Burien + Classic Cars = A Fathers Day Hit

Millions of dollars worth of antique cars & trucks lined the streets of Burien last week for the annual Fathers Day Car Show, turning the the city’s downtown into a spectacular parking lot for car lovers of all ages. With a turnout of more than 200 vehicles crowding the city streets, participants proudly unveiled the fruits of their hard labor as onlookers came from all over the Puget Sound area to appreciate their pristinely shined mechanical beauties.

It was chrome and aluminum as far as the eye could see down 152nd street in the shadow of the new Burien Town Square, which includes a new 7 story condominium building, a 20,000 square foot City Hall and an 18 million dollar public library. The long line of displayed classics continued on down 6th Avenue Southwest and also along 4th Ave SW. Some car show guru’s who were unwilling to pay the entry fee participated in the show but were excluded from the competition by parking their project cars in legal street parking spaces around the perimeter of the exhibition. The official portion of the car show was hosted by The Discover Burien Association.

For Airport Towing the event was a tribute to it’s founding father, Mark Storer who birthed the company 21 years ago and remained heavily involved as the CEO until he died 1 year ago. Mark was a committed father of 3 children but also took on a fatheresque role to several towing industry professionals whom he trained throughout his tenure as the company’s owner. Today Airport Towing remains a family owned and operated business and the people employed are adopted as additional members of the extended family.

Mark was responsible for collecting 13 unique trucks that comprise the Storer Tow Truck Collection. Three of the trucks were on display for the annual Fathers Day car show:

• “The Dodge” is a 1937 Dodge Brothers 1 1/2 ton truck with a Holmes tow unit attached.
• “The 29″ is a 1929 Ford Model AA tow truck with a Weaver crane and is said to be the most beautiful and valuable truck in the collection.
• “The T” is a 1925 Ford Model TT flatbed that was turned into a tow truck by Mark as his first antique vehicle project.

All the trucks in the Storer Tow Truck Collection have some historical significance in Airport Towing’s history and are the product of Mark’s passion for unique & beautiful treasures. The three tow trucks drew a steady crowd throughout the day as they were decorated with photos of Mark and his youngest son Brian who died with him in last years airplane crash. Showing the trucks was one of Mark’s earliest and most reliable employees, Rocky Willis, the tow truck driver / mechanic who was responsible for a vast majority of the restoration work to the antique trucks. Rocky began his career with Airport Towing in 1989 and continues to volunteer to drive the tow trucks in local car shows and parades. Next week Rocky will be driving the Model T in the Burien 4th of July Parade. The parade route begins at the Airport Towing / Burien Towing office and continues through downtown Burien.

Tow Truck Museum Now Online!

The Storer Tow Truck Museum is now online at BurienTow.com/Museum with the most currently updated photos of our entire antique collection.  Each truck has it’s own story, which you can read about by simply clicking on the listing for each truck. We will continue to update the museum with accurate information about the trucks, new photos, and the history of the vehicles. We are still in the process of looking through records to gather a more complete history of each piece of equipment in the museum and will update the website as information becomes available.

Please visit the museum again to see what additions we have made. Our current projects in the museum include the production of our 2009 Mark & Brian Storer Memorial Edition Calendar that we will release in December of 2008. We are also working on a Restoration Page with pictures and details concerning the restoration of our 4 biggest antique truck restoration projects. Finally, we and gathering together all photographs of our antique collection from past events, tow shows, and moments in the trucks history to post online.

The Storer Tow Truck Museum is a significant branch to Airport & Burien Towing. It represents the hard work Mark and Brian Storer put into the company for many years. Mark’s love for towing, antique trucks, and quality workmanship are prominent in each and every truck within the museum. Although every truck is not fully restored, Mark was planning to continue restoration efforts. Our family will remain committed to following through on Mark’s dream of improving the tow trucks to show quality.