Robert Flemming remembers the day in 1962 when he got his first job at a Phillips Grocery Feed Store. “I was 14 and the pay was .50 cents an hour.” Actually, it was his Dad who provided the inspiration to get the job in the first place. “If you want a car, you gotta get a job” Robert remembers his Dad telling him.One day, his Mom and Dad went out and bought a 1961 Ford Starliner for themselves, but Robert soon had his eye on it. So he made a deal with his Dad. If Robert graduated from high school, the car was his. After all, he had a job to pay for its upkeep. Just three years later, in 1965, two important things happened to Robert. He graduated and his Dad made good on his promise.
“I and one other guy were the only ones among our friends to have mag wheels.” Robert remembers fondly.
So there he was, at 17, cruising around in the 2 door hardtop; a perfect example of American youth and their first ride. “When all the windows go down and when you're cruising, you feel like you're in a boat. It was really fast,” Robert said. “Those were good years.”
Robert soon got married at the young age of 19 and in short order had two children, a boy and a girl. “I brought my son home in that car,” he said, “and I brought my daughter home in it, too.”
But Robert soon decided that, now a family man, he should “…get rid of the ‘hot rod’ and get a more practical car.” So Robert took the Starliner and used it as a trade-in for a new Impala. “The guy at the dealership who bought it from me probably had it registered in his name right away,” laughed Robert. And if it were any other car or any other man, that’s where this story might have ended, but not so for Robert.
In 1988 at a local garage sale, Robert saw a “For Sale” sign in the window of another 1961 Ford Starliner. “It must have been fate,” beamed Robert, “and I had to have it.” He put down $100 and told the guy he would have the rest for him Monday morning. By Monday afternoon, Robert was again cruising down the street in his boyhood car. The fact that it was the “exact” same one wasn’t important. “There were only 29,669 of these cars made. Since it is so rare, a lot of people who do not know what it is say that it looks like a Pontiac, and one day a little guy on a bicycle came up to me and said ‘I know what kind of car that is mister, it's a "57 Chevy’. I just laughed. I love this car.” He was thrilled.
After many years and several other cars, the old Starliner was driven less and less until one day he went to start it and nothing happened. Eventually, he took it off the street and into his yard. It was now just another cherished memory of his youth.
And then fate stepped in again. It was March 2010 and Robert, now retired, was at the Facebook page of Hudiburg Auto Group. At that time, we were running a contest called “HudiMyRide.” The idea behind the contest came from David Hudiburg, owner of the auto group. He said, “I really want to do something special – something that really gets people involved.”
So he bounced around a few ideas with his Director of Operations, Steve Blake, and e-Commerce Director Alan Majernick and came up with the idea of a Make-Over Challenge. They brought in their social marketing partner, LikeForce, to organize and run the contest. It was, to say the least, a huge hit with the public.
The contest, which ran for about two months, garnered over 1100 new fans for the page and launched an active social community around the dealership. One of those fans was Robert Flemming.
“When they called me and told me I had won, I was just tickled beyond belief,” said Robert.
Today, the make-over is going strong. The engine has been taken out and is being rebuilt and the new paint job is about to be applied. When it’s said and done, there will be a lot of work put into that old 1961 Ford Starliner to return it to its American glory. And in a short time, Robert will be behind the wheel of his boyhood cruiser.
“I can’t wait to have Sue, the love of my life, beside me, and turn over the engine,” said Robert. “I think we’ll just cruise around for awhile.”
