Picture this: 'Rolling from speakeasy to speakeasy' in a 1929 Cadillac🚘

To call Mike Anderson’s 1929 Cadillac Dual Cowl Phaeton a piece of rolling art is like calling the Mona Lisa a nice portrait.

It is enjoying its 96th year with the complete sang-froid one might expect from a survivor of all that this earth has seen in the past century. The car is an edifice, an institution, and, yes, an artistic masterpiece — with its dinner-plate-sized headlamps, huge chrome grille topped by a dramatic Flying Goddess ornament, and enormous canvas top engineered at a rakish angle.

The double windshields (the second protecting back-seat passengers) paint a picture of elegant blue-sky summer afternoons, as Mike says, one couple in the back, one in the front, champagne flowing, “rolling from speakeasy to speakeasy, showing off.”

Such was the good life in 1929 before the day in October on Wall Street that changed all aspects of American life, including automaking.

It’s entirely appropriate that the huge black Cadillac will be on display at the 19th Annual Tucson Classics Car Show on Saturday, Oct. 18, because the show itself is an edifice and an institution on Tucson’s event and charitable scene. The Rotary Club of Tucson’s marquee event at The Gregory School raises millions for some of Tucson’s very best causes and, as event chair Dave White says with a grin, “we have a whole lot of fun doing it.”

So, too, do the 20,000 or so Tucsonans who attend the event every year.

Each year, the $10 ticket that provides admission also serves as an entry in a raffle to win a Corvette. This year, that means a brand-new Torch Red 2025 Corvette Stingray 1LT.

‘These cars are part of my family’

Mike Anderson and the Tucson Classics Car Show were made for each other.

Anderson, the founder of the hugely successful WeBuyHouses.com business, which has remodeled some 2,000 Tucson homes over the years, has always been a “car guy,” from his days making Soapbox Derby cars for himself and his friends and careening down hills on them. (“I pretty much always won,” he says parenthetically.)

He remembers the fascination that happened every year back then, when new car models came out, and visiting showrooms in the fall to see them was his favorite activity.

Collecting fine automobiles takes more than money (although that helps a lot) — it takes passion. And sensibilities. Anderson has more than 30 cars, although he’s had many, many more over the years. But he’s selective. His cars all hold special meaning for him, and each one of them is a truly significant example in the pantheon of fine motoring. They are icons of automotive history.

Photos of his cars line his garage. The first thing you notice in most of the photos, though, is the fact that Mike’s children and grandchildren are in the pictures, obviously loving the cars and Dad/Granddad’s attention.

“That is the most rewarding thing about the hobby for me,” Mike says quietly. “These cars are part of my family and whether they stay in the family later or not, I love to see the kids enjoy them.”

Many of his cars are dutifully and perfectly restored to precise original specifications. But when necessary, he’s not afraid to change it up.

His 1957 Cadillac convertible came from the factory with a white top. But when it was time to replace it, Mike and his wife, Susan, decided a dark blue top, to complement the Cobalt Blue body color, would be better. The lovely blue Haartz canvas top changes the whole feel of the car, dressing it up elegantly — the automotive version of a Balenciaga floor-length ball gown.

Even bolder was his reconstruction of his sleek jet-black 1965 Buick Riviera. The “Riv” is a true American classic, and Anderson owns a stock example as well. But for this car, he lowered the roofline two and a half inches, electrifying the design of this incredible hot-rod version. “It was an infinite amount of work to do it right,” he recalled. “The roofline gets narrower at the top so the new, lower roof had to be wider than the old one.”

Even for the legions of car aficionados who are normally vehement originalists, the result is stunning.

Two key skills Anderson has honed in his long business career: “I’m a fixer and a deal-maker,” he says. Both talents come in mighty handy in the collector-car hobby.

For years, he used those skills to great effect for the car show, sourcing, acquiring and spiffing up the Corvettes to be raffled off. “I’d look all over the West Coast for the absolute best deal I could get,” he said. “When we started, the cash value of the raffle Corvette was $10,000. Then it was 15, then 20, then 50 thousand. Every year, my challenge was to find a better car than I had the year before, and buy it for the same price or less.”

Last year, he decided at age 79 he needed to give that chore up — and so the event’s steering committee, realizing the enormity of the task, instead decided to approach O’Reilly Chevrolet, which provided the club with a good discount on the brand-new Corvette this year.

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Meanwhile, for the past 15 years, WeBuyHouses.com has been the title sponsor for the event, continuing this year.

Making a difference

The show benefits from the strength of the Rotary Club itself. The club has 226 active members, making it Arizona’s largest Rotary Club, and, at 104 years, it’s the state’s second-oldest. The power of those members is illustrated by the success of the show. Over the years, Tucson Classics Car Show has granted more than $2.8 million to local charities. Money raised from past shows has helped children’s literacy, vocational training, women and teens in need, and many others throughout the community. This year, the three beneficiaries of the show are:

• Pima Community College Foundation — Pima Community College Center of Opportunity. PCC has built a state-of-the-art learning center on the grounds of the Center of Opportunity campus, where people are eligible to enter the Workforce Training Program, taught by PCC instructors. It focuses on training in high-demand employment areas including information technology, culinary arts, building and construction, and commercial truck driving. This is the final year of a three-year commitment by the show to this program, which will receive 50% of the show’s proceeds.
• The Amphi Foundation ECHO (Educational Community Home Outreach) Program at Nash and Keeling elementary schools. It helps to achieve community transformation by tackling academic and non-academic barriers through before- and after-school programs.
• JobPath. JobPath has a 26-year record of successfully supporting low-income students in pursuit of their associate degrees and certificates, leading to in-demand, high-wage careers in the healthcare, industrial trades and IT industries.

“The great thing about it,” says Dave White, the event chair, “is that as this show has gained fame and demand has increased, we’re in the position of raising enough money with it to where we can actually make a dent in things.”

That’s a pretty big dent. Last year, the show raised $225,151.06, every penny split among the charities. Expenses are paid through sponsorships and donations.

The story of the ’67 Vette

Mike Anderson is asked, “If you could only save one of your cars, which one would it be?”

A little horrified, he looks up and says, “That’s like asking, ‘If you could save only one of your kids ...’”

He thinks for a few moments, clearly discomfited at the idea. But when he answers, it is with conviction. “It would be the 1967 Corvette.”

Car collectors know: Every car has a story. One of the better ones you’ll hear is the story of Mike’s ‘67 Vette.

With a little help from his Dad, Mike bought the blue-and-cream beauty, with 427-cubic-inch, 390-horsepower engine and 4-speed transmission, when he graduated from military college. A freshly minted Army lieutenant, Mike took the car to Germany, where, he says, “I put 80,000 miles on it and as far as I can remember no car ever passed me.”

He allowed as how the ‘Vette had a salutary effect on his social life. But when he was transferred back stateside, he reluctantly sold the car.

More than four decades later, he decided that he’d like to have that car back.

In 2010, Hemmings Motor News, the bible of the collector-car industry, had just begun offering online advertising. So he posted an ad, with description and VIN, saying he’d like to repurchase his Corvette. A few days later, a fellow in Virginia called to say, “I can’t believe it! I have your car and I’ve been thinking about selling it.”

Mike quickly reacquired it, and, even though the car had been through a pretty comprehensive frame-off restoration, decided to rebuild the engine. (See above, deal-making and fixing stuff.) Now, throaty 427 power fully restored, the Corvette sits in a place of honor in his expansive garage.

And it will similarly grace a prime spot among the 430 cars on display at the show.

Heart and soul

“Nothing’s changed American culture as much as the automobile,” says Dave White, the event chair. “You can see it in our car owners, who have poured their heart and soul into these cars. And you can see it when the families come, pushing baby carriages, loving this show.

“As a matter of fact,” Dave said, “If I could, I’d name this the Love Tucson Car Show.

“Because that’s what it is, loving Tucson and helping organizations make a transformational difference.”