The Apartments

Bob Hughes' 64 Chevelle, Tom Olsen's 56 Chevy and Rick Kollar's 65 Corvette at "The Apartments" in 1966. The guys just finished an afternoon of detailing their cars.

"The Apartments" were located at 37th St. and Minnesota Avenue, on the east side of the street. In the late 1960's, several car guys, primarily Chevrolet followers, lived there. There were usually some neat cars parked, or being worked on in the parking lot. "The Apartments" are gone now, but there's a Hardees restaurant on the site that hosts a car cruise night every Saturday evening in the summer. A cruise night on that spot is a fitting tribute to this hot rod hangout of days gone by.

Several Chevy guys lived at "The Apartments", 37th and Minnesota. (1966) There was usually a nice collection of hot Chevys in the lot.

Keith Gunderson working on his 61 Corvette in preparation for a day at the drag races. There were many hot cars prepped for the races in this parking lot!

This 65 Chevelle 300 Deluxe was owned by Don Breen; it had the L-79 350hp, 327ci engine. Don raced the car in A/Stock when this photo was taken in 1967.

Howard Goering built his "57/61" Corvette; the front end is from a 57, and the rear is a 61 Corvette. Photo at Park Ridge Texaco in 1964.

Tom Van Orsdel owned this 66 Chevy II with the potent (L79) 327ci/350hp engine and a 4 speed. These cars were very competitive in A/Stock. Rick Kollar's 65 Corvette is parked next to this.

The Tazmanian Devil was a classic old school "Gasser" with small block Chevy power and a one piece fiberglass front end. It was owned by Dave Rettig at the time of this photo in 1967.

Here's Dave Decker's silver 66 Corvette Stingray. It's equipped with the 300hp, 327ci, 4-speed package and "ET Mag" wheels; this is another car that was never seen dirty! Bob Hughes' 64 Chevelle is to the left.

In 1967, behind "The Apartments" at 37th and Minnesota Ave., it was commonplace to find guys working on hot Chevys. Here Ron Schoenwald is installing a 2 4-barrel carb setup on his red 57 Chevy.

Denny Flynn's 65 Chevelle was built as a "clone" to a Hondouras Maroon 65 Chevelle 300 Deluxe that apartment resident Don Breen formerly owned. Both cars were powered by the 350hp/327ci engine.

From 1966, here's Bob Hughes' beautiful red 1964 Chevelle. This 300hp, 327ci, 4-speed car was always immaculate! "Mag" wheels up front and chrome wheels on the rear was a popular look.

Don Breen bought this 66 Corvette Stingray in 1966 when he was going to give up drag racing. It didn't work: he sold this and was drag racing again the following season!

Dave Rettig is working on his 270hp Corvette in the parking lot of "The Apartments", 37th and Minnesota.

Don Larson cleaned up his brother Bernie's 39 Ford in "The Apartments" parking lot in preparation for the Wheels Parade.

Tom Olsen is going to drive "Apartment" resident Keith Gunderson's red Chevy II in the Wheels Parade. It's washed and polished and is ready to go!

Keith Schaefer had this hot 65 Chevelle Malibu with the (L79) 327ci/350hp package when he lived at "The Apartments". These cars were quick! As an aside, Chevrolet Racing Team member, Jim Witkop, had an identical one.

This is Roger Steuck's beautiful red 56 Chevy sedan. His buddy, Floyd Viel, prepped it at "The Apartments" today prior to the Wheels Parade.

Randy Williams spent the morning cleaning up Howard Goering's Corvette in preparation for the 1965 Wheels Parade. This red 61 'Vette always looked great!

Apartment resident Rick Kollar owned this blue 65 Corvette Stingray. It had the 350hp/327ci engine and a 4 speed trans.

Keith Gunderson's Corvette was originally black. After a towing accident, he had the car repaired and changed the color to yellow. The front was raised for drag racing purposes.

"The Apartments" were so well known as a location for cool cars, that the 1966 Washington High School cheerleading squad used the available Corvettes for their 2-page photo in the 1966 Washington Senior High School Yearbook!