you get to do it
and share it with a lot of people.
That's right. That's the main thing.
It's what we built this thing for.
We love it. People come and enjoy it.
Part of our logo up here is Wheels of Time.
Most adults will say,
my grandfather had a car like this.
We take them back in history.
It's a nice little trip back for them.