My father, Bill Wilson, born in 1906, grew up during the very beginning of the automotive industry.  Working as a mechanic from age twelve, he was the sole support of his family during the depression of the 1920's.  Recognized for his skill as a mechanic, he opened his own garage, Wilson Auto Service, during the 1940's.  He took on the Packard and Willy's dealership until Packard went out of business in the 1950's.  Then, he finished his career as the service manager for a local garage.

Wilson Classic Car has grown out of this rich legacy.  As a young man, I would stop on my way home from kindergarten to watch the mechanics in my dad's garage.  At age twelve, I began building go-carts out of old bed frames and lawn mower engines.  My pals and I made our own steering mechanisms using pulleys, cables and old steering wheels.  We used tires from old coaster wagons, dolly's and whatever else we could find.  We built our own clutches and brake mechanism. 

 We would race these contraptions down the streets of Burlington, seeing who could go the fastest.  Of course the police did not appreciate this practice and warned us to stop many times.  Once our go-carts ended up in jail over night.  After we could no longer drive in the city, we started driving in the country.  Our favorite drive was to Lyons and Lake Geneva.

The next step was building mini-bikes.  Again we started with lawn mower engines, bed frames and used whatever other materials we could find.  We mounted the engines in various places, but the best spot turned out to be on a platform off to the side using a third drive wheel.  This let us drive the bikes normally in the city and when we wanted engine power, we could just lower the wheel, the engine would start, and away we’d go.   

My father gave me my first car, a 1953 Packard, just before I turned sixteen.  He said I could have the car if I repaired the blown head gasket.  At age sixteen, changing the head gasket in a straight eight turned out to be quite the project.  That was my first car, a little rusty and four doors, but what a great car. 

When I was sixteen, I had a 250 cc Yamaha motorcycle.  When I was 17, I bought a 1948 pan head 74 Harley Davidson for 50 dollars.  I had some great experiences on that cycle.  Straight pipes, saddlebags, kick-start, suicide clutch, side shifting and saddle seat; it was quite the bike.  In high school, I took every shop class offered and completed several hot rod projects.   

I built my first car my senior year.  Like everyone, I wanted something fast.  I knew to do this I needed a large engine and lightweight body.  I traded a friend some labor for Ford police interceptor engine, and bought a 54 Ford from another friend.  To lighten the car I removed everything that wasn't necessary.  I mean everything.  I cut the roof off, removed the fender wells, removed the bumpers, removed the grill and hood, removed all of the glass and window mechanism, removed the heater and ducting, and then cut two feet out of the body and eliminating the backseat. With about 350 hp and weighing less than 2000 lbs. there wasn't much on the road that could touch it.  Needless to say it was a fun summer.   

After high school, I spent a year in college, then two years in the Army and Viet Nam.  When I came back, it was time for marriage and a real job.   Family and responsibilities replace my car hobby. I began working as a technician for National Cash Register (NCR) repairing business equipment.  I worked there ten years and then started my own business “farming” in East Troy, but that is another story.  The farm was a great place to raise five children. To shorten a long story, after my divorce I went back to college and graduated in 1994 from the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater.  I was lucky enough to get a job teaching at my home high school, Burlington High.   

After teaching ten years I purchase an old run down gas station across the street from my dads old garage.  I spent my next summer vacation renovating the building back to the way it looked in 1956.    When I reached retirement age, I decided to leave teaching and run the shop full time.  After a couple of years we outgrew that shop and have moved to our current location on the other side of town.  A dream became a reality when we opened Wilson Classic Car that same year.  I know it will not always be easy, but challenges never are easy.