Local classic car collection up for auction
Don Boulton loved cars, but he had a bit of a beef with the people who first built them. “He only bought in the Brass Era,” said his wife, Grace Boulton. “He thought they ruined an automobile when they put front doors on it.” Boulton, who died Sept. 7, owned in his lifetime about 50 cars built before 1915, and founded the Sooner division of the Horseless Carriage Club of America.. On Thursday, 24 cars and two vintage motorcycles will be offered during an auction in Florida. “His cars were fastidiously maintained,” said Malcolm Barber, co-chairman of Bonhams, the international auction house that is handling the sale. “The finishes are amazing." Among them are a 1904 Peerless King of Belgium, a 1907 Austin seven-passenger touring car, a 1913 Mercer Raceabout — expected to sell for upwards of $1 million — and a 1907 Tincher 60 horsepower Model H, the only one in existence. “He was clear all along that he wanted them to go to people who would actually work on them, put gas in them and drive them around,” Boulton's daughter, Ann Young, said of the decision to offer the cars to private collectors. Boulton was about 24 when he bought his first antique car, a 1903 Northern, Grace Boulton said. “I remember saying to him, if you think golf is expensive, wait until you start collecting antique cars.” Boulton served in 1965 as president of the national Horseless Carriage Club. But he was probably more excited to reign over the Donut Club, a gathering of his car buddies that happened every Saturday morning at the barn that housed his cars, tools, spare parts and memorabilia. Families were included in the car club tours, Grace Boulton said, and she would scout antiques shops for vintage clothing and accessories. “It was always fun,” she said. “The cars were a big contributor to our happiness.” For Young and her brother, Scot, the happiness was a while in coming. “When we were little, we got yelled at a lot for putting our fingers on the brass,” Young said. “And my mother made us dress up in itchy period clothing. So as young children, I would say we didn't care for them that much. But my chosen profession is art restoration, so surely there is a link there.” Young said the enjoyable times came after she and Scot had children of their own. “From a fun standpoint, it was when the grandchildren would come to visit,” she said. “He would never have yelled at them for getting fingerprints on the cars. He would take them to Sonic, and to the July 4 parade in Bethany,” which the car club often entered. Before he built the barn, Grace Boulton said, her husband kept his cars at his businesses and worked on them in his spare time. His father and uncle were the founders of Unit Parts, and Yow Brake and Supply was another family business. “Mr. Boulton had a wonderful eye for detail,” Barber said. “If the original part could not be found, he found something from the right period.” Boulton's 1910 Selden Model 3.5, a four-cylinder two-seat roadster, has been donated to the Oklahoma Historical Society. “It was bought new here at a dealership downtown and spent its working life in Oklahoma City,” Young said of the Selden. Barber will be the auctioneer Thursday, which people who can't attend in person can participate in online at www. bonhams.com/amelia. About 100 cars will be offered for sale. In the introduction to the auction catalog, Barber wrote “Don C. Boulton was a man who thrilled at the hunt, the discovery and the restoration of a fine Brass automobile. A student of the era and its cars, he knew their history, knew where to procure the finest examples, and knew what specialist would best return them to their original glory.” Boulton's children and a couple of his grandchildren plan to be at the auction in Florida. Grace Boulton will be watching online with some of her car club friends. Boulton reached his 93rd birthday a few days before he died. Young said she's certain his hobby contributed to his long life. He always had something to get up in the morning for, a new problem to solve, she said. And he was constantly socializing, often with younger car collectors.