Cruising Memory Lane by Tow Truck

On a recent outing, Seattle seniors took to the drivers’ seat of hot-rod & classic trucks that were once built for work but are now a symbol for fun & nostalgia. The smiles told the story of the group’s one-of-a-kind trip down memory lane.

July 7th, 2011 Seattle Parks and Recreation visited Airport Towing and Burien Towing to explore Storer Enterprises unique tow truck museum. The Storer Antique Tow Truck Collection began in September of 1997 when founder Mark Storer, purchased his first classic truck. Shortly after the purchase of the 1925 Ford Model TT, Mark developed a passion for the history of the towing industry as he worked to restore it into a classic tow truck.

Since that time restoration projects have been continuously ongoing in the Burien Towing warehouse, which currently houses 13 distinctly different show vehicles.

Seattle Parks and Recreation brought 27 energized senior citizens to the Burien Towing warehouse to stroll down memory lane of through the display of several vintage tow trucks each of a different era. Many were in awe and excited to take a picture inside the 1925 Model TT.  Many others were astonished by the 1935 Ford hotrod tow truck with flames painted on the hood.  After examining the tow trucks, many of the guests were excited to see a 2004 limited edition Chevrolet SSR with hidden strobe lights that were a custom modification installed by Storer.

As the entire group walked the premise of Airport & Burien Towing they were delighted to see a 1932 Ford Model  BB  un-restored to compare the large efforts it takes from scratch to finish. One comment was, “what is the next tow truck Airport Towing will be restoring?”  Kenny Savage, General Manager responded, “When the time is right, we might be considering restoring a 1979 Ford F-350 Indy tow truck.” The unique background of this truck was being one of the four official tow trucks of the 1979 Indianapolis 500.

Airport Towing has begun photo shooting and calendar development for the year 2012.  The calendar features the tow truck collection at different recognizable locations in Washington State. For more information please click here for a tour of our online museum. If you are interested in touring Airport and Burien Towing in person please contact us online or call (206)243.6252.

Hot Rod Season Has Arrived

We are finally starting to see some sunlight in Seattle, which means it’s time to get our hot rod’s outside and around town for some much needed fresh air and warm pavement. After a long and stormy winter we were finally able to open the warehouse door this month and roll out two of our most noticeable classic tow trucks. This pair of trucks that we sent to participate in the weekly car show at Bernie & Boys Market earned plenty of attention from onlookers and collectors alike thanks to their unique body design and custom graphics. Our 1933 Ford truck is a unique orange truck on a lowered chassis with chrome accents and powered by a 383 Stroker. The other truck we displayed is our purple 1935 Ford tow truck with custom hand painted flames, a Holmes wrecker unit, and a 305 small block V8 motor.

Classy Chassis Car Club of Burien is hosting the event every Saturday night from April until October. The car show is open from 4pm – 8pm to all car lovers/spectators and for those of you lucky enough to own our own classic car, custom hot rod, or any other type of show car we would like you to bring it by and be part of the display. There is no entry fee for cars or spectators; just an open parking lot where you won’t get towed for parking your pride and joy for a few hours. The event was formerly held at the Burien Fred Meyer parking lot on Wednesday night, but has now found a home just a few miles north (still on 1st Ave) in Top Hat.

Local grocers Joe and Tom Salle are the owners of Bernie & Boys Market (Home of the Live Butcher) and have always been heavily involved in local community events. They have invited Evergreen High School’s Booster Club to the event who will be on hand to provide food and drinks each night at a reasonable price as they work to raise money for their sports program.

Airport Towing will make an appearance with one or more of our classic trucks as much as possible this summer. Our founder Mark Storer created one of the largest and most unique classic tow truck collections in the world and in his memory we are planning on getting the tow trucks outside this summer for everyone to enjoy. Come join us for great food, music, and beautiful custom cars at the Classy Chassis Car Club of Burien Saturday Night Cruise-Ins. For information on the weekly show stop by Saturdays or call Bob at 206-935-2113 or Joe at 206-248-1916.

Classy Chassis will also be hosting their annual Snow-N-Shine at Bernie & Boys Market Saturday, July 25th. This is an all day event that costs only $15 to enter. All proceeds go to Child Haven of Burien. Call Bob at 206-935-2113 or Arthea at 206-762-3159 for more information.

Giving to the Needy in a Bad Economy

Now is a great time to help those in need and Vision Collision (Burien’s newest auto body repair shop) stepped up to the challenge in a big last week. It’s no surprise that there are people are hurting all across the nation. Food banks are in high demand, some charities are short on funds, and many good people are in need of support now more than ever, including cancer patients.

In 2005 cancer accounted for more than half a million deaths in the United States alone. In fact, we all have at least a 40% chance of getting some form of cancer at any point in our lives, and there is more than 20% chance any one of us will die from cancer. That’s the harsh reality that affected Amy Driscoll (formerly Hughes) and her family when she lost her grandmother to ovarian cancer nine years ago. Now the family has committed to helping others who are fighting the same battle by participating in Relay For Life.

Despite a struggling global economy the family at Vision Collision teamed up with 3.5 million people from around the nation to raise funds and awareness for the American Cancer Societyby participating in the relay. Mike & Amy Driscoll took an extra step by opening up their new Burien business on a Saturday to wash cars & sell refreshments as a fundraiser. Their efforts earned more than $500 to be donated to charity and their hopeful that they can increase their donation total at future events.

To show our support Airport Towing sent an antique tow truck over for a bath before participating in a local car show at Bernie & Boys Market in Top Hat. The 1933 Ford hot rod earned some extra attention and was undoubtedly the most unique truck that attended the wash. Vision Collision is planning on hosting another non-profit car wash Saturday May 16th and we plan to attend with another classic tow truck from our collection. We encourage anyone who would like to support their efforts as well as anyone who appreciates a quality hand wash to stop by. Click here for directions to Vision Collision where the next car wash is going to be held from 10am to 3pm on May 16th.