Highway 37 Revisited

What unites Bob Dylan, the Greyhound Bus Line and the architect Frank Lloyd Wright with a 1966 Chevrolet Impala shipped to Per Svensson in Sweden? Not much, you say? Well, they have more in common than you might think. by Anders Dahlgren

After having visited forty-four states in the U.S, and bought over four hundred cars there, the country does not seem big anymore.  Nowadays when different places are mentioned on the news they often sound familiar to me. It could be a town I passed through or visited in search of a classic car for a client. Hibbing in northern Minnesota is one of those remote locations that keeps attracting my attention.

Clients often ask me where in the U.S. do I look for cars. Well, they can be found anywhere. There is no location too remote to inspect and buy a car in, neither is shipping it an obstacle. When planning a vacation in the U.S., Hibbing might not be the first town that comes to mind unless you have relatives or business there. It is located more than 1,300 miles from the port on the east coast. Nevertheless, Hibbing is definitely worth a visit, especially for the Minnesota highways and if you are looking for a 1966 Impala. One person who came to Hibbing is Bob Dylan. He was born in Duluth, Minnesota, but grew up in Hibbing. Bob’s classic album and song “Highway 61 Revisited” are inspired by Highway 61. It began in Duluth and took Bob to the American South. Blues from the beginning to the end of the road. Driving from Minneapolis to Hibbing makes you realize what inspired Bob and others to sing about roadside America. Although many things have changed since the classic album was recorded there is still a lot to see if you get a kick out of highway romance and enjoy old roadside diners and gas stations, regardless if they are in operation or abandoned.

 

Hibbing is also known for the Greyhound Bus Line which was founded there by Swedish immigrant Eric Wickman from Dalecarlia, or “Dalarna” in Swedish. In these parts of the U.S.,  Swedish family names prevail. If you ask the younger generation they sometimes seem uncertain of their heritage and where their family names come from. The importance of their ancestry has diminished over the generations.

But for many of the older generation the history is paramount. Swedish influence is also present through the many towns named after towns in the old country such as  Falun or Mora. Many businesses have Swedish names advertised along the road. One is Bergquist Imports in Cloquet. They sell Swedish post boxes, wooden Dala horses and other Scandinavian crafts and souvenirs. Outside the store an enormous Dala horse is attracting passers-by. Above the Dala horse the Swedish and American flags fly side by side.

Although the United States seems smaller in my mind today, it is of course as big a country in reality as I used to think. It  becomes more evident in the big cities such as Chicago or Los Angeles. Cities in which you could need a day if you have business on the other side of town, especially if you get stuck in traffic. Along the highways it is different.

 

Many times it is even enjoyable being far from the goal of your trip. To get to Hibbing I flew to Minneapolis and continued by car north to Hibbing. It is a three and a half hour ride, well worth the trip. A 1966 Chevrolet Impala brought me to Hibbing and its owner Carl Eubel.

Carl is an old school gentleman of German heritage. He does not own a computer or a cell phone. He told me his grandmother never learned English. She only spoke German but Carl never learned the old language himself.

A broker advertised the car for him and our communication first went through the broker before we set up an appointment to meet at Carl’s house in Hibbing. Old school sellers usually mean well-maintained cars.

 

Some car buffs enjoy restoring cars, some want them upgraded to modern standards, others are looking for a pristine, original, untouched classic to drive on a sunny day and want to keep it for life. Carl’s philosophy was to buy a nice car to tinker with, enjoy it for a few years and then sell it and swap it for another car.

 

The Impala met the description he had presented. The body panels lined up straight, it was all solid also underneath,  it had a beautiful paint job and interior. Carl kept it in good mechanical shape. He still had the original sale comtract and other documentation from back in the day when the car was sold new in Minnesota. We shipped the Impala to Per Svensson in Bergshamra, Norrtälje, starting from Hibbing going east on Highway 37 and finally, after a couple of months, it arrived in Sweden on E 18.

 

Per previously owned a 1966 Impala SS and a few other American classics. The newly imported Impala passed the Swedish registration smoothly and with new wire hub caps it is now rolling on Swedish highways taking its new owner to local car shows.  Carl stuck to his philosophy and bought a Ford Crown Victoria he had set his mind on buying as soon as the Impala was sold.

 

And Frank Lloyd Wright? Where does he fit in the picture? Wright is famous for many beautiful buildings. The Guggenheim Museum in New York City is one of the more well-known but he also designed a gas station, R.W. Lindholm Service Station in downtown Cloquet, MN. It was built in 1958 and is still in operation where the bridge crosses the St. Louis River. Wright had designed a house for station owner Ray Lindholm in 1952.

Knowing Lindholm worked in the oil business, Lloyd presented him with a proposal to design a modernistic gas station. The station opened in 1958 under Lindholm’s name; it later became a Phillips 66 station and influenced the company’s design plans for other filling stations.

The gas station was part of Wright’s larger plan, the Broadacre City plan, to build a utopian suburban society for the Americans pivoting around the gas station as a social meeting place in the community. His vision was to develop the suburban society based on his plans for the gas station to meet the housing demand in the fifties. An observation lounge with glass walls is located beneath the canopy; this space was originally intended to be the social center envisioned in the Broadacre City plan.

Adjacent the lounge are the restrooms. From the lounge you have a good view of the station bays and can see when your car is being serviced.  Wright had planned to install overhead gas pumps suspended from the canopy to add space, however local safety regulations compelled him to install conventional ground-based pumps.

The gas station remains in use and unlike most contemporary service stations full service is offered for the cars, but no potato chips or hot dogs. However, they do sell motor oil in the station attendant area below the observation lounge. This space also has glass walls and is pointed out towards the pump area to give the attendants a good overview.

The gas station opened under Lindholm’s name and later it became part of the Phillips 66 brand. The building is an architectural masterpiece and is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), as a building worth preserving for the future. There are preservationists arguing that it would be better to close the mechanic shop that operates in the building today and renovate the gas station to its original condition.

But it is also enjoyable to be able to refuel in such a place. The staff told me that the station was “world famous” and that busloads of tourists from China and other countries come to look at the building. Wright’s utopian vision of the American suburban community was never completed.

Maybe one reason was that Lindholm’s gas station cost more than four times the cost of the average filling station of the time to build. However, the characteristic pump canopy was used as a model for the Phillips 66 stations and can still be seen in many places in the United States.

 

Gordy’s Hi-Hat Restaurant is another landmark located in Cloquet across the river from Lindholm’s Service station. The restaurant started in 1960 by Gordy and Marilyn Lundquist. It is a local meeting place especially on  Sunday afternoons during the summer season when locals meet there for lunch or dinner. As did I coming back from Hibbing.  And as they say on the sign, Gordy’s Hi-Hat is “Famous for our hamburgers since 1960”. They are also worth the trip.

Frank Lloyd Wright passed away in 1959. His legacy prevails.

The Lindholm Service Station is in operation and attracts visitors from all over the world.

Wickman’s Greyhound buses are still rolling.

Gordy’s burgers will always be “famous” in Cloquet.

Carl Uebel bought a Ford Crown Victoria as soon as he sold the Impala.

Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited” is still played on the radio.

Per Svensson is happy with his Impala and visits car shows in the Norrtälje area and elsewhere in Sweden.

Anders Dahlgren continues to criss-cross the United States in search of old cars.