Looking For A 1947 Snow-Thrower Truck? McKim’s In West Laramie Has It, And Many Other ‘Oddball’ Items

LARAMIE — If you’re looking for a run-of-the mill used car, McKim’s Upholstery and Auto Sales in West Laramie probably isn’t the right place.

But if you need to move mountains of snow, he’s got something for that. It’s a 1947 all-wheel-drive truck outfitted with a snow-thrower that runs off its own, monster-sized engine mounted to the truck’s frame.

“It’ll throw snow 100 yards,” store owner Gary McKim told Cowboy State Dailly during a tour of his eclectic collection of stuff Friday afternoon.

Maybe moving huge piles of snow isn’t your thing and instead you need to do some logging. He’s got something for that, too.

It’s a gigantic tree processer that’ll do all the de-limbing and rip the bark off for you.

The only catch is, if you’re going to buy it, you’ll need to bring your own crane.

“I don’t have the heavy equipment it would take to lift it off the trailer it’s sitting on,” McKim said.

He may not have a crane, but he does have a Ford F-550 cherry picker if you want to cruise around in an old utility service truck.

And used concrete saws, old cast-iron stoves and just about anything else that at one time caught McKim’s eye that he knew he could sell.

But the collection of cars is what catches eyes as people drive by.

Classic Cars Make For Happy Customers

McKim does have a few somewhat regular vehicles on his lot. Nothing fancy, just basic stuff.

Like an old Ford Ranger compact pickup that he said he almost sold the day before except the would-be buyer couldn’t get past the “Millennial anti-theft system.”

Meaning, the truck has a stick-shift transmission.

But he leans more toward classic cars, like a 1962 Volkswagen Beatle he acquired not too long ago.

Classic cars make for happier customers, McKim said.

“Nobody is pissed if they buy a classic car,” he said. “But if somebody buys a $2,500 daily driver and it breaks down, they’ll be pissed.”

Hard To Believe It’s Been 25 Years

McKim and his wife, Julie, bought the shop and the adjacent house in 1999. Later, they bought some adjoining property, giving themselves a large lot and an extra garage — plenty of room to park old trucks, logging equipment and the like.

He explained how he ended up in West Laramie in simple terms.

“I was a military cop in the Air Force, and when I got out, I came up here to work at the sawmill,” he said. “Then the sawmill burned down, so I went to WyoTech.”

After graduating WyoTech, he found work in Albuquerque, New Mexico. But he and Julie are both Wyoming natives — he’s from Lander, she’s from Laramie — and they wanted to raise their two daughters here.

So, they returned to Laramie and started looking for a place to rent.

“We found this place, and when the owner told me how much the rent was, I told her, ‘For that much, I’ll buy it.’ She said, ‘Well, I’ll sell it,’ and that was it,” McKim said. “It’s hard for me to believe it’s been 25 years.”

No, That’s Not Christine

In the back garage, he’s got some real beauties: cars from the 1950s.

They include a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air and a 1957 Buick Regal wagon that are “true hardtops,” he said. That means there’s no “roof post” between the front and rear windows.

“If you roll the front and rear windows down, it’s open all the way across. That’s a true hardtop,” McKim explained.

Of course that makes them rare, and expensive.

The wagon is for sale for $50,000, which McKim said is more than a fair market price for a true hardtop that is nearly fully restored and drivable.

The Bel Air is in practical showroom shape. It also has the same distinctive bright red-and-white paint job as the titular car in the Stephen King novel “Christine,” later adapted into a horror film.

In that story, a geeky teenager buys a 1950s vintage car named Christine. His confidence is initially boosted as he takes pride in resorting the old car. But he and his friends find out too late that Christine is possessed by evil and enjoys murdering people.

McKim assured that his red-and-white ’50s gem isn’t going on any killing sprees. It’s the wrong year, make and model.

“It’s a ’57 Bel Air,” he said. “Christine was a ’58 Plymouth Fury.”

‘Don’t Drink And Bid’

Some of the latest additions to the lot include a heavy-duty utility truck equipped with a cherry-picker, and a Jeep with a transplanted engine that gives it enough power “to scare you,” McKim said.

He also has an assortment of ATVs, construction tools and and other items for potential buyers to peruse.

A vintage rotary dial telephone hangs on the wall near the door.

And it’s not just for show, it’s hooked into a phone line and McKim can make or receive calls on it.

“If it rings and I’m standing right here with a beer, and my cellphone isn’t in my pocket, I’ll pick it up and answer it,” he said.

One might think it’s difficult to sell such an assortment of out-of-the-ordinary vehicles and equipment.

McKim said sales are brisk. Nothing seems to hang around on the lot or in the shop long before somebody snatches it up, making room for the next unique item.

Except for a 1966 Ford Ranchero that’s languished on the lot for seven years.

McKim isn’t sure why nobody seems to want it. He swapped out the original six-cylinder engine for a Ford 302 cubic-inch V8 to give it some more zip, but hasn’t touched the vehicle since.

The Ranchero is in decent shape and would “make a good project vehicle” for somebody inclined to do a little work on it.

He picked it up at an auto auction in Denver.

“That’s a lesson in don’t drink and bid — especially not from the back of the room,” he said.

Everybody Always Welcome

McKim said he enjoys the peace and quiet of “being in my own little corner” in West Laramie.

Though officially part of Laramie, West Laramie feels more like its own town.

To avoid offending locals, don’t confuse it with the West Side.

The West Side is an old working-class neighborhood that sits between the Union Pacific railyard and Interstate 80, just west of downtown Laramie.

West Laramie is everything West of I-80, which creates a distinct distance and barrier between it and the bulk of Laramie.

True to the more laid-back pace in West Laramie, McKim isn’t into high-pressure sales. Many of his items are on consignment for friends. He tries to keep prices fair, and things tend to sell themselves.

And his collection frequently catches eyes.

“When we’re sitting out in front of the store, if we have something interesting on display on the front of the lot, we’ll see people slow down, and sometimes stop in the middle of the road to look at it. It’s a wonder there aren’t accidents,” he said.

Instead of gawking from their vehicles and creating a traffic hazard, people should park their vehicles and come on in, he said.

Whether they buy anything is entirely up to them.

“Come in and visit,” he said. “Anybody is welcome to come in and visit any time we’re open.”

Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.