Wheatland Man Takes 18 Of His Classic 1950s-Era Chevys to South Dakota Car Show

WHEATLAND — The “Kentucky contingent” was there as were nearly 50 other friends of local attorney Frank Jones when 18 of his classic cars were backed into a row in front of his house for his run to Kool Deadwood Nites.

The town known for Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok was about to get invaded by a Wyoming parade of mostly 1955-57 Chevys led by a vintage 1955 black-and-white police cruiser.

Jones, 85, has been collecting classic Chevy cars from those years for nearly 40 years. He said the annual trek to Deadwood started small three decades ago and “snowballed” in later years.

“There were four of us and one car,” he said. “It was a surprise birthday gift to take one of our cars and go to Kool Deadwood Nites. They had probably about 50 cars, now they have 1,000 or 2,000.”

Jones also has cruised many other destinations on cross-country adventures through the years. 

One year he went to Branson, Missouri, then South Carolina, Nashville, Tennessee, and on to another in Telluride, Colorado.

Then it was to the West Coast touring through Yosemite National Park and San Francisco, up to Seattle and into Vancouver, British Columbia, before returning across southern Canada.

But the Deadwood drive is something he has done every year for 31 years — even during the COVID pandemic.

Preparing for the 2026 version Aug. 21-23 meant 18 of his 33 classic cars, each with a Pioneer license plate, needed to be inspected, checked for fluids and filled with gas as well as get a car wash.

All of the cars boast a sparkling paint job and gleaming chrome. Details on the cars have been restored close to original.

But Jones wants to make one thing clear.

“They are not show cars, they are drivers. They call them drivers if you drive them,” he said. “A lot of people have one or two cars, and they load them in trailers and haul them to car shows and unload them. And they don’t have near as much fun as we do.”

Preparing To Drive

So, on the morning of Aug. 21, friends and drivers from Wheatland, Cheyenne, and Rock Springs, as well as Oklahoma, California, Colorado, and Kentucky gathered outside Jones’ home.

They had suitcases and golf clubs for the weekend and got their car assignments for a journey that takes them from Wheatland to Lusk, Newcastle, and Deadwood. 

Jones held a driver’s meeting to go over the route and explain the ground rules. Thirty-nine hotel rooms and parking spots in a Deadwood hotel’s lot were reserved so the cars could be backed in and shown off to a crowd that packed the region.

While Kool Deadwood Nites annually offers a car auction and parade, Jones’ group typically does not participate. Jones said some of his weekend car warriors drove to Deadwood a day early to check out the auction. 

In all, he said there were about 70 people and 26 cars, some of the people and cars meeting the group along the way.

On the agenda was Saturday morning golf, a Saturday night meal, spectating at the Sunday parade and driving back Sunday afternoon.

Jones drove his pickup pulling a trailer with the logo “Wyoming Classic Cars.” The trailer hauls a disabled vehicle if needed. He said this year friends driving his 1955 Ford Thunderbird convertible hit a deer in the middle of the afternoon on the way up.

“The fender was pushed in a little and we pulled it out so there’d be plenty of clearance,” he said. “The car continued the trip to Deadwood and came home in great shape.”

Jones’ partner, Amy Bates, said this year’s trip was her 22nd. She reserved the hotel rooms and helped get the cars ready as well as helped plan the food.

“I used to wash all the cars to get them ready. We now have somebody that helps do that,” she said. “There’s a lot of hands that go into it.”

Gas Tank Secret

Participants included Jones’ daughter, Tammy Gehrman, a CPA from Fort Collins, Colorado, and her husband, Butch. She said they have been driving to Deadwood with her dad for more than a decade.

“This is his passion and he just beams when we caravan up there,” she said.

This year, Butch got behind the wheel of a 1956 Chevy Bel Air Nomad that featured a slanted “B pillar” as part of its design. The car also sports an interesting entry to the gas tank, hidden behind the left tail light.

“When everybody bought them, they couldn’t figure out where the gas tank was,” Butch said. “And over the years the (tail light) wire would break and the joke was that you could always tell a ’56 Chevy going down the road because it was the one that had the left-rear tail light out.”

Butch Gehrman said he enjoys making the trip every year because of the camaraderie and fellowship. If a car breaks down, other drivers pull over to help out.

Leading the parade out of Wheatland was a 1955 Chevy police cruiser driven by Kellie Deglman.

She said she has driven a car for the past 15 years and the past four or five in the cruiser. She and friend Julie Henion, both of Wheatland, said they like leading the way and working the siren and lights.

“We have so much fun, we flip the siren, get everybody going, and then everybody just keeps up with us,” Deglman said. “Julie has an app on her phone that keeps us at the right speed because a lot of these old cars, their speedometers don’t work the best.”

Jones said he was restoring another police car when he found the 1955 Chevy cruiser online nearly all restored. He now has two fully restored police cars.

The cruisers are a magnet.

Jones said he once drove it to a car show weekend called “Hot August Nights” in Reno, Nevada, and stopped at a hotel where the owner wanted to check out the car and then called in her family to see it as well.

“And before long, here came a couple of policemen, and she’d called them, too,” he said.

Jones said his interest in the Chevy models began after a stint in the U.S. Air Force, when he had a 1955 Chevy. He said he began collecting cars during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Big Purchase

About 15 years ago he bought the 1,642-car inventory of bodies and car parts from a Casper collector.

Among the cars was a 1956 Pontiac Star Chief ambulance. Jones restored it and dedicated it to a longtime friend and his family, the late Dr. Ed Howshar, who practiced for decades in Wheatland.

Cheyenne radiologist Mark Howshar and his 16-year-old son, Cole, drove the ambulance to Deadwood. It features a medical stretcher in the back, lights and siren restored to full function, and a doctor’s smock worn by Howshar.

The vehicle had white seats trimmed in blood red. The dashboard also was red.

“Everything is perfect in it and it has a very large motor … in fact, it’s the fastest of Frank’s cars,” Howshar said.

Howshar said he’s been driving it to Deadwood for the past 23 years as part of the Jones’ contingent and to honor his dad, who was a business partner with Jones. Ed Howshar was trained as a surgeon but worked as an “old country doctor” in Wheatland for 40 years, his son said.

Howshar said he grew up a few doors from the Jones’ family and Frank’s son, Eric, is a good friend.

Cole Howshar said the trip was the second with his dad and he enjoys the Deadwood car show, looking at the old cars, and investigating the mechanical aspects of the old machines.

Kentucky Contingent

Four members of the contingent were from Kentucky. Two, Peggy Miller and Kim Heston, first met Jones as they watched a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans.

Jones remembers striking up a conversation and asking where they were from. When he learned they were from Louisville, he asked if they knew a good place for him to stay if he and Bates drove out for the Kentucky Derby.

“Kim said, ‘Yes, we sure do. … She related that a friend of hers was remodeling a house to make into a wedding venue and they would love to have us (stay at) her house,” Jones said. “And here we are, six, eight, 10 years later. We’ve been back and stayed at their house and vice versa.”

Louisville’s Tom Barrow, Miller’s boyfriend, agrees the friendship with Jones and Bates has been great and they love hosting the pair for the Kentucky Derby and then coming to Wyoming for the Deadwood trek.

“It’s just one of the most unique vacations. These are beautiful cars and it's a beautiful part of the country up here, we just love it,” he said.

Barrow and Miller were driving a two-tone blue Chevy Nomad station wagon while Heston and her husband, Eric, took the light blue Ford Thunderbird with a white top that hit the deer.

A retiree from the elections office in Louisville, Barrow anticipated fun conversations about the election during the weekend.

“Louisville’s Democrat, so I have friendly arguments with these folks on stuff. It’s really good,” he said.

Taking A Ford

Connie Kennison of Rock Springs said she and her husband, David, who goes by “Al” met Jones several years ago because her husband is a “car guy” and they talked about car parts. They brought their own classic car, a 1956 white Ford to drive.

“Sometimes Frank makes us get in the back of the line, he’s a Chevy guy,” she said. “It’s a lot of fun and all these Wheatland people are great people. We meet a lot of friends and have a good time.”

Jones said he doesn’t have a favorite vehicle but he loves the color blue and there are various blue models among the many “rides” he owns.

In addition to sharing his cars with friends for the Deadwood trip, he has regularly made his convertibles available to state politicians for parades, couples for weddings, and the Wheatland Homecoming king and queen each year.

His red and white Chevy convertible is known as the “wedding car” and has been part of several photographic shoots.

In his younger days, he tore apart the cars, worked on engines and did most of the wiring. More complicated mechanical work, interior reconstruction, body work, and painting has been done by others.

“At one time I wanted to try my hand at painting. The individual that was painting the car told me I could paint the backside of the wheels,” he said. “He would let me do that.”

Jones said he is not looking to add any more cars to his collection, but admits he has made that vow before.

“At the present time we have under construction a replica 1957 Chevy taxi car, a Checker cab,” he said. “It’s painted and ready to be reassembled. I do not plan on restoring any more. I didn’t plan on the last two or three, but they came along and you couldn’t say ‘no.’”

Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.